prefabbed tube chassis install on steel body

I have a opportunity to purchase a tube chassis with strut setup front end. This chassis was setup for a chevy 2 with 110 inch wheel base. Im looking at installing this chassis on my 62 valiant.

1967 chevy 2
Wheelbase110 in (2,794 mm)
Length183 in (4,648 mm) Sedan, Coupe [8]
187.4 in (4,760 mm) Station wagon
Width71.3 in (1,811 mm)
Height55.1 in (1,400 mm) Sedan
52.8–53.8 in (1,341–1,367 mm) Coupe

62 valiant
Wheelbase106.5 in (2,710 mm)
Length183.7 in (4,670 mm)
Width70.4 in (1,790 mm)
Height53.3 in (1,350 mm)Curb weight2,750 lb (1,250 kg)

Correct me if im wrong but with all measurements being as close as they are minus the wheel base which i was thinking i could change the placement of the strut towers if i needed to adjust the wheel base.
IS THIS DOABLE AND OR IS IT WORTH IT
More questions to come
Thanks moparts in advance for the help

Height at the cage will be a determining factor on how far the body can be raked over the chassis.
I would pay special attention to the cage placement front to rear on the wheelbase as well to prevent a chassis bar from being outside the window areas.
lastly check frame lengths for and aft of wheelbase for body interference.

30 years ago I knew a guy who put a cuda body down over an old roadrunner chassis. Ending up cutting about a foot off of the back and 6" off the front.

Sounds cool A. I'll come help if you need it.

Dennis

Depends on your goals, your ability to modify it, and how good of a deal it is.

Also should consider how the cage will line up with the doors and the track width the chassis is setup for

Might consider moving the front or rear (or both) wheel openings to accommodate the wheelbase of the chassis.

No mention of what rear suspension is in it. Might be easier to move the rear forward some and move the wheel opening forward instead of opening it up in both front and rear. That's often done when backhalving a car anyway. Depends on what tire you use. You won't know exactly what needs to be done until you make the leap and set the body down on the chassis. Between body placement and moving the rear, 3 1/2" of wheelbase difference should be able to be dealt with. However, I have an idea that may not be the biggest issue you will have to deal with.

Chassis is setup for a four link.
Yes its a good deal in my minds eye,as for my fab ability i like to think there aint anything i cant make,i can tig,mig,and arc wled.
I just dont have the space to make a chassis from scratch.

Dennis i may take you up on that offer

Also have to consider...who built it, is it professionally done or was it slapped together in somebody's backyard? Most important if it's going to go to the track, is it certified and/or will it certify? If not, it's worthless except for the parts that may be bolted to it.

Guy says it was professional built and it was never certified.
Hes supposed to send me some clean pics of some the welds.

If the main hoop will fit within the confines of the body, the rest can be made to work with relative ease. Also, if it is mild steel, it's not worth much. Few hundred bucks, tops.........assuming it fits.

I would also say that whoever built the chassis, is not the one who cobbled up that truck iron fuel cell mount in the rear..........unless the rest of it also looks that rough upon closer inspection.

To see if it will fit........measure the hoop at widest point and measure inside of car. Also measure height of hoop from rocker bar and then determine, with rocker bar properly positioned in rocker area, that hoop is not too high or too low in body

I'm with Monte...if it's MS it ain't worth much.

I would try it if I got the stuff cheep. You can mod it slightly to fit your needs as long as you can weld.
Hard to tell from pics but your car looks bigger then a little nova

How was it cut out, did they just chop it off next to the bottom attaching bars with a torch? to start with, I would take measurements. Start with your car. As the cage needs to fit within, measure under the car rocker panel inside to inside, both front and back,as the cage / frame will be welded to them. Then inside the car roof to lowest floor area behind the seat where the hoop would be located. That would be a start to see if it is even close.

Yes guys its MS and the guy is asking 500 bucks and it would be a 10 hour around trip drive.

Mild steel can get certified to 7.50 and that's plenty fast for 95% of the Moparts members

The chassis wasnt cut up its intact heres a couple more pics the guy is supposed to take some better ones later today or tomorrow along with take some key measurement

That's not around Western Md. is it? There was one floating around a couple years back that had a slightly bent front clip on it.

$500 is a lot cheaper than what it would cost to build a new one, but then again, it has been sitting in a pile of leaves for who knows how long. There is a good chance that it isn't worth more than scrap value at this point. If some of those bottom tubes are rusted out then you have a mess on your hands.

This is a very good point. The thing has never been cert'd. I'd be taking a sonic tester with me and checking tube thickness. Anything is possible.

Good point Andy if i do go to look it over thats one area ill definitely look over throughly.

Skicker this chassis isnt in Maryland not saying it didnt come from there but ill look over the front segment just in case.

Looks like a pets potty stop in that middle picture.

Don't those bars going to the back off the top of hoop look small to you guys? Maybe 1 1/4. Offer 250 because of the trip.

I don't know about that chassis. There is a significant amount of rust on that thing. Makes me a little nervous.

Lots of valid observations.

I always try to be diplomatic about things. With that being said, I wouldn't drive 10 hours for that if it was free. Just saying.

That chassis will only cert to 8.50 now days...
thats just like mine... but with a few minor tubes
it can be a 7.50.. in the halo it needs the corner
support tubes for sure... but right now its a 8.50..
it was a 7.50 some years back just like mine was..
but they changed some rules.. if you line up the main
hoop in the right location you can move some stuff...
forget where the wheels will line up... you can fab
the brackets to move them
EDIT
Also check the wall thickness before you buy..
sand it clean and sonic it or have it done..
they increased the wall to.135 from .115 I believe

1.625" diameter tubing is a minimum .118" wall thickness. Anything 1.5" diameter and smaller is a minimum .108" thickness. These specs are for a mild steel 25.4 chassis that will cert 7.50. Pretty current specs as I just got the paperwork from sfi last week.

Back to the OP. If that chassis was built with .120" wall tubing it may not pass cert with the amount of rust shown. If it was built with .134" wall tubing you should be good if you add/correct the chassis as needed for current sfi specs. Beep

After looking at added pictures.......that thing is ROUGH. If a PRO built it, he was no PRO chassis builder. I wouldn't drive around the block for it and it be free

Thanks for all the comments and observations thats why i posted the pics. Im on the fence and not sure what or if I'll go look at it. But if i do ill diffently see if i cant get a sonic tester from work and take it with me.

I bought a Alston Avenger chromemoly kit car chassis that a local guy had assembled and welded up years ago. it look nice but he had mistakenly used .065 wall tubes in the left front door upright bar from the foot bar and used the same material for the foot bar that ran across the front behind the motor. The SFI spec called for .083 tubing there so it wouldn't certified for racing
Make sure and sonic test every bar along with the SFI spec. sheet in your hands when you do the testing

What states it in. Someone might be able to look at it for you.

Its in CYNTHIANA, KY and id be willing to pay someone for there time if they did go and look it over for me so if theres a member in or around the CYNTHIANA, KY area and would be willing to go take a look for me and some take key measurements id paypal them for there time?????

Guys like all of you im on a budget and im trying to make my valiant as safe and as lite as i possibly can with in my means. Any and all help is always appreciated and if a member is willing to go and look this chassis over it would be much appreciated pm me here with a phone number and will go from there
Thanks all
Aaron

It's about two hours from me. I know we have a track up there by it with some mopar guys. Hope one knows the seller or some info.

I can get up that way but it's going to be a week or two.
If someone is closer that would be good too.

My advice is to pass on to "deal". By looking at the chassis pics its going to take some work. For slightly more you can get a new chassis that fits your body for the same amount of work(Alsotn Pro Gas chassis) for example. In the end you will have a better and more valuable race car, and probably for the same total $$$

Looks like I will be driving tomorrow afternoon and friday night on 75 and they look to be only 15 to 20 minutes out of my way..........

"Guys like all of you im on a budget and im trying to make my valiant as safe and as lite as i possibly can with in my means."

Ain't we all. But there is such a thing as false economy. You may drag that thing home for $10 and the price of fuel to go get it. How many hours are you going to spend sanding rust? Or how much are you going to pay to have it blasted? What's it going to cost to fix if it won't cert, fix what's broken or not done correctly? And then what's it going to take to get it to fit your application?

The real issue is you may get into this thing, probably spend a lot more money than a new chassis that fits your car would cost, and still have a half a$$ piece. Or get half way into it, give up and junk it and loose all of that money. I see it all the time.

The bare chassis is chump change. Struts, brakes, rear, shocks, plumbing, tin, fuel, electrical, wheels and tires, etc., etc., etc., is where the money gets spent. IMHO, all I see in those pictures are problems, headaches, time and money spent that could have been used more wisely.

I know nothing about the subject except that my garage and backyard are littered with the "good deals" I should have passed up. I still have trouble passing up those "deals" that are of negative value.

Negative value is an idea that we should all learn.
Say I find a 1954 New Yorker that I can buy for $200.00. It's a great deal, right? Wrong. That car has negative value.
In buying it I have signed myself up for at least several thousand dollars of expenses before I can even use it. If for some reason I do not use my $200 New Yorker, it will sit there and depreciate forever. My $200 will sit there with it, and I can't even buy beer with the money.

Now I may decide I am willing to invest those dollars and hours because I really have always wanted to drive and own a 1954 New Yorker. If that's the case it IS a great deal, but that $200 purchase still has negative value. Ecomnomists call it "Opportunity Cost". Why? Because by putting that $200 into something, I have passed up the opportunity to invest in something else, which could be better.

If you find yourself using the word "just" in describing the object, it most likely has negative value. "It just has to pass cert." "It just has to be modified to fit my car." etc.

As I said to start, I have learned this lesson many, many times and am weighed down by all the negative value I have piled up over the years.

R.

Preach it... I'm in the same boat...
To quote a line from Days of Thunder..."your a victim of your own god damn creation"

Member Markz528 has offered to try and swing by the sellers place where the chassis is been stored to look it over and take some key measurements and to look over the craftsmanship of the chassis. Ill keep you guys posted.

That's good I suppose, but having met Mark, seen his car and knowing how he thinks......Pass is going to be the advice. The pictures obviously show this thing is VERY rough

Thanks Monte but I will try to be objective!

Unfortunately the weather killed the opportunity to go see it today but I have more opportunities in the next couple weeks that I hope can work. I would like to help..........

We are currently in the later stages of a similar build.Started out as an engine swap.62 Lancer w/440. You know what happened next. Purchased welded 4link subframe from A.R.T. as a focal point and built from there.
They offer a 10 point cage kit for a 69 valiant that I asked them to add a foot of length to all the legs. After trimming it fits great,main hoop,halo,and all.We already had CAP front a/arm components,so we just built a jig to incorporate the Lancer front end geometry into the new 2x3 frame rails w/coilovers and rack and pinion. We would have chosen a strut front end, inretrospect,but it started out as an engine swap.
Don't want to highjack your post, so we are going to try to post some pictures soon.IF we can help w/any info, you can pm me here. Good luck

Looking forward to some pics. I constantly have a 61/62 2 door Lancer sedan in the back of my mind.

Dennis

http://www.racingjunk.com/Door-Cars/182657884/Mild-Steel-Chassis-For-Sale-Maverick-Vega-Mustang.html