I'm not sure where to go with this yet. I've been underneath my car a lot here lately, wondering whether or not to go with keeping my current 3rd gen. Installing SFC and all the suspension, then putting in my new engine. It's rated at 450-475hp/600+ tq.
The body is slightly tweaked from back to front when you look at it from behind. The drivers side has a bit of rust on it also. Which is more cost effective? Going to a body shop to fix the floorpan, and see if they can straighten it and then install the SFC?
Or look for another third gen from the mainland, and hope that the person is honest and knows what i mean by STRAIGHT frame? Either way, suspension and SFC will go on the car, whether it be mine that I have now, or a new one.
Buying and shipping another one will probably be over $5,000, but I don't know even a rough estimate what it would cost to straighten and fix the floor pan. Thanks for any advice, this is a HUGE decision for me. I've been sittin on the fence about this for about 2 months now. I greatly appreciate any feedback.

 

Can you explain "the body slightly tweaked from front to back if you look at it from behind"???

Maybe get a picture of what you are talking about? If the body is visibly twisted or tweaked, and it has major rust issues, you are probably better off with another body.

But if there is a shop over there that can straighten things out, and fix the rust and all for a decent price, it might be worth it. Since you'd have to have another car shipped over and go through all that.

It all depends what the extent of the damage is that you are worried about. Sub frame connectors arent meant to work as a fix or bandaid for a chassis thats out of wack. You have to make sure thats correct before installing SFCs.

J.

 

Yeah, thats kind of what I was worried about. by tweaked, yes, i meant slightly twisted. I'm afraid I won't be able to get any pics. I'm going on leave back to Florida and Maine, so the car is going to be parked out here in Hawaii. It's not major, but the frame IS slightly twisted a bit. I guess that's something I'm going to have to look into here soon. Thanks. You kind of told me what I was already wondering. "the band-aid effect" is insufficient.

 

those are retarded engine specs,, is it a 4x4 motor,, or a diesel?? lol anyways,, why arent you puting in a roll cage in a car of that pedigree,, i would asume anybody wants to race with anything over 400 horse and no cage is a no no

 

with that much power, i'd look into a roll bar or roll cage.. AND SFC's.. if it gets any kind of traction, SFC's will only hold so much.. but definitely get weld in SFC's.. bolt in wont do it..

BTW, what motor you lookin at?? those power numbers dont add up.. you will never get 600 tq and only 450-475hp with a small block.. hp will have to be near 750 to have 600 tq.. big block, is more reasonable.. and i hope you have to driveline to hold it too.. say goodbye to your trans once you step on it..

have fun with the recon laws if you do it on oahu..