They FEEL solid too, IMO. I once had a boat called 77 4Door Impala, what a tank that was. But it happend to be the most reliable CARBed car I ever had. Tanks and boats come to mind when I talk about that car
I have a Buddy who bought a "Boxed Frame" 1968 Mustang. and he had all of the boxed tubing removed and replaced with round tubing. If I remember right ,he did this to lighten the car,and to make some "improvements" to the chassis at the same time.
"thanks" buddy, does Marti, know you feel this way? (wish i could say the same about you) ...Terrys' handsomest and sweetest friend Frank...
just talked to my friend who builds race cars. his car is a tubed chassis car that runs in the 9's. he also is building a 64 falcon boxed chassis car. the tube car is of course a tube. the boxed chassis car is 2x3 rectangular stock. they are both pretty strong. he said the difference is that the boxed chassis car is more rigid and is better for a bracket car as it reacts quicker. if he was to build his car again he would go with the rectangular chassis. there may be other arguments for or against. don't shoot me. i just delivered the message.
Found this on the Alston Chassisworks site http://www.cachassisworks.com/TechTips/TechTip-002_WEB.pdf
Good article...lots of info. Which brings me to the thread-jacking question... How much does it cost, and how hard is it to put a roll cage in our cars (estimated)?
Depends on the number of points you want and whether your doing it yourself. The cage parts are fairly cheap it is the labor that is expensive. I am sure you could do it even cheaper if you can bend your own tubing. Jegs has kits from $129.99 for a 4 point to $259.99 for a 12 point. Since these are unibody cars you would definitely want subframe connectors first. And floor plates are a must. http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10002&catalogIdentifier=Jegs_Direct&categoryId=19427&parentCategoryId=10775
a lot of the price depends on what stage your car is in. i know my guy gets frustrated when someone brings in a just finished car and says he wants to add a roll bar. he charges according to his frustration level and if he wants to do it. he has more work than he can handle. right now he's working on 4 cars and has others outside the shop waiting to get in. i heard him quote a guy $1200, then the guy said here's what i want and it looked like a pro stock roll cage. the price of the material isn't bad but you have to bend it and fit it in the car, weld it in and do it right. there's also nhra rules for the cage that need to be taken into consideration. nice to have someone who knows them also.
I bought a rust free '70 Maverick with subframe connectors and 8-point cage for $608 in January 2005. Found it on e-bay. No drivetrain. You can find deals. Unfortunately, they are getting few and far between.
Frank is a big fat, dirty, low-life, good-fer-nuthin', trouble makin', yellow, chicken-hearted tattle-tale.
