HOW TOUGH to minitub?????

[colt zantop]

hey guys...I know quite a few of you have done or are in the progress of doing the mini tub kit from kyle. Im seriously thinking about doing this myself. how hard is it to complete by someone who has never atempted this before and what tools are recommended......and does tonys book cover this??? I havent had a chance to get his book yet...... the tub kit will be for a 68 camaro. any input is welcome........

thanks!!

colt45

[Ralph LoGrasso]

It's not all that hard if you can weld and have some decent fab skills. You'll need a MIG welder, 110 will work. A 4" grinder will be necessary, a recip. saw. I also used a jig saw for some spots. Various hand tools, hammers, dolleys, vise grips etc. A plasma cutter will make the job much faster but isn't necessary. It is a tedious job, you're looking at 40+ hours, I would say from finish to end. Be prepared to get very friendly with the inside of the trunk. I'm sure someone else will have more to contribue. FWIW, I did mine and it was my first time, I did all the welding and almost all of the fabrication with some help from my Dad who used to be a body man. If you take your time and have patience you shouldn't really have a problem. Cleaning the lips of the wheel houses is one thing that comes to mind with patience, there are a ton of spotwelds, and getting all the old metal off can take a while. Also, I made all custom close-outs. If you want to use DSE's close outs, follow the templates VERY closely. I decided to just do it my way, and make custom close outs, I think baz67 might have also went this route as well. Good luck!

[colt zantop]

yeah...Im pretty certain this will be "this winters" project. Im gonna attempt it. now do you have to do anything as far as the back seat interior or anything?? or is it simply just in the trunk area?? so many questions..LOL

thanks ralph and anyone else who might have some input...anything is helpful right now becuase I havent started it yet......

colt45

[colt zantop]

nevermind on the interior question......I have a full article done on the tubbing on a 69 in my super chevy mag. thats answered a ton of questions itself. this is gonna be interesting...but Im sure I can do it... thanks for the input so far....Im sure I will have a bunch more questions to follow!! LOL

colt45

[baz67]

Colt, it is not that hard to do. If you read my post on the pass side tub that is the only problem I have ran into that is still stumping me. Ralph is on track on the tools. I would add a angel die grinder to the mix. When you do it feel free to email me and I would be more then happy to help you however I can.

FWIW I made custom closeouts on the drivers side and used the DSE templates for the pass. There is no reason for that, it just worked out that way.
Brian :icon996:

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Brian, I forgot about my die grinder. It came in handy in more than a few places (90* Ingersol rand).

[StRacerDuke]

Colt,

Go for it!
Don't be worried about messing it up. That's the best learning experiances!
And remember it's only metal, so anything can be fixed :)
Good luck and have fun.