Wow....assuming your Brother's car is 3710 w/driver. He is either a big dude.Or there is some extra weight there. Must be an ongoing shootout with the cars being within a hundredth of each other. Probably confuses the hell out of people too.
Arm rest clearance Here is a picture of my stock interior with the cage that goes around the stock 70 armrest. Sorry it is not a better picture, but it should give you an idea on how to go around the armrest while still having easy entrance and exits. Thanks, Steve
Re: Arm rest clearance Steve, You get the "clean interior" award for your drag car picture. I like it!
Gary (or anyone else for that matter), Tom's Buick has a glass bolt-on hood, glass bumpers w/lightened brackets, plastic seats, no back seat, crash bars removed from doors, heater box removed, aluminum radiator, some lightening holes, alum. heads on engine, qtr. window regulators removed/lexan qtr. windows, rear disc brakes (Ford 9"). Any other ideas where to take weight out (besides driver - weighs 230 lbs.)? Are we missing anything? This is still a street-driven car (which can be a broad definition nowadays - LOL).o No: We can't figure out how it still weighs in that high with all that we've done to lighten it. I keep telling him the frame must have been dipped in lead at the factory. If anyone has any suggestions, let's hear 'em!
Aluminum driveshaft,lightweight brakes,tubular trans, crossmember...................Buick motor.....oops,that slipped. My car is 3270 w/o me and the only f/glass is the lift off hood. I've got the backseat,alot of exhaust,steel bumpers,etc. Although some of my metal has been acid dipped but I'm not sure what that is worth
Yeah, we figured the Buick motor suggestion would come up. LMAO He really fought with the idea of converting, but it came down to a dollars-and-sense thing. John Massoud is a good friend of ours, and really broke Tom's cojones about the swap. He's happy to see that at least for one Chevy-powered-Buick there's a Buick-powered-Chevy. I'll have to find and post the pics of the BBB in my Monte. It looks (and performs) really nice! Now I just have to finish the cosmetics on the car. I think I may start looking for a 70-72 Skylark and set that up for racing.
more than anything,I'm just trying to make sense of the weight difference...At 3710 with a 230lb driver there is a 290lb difference as my car is 3420 w/ me and I'm a whopping 150lbs. So there is a plus 210 lb difference to his car which has more fiberglass and no backseat. I still think I can get another 30-50lbs out of my car too. I know w/ the rack and pinion I lost some weight...Not sure what a BBC actually weighs but my motor has a girdle and is hard blok'd. I stayed w/ a 12 bolt for weight reduction too. I keep thinking of things after I respond,Just throwingout ideas.
I notice they make fiberglass quarterpanels for some cars, at least chevys that I know of. If someone was to reproduce fiberglass quarters for the Buick A-Body, how much of a weight difference would that be from the steel quarterpanels? What also would be cool is a complete fiberglass, carbon fiber, or lightweight material shell of a '70-72 A-Body.
Roll Bars Bob, By the book I don't think they are legal. It's a real gray area according to most people I have talked to in the past. I have never been told by an tech inspector that there was anything wrong with them. Infact some of the tracks that I have gone to are VERY PICKY in the tech area, and no one has ever said anything about them. I would say that for pure safety reasons, the bars should be straight. I put the 6 point roll bar in the car back in the mid 90's, in anticipation of running in the 11's. Then the car was 90% street driven and I wanted the convenience of the bent down tubes. I come to the conclusion that if a car like mine (3750 lbs) goes on its top, bent or striaght down tubes is not going to make a great deal of difference. A full perimeter cage would be the only safe route. Since my car will go back to street use some day, I really don't want to cut it up any more than I have. I guess when you race a street car there are always compromises to be made!
Steve: Thanks for the reply. You are in the exact same place I am on this issue. That's why I asked.:beer
Took us long enough! After much deliberation (and a full season of racing), the cage is finally in! Thanks to all who replied with pics and ideas. We basically used Gary's car as a model. Tom also wanted to retain his inner wheelwells, and got his wish. Special thanks to our friend Jeff Scafidi of JRS Racecars for his time and effort bending and installing the cage. He did a real nice job keeping the cage tucked up tight and out of the way. Here are some pics. We added the forward cage section, as well as the forward strut bars to his existing rollbar (and rear support bars). Prior to this addition, Tom's car has run a best of 10.32 @ 128, with a 1.45 60' (M/T ET Street Radials and HR Parts-N-Stuff Anti-Rollbar, pump gas, just the way he drives it there).
I have a 8 points rollcage in my 72 skylark. Both are solder directly on the floor and not on the chassis as specified in NHRA rules. Is that a safe way or the cage must absolutly be solder to the frame. My car pass all tech inspection when I race here in Europe! Thanks David
If the car has a full frame, the rollbar (or rollcage) must attach directly to the frame. Only when the car does not have a full frame (unibody construction), can the bar/cage be welded to the floor. Also, if this method is used, there must be a 6"x6"x.125" (I think) plate welded to the floor, and the bar/cage welded to that. Hope this helps!
That's the rules for NHRA. But it's about safety! what if I crash with a rollcga esolder to the body floor and not the frame? Thanks
