anyone here minitubed their car? any advice or thoughts? im thinking about doing it to my 87 t bird. to run 10.5 tires. probly 325x60 on the street and a 10.5x29 slick on the track. che lowers, boxed uppers and a coilover lakewood 50/50 setup will go in while im in there. any thoughts on the setup or the tubs? the motor is a 521 stroker nitrous motor.
You may not need to.
Thunderbirds have a really big wheelhouse and as long as it's not too low, you may be able to put a 29" tall tire in there. Some careful measuring of axle width/placement and wheel backspacking/offset will be needed.
Otherwise, minitubbing is a pretty simple drill. Cut out the old wheelhouses and the trunk floor to the frame rail and replace. Be sure to keep enough room in them for tire expansion, those 29" tires will get REAL tall on the other end.
i want to try to keep my axle length and backspacing and all that such that i can use it in either a t bird or a fox mustang. my t bird is a shiznit box so i am not sure if i will end up keeping building a nother bird that less work will be needed to...or building a mustang. if i buid a tbird again ill just cut the trunk out of this one and wled her in the new one. thanks for the thoughts.
ok i guess i'll chime in on this one..
and this is only my opinion..
unless you plan to have a pro street cougar or tbird.
and plan to put full tubs in i would'nt waste your time..
having a fox body tbird or cougar is like having factory mini tubs..
the wells are about 30% bigger then the mustang wheel wells..
exspecially if you use a fox body mustang rearend.. it's 3/4" shorter on each axle tube.. and is what i'm useing..
and will fit at least a 11" slick which is at least good for high 9's in the QTR.. in these cars
as for street tires you can fit a 11 1/2" "265/50/15"wide tire with the stock tire and a 12 1/2" with the mustang rear..
i was useing 12 1/2" "295/50/15's" in the rear of my cougar with! stock rims and the same tire with weld 8" rims..
right now i'm useing 275/60/15 which are about 28" tall by 11.5" wide
and i have tons of room in the wheel wells..
here take a look for your self what the 295's look like
on stock 10 holes
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/278000-278999/278001_2_full.jpg)
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/278000-278999/278001_14_full.jpg)
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/278000-278999/278001_15_full.jpg)
on the weld's
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/278000-278999/278001_18_full.jpg)
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/278000-278999/278001_32_full.jpg)
..
275/50/15 drag radials - also used 275/60/15 d/r's
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e360/Domeskull/Coug_275-50-15.jpg)
I have 265/50/15 on there now but i'm sorta leaning toward getting these http://superbuytires.com/Blingz/Ghost%20GT/ on the cat. Its going to be a long hard road and i dont think i could get a 20 under there but i'll try before i cut anything.
Well now that doesn't jive with your sig. That looks like more pimpin than un-pimpin to me :p
so with a fox 8.8{ which i alread intend to use} you fellas think i can sqweeze em in there a? how much more room can be gained by with a "come a long/hammer/beating device of any form" incase i need more room? do u still use a mustang backspacing with the shortend rear still? 10x15 inch rim with a 6.5 /6.0 bs work you think? form the pictures it looks like there might just be enough room for a 325/315 tire in there as far as width goes. thanks for all the pics and advice so far guys.
A 325/50/15 on a 10", 6.5" BS rim will be a really tight fit. I tried to install the tailpipes to clear the bulge if I go that way, but there is an inner fender pinch weld that would have to be bashed or cut off. I am thinking 5.5 - 6" BS and raise the car a bit with the adjustable control arms - though I'd be close to illegal on the outside. Definitely a challenge to get the 325 on there - that's 13" section vs 11.3" or so - that nearly extra inch on both sides is a lot.
I don't know why I just love that wheel. Shame it only comes in 20 inches tho some 17's would be just as nice.