Budget rail

[SaltandPepper]

As a newbie myself here I don't have much to offer but I can chime in a little. Sounds to me you are looking for something very similar to what I have....165" FED with a 327 and 9 inch rear. When I took mine to have the chassis inspected the fella did tell me it was constructed of mild steel. This car was built in the 90s with very little upgrades till I got it and it has been a fun car to start with. I don't know what length you are considering but at 165" it fits in a 24' trailer very neatly with plenty of extra room for gear. I currently have the 9 inch out of it replacing gaskets, o rings, ect…and found that it is manufactured by Strange with 4.56 gearing. This size and setup of this FED has been very consistant and affordable to me. They are right about the size of the rear. Is not a lot of wiggle room and the 9 inch is very comfortable to me when in the seat....any bigger and I could see problems getting in and out of the car. As a beginner to this type of racing I have been pleased to get down to mid 9s my first year....most people dream of a 10 second car. Good luck with the build and post some pics of it. This forum has proved extremely valuable to me for info. I think the first words some of these guys uttered as a child was......horsepower.

[rooman]

Apart from the weight factor the biggest advantage to using 4130 is the ability to step the frame rail diameter down in 1/8" increments. If you use  anything apart from DOM mild steel the wall thickness requirements preclude the ability to slip one tube inside the next size up unless you bore the larger tube and that is as much work as using 4130.

Roo

[wideopen231]

IMO noway would I build with mild steel. Molly is lighter,easier to step down as Rooman pointed out. As one builder said steel is for tractors and molly for race cars. At half the weight its cheap performance gain and when you decide to get rid of it you will be able to sale and get little of your money back. Plus the moly for my car was around 1100 bucks and with me riding in it thats cheap IMO.

[Kentucky Mark]

I appreciate everyone's input while I'm researching I only want to do this the right way

[dreracecar]

Mild steel is a pain to use and has low resale value. Its heavy, some wall thickness does not meet spec, takes longer to fit. Legal CM telescopes together so it can be sleeved and step down in size. The only real disadvantage of Moly to the home builder is that it must be Tig welded and not wire feed so your fitment must be exelint and not just close. Mild also moves around a bunch when welding, if you dont understand the welding sequince , it will be bent before you put the car together and in a dragster the motor to rear end aliginmet MUST be dead on;
 You want a budget car, buy used, its around .35 on the dollar spent. Its gets you out there quickly and you will discover likes and dis-likes to help you plan on your next build. Two things to remember--- Get fully suited up and see if you fit (minor adjustments if needed) and make sure there is an SFI tag on it, the tag can be out of date which is fine because you know it still can be tagged

[Kentucky Mark]

I'm going to try and look at some cars when spring rolls around but I don't that I would fit in most used cars 50 inch chest and all shoulders most cars you see are built for small people for some reason???

[jeff/21]

 there isn't a big price differential between DOM mild steel and CM .  either will work as stated CM frame the resale value is better and easier to sell but needs more experience is needed to weld but the big thing is alignment and how far out you want the motor, a Greek Coupler is the best  but I used a trans yoke- U-joint diff yoke with no problems 406 sbc/ powerglide

[Kentucky Mark]

We use chromoly at work on some buggy's and sand dragsters.ive always thought it's brittle expensive and hard to work and cracks seem to run compared to do?I have way more experience with mild steel we build bombproof rock buggy's with BBC engines and Rockwell's but they don't have the NHRA inspection and sfi specs like the dragsters.resale will not be an issue with what I build it will be a keeper the people here seem to know there stuff and I never have been the kind of person to find someone to answer my questions with the answers I want there is a lot of knowledge to be found here and I appreciate it

[rooman]

We use chromoly at work on some buggy's and sand dragsters.ive always thought it's brittle expensive and hard to work and cracks seem to run compared to do?I have way more experience with mild steel we build bombproof rock buggy's with BBC engines and Rockwell's but they don't have the NHRA inspection and sfi specs like the dragsters.resale will not be an issue with what I build it will be a keeper the people here seem to know there stuff and I never have been the kind of person to find someone to answer my questions with the answers I want there is a lot of knowledge to be found here and I appreciate it

As Jeff noted, 4130 is not much more expensive than DOM and if you are finding it brittle, hard to work and prone to cracking you are doing something wrong.

Roo

[Kentucky Mark]

Yes that why I'm a little apprehensive about chromoly .I'm a certified welder steel/ aluminum probably need to do more research or more practice I've built cars for 30 years thanks for your comments roo man

[Kentucky Mark]

Roo do you happen to know who owns the blue FED that was at the cavelcade early 60s sbc car can't find any info on it? I messaged Shaw today? That's the style I'm after and it's just a sweet old simple rail .Thanks again

[rooman]

I did not make it to the show this year so I can't help you on that (unless it was Dave Huber's car---https://www.hotrod.com/articles/this-guys-garage-dave-huber/)

Roo

[dreracecar]

I'm going to try and look at some cars when spring rolls around but I don't that I would fit in most used cars 50 inch chest and all shoulders most cars you see are built for small people for some reason???

  Along those lines you might be better suited for an altered as they tend to be wider, Dragsters now run around 19.5 inside between the shoulders and altereds around 23"-24" between the tubes. It has to do with the body/looks of the dragster. To get a good look, you dont want so much taper from the shoulders to the motor plate because it will look like a slice of moms apple pie, an altereds body hides it

[wideopen231]

 As for budget.Look at this way. Chassis is most important and least expensive. That is if building yourself especially true. I think my chassis materials,mid plate,aluminum for body all total was around 3000.Now I got deal on spindles,had steering box and made rear end housing. Now the labor to build it gets pretty steep especially if  you take too long and redesign few pieces. Now compare that cost to a well built trans and converter which I have probably 4000 in and that with some rocking deals.

[Kentucky Mark]

Thanks I learn more Everytime y'all post on this I'm gonna talk to our meteal supplier next week and price some material