Audio Upgrades: Kicker 10" sub and kicker 400.1 amp, 300W infinity rear speakers and panasonic reciever.
^ ^ ^
Nice speakers have bigger magnets. Bigger magnets weigh more. Amps don't make it any faster either.
If it were a race only car, I would ditch a ton of stuff. Like any unnecessary wiring. Windows, inner door bracing, fiberglass rear deck lid, front bumper (the stuff under the nose), even taking out the head lights and using black outs to cover the hole, take a hole saw to the radiator support. Alluminum accessory brackets and pulleys, no power steering, no power brakes, dump the passenger seat the little woman an walk, strip it to bare metal and paint it white (no pigments in white). Anorexia, up north style. HEHE

 

I would do just the entire poly front end, a/c and lightwieght front rims and tires. Relocating the battery to the trunk and the racing seats also. Unless you always drive alone, looking inside a weight deprived vehicle is not a pretty sight. No door panels and no carpet looks messy. I wouldn't take my girlfriend to the movies in the car. If it's nicely painted inside.....well then probably it will NOT look like a car you just pulled from wreck yard. Like it has been said before.... you may not really benefit from 100 to 300 pounds.

Now if you do all what was said above here and from other members, then you add an aluminum intake, aluminum heads, not as clear plexiglass windshield, inner fender removal, poly door skins, total gutted interior, etc. Then you indeed will pick some numbers on the track, but of course you now have a race car and NOT a daily driver to enjoy. At the next racing event, take a walk around the cars and see what they got going on. There was a 4200 pound Cadillac doing low 12's on TV a couple of months back. I was amazed, just engine and tires moved that boat, everything else was stock. You might just need a stronger, quicker revving engine.

 

well my car's not gonna be a straight up race car so i don't wanna do anything that would hurt the look of it too. so I wanna keep seats, door panels, carpet and anything else that makes the car look good.

I will be putting in a 454 and it will add weight so I wanna ATLEAST compensate for the additional weight of the big block. would cutting the A/C, lighter wheels, poly front end, racing seats and getting a lighter battery(would like to avoid moving battery to trunk) get me there?

 

You can't save 5 lbs from one battery to another, so forget the "lighter battery" idea.
As for saving weight on a big block, vs. a small block. You can save a ton of weight, and get the BBC to be close to SBC weight, by just using aluminum heads on it. That saves weight, and saves it where it counts; up front.
A complete fiberglass or poly frot clip will save weight, but since those don't use inner fenders, you'll have a lot of road dirt and mess inside your engine bay, and on wet days you'll take the chance of flooding your carb if you hit puddles. The weight savings is not great, and the issues of getting the front end to tilt or lift off, and still have radiator support, and frame support, will cause you to add weight for strength. Kind of a wash I think.
You're still looking way past the engine install to problems that might not even be an issue. Once you've got a healthy 454 in there, with the right tranny and rear axle, then you can decide if it's still not fast enough, and how to shed weight. Until then I'd concentrate on all the things needed to make the 454 go in, and not blow out the trans or rear gears!

 

yeah my next priority after my engine is my tranny and rear. so i was just wondering

yeah but the alum heads would be an extra 800 or so. and you can get lighter batteries like optima or other racing batteries

 

I'd have to agree, see where you're at once you get the 454 in it. A lot of the things you mentioned to save weight are a lot of trouble to go through for minimal benefits. If I were you I'd look for small things that would give you more HP rather then be worried about small weight savings. Removing AC probably isnt a bad idea and it will save weight, but you could also put a switch in the car to shut down the alternator when you want more power so that it only free spools it won't be generating any electrical power which is more power for your engine. (Just dont forget to switch it back on when you're done). You could also get aluminum heads and intake and have them ported and polished. If you have high gears, look into getting some lower gears for your rear end, that'll give you a better launch and better acceleration which really counts in short races. Use an electric fan instead of belt driven as it takes quite a bit less power for an electric fan than belt driven. All of the things I mentioned are relatively inexpensive HP gains, and would probably amount to more than shedding a little weight from your car. Not to mention, your car would still be very streetable.

 

i guess you guys are right, there's not really a point in trying to lessen weight since it will also be my street car and a lil changes won't make that much of a difference. yeah my 454 will have alum intake but not heads. thats an extra 800 but i do plan on getting lower gears(4.11)

 

An alluminum radiator will save a ton and not break the bank. There preaty cheap on ebay.

 

very true! and it doesnt reduce streetability.

 

Something else you could do thats relatively inexpensive for a few more HP is index your spark plugs. By having your spark plugs electrode facing toward the valves (I believe you should have it favor the exhaust side...somebody please correct me if I'm wrong), to enable better combustion. They do this by using different thicknesses of washers. Or you could always get E3 plugs...but that may be overkill.

Summit racing has many different kits. http://www.summitracing.com/search/?...%20index&dds=1 Maybe someone could chime in here and recommend a certain type over another.