First build pics

[weasel]

I'll just put myself in your place for a few minutes,, I would find out how much room you need inside for two people first. It would seem that the frame will get fairly wide in the back while spreading it to the width you need and "possibly" distorting the look you want. Since you intend to cut the spreaders anyway,
you can put even loose inner sleeve pieces in those to see what your actually going to end up with.
It's going to end up wide at both ends in my head and you will have to do something to the front like you have already drawn.

I would find a large piece of material that you could trace out the frame sides that you have so it could be duplicated later on,, or trace it out on your concrete floor for that day you "have" a bender.

I know what your going thru, this kinda work can have a terrible learning curve,, I know, I have about $1600 in frame, jackshaft and various other parts that may not be used by me. Just try to think of the work in small sections instead of the thing flying past the "big dogs" over the dunes. Dreaming is fun, just not very productive

[nutnbolt2002]

I would get the seats that you are going to use, sit in one with someone in the other and bring the sides in to where they are comfortable, then measure the gap.

[whiplash]

Thats a good idea, I was just going to go with what Girard fab uses which is 52" do you think that might be bigger than I need?

[K-fab]

This is from what I've experienced personally - I have experience with all three aspects, albeit limited in the first example.

Rear end wider than front - tends to over drive the front end and push. *This may have also been due to many other aspects and I spent little time in the vehicle.

Both ends the same - works well, but tends to give a squirrelly feeling - especially at higher speeds. *This may also have been partially due to the almost square footprint of the vehicle that I'm aware of this in. *The first "version" of my old Moskito showed me this - with the square foot print it was a handful at times.

Front end wider than rear - My old racing Pilot, my old Moskito (second rear end setup), the Gen IV cars - all worked very well. *The steering is precise, the feeling and response is good to excellent and the cars don't tend to get out of shape as easily as the other two setups.

The Deztaz's both are fairly equal in front and rear width. *If anything, the front end may be a tad wider (but don't hold me to that). *But, these two vehicles have gone through/are going through many setups and tweakings to make them work.

I would tend to think that, while overall, the variance in front to rear widths does effect the characteristics of the vehicle, getting the suspension design and setup correct probably make more of a difference.

[whiplash]

OK cool, it sounds like the way to go is same front to rear with possibly a little wider in front but what do you do about the looks? I personally think it looks a little wierd if the front is wider than the rear. What about all the other rails out there, they all seem to have narrower fronts than rears with the tires bolted on, are you referring to the width before the tires are installed? If so that would explain a lot and I can see making the front a little wider flange to flange and then bolting up the skinniesd up front and the 13+" paddles on the rear to get the good stance apperance wise. Am I on the right track here?

[whiplash]

Oh by the way my steel won't be here until tomorrow

[whiplash]

Well since I am waiting for the steel I decided to sit in the car to figure out how much leg room i would have and lukily I can stretch my legs all the way out without hitting the bulkhead for the front stub. I also did a rough idea of what I want the body to look like, tell me if you like it?..

Thanks,
Bryan

[weasel]

wow, I had no idea that thing was that small,, you're in for a tough battle using that frame.

[whiplash]

Why do yo say that, I really rather like the size except for the width, and that will be fixed shortly.

[weasel]

Too small, you have no head room either,, I would say that your in, little trouble