Spare tire well removal

-
moparmarks

moparmarks

zippindippintie
FABO Gold Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2014
Messages
3,622
Reaction score
2,376
Location
Western Colorado
Has anyone removed the spare tire well and installed a flat trunk floor? Don't really understand why Mopar put a tire well in a 5 person trunk. I set my spare up on the hump like with B/E bodies and there is still plenty of room. Anywho my 72 Dart has inboard spring with mini tubs and I'm not liking my exhaust options or fuel tank options. I'm used to B/E bodies. Right now I have the exhaust kicked out the sides. 72 came with a little Honda size 16gal tank. Not very muscle car friendly. 70-down had a 18gal which is a little better. I installed a 70 but things are different than 72 and not working out to my liking. I want to install a flat floor and maybe a Challenger 19.5 tank or have Tanks Inc make me a 20-22 gal. A flat floor equals a bigger tanks and more exhaust room.
Thoughts?

20200522_181221.jpg


20200621_113119.jpg
 
The flat floor is relatively easy to do, and it does make a decent amount of room for a larger tank.

As for OE tanks, you're better off going custom. The E body tanks don't have an option with the filler neck on the left hand side. Challenger tanks use a right side filler neck, Barracudas and the '71 up B's used a rear fill behind the license plate that won't work with the A-body rear bumper and structure unless you put the fill inside the trunk, which causes other issues.

I installed a 68-70 B body tank in my Duster, but, it takes a ton of work. The filler neck is close enough to use the factory A-body hole in the trunk pan, but the tank is too long. I kicked out the rear crossmember almost all the way out to the bumper to get the tank to clear in the back, and had to move the triangular supports. The process would be a little different for a Dart I believe because of the differences in the rear bumper. It does make a bunch more room for the exhaust, and the tank doesn't hang down as low as an A-body tank.
 
72bluNblu did you use a 68-70 Charger tank? 68-70 B tank has the filler behind the plate like the 70-4 Cudas and 71-4 B's. I forgot that the Challenger is on the right side and have a 70 in my shop.
 
Yeah it’s a Charger tank. Still a 68-70 B-body, but yeah the Plymouth’s had the rear filler.

Another member here said he did it, not sure how much he actually did because I never saw pictures. He said it worked, but yeah, there was a decent amount of fabricating and modification to the rear cross brace to make it work.

I looked at the E-body tanks and considered it, I plan on using a late model challenger cap on my car so swapping sides wouldn’t have been the end of the world. And I have a ‘72 Challenger tank out of my Challenger for mock up. The E tank is narrower, so, more room for exhaust. But it’s also taller. The Charger tank has a lower height profile and a nice front to rear taper. Since I’ve also considered making a rear pan/diffuser for my car the Charger tank would work better for that. And it’s still narrower than the Abody tank so it still makes more room for the exhaust pipes. But I only have a 1/2” spring offset, not a full 3” relocation.
 
72bluNblu said:
Yeah it’s a Charger tank. Still a 68-70 B-body, but yeah the Plymouth’s had the rear filler.
Click to expand...
Coronets too.
I have probably every A, B and E tanks in the yard except 68-70 Charger.
Thanks for the input guys. I think that I'll plan on doing it. Once I get the floor installed then I'll probably have Tanks Inc make me one with an in-tank pump beings I'm going with EIF. Might have to make a new fill tube and what not but in the long run I think it will be well worth the work. I want top finish this task before I get new wider wheels and narrow a rear end.
 
I cut the spare tire tub out of both of mine and used a narrower than stock fuel cell dropped flush with the trunk floor. Kept my trunk and kept my rear exit exhaust.
 
roccodart440 said:
I cut the spare tire tub out of both of mine and used a narrower than stock fuel cell dropped flush with the trunk floor. Kept my trunk and kept my rear exit exhaust.
Click to expand...
Would you happen to have pictures of this set up? My spare tire well is rusted out and I’m debating doing a cell but I’m not sure how I want to go about doing it.
 
72bluNblu said:
Yeah it’s a Charger tank. Still a 68-70 B-body, but yeah the Plymouth’s had the rear filler.

Another member here said he did it, not sure how much he actually did because I never saw pictures. He said it worked, but yeah, there was a decent amount of fabricating and modification to the rear cross brace to make it work.

I looked at the E-body tanks and considered it, I plan on using a late model challenger cap on my car so swapping sides wouldn’t have been the end of the world. And I have a ‘72 Challenger tank out of my Challenger for mock up. The E tank is narrower, so, more room for exhaust. But it’s also taller. The Charger tank has a lower height profile and a nice front to rear taper. Since I’ve also considered making a rear pan/diffuser for my car the Charger tank would work better for that. And it’s still narrower than the Abody tank so it still makes more room for the exhaust pipes. But I only have a 1/2” spring offset, not a full 3” relocation.
Click to expand...
Preview attachment 20201212_081331.jpg
0

icon_1_image_x32.png

20201212_081331.jpg
4.6 MB

I cut off 4-5 inches off back end to make it fit. (68-70 charger tank/67 barracuda FB/mini tub) I did the cutting and folding and TIG'd it, but took to radiator shop for final test/solder. new TANKS INC efi job so no fumes
 
Last edited:
roccodart440 said:
I cut the spare tire tub out of both of mine and used a narrower than stock fuel cell dropped flush with the trunk floor. Kept my trunk and kept my rear exit exhaust.
Click to expand...
I'm also looking into a flush mount cell. What about the tank venting. Is it just into the trunk?
 
moparmarks said:
Agree. That is why I'm asking about the cell venting.
Click to expand...

Another thing is your vent should have a one way check valve in case of roll over. AKA as a roll over valve. My cell from Rhoades came with one.

What I also did was make a loop in the vent line to act as an additional trap.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top