Tube Chassis Help

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Charrlie_S said:
I have never had a tube chassis car, so I can't give and estimate on value. But I can make a sugestion. If you have a way to transport the chassis, take it to a chassis shop or race track, and have it inspected, to see if it meets current rules/specs. If not try to get an idea what it would cost to upgrade.
One time I found a back motor dragster chassis for sale at a bargain price, but knew it didn't meet current rules. Where I was lucky, the chassis had a manufacturer sticker with serial number. I called the manufacturer and got a estimate on cost to upgrade, and it was reasonable. However as the saying goes, "you snooze, you lose". Someone else beat me to it.
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I've thought of doing that. There's a mopar show and swap meet near me in October too. Culpeper, VA. I don't have a truck or trailer, so anytime I need to haul it somewhere it costs me money. It's also in a storage unit which costs me money. I have to weigh the pro's and con's of paying to figure things out like this, or just pricing it so it'll sell completely as-is. If it'll sell as-is, based on some of the info I'm getting on this thread. Not sure which route to go, but it's looking like the price is dropping by about 80% or more!
 
408 swinger said:
It's a decent enough looking chassis, but, for 9 grand? No disrespect, that ain't gonna happen. Anyone who is VERY serious about doing a full tube car is going to want something that is constructed completely of round, double frame railed, moly tubing. For someone wanting to get into the light race car game cheap, it would be great.
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I think that's how it's going to be marketed from here on. No disrespect taken! I know a bit about cars, but not enough to build a dragster, haha. I'm humble enough to learn and be corrected. Thanks for your response!
 
Mpacker said:
He was a career iron worker / metal fab guy. My guess is he hacked off whatever mounting plates there were just to get it off whatever it came from, knowing he'd have to refashion them in some way anyways. I know he didn't build the chassis though. From what I collect, he purchased it in 2012. Knowing it was certified in 1996 tells me it wasn't his because I lived with him between then and 2012 and he didn't have it.
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You are honoring his past by researching out the details. That in itself is interesting and satisfying to help bring the curiosity to truth.

As we all do with these old mopars, the history details, chain of events, and previous owners, is all so very interesting as we look at these cars standing before us today.
 
I found 4 more pictures hiding in his facebook account. I sold the wheels / tires already. Still have the Dana housing, but he hacked it off on both sides.

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I was told before I purchased my Colt that 2x3 frame cars are very hard to sell.
And do you know if the round tube is 4130 chrome moly or mild steel?
If it's mild steel it's going to be heavy.
Then there are the ladder bars, most folks want a 4 link.
Cert really doesn't mean anything, has to be recertified if you are planning on going fast.
My old car would need a TON of updates to go fast today.
Lot$ of cash and changes to get to that point.
Good luck selling it.
 
Hyper_pak said:
I was told before I purchased my Colt that 2x3 frame cars are very hard to sell.
And do you know if the round tube is 4130 chrome moly or mild steel?
If it's mild steel it's going to be heavy.
Then there are the ladder bars, most folks want a 4 link.
Cert really doesn't mean anything, has to be recertified if you are planning on going fast.
My old car would need a TON of updates to go fast today.
Lot$ of cash and changes to get to that point.
Good luck selling it.
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I'm pretty sure it's mild steel, although I can flip it over fairly easy by myself. I'm not sure what "heavy" is for a chassis though. It's sounding more and more like it'll be hard to move.
 
Mpacker said:
I'm pretty sure it's mild steel, although I can flip it over fairly easy by myself. I'm not sure what "heavy" is for a chassis though. It's sounding more and more like it'll be hard to move.
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Heavy is a relative term when it comes to these chassis. The mode of thought is, take a certain piece is chassis and throw it in the air before you weld it on. If it falls back to the ground, it's too heavy!!
 
None of the good expensive parts are there. No usable rearend, front suspension, wheels, tires, steering, body, glass, etc. It isn’t a funny car cage so it when finished could only cert to 8.50 ET. As far as the guys saying mild steel is heavy yes it is by a little bit. My tube chassis was mild steel upgraded to 7.50 cert and with a 440 and me in the car it weighted 2350 including the funny car cage upgrade and 7 cage bars to upgrade the cert. I hate to pour salt on the wound but your 9000.00 price was over priced big time. Most guys especially chassis guys would rather start with a clean sheet than finish and unfinished project. Goodluck with your sale.
 
I say take the money and be happy. I have paid for storage b4 and it gets to the point where it costs more for storage than the part/parts are worth. Kim
 
oldkimmer said:
I say take the money and be happy. I have paid for storage b4 and it gets to the point where it costs more for storage than the part/parts are worth. Kim
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That's exactly where I'm at now. I'm ready to be done with it. I have 2 people that are interested in it. One flaked out and the other isn't willing to take it because he'd have to modify too much on it to get it where he'd like it. Even at a considerably lower price... I pretty much told him to make me an offer and he stopped responding. I'm under the gun to get rid of it before the 1st of the month now. Living in a townhouse sucks! I've been shuffling stuff from the unit over to the house and playing tetris in my one car garage. I can fit the Dart in there with 1" to spare lengthwise... widthwise, I'll have about 1.5' to walk by it.
 
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