Hey guys. I have a 64 dart with a small block. Mini tubbed but I'm looking to improve the suspension and get a cage And all that. I can get my hands in about 10 g's. I see I can buy a back half car for that much..... I'm looking to bet a bunch of work to my car. I want to turn my car into a tube chassis race car that I can do whatever I want to but I can't do that myself and be happy with it. So I'm actually gonna pay someone to do it. What's the market price for this kinda stuff? Back half? A good cage from front to rear? How much to have someone make motor plate, mid plate? I've never paid anyone to work on a car before....

Also I'm in Texas Austin/Houston/Dallas/San Antonio area if anyone knows anybody I should use. I'm not rich by any means and I don't need artwork if you know what I'm sayin but I want something nice and on a professional level

If you want a tube chassis, why stop at just a back half? Go 4 link and struts right from the start. The early A bodies need all the help they can get in the front end an fitting just about any motor into them.

Jeff

"I see I can buy a back half car for that much....."

You can buy a car for way less than it costs to build one unless you do all the work yourself. Way less.

10k might get you a half decent back half done. Depends on what's included. CM or MS? Nice, detailed, well designed cage and chassis or bare minimum ERW kit with 2x3 rails? Junkyard Dana or good 9"? Quality disc brakes or some old drum brakes that somebody had laying around? Fuel system? 4 link, ladder bars, anti-roll? Good shocks? Sheet metal finished? Plumbing, wiring, battery mounts? Does the builder have a legitimate business with the associated overhead and equipment or a shed behind his house with a Home Depot welder, a disc grinder and a tape measure that he can't use?

Not trying to bust your boys, just trying to illustrate some of the things you need to think about. Be honest with yourself (and the guy doing the work) about your budget and how far you expect it to take you. Building a car is great, but running out of money before it's half done can be demoralizing.

I'm thinking mild steel. I can do a lot myself. I just want them to do the fabrication work associated with 2x3 frame rails, 4-link, I could use my 8 3/4 and my brakes or a used 9"...

I guess what I'm looking for is how much should I spend per hour and how many hours do some of these jobs take.

Big variable across the country for prices.. and
to what you really want done.. a 7.50 or 8.50 cert
or if you want things like a funny car cage.. but
in my opinion its cheaper to buy a car
EDIT
I'll sell you mine as a roller.. ready for a SB
with everything and no cheap stuff

I can't buy a new car because this was my dads car and it's tattoo'd on my stomach. I'm thinking the car is only gonna run about 12's.

Basically it's a hack job in the back I wanna fix with new frame rails and I need a cage because the A pillars are cracking and that's not cool at all. Kinda a hack job up front too ya know. I have fender well headers in a 64 dart. It's all wonky. I haven't driven the car for 5 years and I need to get it all back together. I'm gonna have 10,000 to spend on it and I wanna spend it wisely. You guys seem to know how to do that pretty well I think

Your best bet is to look up chassis shops in your
area and get prices... but KNOW what you want and
price that

I had a 8.50 CM cage done in my car last year for 3k.
That was him cutting the old POS MS cage out and new one in with the under hood bars.
Oh and chute mount .

Look up nitrogarage, they are up in Elsinore I believe, they did my dad's 12 pt cage and moved the firewall back 12 inches for a good price, dont remember the amount but know it wasn't bad. I'll see if I can find their card

Thats dirt cheap.. I charged more.. what all did
he do

He says he is in Texas now, not CA OP , I have a back half 1965 Dart 270 that is certed to 7.50 that I need to finish, buy or have made glass or carbon fibre body parts, paint, wire and plumb and then go test
Go chromemoly to start with, avoid doing it over down the road when you really want to go faster

A few years ago i spent $4k for CM 8.50 cage, aftermarket mini tubs, chute mount, fuel cell mount, front driveshaft safety loop, tin work (trunk firewall, package tray, and trunk), and other small stuff. While the car was at the shop for that work, they made stainless headers for $1700. Took it back again last year for some bigger ladder bars, a wishbone, and anti-roll bar. forgot how much those cost. I'll look for the receipt.

That's real cool. You could probably do a budget build M/S 12 point, 2x3 back half with ladder bars, and have enough left over to find yourself one of those tubular k frame setups. More than enough to handle well into the low 10's. Probably even certify for 8.50 if done right.

I like that. We'll see what I kind find in about a month....

Try contacting Alston Chassisworks for a welded chromemoly back half chassis for your car and see if you can have it installed locally. I had a customer in SO CA years take his 1965 Valaient to them for a back half and later for a front half back when they where working on customers cars Good luck, let us know what you decide
BTW, sometimes it is better, faster and as cheap using a good professional well known shop that builds your car on a chassis jig than a local hack that gets the car into his shop and then jacks the price way up

If you don`t mind a couple hour drive to the high-desert, I can hook you up w/someone..........760-900-3895.........

I'm thinking the car is only gonna run about 12's

You don't need anything like that much work.