I've decided to go on and build my 51 Dodge for some more serious strip use. I've pulled the 8.5 10 bolt, triangulated 4 link and coil overs, and the Rocket strike wheels and tires and put them up for sale. also the 70 mustang gas tank. Bought a alum fuel cell, in the process of picking up a explorer rear end, 8.8. Going to take 3 inches out of the long side so I'll end up with a 56 1/2 total width rear. I'm going to run 15x4 wheels in the front. Now for your opinions, on the rear, the wheel openings on these cars look kinda weird to me. Should I cut them out, like on the old gassers, and weld a lip around them? I've found a pair of 15x10 slotted gasser style wheels but they only come in 3 1/2 BS. I'll tub it and I can tuck the tires under the rear fenders, I'd just have to get the right wheel, but which would you think would look best? Stock, I always thought the rear openings don't quite match the front. Also, I'm going to put my 496 in it, BBC, 400 turbo. I'll put a 8 point cage, at least. I mentioned on here about some friends doing a heads up top ten, drag radials, through the exhaust, street legal deal and with all the 70's, 80's cars I think this old car will be different and pretty cool. Give me some opinions please. Also I'm going with a Checker racing 4 bar coil over set up.
Need a little help
- Thread starter vht
- Start date
Help Support Rat Rods Rule:
Yankee Transplant
He started out with nothing, he still has most of
go for it ,, they always say you never end up with what you started to build anyway ,, things get changed during the build .. so if you got it in your mind what you want it to look like get started , and take bunches of pictures .[P[P
I found the wheels on ebay. Ronsrims1 has them, the pt # for them are 787. These are 15x8, so I emailed him, he said the 15x10's are on back order, and they are 3 1/2 in back spacing. Now that I have my rear end out and know the width of the 1 I'm using, I'll get under it tomorrow and do some measuring. Myself, I think it would look good with them cut out and the tire sticking out a past the fender a small amount. I need to find somebody that can photo shop. I'll run some 1/8 in tape around them tomorrow and try to get a idea before I go hacking on it.
Bamamav
Well-known member
Lots of drag cars had the tires sticking out from under the fenders in the 50's and 60's, but I prefer them to be tucked under the car. You could either simply radius cut the wheelwells, or you could cut the lips off and enlarge the openings, then reattach the lips. Or if you had a spare set of front fenders, use the lips off of them. Lots of ways to go. Take a good side pic of the car, print out a few copies, then cut and paste with scissors and glue! Po man's Photoshop! [ddd
Willowbilly3
A *real* tin magnet
I always liked the old baseball bat trick
Dr Crankenstein
Rocket Surgeon
I'm suffering from the same dilemma... though my car is narrower and quite different in profile/shape...
My car, in my eye, would benefit from radiused fenders and the tire sticking out an inch... or three,
for a "gasser" look which I like very much.
On the other hand... and heavily dependent on the rake/attitude/ride height chosen, the same car may look as good... or better with the tires tucked and/or a modified opening.
It's a matter of what pleases your eye. My car, (again) could take a tucked tire and if I choose that route, I would (likely) modify the opening to improve the profile appearance... because I find the opening to be goofy in shape and proportion... the same concerns you have with your car.
At the bottom, it would be my opinion, your car would look best with a tucked tire. I would mock it up with the rake and tire size (diameter) you desire and go from there.
From that point, you might find a need to move the axle, stretch the opening, or raise the lip to better match the front.
My car in a couple mock situations...
... and an example of how I imagine your car... yeah, it's a Ford and HIGHLY modified... not your Dodge but I like its attitude.
.
My car, in my eye, would benefit from radiused fenders and the tire sticking out an inch... or three,
for a "gasser" look which I like very much. On the other hand... and heavily dependent on the rake/attitude/ride height chosen, the same car may look as good... or better with the tires tucked and/or a modified opening.
It's a matter of what pleases your eye. My car, (again) could take a tucked tire and if I choose that route, I would (likely) modify the opening to improve the profile appearance... because I find the opening to be goofy in shape and proportion... the same concerns you have with your car.
At the bottom, it would be my opinion, your car would look best with a tucked tire. I would mock it up with the rake and tire size (diameter) you desire and go from there.
From that point, you might find a need to move the axle, stretch the opening, or raise the lip to better match the front.
My car in a couple mock situations...
... and an example of how I imagine your car... yeah, it's a Ford and HIGHLY modified... not your Dodge but I like its attitude.
.
Attachments
I posted a reply and it disappeared somehow. Anyway, I'm going to cut, how much I don't know yet. I'll use some 1/8 tape and lay it out. The way they are I think they are ugly, and removing tires and wheels is a pain in the a$$. I had Rocket strike 15x7 wheels and 235/75/15 tires and you needed a shoe horn. I messed with it today a little, and I think a 15x10 gasser slot with the tire barely sticking apast the lip would look cool. I took my Rocket wheels and tires to a show yesterday and could of sold them 10 times if they had been 4 1/2 pattern. Just my luck, they are 4 3/4, I would of thought that would of been the most sought out bolt pattern. There was a 38 ply coupe there that I would have killed for.
