72 dart ... now mini tubbed

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Abodymachine

Abodymachine

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My 72 dart swinger is now officially mini tubbed.. just finished operating a few hours ago. Found out that a plasma cutter pisses on a torch! The rearend is going in tomorrow with 4.10s then onto the bodyshop.. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Future Big Block Swinger!
 
Nice! Its amazing how much extra room you can get back there just by doing a mini tub. I did the same with my 71 swinger, also did the spring relocation at the same time. What size wheel and tire are you going to run back there? I have 18x8's currently on the rear and have room for 18x10's easily with the right offset.
 
I also did the spring relocation just to add more space because hell.. i already mini tubbed it so might as well get more space right?? I have 18x10 steel wheels with dog dishes i am going to put on. The only damper in the whole process was the length of the rearend.. the backspacing needed would be damn near 5 or 6 inches to get a wheel on there so we had to shorten the housing a bit to get the proper space.
 
im in the rpocess of doing mine, here are a few pics for ya. its a 75 duster. and im planning on a 15X12 wheel with a 28/12.50r15 tire. anyway on to the pics.... its hard to tell in the pics but i should have 15 inches from the inner fender to the outer lip if i roll it or cut it i could gain another 3/4-1 inch. i have 3.5 hours in it to this point now i need to get it welded back in.

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Now that's what I'm talking about!:hello1:

03ramit1, in your third picture, are those small cuts in the subframe?

burg
 
what we did is leave the pinch weld where the floor and subframe are spot welded together, then we cut in between the spot welds, and bent the lip vertical so that we can weld the wheel tubs to the lip and we dont have to go back in and weld the floor to the subframe again. (as it is still welded together)
 
did you fully weld the seams or spot weld them? i would assume spot weld if you covered them in sealer.
 
Sorry for the wait for the pictures.. finally got them downloaded.. now off to get the body work done..

The figuring out where to cut part took the longest but we finally got it and i think it came out good. what do yall think?

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man they are good looking. i should have followed in your footsteps. how big of a tire will fit in that tub? (diameter not width)
 
a 13 inch tire would fit perfect.. a 14 would be a little to close for comfort to the frame rail. we have a 13 inch tire on an 11 inch steel wheel we are going to put under it and have a rear end cut down to size.
 
how tall are you going?. I'm doing a similar setup in my car too. But haveing a later model duster I have 15inchs in the wheel well. And am looking at 14 in tire.
 
Looks good! Just worked on ours this weekend... I'm also curious to know how big a tire it will swallow. We put a 20x10 295/40/20 on it for mockup, but couldn't get a great idea b/c the leaf springs are still on the car. Can you get a 315/35/20-ish tire all the way up into the well w/ a 2" tub stretch (assuming the correct backspacing)?
 
my wheel tubs are right at 15 inches from the inner fender to the inside of the wheel well arch. I have 12in wide wheels ordered, and I am hopeing to get a tire that is 14 inches wide in there. And I would like to go 30 inches tall, but it will require a little trimming of the outer wheel well arch. At least from the pics I have seen and measurements I have taken.
 
mopardude318 said:
Looks good. a 30 in tall slick will look mean..id like to see pics of that!
Click to expand...

there will be plenty of pics. I ordered a set of 15x12 beadlock wheels for my slicks, and they were ordered back on july 13th and were supposed to ship today I just found out they are not shipping until aug 10th now. :( it looks like the tires will be here first ( and they are not getting ordered until the aug 7th ooh well that's life) once I can get them bolted together I'll get pics of them under the car.
 
Man, those look great. Yeah, the plasma cutter is really the only way to go on automotive sheetmetal IMHO. A regular torch usually leaves a jagged mess unless you're a real expert at using one....I'm certainly not....:) The consumables are high on the plasma, but the cutting results and small kerf along with the speed are well worth it; not to mention the accuracy of the cut. I have two of em. One that runs on 115VAC that I can use with a portable generator that I can carry in the bed of my truck. I use when going to the salvage yard. I took the whole complete roof off a '72 Swinger in about 30 minutes with it once I had the glass and remnants of the interior out of the way. The other cutter is of the 220VAC shop variety that I use only in the shop. It slices thru automotive sheet metal like a hot knife thru butter. Good job on those tubs. Can't wait to see what she looks like with the tires/wheels all bolted up.
 
Well fellas.. its offical.. the dart is now vitamin c orange.. it is truly a beautiful sight to see. pics up as soon as she gets back from the body shop
 
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