Altered Chassis Kits, Which One?

I am in the process of planning my new chassis build. I have decided to go with a chassis kit. I'm looking at the Mark Williams kit and the S&W kit. Both seem to have good design, I bought prints from both to study. The S&W kit is less money but doesn't come with as many parts like steering components, etc.

Does anybody have experience with either or both of these kits? I'm also open to other kits that I may not be aware of if they are good. I guess what it boils down to is, I'm basically buying a pile of tubes, just want to get one that fits the best and is the best bang for the buck.

Thanks
Corey

 

From what I've heard the S & W rides very low. A national event track chassis a la Newberry. A friend did modify the lower rail to get match race ground clearance. It's a ton of work. Find a nice roller.

 

Thanks for the info. I've been toying with the idea of a roller, I'm from Edmonton Alberta and there isn't a lot to choose from. I may start putting feelers out for used stuff. I'm a welder fabricator so to me building a car will be a fun. If the right deal comes around a roller would be good option.

Corey

 

Go to the Classic Funny Car Board. There's a few Canadians eh that run funny cars and altereds. Classic doesn't mean old junk. Maybe somebody has what you need.
Another idea is to get a new partially finished kit car from a chassis shop. Most of the door car builders do this. You get a new car that fits you all done on a jig and you finish all the cage, tabs, brackets, tin etc. Saves time, money and you still get to fabricate.

 

That was another thought I had. Just get a chassis partially built and finish the stuff that needs a driver to be sitting in the car.

 

Buy a new one. Get it a bare roller but with engine placement , drive line angle , steering.... being off .090 here or a degree there could mean a ton of bad runs and trouble shooting for years. Why waist good money on a bad idea. Hell maybe you do hit it out the park and build a great car. But what if you don't and when you start asking for help , then tell people you built it yourself ....

 

I am borrowing an altered built from an S&W kit with no more than 8 runs on it for a bracket race. The owner built it a couple of years ago and has never had it out. I bet you could purchase it and be racing sooner. The altered body has not even been painted so you can choose your own color.

 

Seeing how I've built at least a dozen door cars (that people have actually paid me to do) that have been running for years with never so much as a peep of problems I figure I have the experience to build a simple altered chassis. So I think building my own altered is not a "bad idea". I appreciate all the input I am getting here but it seems everybody just assumes I'm a bad fabricator and will screw up everything from the start. Maybe I wasn't clear enough with my original post.

The reason I am going with a kit is 4130 tube is expensive here and I would have to buy enough for 10 cars to get any kind of deal so I am going with a kit.

I'll try the question again, which kit is better for fit and finish in your opinion, a Mark Williams kit or an S&W kit, and why.

I will appreciate any info that answers this question. This post seems to have gone sideways with people falling over themselves telling be why its a bad idea to build your own car, we can move beyond that for purposes of this thread I think.

Thank You for any advise on choosing a chassis kit.
Corey

 

Sorry didn't realize you built a few cars. I bought a roller and was best idea ever to finish it myself. Keep on keeping on then

 

No problem. Wasn't dumping on you just felt I needed to explain myself better. I always appreciate advise just needed to put the train back on the track.

Corey

 

I did not go look but doesn't S&W offer a precut/prenotched version?

 

talk to Michael hallstead. he has built a few cars using the mw kit. he is on facebook https://www.facebook.com/michael.halstead.52

I have gone the other route this last year and had victory build me a chassis with the steering and engine suposably located correctly. I am not going to comment on that , but a pro built car does have its benefits and drawbacks, expecially if you have to go back and fix it again.

 

Corey, what did you end up doing? I am in your situation right now, but I'm not doing the build myself, I'm having a fabricator do it. I'm just looking for ideas. Thanks

 

Project is going slow. very busy at work. I did at least narrow down a chassis kit. Looks like the Mark Williams kit is the best. Its the most modern style chassis. The S@W kit still uses a solid front axle. The MW kit uses a-arms plus the engine placement and crank height are better. Just a better chassis. And the Hairy Glass 23T altered body fits exactly. Tubes are not pre-notched so there is still a lot of work to build it, but any good fabricator should be able to put it together.

Corey

 

Ok, thanks for writing back. I'm actually looking for a solid front axle setup. I'm building a car for a Nostalgia class. My fabricator is leaning towards just building the whole car from scratch and not using a kit at all. It's going to be an expensive build, but I suppose I'm ok with that. I just went through a process of buying an older chassis. Once I got it to the shop for inspection, it didn't pass certification. So, now I'm starting from scratch.

 

The biggest thing I discovered about building a scratch built chassis was all the different sizes of tube that goes into a chassis. A person can standardize alot of it to keep costs down but if you want to go exactly by sfi and the drawing you have a pile of different sizes to deal with. I'm from Canada and tube is expensive here so a kit was the most logical route.

Corey

 

Iron Crisis, just buy the current SFI Specs for your chassis and build it from scratch. That way you have everything the way you want it and you know it will cert for your category.

 

Thank you! You're pretty much confirming what the fabricator and I discussed. I just ordered the SFI spec yesterday.

I was considering starting another thread, but I think you've answered my questions. My biggest concern was that I was going to overlook an aspect of the build. What I needed to specify to the fabricator about my personal preferences. I've driven/owned an altered before, but got rid of it quickly. I was physically too big and tall for the car, and as a result, felt unsafe in it. I'm wondering if altered owners have things about their cars that they don't like that they wish they could have changed when it was built. Thanks, Ryan

 

That's the biggest reason I don't want to just "buy" a used chassis. 1 You could be buying someone else's problems, and the car was built for the person who used to own it (size wise). When I was building chassis's I was always cutting cages off dragsters and altereds to fit the driver, attempting to get people more leg room etc. If you build one to fit yourself off the bat it sees like a better idea in the long run, especially if you are a tall/larger person.

Corey

 

Exactly...if it were a door car, things can be moved pretty easily, but dragsters and altereds are very fixed.

Thanks to both of you for writing back.