schwartz f body chassis - Page 2 - Lateral-g Forums

deuce32 · #11 01-07-2008, 08:21 PM

id like to hear road testing info as well i think what they said on v8 tv was speculation ...."it will perform well" ........

nvr2fst · #12 01-07-2008, 08:25 PM

I agree with frankenstang on criticism (SRG chassis got enough to last a month) so lets not go there.
But I will say one thing that I have noticed. A lot of members mention that the vendors they spoke to on products were very knowledgeable, great insight and were a pleasure to talk to. But remember that is there job! to sell u there product. I do believe that in the short time that i have been a member here the best insight you will get is from other members on there performance evaluations and then judge for yourself. Keep in mind its your car and your money not theirs, which is the most important thing over fads, what's hot or what the neighbor has.
As far as jeffs product. I took a 2hr drive with my son to visit his shop and see the chassis set up. Yes I am aware he does not build the frames in house but does assemble to your specifications. Im not an expert in any way but for a "bolt on" simple solution with minor fab work to a camaro its definitely a alternative. I did take the time to to price out jeffs chassis options per his price sheet against the MaxG full frame price I got from Dave at AME with the same options and the MaxG came in approx. 1800.00 cheaper. (keep in mind the added costs for floor mods etc. on the max g)
But my shipping costs werent in there and since jeff is kinda close it would be a direct pick up and then he would have been cheaper. Despite all that after two months of research and taking to multiple chassis gurus and vendors. I have personally decided to go with the lateral dynamics 3 link/watts back half and the front clip from a custom designer for my 69

COYBILT · #13 01-07-2008, 09:43 PM

I would say upgrade your F-body with a tube chassis from Jeff, the chassis has the same road manners as the A-body chassis to some degree. All the parts on the chassis are good quality race parts. I would say get the frame bare and do any upgrades you want to do. As far as flex anything beats a flimsy F-body with a sub-frame. The connectors work and I know this for a fact, my buddy in high school built a 10 second 68 Pontiac Firebird (it was Pontiac powered) and the car had insane amounts of flex until he decided to weld in sub frame connectors. It used a narrowed 12 bolt with a parallel 4 link and coil overs.

The car improved quite a bit, but the car needed a cage so he could take the car to the strip. Once the cage was installed it didn't flex as nearly as much and was legal and ran 10.90s-11.00 all day long. I forgot to mention his dad was loaded and used to be a fabricator back in the 80s.

Moral of the story is F-Body's could use a full frame for any sort of hard use.
The body's with sub frames connectors and sub frame's are pretty good but far from excellent.
Im not just saying this on behalf of Jeff, I am giving my honest opinion about what my buddy and I observed and corrected.
Go ahead and tell me im full of myself if you would like.

frankenstang · #14 01-07-2008, 10:19 PM

Joe- you're full of yourself....

BTW, are you done with that car yet?

nvr2fst · #15 01-07-2008, 10:24 PM

It might have the same road manners but isnt the A body chassis much thicker/bigger framing than jeffs unit. How are u comparing? If Im not mistaken the A bodys run solid all the way through (in the middle) and jeffs is joined at the "exhaust port" from what I can remember.
dave

TravisB · #16 01-07-2008, 10:37 PM

I would like to see a car on one.....how low does the chassis hang down under the car? What designed ride height? Caster? Camber gain per "? Bump steer? What wheels fit it? Roll center? the list goes on. I wouldnt buy anything without knowing some details. To say here is a chassis and it works....makes me sceptical until I see some numbers. What suspension design software are they using? Do they have printouts?

there are lots of subframe and full frame companys out there do some research before deciding on one....

bucks69 · #17 01-07-2008, 10:54 PM

Hey Travis I hope you all made it thru the night all right, I heard it got bad on the left side of the state tonight,

Back to original thread, In my opinion, and my opinion alone, I talked to Jeff on Power-Tour in Little Rock and told him my situation with the car and Jeff was kind enough to steer me in another direction as far as a frame went, He knew what he had was not right and that there was other options that fit better. I think Jeff is a stand-up guy and was easy to talk to and took the time to answer all my questions (mostly were just newbie questions) and explained them in a way I could understand. I will look to him on future projects just for this reason. Thanks for letting me state my opinions.

**V8TV** · #18 01-07-2008, 10:57 PM

We built the Royal Sport Camaro with the very first Schwartz F-car chassis. Like any first of anything, the chassis we had is different from the ones you buy from Jeff now. There have been various subtle mods / changes / improvements made to the latest versions.

As for performance, I wish we could give you some numbers. We built the car and drove it briefly at the YearOne Experience last May, but it had to go back to Royal Purple at that point, so we only had a day or two to actually drive the car around. The people at Royal Purple have been finishing a couple details we left on the car... like charging the A/C, swapping the sway bar ends for a different design with better clearance, the convertible top install, and chasing down a mystery vibration in the drive line - which I think was clutch related.

As soon as the schedule allows, we're supposed to do a final photo / video shoot and evaluate the car more completely.

I can tell you this... the car felt fantastic... no harshness from the heim joints or road noise like I had feared. The chassis felt good, the tub was stiff. Now we added about 30% more spotwelds than the original car had, but it all added up to a great feel. The rear coils are too stiff, but that's an easy fix. The steering was nice, too. It's a cool car.

TravisB · #19 01-07-2008, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bucks69

Hey Travis I hope you all made it thru the night all right, I heard it got bad on the left side of the state tonight.

We were at the shop working and got a call that there was 1" hail and tornadoes around so I hauled ass home but never actually expreienced any of it. It went just north of Kenny and I. Im sure between his body shop and me being an insurance adjuster we will have a busy couple of weeks now

tyoneal · #20 01-07-2008, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nvr2fst

I agree with frankenstang on criticism (SRG chassis got enough to last a month) so lets not go there.
But I will say one thing that I have noticed. A lot of members mention that the vendors they spoke to on products were very knowledgeable, great insight and were a pleasure to talk to. But remember that is there job! to sell u there product. I do believe that in the short time that i have been a member here the best insight you will get is from other members on there performance evaluations and then judge for yourself. Keep in mind its your car and your money not theirs, which is the most important thing over fads, what's hot or what the neighbor has.
As far as jeffs product. I took a 2hr drive with my son to visit his shop and see the chassis set up. Yes I am aware he does not build the frames in house but does assemble to your specifications. Im not an expert in any way but for a "bolt on" simple solution with minor fab work to a camaro its definitely a alternative. I did take the time to to price out jeffs chassis options per his price sheet against the MaxG full frame price I got from Dave at AME with the same options and the MaxG came in approx. 1800.00 cheaper. (keep in mind the added costs for floor mods etc. on the max g)
But my shipping costs werent in there and since jeff is kinda close it would be a direct pick up and then he would have been cheaper. Despite all that after two months of research and taking to multiple chassis gurus and vendors. I have personally decided to go with the lateral dynamics 3 link/watts back half and the front clip from a custom designer for my 69

=======================================
Have you picked out a custom designer for your front clip? I think you and I are in the exact same position. Great rear set up, big ??? for the front. I have only found a couple Custom front subframe guys. Do you have someone special in mind? I am always looking for more sources.

Take care and thanks,

Ty