Recently acquired a 67 Camaro converbile, I'm in the process of installing a set of fiberglass fenders and came across 2 weights approx 40lbs each behind each of the headlights. I looked in the trunk and found 2 more in the rear... I'm assuming theyre in there as ballasts to make up for lack of weight, possibly because its a convertible or maybe since its a factory 250 car. I tried doing some research and cannot seem to find anything about them. Would I be better off removing them to lighten the car, or do they actually improve the handling? Any info would be much appreciated.
Thanks!

 

Those things are nicknamed "cocktail shakers", and were put in the first gen convertibles. They were also used in other model cars as well. They are body dampers that have springs and fluid inside, to stabilize the car's body, and reduce that flex/twist/shaking feeling a convertible can get while driving down the road. Without them, your car could shake and shimmy, making it feel like a wheel is out of alignment or out of balance/bent. You want to leave them in place, unless you're adding some sort of frame ties such as subframe connectors.

 

Convertibles are heavier the hard tops. Like Camaro 69 said it is a feel thing. There is a lot you can do to make the car "feel" tighter going around turns but without some major reinforcement the car will never handle hard corners well. The body has a lot of flex in it. To anyone use to race type driving the car will feel sloppy. Its the only real down side to the 1st gen rag tops.

 

Think of it this way - tightrope walkers use long poles to balance themselves because the ends of the poles will "bounce" in the opposite direction they do, smoothing out the trip. Those weights "bounce" opposite to the body, dampening out the vibrations of a more flexible chassis.

And these convertibles aren't the only ones using this technique - I had a '88 Grand Am with the first of the Quad4 engines, and there was a weight attached to the bumper on a rubber mount to smooth out vibrations too.