So I’m trying to figure out how to go about sliding the front end of my old Thunderbird turbo coupe in the maverick. I know this is insane but I want something no one else has done yet. I’ve got a 430hp 2.3l turbo motor that wants to live under the hood of the maverick. I have managed to remove the shock towers and ect from the maverick. I’m looking for other ideas to “make this work” I have looked into the mustang 2 front ends but I’m not a fan of them due to knowing 3 people who had m2’s that ended up driving down the road/grass on the roof. I can’t Z the mav frame as the motor will stick out of the hood 18”. Any ideas are much appreciated.
If this is a swap that no one has done before, I would say that you might be on your own on this one. First of all, what is the difference in the track width between the two cars? If it will work with width, you might be able to purchase just the Mustang II top "hats" to retain your T-Bird coil springs and top A-Frames and get rid of some of the stock T-Bird frame work. Maybe disassemble the T-Bird suspension cradle and just use the components - then build your own frame brackets to accept the parts. You have to completely mimic the dimensions and angles of the T-Bird suspension, when installed in the Maverick, or it will not work. The biggest problem still seems to be with the 18 inches of engine sticking out of the hood? You would be better off installing a complete Mustang II R & C setup and dropping the Turbo engine into that.
This is why its cheaper to buy a kit than try and make factory parts fit a car that wasn't designed for the part. The only easy way I know to make this fit is to graph everything from the horn button to the headlights from the donor car to your car
What exactly was said to you about the "fails" of Mustang II front ends that keeps you from installing one of them? There are countless installs out there on just about every vehicles you can think of with no problems. As long as the kit is installed square to the frame, retains the original wheel base, still has the anti-dive built into the upper A-frame mounts and is aligned correctly, you should find the car handling better than anything that ever came stock in a Maverick
Thanks for the replies, hahaha it’s looking like that I’m going to be on my own trying to figure this thing out. I was just saying I know 3 people to have mustang two’s and all were rolled over. All of the parts I have were “free” as in I did not go out and buy them I already had the stuff. I am simply trying to use what I have on hand but, if it’s not going to work I will just do the mustang two ifs. I will go re-measure everything, from what I remember it’s very close to fitting
I'm not trying to discourage you but the Turbo Coupe (I've had a 88 that only made 320HP with a Esslinger head and different cam) front end looks really heavy.................plus trying to graft from one car to another usually turns out to be a nightmare.......................................if it were me I'd start from scratch and build my own if you have the skills. If the Mustang II suspensions were taken off stock Mustang II's and grafted on the other cars you mentioned..............then I understand as the stock Mustang II suspension had some flaws. Now with that said I have seen a lot of aftermarket Mustang II "Type" suspensions KITS that work great as long as they installed correctly and use good parts. I even have a friend that manufacturers what he calls a Mustang III suspension and it has been used on hundreds of cars since he designed it and I have never heard of any issue.............................his name is Dale Caulfield....http://www.weedetrstreetrod.com/item65740.ctlg
well I've only got 1/2" on ether side of the t bird cradle thats not quite enough. i was thinking if i take some 3" L steel bolt/weld that to the frame rails on the maverick that will give me plenty of room. only thing is that will caster the s**t out of the front. that whole cradle weighs in at about 250lbs with the tires, i can almost pick it up by myself.
thats the same suspension from a fox mustang. the frame rail in the maverick is too low for that k member to just be set under the maverick frame rails. you would want to use the coil over conversion kits for mustangs on the struts. that would get rid of the need for the spring saddles on the k member. you will need to remove the lower control arm mount from the maverick frame rail. now cut spring saddles off of the tbird k member. now you need to figure out the height that the k member needs to be at in the maverick frame. you most likely need to make new motor stands. sense you cut out your shock towers you will need to fabricate some new way to mount the t bird struts. joe dirt did a conversion on his orange car that used mustang struts and spindles.
Any cradle that you weld in between your frame rails needs to be nice and tight between those rails and also be able to be welded under the frame rails and tie into what is welded to the top of the frame. Some aftermarket Mustang II designers actually "trap" the frame rails within the cross member system. This will make your front end stronger than what was there stock and originally only spot welded in place. Be careful with any plan that includes adding angle iron, brackets or strapping to make something fit - SAFETY FIRST
I just finished a mustang II "type" kit install. I am interested in what maneuvers I need to steer clear of so I don't flip my car. What were those guys doing, how good was the installation, and what failed to cause the roll-overs?
For what it is worth, the kit I got was from Rod and Custom Motorsports. You can put their crossmember in and they will ask you what engine you are installing and set up the motor mounts specifically for your motor. So, suspension is dead on, and ready to accept your turbo'd tbird engine. All the guess work is gone. Here is the 5.0 that I just dropped in on my MII kit this morning...
In my case, with my kit from Full Tilt Street Rod, Clint asked me what engine I was planning to use and I told him a Cleveland - Clint told me "that won't fit" and "it can't be made to work" All I said was "Okey Dokey"
Anything will fit once you cut out the shock towers. If someone says otherwise, I will find another kit provider. But that said, it was still tight getting that oil pan around all that rack and pinion. It was a TIGHT fit. I doubt there is 3/8" clearance between those hoses and the pan. But the header and engine clearance is no longer an issue.
Mine was super tight around the rack too. I had to build a drop plate to lower my rack so the engine would not sit too high. After the rack drop, my tie rod ends were heading up hill towards the spindles but I got them level again with a Baer bump steer kit
