Howdy, I'm just getting started with the concept of building or buying a FED and I'm looking at what advice I can about the whole process. Combing through the forums here I see a constant thought, and that is plan what you want to do. With that in mind here's what I'm looking at:
A non-blown gas powered (probably SBC or SBF) slingshot/rail/whatever-you-would-like-to-call-it FED that is raced just for fun
I am a trained welder (associate's degree in it from a tech college and some actual work in the field), but it has been about 15 years since I did any serious welding. I changed careers and haven't really been back to it. I can read blueprints, prep pipe, run a bead, etc. I was quite good with a MIG gun, and tolerable with TIG. At the moment I don't own a welder of any sort.
As far as car knowledge goes, I'm not the traditional hot rodder. I've never built an engine from a bare block, and don't performance tune my cars. I can work on my cars just fine, and basically so long as it's not a modern automatic transmission I fine doing my own work. I enjoy working on my cars as well, I just liking driving them more than wrenching. I've got a decent bit of track experience (road racing, not much oval) and I've professionally taught high performance driving for several years as part of my day job.
The money tree grows very slowly, and produces little fruit currently. I know that for a lot people getting a roller or even a turnkey turns out to be cheaper in the long run, but requires a lot more capital up front. It does also get you to the strip a heck of a lot faster.
I'm going to order SFI specs for 7.5 and take a look through them. Is it worth it to get the 6.0 specs instead? I'm guessing I'd be in at least $1K to purchase the tubing, a manual bender, and a decent welder to build the frame. Does that sound about right, for a mild steel frame? If I can find a decent quality certified roller for not much more I'd go for that just for the time savings.
For an engine, would you guys recommend building off a bare block or would a donor engine be the way to go? At this stage I'm just looking to get passes in and get comfortable with things before I worry too much about times, so as long as I'm able to get a little tire smoke I'm not worried about power or ET's.
As far as powertrain goes I've seen a lot of recommendations for a powerglide. Are there other options out there that will work for what I'm after? I'm not against going with a powerglide, I'm just seeing what's out there.
Lastly can anyone recommend any books, videos, etc that I can peruse while I slowly get this going?
Thanks!
-Jenrick