…five years ago. $850 in 2015 is about $950 in 2020 dollars, just accounting for inflation (and not accounting for the engines now being scarcer than they were then).

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Just for reference, a Geo Metro weighs almost 1,800 pounds

You would be AMAZED at how much weight you can get out of one of those and still drive it on the street...

Will it be street legal with full lights, wipers, defroster and seat belts? Without any structural weakening such as drilling or cutting of existing structures?

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Joshua

Lights, and cheap parts store lap belts. Complete climate control system and wipers, most of the wiring, most of the interior, everything behind the dash including air bags gone, race style steering column with toggle switch turn signals, how much cutting compromises the structure?

A 63 or 64 Valiant wouldn't need seat belts at all, there goes a few more pounds...

There's really nothing more miserable to drive than a car with no interior.

I am officially old. This statement frightens me.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

Wow, that's dumb.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

This thread has gone off the rails. It's not about how stripped a car can be or how light it can be. It was about the cost and availability of an aluminum block. I think I have an idea about that topic now.

Is it possible to build an 1800lb A body? I don't know. I know that 2200-2400lb A body drag cars are out there with V8's, glass hoods and bumpers, full interior, and roll bar. Ditch the roll bar, add lexan windows, 8-3/4" or 9" ford rear swapped for 7-1/4", 9" drums, aluminum intake/block/trans 225 swapped for aluminum head/intake/whatever trans, maybe loose windshield wipers, super light dacron aircraft inspired headliner (another ) and who knows? Maybe there's another several hundred pounds that can be lost. Wiring can be reduced to a minimum especially with LED bulbs that require hardly any current. I bet a lawnmower sized battery would turn over an 8:1 compression slant with a gear reduction starter. There's a good 35-40 lbs pf stuff in the dashboard that can get lost fairly simply. A piece of lightweight tubing can replace the solid shaft in the steering column. I even saw a guy that turned an aluminum column that looked just like the stock one. I've seen aluminum door hinges too. The reinforcement plate behind the brake booster on the firewall? Yep, fairly simple to replicate in aluminum.

The reference to deleting the seat belts is only half joking. There are parts store lap belts that literally weigh 1/2 or less than the factory units if you must keep them. I put 40-60k miles a year on my personal vehicles and probably that many more on rentals traveling for work. I have 2.5 million safe miles OTR with a class A CDL. I've traveled more miles in an automobile than most. I own a Suburban that I've put a million miles on. I have been involved in accidents (not at fault) with and without a seatbelt. I participate in high performance boating and I've hit the water at 100 mph (with a vest). I'm comfortable operating a classic car without seat belts, I think that each individual should participate in their hobbies at their comfort level. If seat belts give you a warm and fuzzy feeling then by all means install and use them. IIRC accident statistics show that lap belts alone (which is the most any early A body ever had standard) do barely anything to contribute to accident survivability over no seat belt at all. What a lap belt does do is retain the corpse inside the vehicle. There is no measurable increase in safety until you get to a 3 point shoulder restraint.

All that is far beyond the scope of this thread also. If anyone has anything else to contribute regarding cost or availability of aluminum blocks, I'm all ears...

There are a couple of mostly steel A-body Slant racecars that are right around 2000-2100 lbs. Seymour's old blue car, for one. You should be able to find an alum block for $1000 or less if you wait and search a little...

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

So it's dumb to operate a vehicle that wasn't manufactured with seat belts without them? Is it dumb to operate a vehicle that was manufactured before the CHMSL was mandated without one? A vehicle manufactured before stability control and collision avoidance without them?

Anybody willing to chip in to help engineer an 8 airbag system that's unobtrusive and fully integrated into the interior of a 60's classic?

How many of you guys take a slant 6 powered ride with 9" drum brakes out on the freeway to do battle in traffic daily at 80 mph?

I guess I'll pack my $#!+ and send my classics to the crusher so that I can afford a down payment on a Tesla that drives itself

Thanks Lou, that's encouraging. I guess I'll be keeping my progress to myself though as my ideas are dumb...

Don’t stop posting because of other people’s opinions. As you can see those opinions are shared very freely (it IS the internet ).

Keep your eyes open and post occasionally that you are looking for an aluminum block. One will likely turn up. Best of luck.

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Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

Yes. Dumber than asking a question one already knows the answer to, Dumber than comparing the primary main number-one lifesaver in a car with a light that reduces your chance of being hit by 4.3%, and dumber than pretending your options are binary (a car without seatbelts or a self-driving Tesla that doesn't actually exist yet).

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I'm not sold on seatbelts in cars that never had them. I 'suppose' it's statistically safer to have them but then....we'd have to start adding all sorts of safety pieces if we were to abide by statistics.

Ten of millions of people drove tens of millions of miles without seatbelts and lived to tell about it. Seatbelts, like a lot of other safety stuff, only matter if you have an accident.

Which brings me to my final point....I know some of you guys drive your old cars a couple hundred thousand miles each year in all sorts of weather and traffic. But I sure don't. I drive my old cars only when it's nice out, daytime, and in very limited miles. I avoid heavy traffic. Henceforth, my odds of having any accident are minimal.....I'm as worried about an airplane landing on me. I'd be far more afraid of getting maimed in an accident if I drove a Hyundai with all the safety features 100,000 miles per year to work each day. I'd also be far more worried about getting hurt riding a motorcycle or smoking cigs or using drugs.

My other final point is I've had two major accidents in my life, when much younger, and in both incidences I'd be dead had I been wearing a seatbelt. So while the stats are against me, the real-life facts were with me. Seatbelts to me -especially when they are just lapbelts - are as much about emotion as actual safety.

But to focus on what's truly important - an 1800lbs A Body would be either very shaky or very expensive. I'm not interested in the shaky version...the expensive version I'm all ears.