Spare tire well delete

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moparmarks

moparmarks

zippindippintie
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On my 72 Dart been thinking about removing the spare tire well and welding in a flat trunk floor. Reasons are it has a pretty big trunk to begin with. My spare is to wide for the well and sticks up in the middle of the floor. Tire would fit just fine up behind the rear seat like in most B's and all E's. It has inboard springs and not much room for exhaust out the back. Can be done but is a bit tricky. Finally I want a bigger fuel tank. I'm thinking with a flat trunk pan then a Challenger 20 gal tank could work. Would probably have to make a custom fill tube.
Any thoughts? Anyone done this?
 
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j par said:
20 gallon tank!?.. what are you doin a cannonball run?.. lol...
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I have a 10 gallon cell in my big-cam 451 Dart and wish I'd gone with a 20... At 9.2 mpg at a steady 60 mph (and much less with my foot down!) I can watch the fuel gauge drop...
 
DrCharles said:
I have a 10 gallon cell in my big-cam 451 Dart and wish I'd gone with a 20... At 9.2 mpg at a steady 60 mph (and much less with my foot down!) I can watch the fuel gauge drop...
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I've had a 10 gallon cell in the wheel well for probably four or five years now at least.. dual quad tunnel ram Stroker with a pretty good size cam... (I can give the exact specs so I'm not just saying big cam LOL..) but on the good side I do have it tuned pretty dang well.. I estimate around 12 miles per gallon which is about what my truck gets... After about a 60 mi drive with some spirited driving it only takes about 5 gallons to refill it back up...
If I go on long trips I usually strap a low profile 5 gallon can in the trunk just in case but have never had to use it...
 
Seems like slot of trouble to add 2 gallons .

If you want a spare and have BBP get a donught. If you have SBP get a 14 x 4.5 wheel and a 155 x70 firestone f560 Firestone F560 Radial Tire | 155R14 tire. Sits flush in the hole. They also come in 15"
 
It is more than just adding 2 gal.
A lot more room for exhaust tail pipes. This is the biggest reason
A flat trunk floor. I run a Sure Grip and want a bigger spare.
Actually the 71-up 4 nipple tank is only 16 gal.
I have a 70 no nipple tank which is 18 gal but the filler tube does not line up correctly in the hole of the trunk pan.
I've seen that Tanks Inc shows a 18 gal 4 nipple 70-1 tank.
I would like to go back to a 71-up style of vapor venting.
I'm also thinking that with a big flat trunk pan I could have a longer more narrow tank made that is like 22-24 gal and still have room for exhaust. I do plan on driving this car the 500 mile trip to Vegas and maybe the 800 mile trip to the Fling.
 
Remember for you all that have a factory tank. The spare holds the tank tight. A full tank pulls down on the center of the floor . The spare tire carriage bolt holds it up using the spare.

Some time ago I bought a car filled it with fuel on the way home . We cleaned the trunk out when we got back and took the spare out I took it for a ride and the tank bracket ripped right through the rusted floor. Fuel all over the road. Lucky it didn't drop all the way and spark. The fill tube held it.
 
Many years ago I went to a junk yard to look at a wrecked 69 Thunderbird after a friend had died in it. the car went off the road backward into a oak tree after the drive shaft went under a rear wheel. The spare wasn't properly stored/anchored in the trunk. It went through the windshield. Freddie was sitting in center of back seat.
Delete the spare well if you want. Anchor the junk in the trunk!
 
Oh I agree. I would weld in a hold down bracket from a B or E body.
I had a friend from school back in the day roll his 70 Chevelle. He had a tape deck just sitting on the hump in-between the buckets and it kept hitting him in the head while rolling killing him.
 
I have a flat floor in the FB. I did it to make room for the 3" exhaust after the mini tub. I used a 68-70 charger Tanks Inc tank and chopped the back 3-4 inches off back.The fill tube isnt exactly the same as its at a bit of an angle compared to the stock A body tank, but it lined up and is tight. I have not run the car yet so I cannot vouch that it is going to work for sure, but it appears that it will. I can send pics later if interested. I am using a Summit exhaust kit. Will probably run back to the axles today and have an exhaust shop tweak the last bit out the back to make it out straight. Right now the pipes head out back at slight angle. The kit comes with and extra bit to cut off so it should have enough to make a few bends to straighten it out. Im planning on carrying a plug kit and a 4x4 type compressor to fix flats....all else fails....AAA.
 
Oldmanmopar said:
Remember for you all that have a factory tank. The spare holds the tank tight. A full tank pulls down on the center of the floor . The spare tire carriage bolt holds it up using the spare.

Some time ago I bought a car filled it with fuel on the way home . We cleaned the trunk out when we got back and took the spare out I took it for a ride and the tank bracket ripped right through the rusted floor. Fuel all over the road. Lucky it didn't drop all the way and spark. The fill tube held it.
Click to expand...

Sorry Oldman I don't agree here. I've drove a million cars a gazillion miles with no spare. The tank is held into welded braces with straps at the ends. S/T has nothing to do with the fuel tank. Yours fell out because the pan was rusted.
 
I put a 32 gallon gas tank from a van into my 67 barracuda. Fit is just right. Had to make a new filler tube and it has one weird curve in it
With a 400 BB and 4:10 gears I can drive 100 miles to the big city and not need to fill up til I get into city folk area.
 
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