315x60x15's on my 64 Dart GT

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oldmoparsrule

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I have been waiting for a while to start this portion of my project. I already have the '73 Disk brakes on the front, so this is the next step in the evolution.

Here is what my car looked like the day I brought her home, before the disk brakes, etc...It is a 225/auto, GT, Red with Red interior. I bought it from an older lady in Santa Monica.



Here is the original tire on the right, and the new tire on the left. I am going from 13's to the 315x60x15 Mickey Thompson Drag Radial, on Weld 15x10's with 5 inches of backspacing.



The first step was the get the old 7 1/4 out of the way. We removed it with the leaf springs, etc...at the same time.



With the little axle out of the way, we wanted to see how the new tires would fit in the uncut wheel well...Sorry about the blurry pictures, I must have been shaking with excitement...or caffeine.







You can see that the wheel is hitting in a few places. The original ride height was about 21.5 inches at the lip of the fender. In these pictures, the fender is at about 27 inches. I thing the final ride height will be about 1.5 inches lower in the back. It definitely sits up high in the back, but I think it looks pretty cool.

The next step was the removal of the gas tank, and the associated hardware...



Here are a few shots after cutting the inside of the wheel well.







Here are a few final shots after we finally removed the metal in the original wheel tub...so that it is flush with the frame. This is probably real close to there the wheel will sit, although the car will probably be 1.5 to 2 inches lower. I am running a set of Mancini Super Stock springs, which coupled with the tall tire will give it so much height in the rear. The first shot included my Dad who was an incredible help with this. Honestly, this is most of the reason I do these projects...to hang out with my dad.







Yes, that is the trunk, hood and seats all stacked on the top of the car...I have to be able to get my wife's Pilot into the garage...or I am busted 8)

I still have a lot of work to do to finish the one wheel tub...then to move on to the other side. I imagine we spent about 4 hours getting everything removed, then another 4 to 5 hours getting the one side ready to begin welding in the filler pieces.

This has been a great day.

Thank You!

OldMoparsRule
 
Nice car and looks like lots of fun so far. I like the look. Keep the photos coming. toolmanmike
 
Know anyone with a pair of burned up 315's?

Looking for a pair for some test fitting.

Nice work.

One thing I might suggest to minimize patches. Make a template of the wheel tub and cut real tight at the front and rear along the radius. Then you can lay the template on the floor and trim it back to a nice fit. May take a couple of times to get a nice fit, a few hammer blows. Looks much better in the long run. I have a car that has patches on one side and none on the other.... I forgot about the template thing.

Shoot me a PM with your e-mail. I have a power point with some good ideas and pictures.
 
Great project, and pic's!!
I love the pic of the 2 tires side by side for the comparision.
Are you going to have to make the wheel opening larger to fit that tall of a tire?
 
Shoot me a PM with your e-mail. I have a power point with some good ideas and pictures.

Thank you! I think I hit you up for that PowerPoint a while back...in anticipation of this project. We looked at it when we stopped for lunch. I tried to follow it as much as I could, but I definitely deviated in some places. As always the first side will not look as good as the second side.

I appreciate your sending me that PowerPoint a while back, and your advice.

Thank You!

OldMoparsRule!
 
Great project, and pic's!!
I love the pic of the 2 tires side by side for the comparision.
Are you going to have to make the wheel opening larger to fit that tall of a tire?

Hi Keith,
Thank you for the feedback. This whole thing has been in my mind in "planning" stages for a while now. It is nice to finally be able to cut some metal.

Based on the test fits, the wheel fits fine in the well. It does not appear that we will have to make the wheel opening larger at all.

We will have to move the axle back about 1 inch though. We will do that when we move the springs inboard.

Thank You!

OldMoparsRule!
 
Well I,ll have to say your ahead of me on your project,but I,m watching and liking what I,m seeing.I just got my 66 Dart and want to mini tubb her.You and your dad are doing great work together.I,ve got all the brakes redone(73 disc.) and new 8 3/4 rear.Hopeing to do the tubb soonMy new w.shields in so that,s on hold this month.Keep it up.

trim 013.jpg


trim 029.jpg


trim 038.jpg


trim 048.jpg


trim 050.jpg
 
What's the section width of the 315's on your 10" welds?

Does it measure a true 30" diameter?

Could you get me some measurements, section width, diameter, circumference?

Thanks
 
What's the section width of the 315's on your 10" welds?

Does it measure a true 30" diameter?

Could you get me some measurements, section width, diameter, circumference?

Thanks

Here is what I based my "will it fit" discussion on...I am told these measurements are based on a 15x10 rim. I think these came from another member on this board.

Tire 315/60R15
Section Width: 12.40 in
Overall Diameter: 29.88 in
Sidewall Height: 7.44 in
Radius: 14.94 in
Circumference: 93.87

I am happy to double check the actual measurements on my set up for you in the morning.

Thank You!

OldMoparsRule!
 
If you could measure that would be great. I know sometimes the numbers on the web aren't exact.

Thanks
 
wow i want you to know that that is the most beautiful dodge built EVER................................... ok maybe im a little biased i have the same car :) but cant wait to see yours done up its nice to see variety (im building mine more of a old school custom; moon spun disc lowered alot ( its about 5 inches off the ground i scrape everywhere) im sticking to the 13s shaving the doors and *** hopefully baging it this summer
 
Looks good... I am doing the 275/60-15 quick time pro for my car... Tires are 27" tall so I will have a bit more room in the wheel tubs. I have to have th ecar fenderwell lip at or a little below the rim lip. I just cannot handle a car high in the air... Between the sawzall, frinder and air nibbler with the welder mine is going to sit at the factory hight or close to it when it had the 13's on it... Good detail onthis and man thans for th epics.. answers allot of questions..
 
If you could measure that would be great. I know sometimes the numbers on the web aren't exact.

Thanks

Hey Crackedback,
I am sorry I have not been able to get those measurements for you. While welding 2 weeks ago, my "auto" darken helmet failed to darken, and flashed my right eye. I think the sensor was partially obscured by the fender, but regardless, it flashed my eye pretty bad. For whatever reason, I tend to focus out of one eye when I am welding, and almost completely shut the other.

I ended up going to the eye Dr. 2 days later, and I ended up with minor UV burns to the lens of my right eye. Thankfully, it is healed, and I am back to "normal". In fact, I still have 20/10 vision, which is cool. I will go back out there and finish that fender soon.

I will try to get you those measurements in the next few days.

I appreciate your patience.

Thank You!

OldMoparsrule!
 
oldmoparsrule, those tires look awesome. I've been tossing up the idea of mini tubing my Duster and cramming some fatties under the wells. I really like the way they look on your car.
 
Here are some more shots taken before I flashed my eye a few weeks ago...

This shot shows the wheel tucked up into the wheel well. This gives some indication of how much the tire should be able to stuff into the well.



Here is another shot...



In this shot, you can see the cuts I made to the wheel well, and how it will need to be patched. You can also see that the car had some rust issues in the trunk...I will fix those when I fill in the gaps. You can also see into the "Frame rail"...I ended up cutting more than I originally anticipated. I will weld in patches to make it as good as new... ;-)

Like I said before, the other side will go much easier and faster.



Thank You!

OldMoparsRule!
 
I see that you also got a good looking dart. I did not do a lot things to mine. I kept it stock except for the running gear. It has a 5.2 EFI with overdrive & a 8 3/4 posi.
Keep up the good work

Picture 527 (Medium).jpg


Picture 526 (Medium).jpg
 
Hey Crackedback,
I am sorry I have not been able to get those measurements for you. While welding 2 weeks ago, my "auto" darken helmet failed to darken, and flashed my right eye. I think the sensor was partially obscured by the fender, but regardless, it flashed my eye pretty bad. For whatever reason, I tend to focus out of one eye when I am welding, and almost completely shut the other.

I ended up going to the eye Dr. 2 days later, and I ended up with minor UV burns to the lens of my right eye. Thankfully, it is healed, and I am back to "normal". In fact, I still have 20/10 vision, which is cool. I will go back out there and finish that fender soon.

I will try to get you those measurements in the next few days.

I appreciate your patience.

Thank You!

OldMoparsrule!

No sweat. Good to read you are better from the flash burns, that sucks and hurts bad.

Take your time and get the measurements when you get a chance.

I appreciate the help.
 
I see that you also got a good looking dart. I did not do a lot things to mine. I kept it stock except for the running gear. It has a 5.2 EFI with overdrive & a 8 3/4 posi.
Keep up the good work

Very nice car! I hope mine looks that clean someday. Of course, I am partial, I love the color!

Hopefully, someday soon we can put these 2 next to each other.

Thank you!

OldMoparsRule!
 
What's the section width of the 315's on your 10" welds?

Does it measure a true 30" diameter?

Could you get me some measurements, section width, diameter, circumference?

Thanks

Hi Crackedback,
I appreciate your patience in waiting for me to get you these measurements. Here is what I found with no weight on the tire. I have some more work to do to get weight on the tire...:

Section width is about 13.4"
diameter is about 29.75 "
circumference is about 94"

I hope this helps. With any luck, I will have the axle narrowed, and the car sitting on the tires in the next month or so.

Let me know if you need anything else.

Thank you!

OldMoparsRule!
 
Hi Guys,
I made a little more progress today. I started welding up the center piece of metal that makes up the area I widened the wheel well. I also fixed a small rust hole at the bottom of the wheel well.



Here is another shot. You can see that I also wended up the trunk support. It turned out pretty well:



I will weld in the filler piece on the floor tomorrow.

Once this is done, I will start on the other side. At this pace, I should be done sometime next year... ;-)

Thanks
OldMoparsRule!
 
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