There's always numerous posts on the board to the effect "how can I get 500hp out of my SB (BB)"?
Of course, there are many ways to do that. But most of them cost a whole lot of money. Speed costs money...period. But, there is a cheap (sometimes free) way to help.
The main indicator of quick acceleration (and 1/4 mile times) is power-to-weight ratio. The more hp per pound of weight...the better.
So here's my hot tip.... Lose weight!
I'm sure you've heard that one before. But really, there are a lot of things you can do to accomplish that.
First, clean out the trunk or cargo area. I was carrying around a Hi-lift jack that weighed over 40 lbs and enough tools to rebuild a battleship. I traded the Hi-lift for a 15 lb bottle jack and ditched a bunch of the tools. (As a bonus, the bottle jack takes up 1/10 the space of the Hi-lift.) Probably saved 35 pounds there.
Really, do you need all those tools? You can just about disassemble an entire Dodge truck with a couple of box wrenches. Get the double ended offset box wrenches and really save some weight.
Clean out the glove box and console too.
I had a bad leak in the hatch area of my Shadow. Water was getting in around the light housing and filling the spare tire well. In the process it had soaked the entire rug and sound material. I stripped the entire truck to find the leak. When reassembling, I noticed that the now dry sound material was heavy stuff. All that got tossed in the trash. There was probably 10-15 pounds of material back there. Doesn't sound like a lot, but it adds up if you stripped the whole car.
There's lots of ways to lose weight. And every pound you shave off the vehicle is one less pound the engine needs to move. Face it, even 500hp in a 5000 lb Caddy is not going to beat 100hp in a 450lb bike.
Plus losing weight will also help the vehicle handling, since less weight is changing direction. And, on top of everything else, it will increase your gas mileage.
You could also buy lighter weight components: aluminum wheels and intake, fiberglass body panels. But, this gets us back into spending $$$. There are plenty of creative ways to lose weight with little or no money.
So, next time you thinking about how you could go faster, clean out the trunk first.
here is a hot tip for losing weight. www.usbody.com
Of course, there are many ways to do that. But most of them cost a whole lot of money. Speed costs money...period. But, there is a cheap (sometimes free) way to help.
The main indicator of quick acceleration (and 1/4 mile times) is power-to-weight ratio. The more hp per pound of weight...the better.
So here's my hot tip.... Lose weight!
I'm sure you've heard that one before. But really, there are a lot of things you can do to accomplish that.
First, clean out the trunk or cargo area. I was carrying around a Hi-lift jack that weighed over 40 lbs and enough tools to rebuild a battleship. I traded the Hi-lift for a 15 lb bottle jack and ditched a bunch of the tools. (As a bonus, the bottle jack takes up 1/10 the space of the Hi-lift.) Probably saved 35 pounds there.
Really, do you need all those tools? You can just about disassemble an entire Dodge truck with a couple of box wrenches. Get the double ended offset box wrenches and really save some weight.
Clean out the glove box and console too.
I had a bad leak in the hatch area of my Shadow. Water was getting in around the light housing and filling the spare tire well. In the process it had soaked the entire rug and sound material. I stripped the entire truck to find the leak. When reassembling, I noticed that the now dry sound material was heavy stuff. All that got tossed in the trash. There was probably 10-15 pounds of material back there. Doesn't sound like a lot, but it adds up if you stripped the whole car.
There's lots of ways to lose weight. And every pound you shave off the vehicle is one less pound the engine needs to move. Face it, even 500hp in a 5000 lb Caddy is not going to beat 100hp in a 450lb bike.
Plus losing weight will also help the vehicle handling, since less weight is changing direction. And, on top of everything else, it will increase your gas mileage.
You could also buy lighter weight components: aluminum wheels and intake, fiberglass body panels. But, this gets us back into spending $$$. There are plenty of creative ways to lose weight with little or no money.
So, next time you thinking about how you could go faster, clean out the trunk first.
here is a hot tip for losing weight. www.usbody.com
