[IraJason]

From what what's been described so far, I'd really suggest using the kit chassis. It's easy to take apart and bolt back together together again, so it's not difficult to make modifications to while you're testing.

The most important thing I'd suggest, especially this far into build season, is that you finalize your robot design before you make any cuts or modifications to the kit chassis pieces. I would make a decision on chassis configuration soon though, because tweaking your prototypes to fit one chassis design or another can wind up taking more time than you think. You also do not want to take time away from prototyping and finalizing your other systems, such as a shooter or intake device.

You definitely seem to know what you are doing, but as a Rookie team, it's important that you don't try to bite off more than you can chew. As you mentioned, you haven't designed your own chassis before, so its good to think about that before diving into it, especially since we're entering week 3. It definitely sounds like you have the resources available to you, but make sure that you keep on top of how much time is left in build season. The last day of build will creep up on you faster than you think.