Stephen,
I built my own C.... replica with the same concept in mind and I can tell you that you must look at every part with the mindset of how can I remove another ounce? But don't lose sight of safety.
A good book (actually 3 in his series) to read from cover to cover is Carroll Smith's "Tune to win" He pulls no punches on how to build correct vehicles.
Good luck...my project took 5 yrs and 3 months before I drove it, and it's still not complete...but it is straight and nasty.
scratch
