How To Make Your 1963 to 1982 Corvette Lighter

Corvettes, although fiberglass bodied, are heavy vehicles. When the 1963 appeared, it was 3015 pounds, slightly lighter than the '61 and '62 Corvettes, yet still heavier than the ones before. By 1968, the weight had increased to 3210 pounds and continued to climb to 3529 in 1975. At 3572, 1978 was the heaviest year as Chevy put it on a diet since someone finally realized that weight was counterproductive to gas mileage, braking, handling, and acceleration. By 1981, the Corvette was back down to 3307 although it jumped right back up to 3342 in '82, the last of the Sting Ray/Stingray chassis.

In 1980 at Road America for the Can Am, I met a guy with a '68 Coupe that was considerably lighter. He claimed it was 2200 lbs. And he drove it there. He bought his '68 new and was disappointed to be beaten constantly by the Cobras. His contention was the only reason the Cobras were beating Vettes was due to about 800 lbs difference. so he lightened his.

The Corvette has a lot of fat in it so you can lighten it a lot. My '66 weighes roughly 2700 and that is with a bunch of welding, steel gussets, and roll cage tubing. So you could shave a few hundred but at what price, both in dollars and in comfort?

Here's some ideas.

Engine

• aluminum block - ~ $2500
• aluminum heads ~ $750
• aluminum intake (if you have the iron one) ~ $150
• aluminum water pump ~$80
• tube headers
• aluminum flywheel or 12 lb nodular iron Chevy flywheel
• aluminum accessory brackets
• aluminum radiator
• removal of radiator core steel support (make an aluminum one)

Body

• removal of entire air conditioning system (evap, cond, dry, comp, lines)
• removal of heater system
• removal of hidden headlights (use fixed lights)
• removal of hood mechanism (use hood pins)
• removal of vacuum reservoir
• removal of 5 mph bumper assemblies (leave skins on)
• removal of bumpers and brackets
• removal of spare tire and carrier
• removal of steel header bar under front nose (replace with homemade fiberglass item)
• removal of hood frame
• removal of inner fenders
• removal of your steel floor '76 up (not sure how you do that, other than throw body away and start with a '75 back body)
• replace factory fiberglass front with lightweight aftermarket front
• removal of birdcage inside the body
• removal of door hinges and striker plates
• change to smaller battery

Interior

• removal of door beams or replace with pre-'73 doors
• removal of window crank mechanism or power windows (use a strap to lift window)
• removal of window glass if not needed
• removal of T top inner panels
• removal of convertible top and frame
• removal of hardtop inner panels
• replace hardtop window with plexiglass
• removal of tilt/tele wheel for standard one
• removal of stock seats for racing buckets
• removal of storage compartment doors
• removal of all interior trim, door panels, etc.
• removal of radio
• removal of stock instruments

Suspension

• change to fiberglass spring in rear
• change the front to a transverse fiberglass spring
• change A arms to tube type (check circle track magazines)
• change the iron rear end to the 80 up aluminum diff. and crossmember
• change to newer aluminum half shafts (fabrication reqd.)
• change to newer aluminum driveshaft (fabrication reqd.)
• replace stock camber rods with tube adjustable ones
• remove center cross member and replace with lightweight tube
• change from steel rally wheels to alum mags
• change from steel belted tires to fabric belted

Doc