Hey all,

I want to put my car on a diet. The bug has bitten me. I have been thinking about it for some time.

In addition to things like aluminum heads and such, I have recently been looking more and more into fiberglass body panels, like those from www.vfnfiberglass.com (http://www.vfnfiberglass.com) My questions then arise like this... Is it worth the money for the weight savings?

Now, I know this is a relative question and everyone will have different opinions, so here goes to help me out...

how much do stock steel panels weigh? I am mainly talking hood and fenders. I want to know how much they weigh so that I can determine if the weight savings will be worth it to me.

As always, thanks for any and all help.

Oh yeah, duh... this is for a 1968 Camaro, with a stock flat hood.

[This message has been edited by boodlefoof (edited 07-03-2001).]

This has been discussed before. There was a really good reply post in one thread. Try searching in General Tech.

Thanks. I actually checked the archives before and found some useful info on the subject, but couldn't seem to find the specific answers I am looking for.

If anyone knows how many pounds stock '68 fenders, a stock flat hood, a trunk lid, or any other pieces I might have missed weigh it would be appreciated.

any takers?

I believe I read in the article on Mark Stietlow's Thrasher that he saved 40 pounds going to a fiberglass hood. I never weighed my fenders when they were off but they didn't feel very heavy. If they were 20-30 pounds, that would be close. My concern with the fenders would be flexing. I think Chevy High Perf did a weight saving analysis a while ago. The opportunities I see are bumper, the usual engine items, an Optima battery would save 8 pounds. If you went with a dry cell battery for about the same price ( D.U.I. sells one), you can save about 30 pounds.

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Rick Dorion
69 RS Conv,355,M20,4.10's

Are there any drawbacks to a dry cell type battery? Other than possibly the price that is...

I don't know. I e-mailed DUI and they gave me marketing hype. I emailed Kyle Tucker and he said he didn't have any experience with them. They have a 1 yr warranty. A while back I posted asking if anyone had experience with them but got no response. I've seen them installed in some car mag articles but, again, no long term results. For about $150 vs $129 or so for the Optima it looks attractive for weight savings but I don't want to find out it doesn't have good reserve capacity. DUI told me it didn't have 'normal' specs like CCA since it was a different technology. I really don't accept that but I don't know where else to look.

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Rick Dorion
69 RS Conv,355,M20,4.10's

Thanks for the input. It would be a good opportunity to save weight, but this is a driver that sees lots of road time. If it turns out that I have to sacrifice reliability for a few pounds... it might not be worth it.

Maybe someone will stop by who has personal experience with this battery.

I just went out and weighed a few parts that I have replaced with fiberglass parts to shed some weight also.

Front bumper 18 lbs
inner fenderwells 15 lbs ea
factory 69 steel cowl hood 65 lbs

PLus I moved the battery to the trunck to put that weight to better use. I removed 45 lbs of undercoating and changed out the steering from power to a manual box.

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TONY
67 CAMARO R/S CLONE, 355/turbo 350, 200hp NOS,12 bolt,etc...

WOW!!! The front bumper is 18lbs? That is more than I would have expected. Inner fenderwells at 15. Hmmm... I have seen fiberglass replacements for these pieces at 3 pounds for a bumper and 4 for fenderwells... Can you chrome fiberglass?

If a cowl hood (with air box I am assuming) weighs 65, I imagine a stock flat piece must be 45 or more. Thanks for the info... Time to start hacking!