mini tub....74 dart !! what's involved ??

mopars0 · May 9, 2008

Well, here goes....My buddy is still playing with this 74 dart that was given to him awhile back. Since then is has a fresh 360 with 340 J heads , fresh 727 and converter. He has beefed up the 8 3/4 ( 4.10's ) also put new axles in and added a bottle in the trunk. He wants to mini tub this thing and I'm not real sure what all will be involved so I need some help. He doesn't want to get into a real big project just something he can put a nice tire under. He already has the frame tied together. I've read a little about mini tubing and it seems that you just cut your wheel wells and add a piece there to gain the 3 or 4 inches that you need and move your springs in....Is this correct? He's not cutting the 8 3/4 down any so this is why I was asking about just mini tubing it.......If ya got any pictures of A-body's that are mini tub I'd sure appreciate them ..... 67 through 74 darts would be great. Sorry for the dumb questions but I'm not real sure about this stuff.

1969GTS · May 9, 2008

Here is a step by step how to with great pic's

http://www.uscartool.com/img/68Dart/image_1.html

Dave

daves 72 dart · May 10, 2008

what size tires are on that car?thay look like thay are almost rubing.

kenny b · May 10, 2008

Mini-tubbing a car without moving the springs dosn't make a whole lot of sense. The tires will hit the springs. You will need the spring re-location kit either from the Car Farm or Mancini's along with the mini-tubs to fit a nice set of wheels and tires under it.

mopars0 · May 10, 2008

Thanks guys....... To the tire size question , I'm not real sure but they're huge and they were rubbing. Kinda just got in the middle of this thing last night. What his question was ...he wanted to know the different between mini tub and just tub. Which I didn't really have a good answer but figured that the full tub was when you cut the rear end down and all that good stuff. That's when he said he didn't want to get into all that, I'm sure he'll get the kits that he needs and move the springs in. Like I said before sorry about some of the dumb questions....I love my mopars but this stuff is all new to me and I figure if you're going to do this stuff , make sure it's done right the first time.

mopars0 · May 13, 2008

Well, my buddy got started on this tubing project.... I'll keep ya posted.

should be a neat little street car when it's all done.

8 3/4 that he beefed up some (4.10's) is what the plan is....

alan627b · May 25, 2008

Just so you know....we used the "1.5" relocation kit on my 69 Valiant, as opposed to the S/S kit. With stock wheel houses and a 15X8.5 Centerline
Auto Drag wheel, it has a 295-50-15 sitting comfortably under it. Pisses off my buddy with the 70 Camaro plenty! (he he) Not bad for a granma car...
Using the S/S kit allows about 3" per side as stated above ...I always wondered if that leaves any room for tailpipes, and if a stock gas tank will still fit, especially the larger 18 gallon job.
The 1.5 kit works just fine with the stock tank, however.
Hope this helps, alan627b

alan627b · Aug 2, 2008

Instead of splitting the stock tub, I went ahead and used a preformed tub kit. Thinking someday I was going to put 14X32's under this Duster . You can see a little of what's involved in the interior shots. If I ever decide to do this to my Valiant, I'll spit the stock tubs and add a spacer, like they did in the Dart in the link above. It just depends on what the eventual goal is...unless you are going to put BIG slicks under something, the stock tub is a better idea, unless the wheelhouses are really rusty, then the pre-formed ones might actually be easier.
Remember to carefully remove the brackets for the E brake cable for re-use, and to re attach the trunk lid braces if you still want it to open like stock.

Hope this helps!
alan