Hopper you've already got some very good advise from these guys here, so I guess all I'll do is give you a little more input on the tube chassis idea.

Just as stu said doin a tube chassis is a very expensive project, not to mention extremely time consuming. I've been building my car now for going on 6 years (mostly weekend work, but still 6 yrs).

When you do a tube chassis you need to ethier build a jig (such as Pro Z did) to build the chassis off of, or do like I did and spend a ton of time shimming everything so that it is all level and safe. I havent added it up to the penny (scared too ) but if I had to guess how much I had invested into just my chassis and chassis pieces(suspension, steering etc...) I'd say its around $7000+ just into those pieces.

Then you have the extra bonus of not having any of the stock mounting points for the body or any other parts to go off of with a tube chassis I spent the better part of 2 years just lining up all my body panels and making mounts for the fenders and other big pieces that mount to the chassis.

I dont want to scare you away from doing a tube chassis car because they are the safest and fastest way to go, but unless you looking to run in the super pro or simuliar class where your talkin 8 second times, I really think your time and money could be used better on the car.

Whatever you decide on I'm sure everyone will be glad to offer some advise to you to obtain your goal.

BG

Someone gave a suggestion on the first page (I think it was Dave) and I'd agree with his thoughts. Some frame connectors, 8 pt cage, BBC, 9" rear, maybe mini tub it and a few other things and you'd be able to hit the times your wanting without alot of hassle. Only thing I "might" change is rather than a glide I'd think about a T400, unless you cut some more weight from the car. If you are up above the 2800/2900 lb mark the T400 would get you moving a bit harder off the line than a glide, but if you drop some weight in the car then the glide is the way to go.