How To Install DSE's Minitub Kit

DSE scraped the undercoating off the underside of the wheelwell and then removed the seam sealer from between the trunk pan and inner fenderwell. Before any cutting begins, the vehicle should be level and well supported off the ground. As long as the wheelwells are removed one side at a time, body flex isn't an issue.

The seatback is attached to the factory wheelwells with a support brace. After drilling out the spot-welds, DSE detached the brace from the tub with a cutoff wheel. Since the entire tub was to be removed, this cut along the tub did not have to be all that precise.

Using the template provided with the kit, a cutline was marked around the front inner wheelwell, and the relocation point for the new rear seatbelt mount was center-punched. A template for the rear inner wheelwell was also used in the trunk to mark the cutline. Where the templates should be positioned was fairly obvious, as they closely follow the contours of the wheelwells.
>>The red thing shaped like an arrowhead is a magnetic welding jig used to hold adjoining pieces of sheetmetal together during welding.

A 2-inch-wide strip of tape was used to extend the cutline upward along the seatback. The tape connected the front and rear wheelwell templates to create one continuous cutline from front to back. Heavy-duty magnets helped position the templates.

DSE cut out the factory wheeltubs using a 31/432-inch 3M cutoff wheel. Since this was only a rough cut, the cutlines established in previous steps were not utilized just yet.

The new DSE minitub was test-fitted into place with self-tapping sheetmetal screws that attached it to the outer wheelwell. The DSE tubs-while 211/42 inches wider than stock-have the exact same contours as the factory tubs.

After grinding off the paint on the portion of the framerails directly beneath the tub's lower lip, DSE technicians traced along the edge of the tub. This line served as a locating guide for the new inner wheeltub support flange.

With the tub held in place with locking pliers (outside of car) and self-tapping screws (inside of car), the tub was secured to the support flange with spot-welds spaced every 2 inches. Since the tub isn't a critical load-bearing member, spot-welds suffice. The procedure was repeated inside the car, with spot-welds replacing the sheetmetal screws one at a time. Finally, the welds were ground flat.

Using the supplied template, a new rear seatback brace was fabbed from 18-gauge steel. It was then spot-welded along the seatback and the wheeltub. Since the installation of the tub was complete at this point, 3M seam sealer was applied where the floorboard, seatback, and trunk pan mate with the tub.