My car was due to be in a local chassis shop march April for a 25.5 chassis, hang all fiber glass (front end, hood, doors, deck lid), lexan windows, and tubular front end. Long story short i put down $300 for a spot in this shop and still waiting. I am itching to race again and want it back together for next season. The local shop told me by the end of August it will be in the shop but I am still concerned that it will be there for a year. So I started looking for new shops.

A top of the line chassis shop approached me and wants to do my car but.....they are 15 hours away.

Would you tow 15 hours and pay a few extra bucks to get a top of the line trick chassis from the best shop in the business? No I am not going to say who but you all know them.

 

Absolutely. It sounds like you've got a top notch plan in the works and will be dropping a lot of coin. A couple days on the road is a drop in the bucket when compared to peace of mind and the experience of working with a higher caliber shop.

A quick, somewhat related side story-
Last year I built an engine for a customer who lived in Illinois. I am in Maryland. He shipped it to us and picked it up in person. He then drove it to the shop that was building his car- in Kentucky. When the car was finished, he trailered it to his tuner- in Florida. Once tuned, he took it to Orlando Speedway for testing and when all was good he loaded it up and drove home to Illinois.

 

cool story. truth is that these guys are pros for a reason. unfortunatly most of us on here dont have the coin, bt it would be nice

 

The guy in my story wasn't a pro by any means. He just wasn't willing to settle just because a good chassis builder or tuner was too far away. A 15 hour drive wont cost much- especially considering that the OP seems to be building a pretty stout car.

 

Both places build great quality and know what they are doing. The one 15 hours away is very well known and has some of the fastest cars out on slicks and radials. They gave me a set price and deadline they garenteed to hit.

Stick with local guy that I could be more hands on with, a little cheaper, 30 minutes away and hope its done this year. Or go with the best, know I will end up with a bad *** car, and pay a little more for the build and transportation???

This is a hard decision for me, any help or oppinions is appreciated.


Oh ya I am not and never will be a pro racer by any means. Just a crazy guy paying out of pocket that always wants to driver a tack in with a sledge hammer.

 

Had one car back haft by a local guy who's work was so exact that it was pain a pain in the butt to change the four links because the holes where so dead on the money.Car hooked good and went straight as a arrow.Picked up a roller tube frame built when Jegs still had their shop.Just being in their shop was a experience all in it's self.To see the gig plasma cut brackets and to be fitted to the cage certainly was outstanding.Got that on the way back from doing some other business,but still three states away.That car would hook on ice and to adjust the chassis was a joy to work on.My point is if you going to pay just alittle more in travel time,I suggest it is well worth it.We bought the roller in advance and they had it ready in time for the trip we planed for as well.

I forgot to say to see how Jegs did their chassis gigs,it back then set the stage for us to buy distress sale cars where guys ran out of money and we finished them up to race for a yr and flip sell them.Things like where and how to weld in gussets and how to tube bent.How to build for strength.It was a real lesson on chassis building.

Not for nothing,but they had their roadster in the shop and you could see the lay-out of it where everything was at you finger tips and flip set up so if you got caught at the end of the track in the rain,none of the electronics where effected.It just showed the yrs they had been at this and what they had learned.Certainly a pro shop is well worth it.

 

I would be willing to pay more for a high quality build with a reasonable turn around time. The time would be the determining factor for me. I can't stand letting a car sit for months in a shop when it could have already been done by another shop for a few more bucks. Made that mistake one time on a paint job. Took months getting into a small 1-2 man paint shop. They did good work but were horrible on time management. Ended up taking 8 months when I was told 3 weeks. It wasn't worth it to save a few bucks.

I'm surprised you don't have more choices for chassis shops in your area. You may want to look into finding other choices, there could be another one closer to you?