Another mini tub question

[wedgie]

I am sure that this has been answered before, but memory is the second thing to go. When mini tubbing, do you cut the lip from the outside edge of the frame rails also? It would give a bit more tire clearance. If you do trim it off, do you then weld the frame rail edge to thr trunk pan edge? This is a street driven car so safety is primary.

[jet-taz]

i would weld it to the floor pan .it would be stronger.

[Scampin]

I cut the lip off, then tacked the floor back to the frame.  Then welded the tub to the frame on the inside of the well, and to the floor in the trunk area.  It ain't goin no-where.

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[440Demon]

That looks great.
did you butt weld the filler strips or
overlap them?

[Scampin]

I started with butt welding them, but gave up on that real quick.  I overlapped the rest.  It came out really well.  I did find a rust spot though... First one I found in the whole car.

[b569rr]

While you are in there, run a grinder down this seam and it practically flattens itself out.







I cut the lip and welded the well to the frame rail face and the floor pan.

The lower corner will give you the most trouble. When I fit them in, I had about a 3/8" gap to fill. What you see is all weld and haven't seam sealed it yet although I don't have any holes. So don't get too upset when you see the same problem.

Tom

[Evan]

Tom, what is the picture showing in the top 2 pictures? is that the outside wheel well?

[b569rr]

Tom, what is the picture showing in the top 2 pictures? is that the outside wheel well?

That is the body side of the inside of the wheel well. It is above the wheel well lip. It lines up with the outside of the wheel well lip. I trimmed 3/8" off of my lip and found this crease protruding into much needed tire space. Cutting it out will get you another 3/8". Or you could beat it in with a BFH.

Tom

[Evan]

i see. that gives you maximum tire clearance. are you not worried about weakening the body above the wheel opening? thanks for the pictures.    -Evan

[b569rr]

No, it is still quite solid. And after all the steel I have and am going to put in the Dart, it won't be moving.

Tom

[Evan]

i like it a lot. i may have to do the same thing. no lip to catch the tire on.            thanks again,      -Evan

[Mopartist]

Hey; what do ya do about the "V" brace behind the seat? As you can see; the top of it is lower than on your later model. Trim it?

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[b569rr]

I'm not familiar with your car but the v brace on our cars hits the relocated well also. Drill the spot welds holding the brace to the fender. Rather than trim the interfering piece of the support off, make a vertical cut on the botton flange of the V brace about 3 inches down from the top end with some tim snips, relocate the well, and tap the cut piece down over the well and weld it up. You will have to hammer the piece that you removed the spot welds from and weld that anyways.

Not the best pic but the top of my V brace is rolled out a bit.

[mopowers]

Yeah Ken, just trim away at it.  Just go a little at a time and keep test fitting the wheel well.  Here is a picture of when I was doing my 66.  You can compare it to yours and see how much I trimmed.  Not very much actually.  You just want to make sure your inside wheel well is verticle when you put it back in.



Another:

[b569rr]

Looks like a good fit mopowers. Also trim a little off the trunk hinge and test fit. You can always trim more off. I went a little far and had to fill in 3/8" gap. Looked OK with a heavy Texas Weave over it.

Tom

[Mopartist]

What a great site ! Thanks guys!

Hey; would ya mind checkin out my diagram in the "Measurements for narrowing a diff" thread to see if I have the right idea on measuring for my diff? (And the wheel backspacing) I came up with about an inch and a half tire clearance on each side (Before having wheels and tires that is)

[mopowers]

Yeah, you have to do the same thing with the hinge brackets.  It's the same technique though.  I cut a little too much off this side for even a texas sized weave.  I just ended up bending up a small 1" wide strip on sheet metal by hand and welding it on both sides.  I just wish my weld were as nice as Tom's.  Why do you think I smeared on so much seam sealer? 

[Mopartist]

Looks like pretty good welding to me! (I think Tom welds for a living)