It's a non-HAMB '68 Fiat 850 Spider that's gonna be built into a single seater, hopefully along the lines of the wheelbarrow car. Rear engine, water cooled, 903 cc's, transverse leaf spring front suspension with upper A arms. Not sure if I'll post much if any of the build due to the donor car, but the look I'm going for is 50's or 60's Indy car, but street legal.
Here's something to think about, I had a steel 32 roadster body and a gl*** 32 roadster body in the shop at the same time.I didn't weigh them but 2 guys could lift the steel car , it took 4 of us to lift the gl*** car. My 27 T race car weighs in at 1415# sbc /th400/dana 60.
I beleive it!!Gl*** is pretty heavy & thick!! Its also stronger then steel, harder to get smooth, but easier to repair!! My father said that after the war(WWII, what else!!) that at the NYC boatshow they took a "new" fibergl*** boat( new technoligy) and dropped it off the roof of the kingsbridge armory in the Bronx to show how tough it was.He said it came thru with flying colors!! I don't know why everyone hates Fibergl*** so much!! There was even a post on here once about how someone would not stop to help a person in a fibergl*** rod who was stuck on the road!! Its actually pretty good stuff but not cheap to make, can't be just Stamped out!! JimV
My 58 Bonneville weighed in at 3985 lbs. Almost 2 tons. I'm hoping to run in the 14s at the HAMB drags though.
My family and I were camping in Garner State Park and had driven my son's 57 BelAir 2door sedan there. A neighbor there asked about the 57 and commented on how big and heavy it obviously was. He was driving a late 90s Firebird, V8 etc. I told him his Firebird weighed more than the 57 Chevy. He laughed, I told him I had $150 that said it did, he didn't laugh any more but said "prove it!" I told him to pull out his registartion and I got out mine. The Firebird weighed 150 pounds more than the 57 Chevy. Naturally he did not come up with the money but he's never made a fool's bet again, I imagine.
I'm aimin' for 1650# for the Track Roadster; '28 boxed frame, steel body, flattie and '46 Ford running gear setup. LOTS of aluminum. 'gl*** is kinda heavy, IMHO. For a benchmark - a stocker Model A roadster was about 1750# if I recall right. Since a SBC and trans weigh in at about 700#, it's a safe bet to say that a finished car will run 2.5 - 3X the weight of the powertrain.
my 70's bucket tipped the scale at 1470 289 ford, spoked Halcraft wheels. I did get a no fender ticket. a Buddy took the ticket "said he had a CHP friend that would sign it off." I asked him later if it was taken care of he said "I couldn't find him so I signed his name, couldn't remember his badge number so I just wrote one down and turned it in to the court house" I think that was the moment I decided to sell my Bucket
In the Eighties and early Nineties, I used to have a racecar that had a thick fibergl*** Falcon body on it (no, not a Ford Falcon...think Devin or Bocar). The ch***is was basically a T ch***is, i.e. two straight rails made from rectangular tubing. It had a MII front suspension and coilovers in the rear. The roll bar was a 6-point. The interior was aluminum sheet. Engine was a 283. It weighed in at approximately 1600 lbs.
That 58 Bonneville weighs less than a Jeep Liberty (4150). All the new cars, even the small ones, are pretty heavy. We equate physical size with weight, but the newer the car, the more electronics, insulation, and bracing that really adds up. My 37 Ford pickup with a 283/muncie weighed 3160.
Exactly, my 59 Belair weighs in at about 3900 lbs. This is with my tool box, extra oil, antifreeze, etc. in the trunk, ( probably an extra 100 lbs in this stuff). Less than a new Mustang or Corvette, I think.
My Locost weighs in at a whopping 1235 lbs, which is actually very, very heavy for a Lotus repllica. I've seen some guys able to build them under 1000 lbs.
A new Vette weighs in at between 3100 and 3200. I'm not sure about a Mustang. My buddy was giving me **** for putting fuelie heads and a solid cam on my '26 Ford I'm building. When the car weighs less than 2000 pounds I don't think it much matters .
Various cars I've had weighed: '34 Ford PU w/265 27**# '50.5 Ford Victoria w/350 34**# (more stuff in it now, no doubt heavier) '99 Ford Lightning PU 41**# '57 Olds 2dr sedan 4160# Never weighed my Lotus 7 or my T; wish I had. Both under 2000# for sure.
I have this T sence 2000 and made alot of changes to it.When I first weight the car it was 2000 pounds,well it has no front brakes,had a shorter body, fibergl*** fenders,no hood and had a bed with a steel tank in it.I add front brakes, steel fenders and steel hood,Made it 10 inch longer,removed the bed and a bunch of other changes I figure it would of been over 2100 pounds but it tip the scales at 2050 pounds.surprise the hell out of me.
I used race car plate scales and found this thing was a little heavy for a modified. 2200#s Inline 8's are a little heavy. The weight was almost 50/50 front and back.
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