I'm preparing to rebuild my high school sweetheart (Plain 1968). I would like build it as light as practical while picking up as much streetable torque as I can. Has anyone tried one of those new tubular subframe kits offered by Martz or Rassmussen. Supposed to knock 200 lbs off the front end while drastically improving handling. I can't seem to find anything about them on the net. Also, what other weight tricks should I consider.

hey matt,

someone had posted one about a month ago. not sure where it was. it allowed Corvette suspension components to mount up. i'll try to do a search and see what i come up with,

JS :eek

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Matt,
I've looked into the subframes, and here's what I think I've learned: Art Rasmussen Design and Fabrication in WA made a subframe for about $2500 to which you could add Corvette A-arms, brakes, etc, or Art would put it all together for you for about $6,800. Art, a really nice and knowledgeable guy, passed away several weeks ago. I think Teresa, his wife, plans to keep the business running though. The site is hotroddingtoday.com or 425-489-0195. Martz chassis makes a subframe that includes brakes, non-corvette tubular A-Arms, steering knuckles, etc and a rack-and-pinion setup for about $2,800. Gary Martz is in PA at 814-623-9501. He used to do a lot of racing and has been building hot rods for 30 years. Chris Allston's chassisworks in CA has been threatening to build a Camaro subframe too. They're at 916-388-0288. Heidt's and Global West both make kits to adjust the steering geometry, but they don't do a subframe swap nor shed the weight. Hope this helps. Steve Laabs

Just thought I would make it a little easier on the guy. You should be able to click here if I did this right
http://www.hotroddingtoday.com/page3.html

hey steve,

i thought i saw that Heidt's had a tubular arm kit for hte 1st gen camaro? like a poor man's kit or something. i will have to go and dig up my Hot Rodding magazione to confirm.

JS http://www.camaros.net/forum/eek.gif

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Jesse,
Yes, I think I saw something similar. Can't find it on their website, though. They have A-Arms for Novas, though. This would shed some weight. Global West has a similar setup that also corrects steering geometry (their class V system?), but they want about $6,800. The subframes (ARDF, Martz, Allston) also correct steering geometry for the right camber gain under load and put in front steer w/ rack and pinion vs rear steer w/ recirculating ball steering box. They also give you front discs. I've been looking really hard at the Martz Chassis setup. The non-California vendors don't get much press in the Petersen mags I like to read, so I'd like to talk with someone who's got one before buying one. Steve Laabs

Thanks for the information. It gives me a direction to start from. I didn't know they would be so pricey. I'm a way's off from that though ( I have significant body work to do first) so I can put it in the budget.