It’s been brought up, but there’s a guy on YouTube, does a lot of mopar stuff, uncle (Tony, Greg? Guss?)
Built up a slant 6 and put it in a small car that he basically Swiss cheesed. Stripped the interior, shaved weight off the motor, kept the light weight and “ week “ trans and rear end.
Got the car down to 2100 pounds or so.
All of it “ on the cheep “ . Really neat car, the video where he fires up the slant 6 is worth watching just to hear the engine. I’ve never heard an old school slant 6 sound like that.
The holes he drilled basically everywhere but the cabin, neat to see, hood hinges, control arms.
Think that car would be a riot to drive, and it’s a slant 6.
As far as alternators, on the cheep, a hitachi or such small import. Been out of the mechanic-ing game for too long, but I think, IIRC, older Honda’s ( civics?) had a nice little alt. Brushes and regulator could be swapped out on the car, popped right off the back. There are aftermarket companies that advertise mini ~ 40 amp alts that weigh like 12 pound or so? On an older car with not much electronics that should be plenty.
How about plastic headlights? The kind used to adapt from a sealed beam to an H11 type bulb, probly a few pounds there easy and a nice upgrade.