It was heavier than I thought, 1790 Kg on a certified truck scale or 3950 pounds. With two spares and some extra parts in the trunk. About 100 pounds heavier than my G body was. I already have an aluminum intake, will be adding aluminum heads this Winter.

 

That’s similar to the weight of my ‘71 convertible. 350 engine, AC, TH-350, aluminum intake, headers, 15” SSIII wheels. I had a half tank of gas, full size spare, scissor jack, and tool bag in the trunk.

 

I feel like my 70 is a pig too.

-aluminum heads
-aluminum intake
-headers
-very short exhaust system
-fiberglass hood
-light aluminum wheels
-no heater core or vent system
-lotsa rust

+ roll cage

3890 with me (190lbs)

 

My '72 S with W29, 455, Turbo 400, dual exhaust, PS, PB, A/C, buckets, console, full tank weighed 3960. I think yours would be less, though not sure what your extra parts and extra spare weigh.

 

I was expecting less as well. Also have an aluminum rad, full length headers and 2.5" full dual exhaust with the smallest mini starter. The one penalty is the 4L80E, very heavy. Up front is aluminum 14x6 factory 88 Cutlass rims with BFG TA 205/70R14. Planning on going with the same rims for the rear with 225/70R14 instead of the 275/60R15 on 15x10 widened Pontiac rally 2 wheels. Two 14" spares currently a 14x7 Pontiac rally 2 with a 225/75R14 and another aluminum Olds 14x7 to match the front. Maybe a few pounds of parts, alternator, extra head lamp, 2 distributors, torque wrench, belt, one extra quart of every fluid and a small bag of other tools. So subtract the above.

 

That's very heavy. Were you in it ?

Base curb is 3580 lbs when 350/350.

The extra spare is plus 50 lbs ... but what about the other 300 lbs....


https://www.hotrod.com/how-to/perfor...e-transmission

So now we can account for plus 110 ... what else ? We are still plus 260 lbs. If you're in it, you're good.

 

No, I added 100 kg, which is spot on. The 4L80E adds about 60 pounds over a TH350 short tail supposedly, believe it. I will go through the trunk, again, see if I missed anything obvious and heavy. I did clean out some crap about a week ago. My Olds seem to be heavier than what they are supposed to be. I should have weighed my Challenger, supposedly 4108 pounds. These scales are definitely maintained, makes me happy when they are down being a truck driver.

 

Joe P has a post somewhere on here that goes something like this. Don't fool yourself the muscle era Cutlass is heavy, generally 4000 lbs with driver...

First pass I ever made with the 69 she was 4040 lbs with me at 260. Meanwhile its base curb is lighter than yours at 3534 lbs. First thing I had to figure out was what options comprised of base curb. Then all the addons from previous owners. Chunky 5 speaker including subwoofer stereo and amp. 4 wheel disc brake conversion. A quick and dirty paint job which involves painting over original paint. SS3 rims with oversized tires. I roughly figured it out years ago and have been minimizing ever since. But seeing 3534 lbs without me in it and a full tank of gas while being complete looks close to impossible without aftermarket parts. My best pass ever was at 3860 lbs. Take me out of it and its 3600 lbs, but with around a 1/4 tank of gas and no back seat... Full tank and back seat and curb is 3700 lbs ... And I already have several lightweight components swapped in, manual steering, aluminum water pump, mini starter, etc...

As far as I can tell base curb weights are only close to actual purchased models when its an F85 and the like. Those are also the only ones where the idealized track weight from yesteryear of 3500 lbs with driver on the line. Can be achieved with minimal effort on a complete car.

Well if she's just a toy for you and you want to go nuts with weight savings. I'm sure you're familiar with this list.


The entire list is 18 items deep. https://www.hotrod.com/how-to/ccrp-0...ight-reduction

 

Yeah, the bench seat is a penalty I didn't think about. Nothing really much else in the trunk. Massive torque no doubt helped move these heavy cars. If I wanted a light car, I would own an ugly *** 80's Mustang. Same goes with my modern car, I could have went Mustang or Camaro, a Challenger was a no brainer to me.

 

I have never seen a stock A body with typical street car components less than about 3600 pounds. I knew a guy that use to race a small block 68 cutlass, zero interior, no dash, no charging system, no window regulators, for a while he even removed the rear drums (not the smartest guy!!) and had front brakes only and the car weighed right at 2980 with no driver.

These cars are heavier than most people think.

 

this might sound like a stupid question..why would you weigh it with all that crap in the trunk?

 

Anybody Swiss cheese the frame rails, lexan windows, and go for fiberglass panels/bumpers?

Just watching from the big car (huh, what racing?) sidelines….

Chris

 

Can't leave home without it, far distances between everything here and most one horse towns don't even have fluids for sale, let alone parts, especially this old. For me, my G body had about the same amount of crap in the trunk, so a fair comparison. One more thing in there is the factory bumper jack. Either way, comparable, actually heavier than current performance cars. The aluminum heads will be a nice diet plan for this piggy Olds.

 

im asking why didn’t you take all that crap out of the trunk at the scales, put it on the ground somewhere, drive across the scales, then reload it?

 

While that would give a “bare car” weight, it would not represent the actual weight of the car while he’s regularly driving it.

 

Exactly, mobile hoarding.😃

 

I learn something new everyday here.

 

you’ll need a little box trailer soon….get an auto club membership so you don’t have to carry around half your garage.

 

My Wife asked me if we needed the tote in the trunk of the Challenger. I told her yes. It has the hitch, a bottle jack, for when we tow the trailer, some extra fluids, tools, extra straps for the boat, jumper cables and a torque wrench, breaker bar and assorted deep sockets and extension. Honestly it bothers me there is no spare included with these later Challenger's. My Wife would not be impressed if her fishing rods wouldn't fit because a full size tire took up all the space. What can I say, my parents were borderline hoarders. My Wife favorite saying, when shopping, she doesn't shop very often, is that will sure look great in the garbage. She purges clutter in the house as often as she can. I have areas, she basically leaves alone.

 

I loaded trucks in my late teens when I had my first car. '72 Chevelle with small block, 3-speed manual trans and 12-bolt rear. Other than the AM-FM radio, that car was a real stripper. Not much else in the way of options. I drove it onto the scales at work late one night to see what it weighed. Right at 3600lbs. That was with no spare or jack in the trunk.