The '74 is heavier due to stricter safety standards that nobody cares about anymore, same on the rear. If the day ever comes that you need it you could put it back in, but they aren't that much good anyway.īy the way, the '71 front clip is a good swap to save weight. With a Duster, you may as well pull the backseat but leave the mounts. The later model A/C would help shave some weight off. I agree with Elwenil on that, to be honest the panels aren't terribly heavy anyway. Better work on upper body strength though for the steel hood. Still hold it on, can still tie it in, but cut weight while keeping strength elsewhere. I concur on lose the hinges and go to pins. Just 35? Not 40? I think the heads should shave off 60 lbs. (similar to Crager SS) rims with no tires. My old Cragar aluminum racing slots were lighter with the tires on them than the bare E.T. About the only things I can think of that are worth it is gutting the interior/swapping to light racing seats, swapping to manual steering and brakes and the racing wheels. For more lightening you can swap to some real racing wheels and shave a lot of weight but most other lightening modifications have some sort of drawback to them. Oh and no interior is a legal option as long as you have the safety stuff in. I considered going to fiberglass panels on my '72 Charger when I was street racing it and sort of pondering a One Lap of America run (not to mention a total lack of '72 Charger fenders in my area) but when I found out I would only save about 100 lbs from swapping the whole front clip to street weight fiberglass I trashed the idea. The race weight panels are not intended to be used on the street and will quickly crumble from the abuse of street driving. Keep in mind the "street weight" fiberglass panels are not much lighter than the normal steel panels and the "race weight" panels require a lot of internal structure and Dzus fasteners to support them and keep them from cracking. Both my '74 and the '71 have A/C, Power Steering and Front & Rear Sway Bars Keep in mind my A-Bodies are Street Driven Cars, so Lexan Windows, No Interior, ect are not a legal option The same questions will also apply to my '71 Demon which is going to be an all-out balls to the wall street car that may occasionally see the track. All in All i've shaved about 350 pounds off the car without even intending to do so (as it sits right now, before i convert it to a '71 Clone) What else can i do to lighten the '74? (Without sacrificing my A/C, Power Steering & Sway Bars) I'm already running a set of Low Profile Heated-Power Bucket Seats (roughly 18 pounds per seat), No Padding under the Carpet, No Spare Tire, No Trunk Padding, No Bumper Jack, LD340 Aluminum Intake, 8-3/4" Rear (Which is roughly 60 pounds less than a 8-1/4"), Keystone Klassic Wheels (50/50 Aluminum & Steel, 1 pound less than the Rallyes, each). So does anybody know how much lighter the Fiberglass Fenders are when compared to the Stock Fenders? How about the Fiberglass Hood vs the Stock '71 Hood (with Scoop) I know i'm going to save at least 30 pounds swapping the heavy '74 Bumpers for the lighter '71s But 30 will barely put a dent in my Car's Weight On my '74 Duster i'm going to be converting it to a '71 Clone ('71 Clip & Tail, with matching '71 Bumpers). I'm always happy to have one of my cars perform better. Not because i want to shave time off them at the track, just because i want them to accelerate faster and run higher. So in my endless battle to make my A-Bodies every bit as fast as i can, i figured i'd start researching Alternative Body Parts.
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