[jal]

Well, I'm about to order the DSE tubs this afternoon so, if you want, I'll let you know how well they fit and the quality. Though, was planning on adding that into the post anyway.

`joe

[jal]

Okay, I receivd my DSE tubs and, they look great. I'll take a few pics of them and post them up before I start fitting them into the car.
That is this weekends plan.
A little more cutting and fitting the tubs into place.
With any luck, next weekend will be welding.....

`joe

[Cammer-6]

would like to say thanks to Joe for donation of leftover organs.

[jal]

Okay boys,
Made some real progress this weekend.
I got both tubs in and fitted this Sunday. Really looks good and, I'm very pleased with the product.
After getting everything in place, I made a few measurements to see how much room
I'm actually going to have. There is an honest 15" of space between the inner most
edge of the new wheel well to the center of the lip on the outside wheel well. I'm still
contemplating rolling that outside edge for a little insurance...
I figure I should be able to get a 325/50/15 guite nicely under the car. The section width is 13" so, as long as I get the correct wheel offset, I should have an inch clearance on both sides. Can't Wait!!...

Anyway, most of the time spent this weekend was fitting the wells and frame cutouts
for correct fit, however, the wells are extremely accurate and the fitting came fairly easy. The pictures I'm posting will show most of it. There is also a pic of the
1/8" steel frame block offs that we made for where the frame gets notched. To form the
radius on the steel for the frame, we just used a 3lb hammer and the radius that is in
my jack stands. Worked quite well... We still have a little more grinding and fitting on
the drver side but, should be at least welding in the frame block offs next weekend. Maybe even tacking in the wells.

For the most part, the templates provided by DSE were incredibly accurate, however,
we made a few adjustments for clearance reasons. Nothing major..

`joe

[jal]

More pics from the fitting this weekend.

[Region Warrior]

You sure are making it look easy.

Cant find the shock or lower mnt plate #'s.
Length from upr to lower mnts are 14.5".
Only site i found with a sizing-n-mount style chart is Rancho.

[BILTIT]

Do you think its worth buying the tubs? From what i have seen it is not too hard to extend them yourself.

[jal]

BILTIT,
I guess to answer your questions is, for me, yes.
It was worth purchasing the tubs. I guess you really need to weigh what your time is
worth to you and, is there a specific look that you want.
I figure that I saved probably 4-6 hours of fit time based on how well these tubs went in. Could've been more depending on what you're looking for as the end result.
So, my 4 hours + was worth the $'s to me.
I'm trying to keep the car looking somewhat stock so, these tubs are great.
They're well made, needed NO modifications and, are solid. When I'm done, if you looked in the trunk, it would still look very close to original. You'd no something had changed but, you'd need to think about it. Someone not really knowing the 1st gen f-bodies probably wouldn't even notice.

Also, in the end, I figure I should be able to put down plenty of HP to the road.
Hell, there's guys going 8's on 275/60/15's and, I'm looking at a 325..

Just my 2 cents.

`joe

[Jonsey]

It looks like you're not going to narrow your rearend. If you had a choice with a new rearend housing, would you narrow the rear a bit or leave it stock? Do you already have your wheels picked out?

By the way, your pictures are excellent.

[jal]

Thanks for the kudos on the pics. Trying my best to help anyone else thinking about do this...

You're correct, I'm not going to narrow my 12-bolt. Don't really see the need with this application. Basically, I'm going with a 10" wide wheel with (probably) a 6.5" backspace.
I'm sticking with my Weld Draglites.
Currently, my wheels are 8" wide with a 4.5" back space.
Until the rear is back in the car, it's impossible to make accurate measurements for wheel back spacing. If I would have back halved the car, I would have definitely narrowed the rear.

`joe

[BILTIT]

Keep in mind, that much offset causes problems when removing tires with a low car. Many i have talked to complain that they have to jack up the car and hang the axle in order for the rim to come out without the tire hitting the fender. Most do not recommend more than 5.5''BS as this is a common size and can be removed not too badly. I was looking at running 5.5 or 6''BS but may narrow the rear (want to get away from c-clips anyways) and run 4''BS or something like that.

[jal]

Not really too worried about it.
The car won't have that low of a stance and, I've never jacked up my car under the rear axle to remove the tires. Have always used the frame so, shouldn't be an issue.
Unless, they're also talking about removing the shock to let it hang lower??
Haven't seen any problem finding wheels with the offset I'm looking at using.
The 12-bolt already is setup with C-clip eliminators so, just don't see the need or expense to narrow it.
When it's all completed, I guess I'll find out how good my choices tuned out to be..

`joe

[hojs69]

Good job, coming along nicely. Will change the whole look of your car. The 69 quarters look great will larger meats.

I did mine 2 Winters ago. I was surprized how wimpy the stock rear frame rails were. I ended up putting 3/16" backing plates inside the boxed section where the coil-over crossmember ties in. I also stayed stock width on the differential.; 15 x 12 wheels w/ M&H 390/45 DRs.

Pics are right after I got the wheel and tires...since dropped the rear end another inch.

[jal]

hojs69,
Thanks for the comments and the posts of your car.
Looks F-in Awesome!
Justs gives me more motivation to get it complete.
Looking at the pic of your trunk, I'm assuming you also used the DSE tubs.
I didn't think I could squeeze that much tire under the car with this kit though, it looks like you didn't use the leaf spring suspension since I see the coil overs.

How much room to you actually have on the inside tire section to the inside well?

Again, thanks for the input. Looks great...

`joe

[hojs69]

The lips on my quarters are rolled, gives you another decent 1/2".

When I installed the DSE mini-tubs, you can "spread" them a little where they weld to the frame rails. Very subtle, you cannot even notice from under the car. Picks up another 1/2" or there-abouts. Sorry, I do not have my notes in front of me right now.

Since the quarter does not sit all the way down over the largest section width of the tire, unless you are very low to the ground, it works great.

I went to the coilovers versus my older ladder bar / mono-leaf spring / housing floater set-up when I went with the mini tubs.

I think(?), the Budnik Arrowhead wheel backspace ended up being 8.0" with a 1/2" thick mountiing pad. This is on a drum brake rearend. I will check if this is important to you. I remember this being critical to fit everything exactly how I wanted it. I had many conversations with DSE and Budnik on this (both being very helpful). DSE are masters with the 1st Gens.

Like you, my rearend was already set-up and I did not want to mess around with it. Good sale perhaps someday down the road, as it is an original Z28 differential (so I did not want to cut it).

[Jonsey]

hojs69, that's a really nice look. I wouldn't have thought you could get that much tire in with just a mini-tub. I can't wait to see jal's finished.

[jal]

hojs69,
No sweat on the actual measurements. Was just curious.
My car has a very similar stance to it and, I'm not planning on lowering it currently.
Based on what I see on yours, I think my original plan to use a 10" wide wheel with a 325/50/15 should work out nicely... I'll just measure very accurately to ensure correct back spacing.

Thanks again for the input. Every little bit helps..

`joe

[jal]

Well,
We finished 99% of the frame block outs and welding into place this weekend. There were a few spots that DSE uses multiple sections of 1/8" to fill in the frame where cut but, we chose to use one piece in those areas. Pretty much the same result.
Please excuse the welds but, the 40 year old trunk floor was not being too cooperative with us. Also, the stock frame is kinda wimpy and, needed a little extra burn to ensure fill.
I'll take a hand grinder this week and grind down the welds fairly flush to clean it up and, get it ready for final fit and welding the tubs into place.

The pics I posted show the frame block outs and welds. For those of you thinking about this, I tried to show in the pics the radius of the steel block outs welded to the frame. This is where you pick up some of the space you need for tire. Since the frame basically tails off to the outside of the car, you're notching the frame in those areas to construct a consistant spacing from front to back of the entire wheel well. I didn't realize this myself until we got everything apart and, could see it all easily.

I'm not sure I mentioned this in previous posts but, I need to thank my buddy Jeff for all his help with this project. Without his skill set and some guidance, I'd only be about 1/3 done to this point. Also my bro Adam for materials and support. Beer and Cigars seem to go a long way in this regard!!!....

Hopefully, the next post will show some tubs mounted and welded.

`joe

[jal]

1 more pic of frame weld

[BILTIT]

Thanks for all the pics, looks good, keep em commin!