Marauder Diet

[Dan]

A lot has been discussed about the weight of the Marauder and how hard it is to get a 4200 lb car moving down the strip as compared to 3200 lb 'Stangs.

Assuming that you were going to try to strip weight from your car, what would you do?

For that sake of our conversation lets assume that you want to keep the car a daily driver. That means that they AC and the stereo stay.

Also, when you give us your recipe for weight reduction let's hear whether you are going on a 250 lb, 500 lb or 1000 lb diet. If you plan on replacing panels with fiberglass then please tell us where you source it from - we need to keep it real.

Dan

[FordNut]

A lot has been discussed about the weight of the Marauder and how hard it is to get a 4200 lb car moving down the strip as compared to 3200 lb 'Stangs.

Assuming that you were going to try to strip weight from your car, what would you do?

For that sake of our conversation lets assume that you want to keep the car a daily driver. That means that they AC and the stereo stay.

Also, when you give us your recipe for weight reduction let's hear whether you are going on a 250 lb, 500 lb or 1000 lb diet. If you plan on replacing panels with fiberglass then please tell us where you source it from - we need to keep it real.

Dan
Exhaust upgrade saves a liittle weight and adds power. 2 aftermarket cats instead of the 4 oem ones, lighter mufflers, headers weigh less than the manifolds, the resonator delete tips weigh a bit less.

Strip the insulation and sound deadener from under the seats and carpet and from inside the door panels.

Pull all the trim panels from the trunk and remove the underhood insulation. Naturally, the spare tire and jack have already been removed.

Most of us do the opposite, adding options, speakers with bigger magnets, dynamat, spoilers, etc. With the spare tire removed, even with all the add-ons I have, I weighed in at 4150 with 1/2 tank of gas at SSHS4.

[Bradley G]

Wild Rice is all I feed Mine!

Bradley G

[Haggis]

Wild Rice is all I feed Mine!

Bradley G


Sometimes I add a little kraut to the diet.

[Marauderman]

[QUOTE=FordNut.

even with all the add-ons I have, I weighed in at 4150 with 1/2 tank of gas at SSHS4.[/QUOTE]

How did you manage that amt weight ---I emptied mine out and weighed in at 4400--using same scales---thats alot of diff--same gas amt. too...did you really strip your insides?...

EDIT: ...Ah...I may have heavier add-ons....didn't think of those.....humnnnn---

[dwasson]

A lot of us are big guys. I think that it's funny that we will spend hundreds on carbon fiber glove box doors and drilled-for-lightness seat covers and then go eat a pizza and drink a couple pitchers to celebrate the speed improvement. Note that I said "we", I do it too.

[Paul T. Casey]

Meaningful weight reduction is tough. Most of us bought the Marauder for the "creature comforts," i.e. power seats, windows, locks, etc. If you were going to strip one down, these would be good places to start. I'm not sure of the exact weights, but 4 motors for windows, 2 motors for seats, servos and the like would probably add up. All that, plus insullation, spare tire, stereo system, and I still think you'll make the minimum for events like SSHS which was 3800 lbs.

[MarauderMark]

At sometime ago hot rod was doing an article about weight reduction on big body cars.they took an old 76 olds 98 or 99 im not sure which but it was a boat .They stripped off the body parts fenders , roof , rear quaters, trunk , etc . where they was hardly any weight and ran it on the track and was turning low 13's. i can't seem to find a pic of this to show ya'll but boy what a funny lookin piece that was..

[FordNut]

even with all the add-ons I have, I weighed in at 4150 with 1/2 tank of gas at SSHS4.

How did you manage that amt weight ---I emptied mine out and weighed in at 4400--using same scales---thats alot of diff--same gas amt. too...did you really strip your insides?...

EDIT: ...Ah...I may have heavier add-ons....didn't think of those.....humnnnn---
I didn't strip anything out of it except the spare tire, jack, and trunk organizer (which is full of stuff). I do have the Kooks headers, single cats on each side, and lighter Edelbrock mufflers but still have the stock Megs.

But I don't have a blower either!...yet

Weighed 4400 with me in the car, wearing my helmet and ready to race.

[merc406]

A lot of us are big guys. I think that it's funny that we will spend hundreds on carbon fiber glove box doors and drilled-for-lightness seat covers and then go eat a pizza and drink a couple pitchers to celebrate the speed improvement. Note that I said "we", I do it too.



Dan has hit the nail on the head, being a small guy, when I was able back in the 70's, I was the driver of many of other guy's cars weighing in at back then, 101lbs.
Beside's that, the hoods and deck lids could use some glass replacement's, sound deadener removal, but if your really going to keep it nice for the road, that's about it. IMO :burnout: If you get really nut's go for the plastic race seat's, 11lbs and replace the glass with Lexan and just gut the whole thing.

[Bigdogjim]

A lot of us are big guys. I think that it's funny that we will spend hundreds on carbon fiber glove box doors and drilled-for-lightness seat covers and then go eat a pizza and drink a couple pitchers to celebrate the speed improvement. Note that I said "we", I do it too.
I agree with you wholeharted. I weight in at 375, so what do I need to remove from my Marauder to get it moving? I still managed a better time than others that dove it:)(at MVII-Indy) So while weight is a big consideration it's only one factor of many. :banana2:

[Marauderman]

I didn't strip anything out of it except the spare tire, jack, and trunk organizer (which is full of stuff). I do have the Kooks headers, single cats on each side, and lighter Edelbrock mufflers but still have the stock Megs.

But I don't have a blower either!...yet

Weighed 4400 with me in the car, wearing my helmet and ready to race.

Brian..I don't think you weigh 250---so I'm confused ---you said eariler 4150 and then 4400--and what you did was what I did---so we are the same at 4400 w/helmet ready to drive--right?

[Phil @ FLP]

Front and rear bumper supports can be removed though the bumpers may not sit right. Really too keep A/C and heater core your not gonna drop alot of weight. Plus I dont believe there is alot of aftermarket suspension stuff such as A arms and K-members. The most you can probably hope for is 100 to 150 pounds without doing fiberglass body panels and spending serious cash. It would be cheaper and more daily friendly to put a supercharger on the car then pay to replace all the body panels.

[FordNut]

Brian..I don't think you weigh 250---so I'm confused ---you said eariler 4150 and then 4400--and what you did was what I did---so we are the same at 4400 w/helmet ready to drive--right?
I weigh in at 240+, add in the helmet and 250 is about right. Looks can be deceiving.

[Smokie]

I weigh in at 240+, add in the helmet and 250 is about right. Looks can be deceiving.Brian, you don't look like you weigh an ounce over 239.:lol:

[Bigdogjim]

I weigh in at 240+, add in the helmet and 250 is about right. Looks can be deceiving.
lightweight:lol: :lol:

[jgc61sr2002]

Meaningful weight reduction is tough. Most of us bought the Marauder for the "creature comforts," i.e. power seats, windows, locks, etc. If you were going to strip one down, these would be good places to start. I'm not sure of the exact weights, but 4 motors for windows, 2 motors for seats, servos and the like would probably add up. All that, plus insullation, spare tire, stereo system, and I still think you'll make the minimum for events like SSHS which was 3800 lbs.



Paul - I concur, the power window and seat motors add quite a bit of weight. I the old days a serious drag racer deleted the radio, heater, sound deadning material, NO p/s and used the base two door sedan which was the lightest.

[Dan]

To the best of my knowledge there are no production fiber panels for our cars. Is my knowledge accurate? If not, please report with links.

Thanks.

Dan

[gpfarrell]

I love these "Have your cake and eat it too" threads.

Without disturbing the creature comforts of the car too much, I'd:

Strip the power window motors out of the rear doors.

Strip everything out of the trunk.

Look for lightweight exhaust.

See if a set of 16" alloy wheels and tires would weigh less.

Much more than that and I think you'll lose some of the cake.

Btw, I think that Hot Rod article was in the mid 1980s, they used a 500 c.i. Caddy; their first runs had a 6 people in the car and a trailer on back.

By the time they stipped it to the frame, the et's dropped from the 20s to the 11s or so, without a single hp added. Weight hurts drag racing, but kills road racing... so this is an interesting idea no matter what you want to do.

[Dan]

I love "have your cake and eat it, too" threads, too. :)

[Bradley G]

I think that expression is silly.:o Who wants cake, but no eats?
Bradley G

[Krytin]

Don't forget to relocate the battery to the trunk!

[Bradley G]

Is there a kit? this seems to be an great choice to redistribute weight.how do the cables route?
Don't forget to relocate the battery to the trunk!

[Krytin]

Sumit offers a generic kit - battery box, cables & ends. You cut everything to fit. You could also source this stuff out to get things to fit better.
I have run cables both through the interior and/or along the frame rails - under the car along the frame rails is safer for the occupants. Make sure you run things tight and neat - no extra "loops" of cable that could get snagged or pinched. Think about pinch/crush points and "rubs" - you don't want to compromise the positve cable insulation and have it ground out. Makes for impressive sparks & flames like in massive electrical fire! You also want to make sure you provide for a solid ground connection from the battery ground to the frame/body/engine to make sure the starter and electronics all see enough juice!