Just how much weight can I SAFELY bolt on to a 1000cc mini sprint and where, without altering the works of the chassis? My driver weighs 107 lbs. and we need to add 155 lbs. to race in certain club.
help!!

155 lbs????? WOW good luck being safe with that one! ive always thought its pretty dumb to have a car and driver combined weight. i understand about a car weight minimum to keep costs down. a TQ club went to combined weight this year and alot of guys are still wondering what the point of it was. if a heavier driver is worried that a lighter one will be faster then go on a diet and exercise, its not rocket science..keep everything simple and safe..

Nick, you got it all wrong, buddy, there needs to be a minimum weight for a driver, 107lb driver, 550lb car, winner declared. I'd put the driver on corn and spuds, till he made up the difference, or pick something else to race! Maybe Jockey, rather than driver! Bob!

making a racecar lighter costs more money and gets rather expensive so a weight rule is created for car,,,, making a driver lighter is free. just takes will power and determination i really would not want to be out on the track with a mini sprint that had 150 lbs of lead bolted on..

Nick, I wouldn't either, but there has to be some "equalizer", and weight has it, our TQ weight this year was supposed to be 850lbs, car and driver, that was about 30lbs below the average of the cars that raced the previous season, but, someone got "convinced" and the weight ended up being 800lbs, or about the weight it had always been. Everything that races, anything that I know of, has a weight rule, to try to level the playing field, it's not just us, it's everything, we just don't have 25 weight classes, like go-karts do. Bob!

NICK, Sounds like a real fly weight speaking. Maybe you could do a book about race drivers diets and how to stay slim and trim. DNA only makes for better race drivers not lighter ones. The 410 sprints worry about weight and spend tons of money to be light and run for much larger purses than you do in 3/4 midgets. Sounds like you want nothing but skinny drivers around you.

Racing to some people is a sport, we can't all be pros and follow a diet to be competive as you must do. We did a little math the other day and 5HP equates to 25 lbs advantage for cars in the mini sprint size.

A real racer would want a level playing field for every one and beat the other guy because of his ability to drive a racecar and not because he was 30 lbs lighter.

Weight is the great equilizer.

When we started out racing we weighd 90 lbs.
A 1 inch lead plate placed right under the drivers butt in a 12" seat should be a little over 120 lbs.
We also had a 2" muffler pipe clamped to the left frame rail with a 3/4 pipe plug welded in it and filled it with lead shot for fine tuning.

There is a good chance if you driver is 107 now he will probably be 120 by spring time.

If you race MMSA look me up I'll be the old guy with the black 37 car.

DAD

Got to work this morning and did some figuring. You must be trying to race with ILLSA on alchol or you bought the wrong type of car. To race in Indiana and have to add that much weight your car would weigh about 670 lbs. THAT is a very light upright.

ILLSA is trying to get rid of alky cars and the best way to do this is make them too heavy to race. If you are wanting to run with them buy an old throttle body off of EBAY, Ask them where they are going to get their dyno jets tuned spend $200.00 for throttle body another $500.00 or so for dyno time and go and have fun racing with them.
YOU SHOULD NOW GET BY WITH ABOUT 70 LBS OF BALLAST WEIGHT.


Race Directors should keep in mind that some day a "Lawyer" could probaby be asking them, is Pump Gasoline a safer race fuel than Methanol and they are going to have to come up with a response.

Sounds like the car you have, has had some light weight part added, which, cost about as much as adding weight, maybe more. A good place to start, is compare your wheels and hubs, to some others, there is a lot of weight to be looked at there, and it's something that can be used later, to add the weight back in. I'd say you can pick up an easy 50lbs, just by going to the heavier wheels and hubs, beadlocks all the way around, heavier, solid hubs will add weight. Nerf bars, remove them, and ck the wall thickness, and if they're light, make new ones, out of heavier wall tube, the 7/8in buffed stainless comes in several wall thicnesses, thats an easy way to add it, and you need them anyway. You can buy, 2 pc, aluminum clamps, made just for adding ballast, and they are drilled and tapped for large diameter bolts, I would put them low in the car, and on the cross tubes, that still allows the chassis to flex, where it normally would. If the car doesn't already have a bladder tank, and you can afford one, that's another 20-25 lbs added, you could fill both lower frame rails with lead shot, which can be purchased in 25lb bags, at most gun stores, and you should be able to get a bag in each one, so that's 50lbs added. You can buy sheet lead, and secure it too you floor pans, and you don't need it in 1in thickness, you could put a little in the seat, just to be able to add or take away, where you can get to it easy, but don't get carried away, too much there will drastically effect the roll center, and make a very ill handling car out of it. Ck the bolts, all of them, and if they've been drilled, or are Titanium, replace them with std grade 8 stuff. Now, it's probably over weight. I wouldn't bolt any weight on the length of the frame rails, keep it all on the cross tubes, and keep it as close to the tube as you can, and not more than 20-25lbs either, keeps it from wanting to tear itself off. You can do it, I'd start with wheels, that's the biggest bang at once. If your interested, you can call AED in Indy, and get their catalog of material they stock, and they have it broken down by wt by ft, in fact, I think all that stuff they have available on the net, at www.aedmotorsports.com, and they may have an ad on IOW. Good luck! Bob!

---------- Post added at 9:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 9:41 AM ----------

DAD, 675 is what my TQ weighs, with all that "heavy" rear quickchange, and driveshaft stuff, and it sure isn't built light, I know, I built it, and several others, and all the tube is spec, or heavier, right now, our weight rule is 800lbs, car and driver, it was supposed to be 850lbs, car and driver, but I think there was some "negotiating" went on, after the "advisors" meeting, even the light guys, that were going to have to add weight, were unhappy, they wanted it brought up, so at least adding 50 lbs to the light guys, was taking 50lbs off the heavy guys, keeps em coming back. Bob!

That is why you guys are 3/4 midget's we use midget frames, midget axils, midget tail tanks etc. 725 lbs is a light mini. We use a 2" rear axil with a sprocket and sprocket carrier and a 15 lb chain it probably aint a whole lot lighter than the smaller TQ rear ends.

Can you imagine one your car with one of our motors we would have to fill Nick's pockets up with lead shot just to keep the darned thing on the ground.

DAD, there isn't that much more tube in a mini, as there is in a TQ, or midget for that matter, and if you'll go to AED's website, and look at the wt of the tube involved, I doubt if there's 25lbs difference in the chassis wt. We also use full midget frt axles, hubs, spindles, brakes, wheels, plus we use a full midget rear axle, with full bird cages, caliper and disc, hubs, spacers and wheels, non-power, full midget steering gear, same as you, batterys, fuel and oil tanks, we're dry sump, remember, seats all the same, our wheel base and tread are just a bit shorter, the engine wt is probably close, but we don't have a gearbox full of gears,and clutch onboard, but that isn't the point, if I, or anyone else, that has a TQ, wanted a mini, that's what we would have, but that isn't the case, just like you, we buy what we want, not what someone else thinks we should, there is hardly a doubt, if I could afford it, I'd have a Sprint car, a real one, but I can't, and I don't, I race what I can afford, and believe it or not, I can actually make money doing it, otherwise, I'd have to park it, and as far as putting a 1000cc engine in one, I think it'd be a blast, but my God man, I'm having more fun now, than I can stand, and still keep my clothes on! I have a complete machine shop, so I don't have to pay someone else to do much of anything, I have to buy tires, and fuel and oil, and fuel for my diesel, and I can do that, and still make a little profit, but don't run out and spend it, you'll need it to get back to a track, to make just that little bit more, I will guarantee you, NO ONE RACES any cheaper than I do, and it's not because I'm cheap, it's because I don't have the money to spend on foolish stuff, I need something, I make it. I been keepin up with kyron, we do alot of talking, and kidding each other, we raced each other for 20 some years. Take care. Bob!