Hello everybody from Maryland!! New to the forum and have some questions BEFORE I blow apart my 70 Maverick. I'll be building a pro street back halved car on a budget. So here's my question, been looking at the Alston pro gas chassis for ladder bar set up for $1250 as opposed to the jegster kit with frame rails. The Alston kit looks more complete as far as frame rails from the rear all the way to the front but price wise I'm leaning towards the jegster kit and adding one of their mustang II front ends as money allows. A lil at a time. Has anyone had experience with the jegster kit? Or the Alston kit? I'm reasonably capable at fabricating/ welding. Any input will be greatly appreciated. Btw, probably gonna run a boss Cleveland engine. Or a punched out 460. Have both, haven't decided on which power plant just yet. Again, thanks and am enjoying all the LIKE MINDS here!
Be prepared to "adjust" your budget if you elect to build a Cleveland. I love Cleveland power and ran several, but came to the realization that they are just more expensive to build these days than a Windsor for equivalent power. Factory parts are getting more scarce and the asking prices are going up accordingly. The aftermarket has focused their support on the Windsor, if for no other reason that there are so many more of them. In Australia, its just the reverse. The 460 platform is strong. can be bored and stroked to large displacements and are still relatively affordable to find parts for. Plenty of aftermarket support. On the downside, they are very heavy. Why don't you consider a stroked 351W? Lots of new and used parts out there and serious power/torque awaits with the right combination of parts. OEM Windsor blocks are much better and more plentiful than Cleveland blocks as well.
I appreciate the info but BOTH engines are already " built". Both are bored and stroked. I'm not AT that point yet. I will build a chassis that can handle either. Will just be a matter of changing engine plates/ mid plates, what not. I'm MUCH more interested in hearing about the two chassis I started this thread on. But really, thanks for the info.
Are you planning on narrowing the rear end? If not, you can just do a mini-tub and fit a pretty wide wheel/tire in there. Just move the leafs inboard and go with a CalTrac setup. That would allow you to keep your original frame rails, and have a much more street friendly setup. Add subframe connectors to tie them together, and go with a 10 or 12 point cage, and now you're getting a lot more budget friendly. Go with a M2 or AJE front end as funds allow, and choose your powerplant for the room you have after that change. Just another ....
Yeah Maxx, I have considered that. My 73 was mini tubbed with a 347. Was a fun street car. However, I AM going with a narrowed 9, and ladder bar setup this time. When I say " budget" I only mean throwing down a couple of grand at a time. This will be a LONG TERM project. It'll take me over a year to complete it, hence the reason, besides WANTING to go with a full chassis car. This WILL NOT be a DAILY driver. It'll drive to car shows, to and fro the track. Just a big kid play toy. Lol
A lot of things to look at. Alston has always been good quality stuff. Jegster, is usually a little cheaper-and usually for a reason. Run-of-the-mill tubing, almost all of them are .134" wall round, or 2x3 square depending on whether you want round or square tube for your particular chassis. Round is stronger, and can be lighter, but square (2x3) is a little easier to work with for 90% of us hobbiests. Usually the bigger, older, well known chassis builders will have actual blueprints for the Maverick/Comet chassis parts. Some of them are just "kits" that may or may not fit. Worth asking about. The cheap "kits" can be a little more work to put together, among other things. Don't forget there's more brands out there if you're not set on Alston or Jeg's. There's also S&W, Quarter Max, Bickel, Haas, Skinny Kid, Tim McAmis, chassis engineering, and a bunch more. You may find one that's closer to you which may save you some money. I think S&W is out of Pa somewhere; may be worth looking into as shipping chassis parts can get expensive due to the bulk and weight involved. McAmis does some Youtube videos which I enjoy watching from time to time if I get really bored (rare). Tim can get kind of colorful with the language, so be warned. Also if you shop around you may find a builder who has a better knowledge of what fits our cars, and could potentially be less expensive; if you haven't already shopped. Pulley Engineering had all the blueprints for our cars at one point but Andy died and Lyndee took over for a while, is now out of the business. I don't know who bought out their inventory. They were local, to me and knew their stuff. Could be worth looking into, maybe dig up who bought out all their stuff, perhaps they still have all the plans, drawings, etc for our cars. If someone does still have them, it makes it nice when doing a rear frame kit-as they actually fit instead of having to hack up the rails or whatnot. Worth looking into for sure.
Good info Mavman. I actually HAVE the s and w catalog. Haven't ruled THAT one out either. I'm currently on my way to va to pick up a quarter panel and a few goodies from auto Krafters tomorrow so I'll look further into the chassis work when I get back. I've got a square d bender as well, so if I really want to do it, I can bend my own if need be, would just rather buy something tried n tested for our platform. I could TWEEK whichever kit it may end up being and I am DEFINATELY leaning towards the square frame rails. But, we'll see. I'm in no particular HURRY on this one. I want her to be SOLID and RIGHT.
