So, we race our 87 GTA in CMC here in Colorado. We weighed our hood in winter and found it was aa whopping 60 pounds. I know the Camaros can get down to a 40 pound stock hood. Are there any OEM firebird hoods lighter than the GTA (like the Formula) or are we just stuck with an extra 20# of ballast on our nose?

-erik

IIRC my factory fiberglass Camaro hood was 47 lbs, so that isn't to much lighter.

13 pounds is still a pretty good amount of weight for us to get rid of. Can't find many other place on the car to cut weight. As is, with me driving, we're over-weight and we don't have an oil cooler, power steering cooler, or firesystem yet (all of which I want to add).

there are aluminum hoods from early 3rd gen TA's, they are the powerbulge style. they are stupid hard to find, but do exist, havent seen one for sale in years. They are lightest factory hood for a bird.

i read somewhere the 91-92 firehawks had them too?

some info form over at TGO

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/history-...ood-bumper.html

maybe even fenders too

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/history-...id-82-83-t.html

Do the rules allow you to modify the hood? I skinned the hood on my Challenge car and then used hood pins to hold it on. That saved quite a bit of weight.

You CANNOT skin the hood. You can remove the hinges and brackets then pin it on. You can also gut the headlight doors and rivet them to the hood.

Sidney
Midwest Region
CMC2 #64

I should say that my car is for the Grassroots Motorsports Challenge non the CMC lest anyone think I'm cheating in a series I don't compete in. I seem to remember some old drag race teams acid dipping hoods and fenders to add lightness. its a stretch and probably not cost effective but you never know.

That is also illegal in CMC.

The AL hoods are like hen's teeth but you might have a better chance finding an aluminum bumper support. Those were used more. I don't know the weight savings though.

Yeah, sure sounds like I just need to accept our 20pounds of nose ballast from the hood OK, I'll keep an eye open for the aluminum bumper support. I know a guy who has one that needs repaired.

-erk

So what are the bumpers worth? Our local pick a part has several 3rd and 4th gen F-bodies. Is it worth rolling under one with a magnet?

In my neck of the woods, 3rd gen parts aren't worth diddly. I couldn't give stuff away on Craigslist...actually not true, I finally gave up and DID give it away to a fellow race buddy.

-erik

i have one in the garage (bumper support), its a camaro one IIRC, and its 12.25 lbs. not sure what the factory steel one weighs.

I'd expect the front bumper to be 20-25 lbs based on the weight of the rear bumper. I've had both my bumpers off the car and the front is of similar construction to the rear, and the rear steel bumpers are 20-24 lbs. http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/index.php?showtopic=14206

When I weighed parts off my '90 Formula, the front bumper was 35lbs and the rear was 25lbs on a bathroom scale with me holding them. Not saying it's very accurate, but it's the data I have.