ive been readin alot on this board trying to get a plan for my 75 and there is two modification either everyone seems to want or are doing and im tryng to figure out why the first is the mustang 2 pinto front suspension now ive done a couple of these on street rods and customs were the front suspension was either pourly desgined or impossible to find parts for so it made it sense but isnt our suspension basically a mustang suspension? or falcon or whatever either way both designs arent exactly bad and parts are easy and fairly cheap to do what ever in the world you want to do it drag race road race or street and most the cars i see this done on are street cars which just seems like alot of wasted time and money or is there some reason im missing here the second is the 9 inch rear end now on the early with 4 lug i can more understand but like my car has the 8 with 3.00 even gears i dont plan on running more than 300hp so im just going to through a lsd in it and explorer brakes be done again now for racing purpsoes i understand but a street car weekend warrior its boggling my mind unless there reasons i havent seen and i see very few pepole talking about a four linking a rear end which i was going to go to all the hassel to put i 9 in i wouldnt keep the leaf springs i would do away with them in a heart beat just curious
i agree completely with what youre saying.... IMHO, most of the time people just install MII front ends and 9" rears just to say they have them. the factory front suspension is basicly a Mustang suspension so there's plenty of market for improvements rather than going all out to a MII setup. and like you said about the 8".... a 8" rear end will hold up to about anything around 400-450hp behind an auto or about 400 with a stick shift. unless someone just has a butt-load of HP in their engine, they really dont need a 9" (although factory 9" gears are easier to find in "better" ratios) just my thoughts...
Yea, I'm going to spend several thousand extra on my car just so I can say I have certain parts on it, but for no other reason. Several guys on here have broken the 8 inch, ratio411 comes to mind and I'm sure there's others. Four link rear suspension is great in certain applications, but a lot of weekend warriors don't have the resources to do that. Leaf springs are more then adequate for your average street driven car, and when you add caltracs, it's they can work extremely well. Mustang II front end is usually done because someone wants those damn shock towers out of the way.
several thousand??? Jamie, now be real..... a complete MII front end is $200 if u cut it out yourself, and a 57-59 rear (or one from Raymond) is $200 or less. even after rebuilding everything and putting it in, one can have everything done for around $800-$1000. and in that case, you can rebuild the stock stuff for the same money and less work. yes, some will break an 8" but if you remember correctly, Ratio411 had a 4sp (as i mentioned, they wont hold up as good when ur banging gears)..... and the MII helps out in alot of ways but the biggest benefit is the added space, only if ur just wanting the extra space of going big block.
I would say your dollar figures are a little low. Maybe it's not "thousands", but it aint $200. By the time it's all done? A grand... but a hell of alot better.
Every time I see Mustang II front ends being talked about, it's because someone wants to do away with the shock towers. The towers on these cars are tight even with a 302. Only a select few headers fit, and changing sparkplugs is annoying, especially with stock manifolds. Put a 351 in it, and some say you can't change the plugs. Headers are a big problem too. Nothing "off the shelf" is known to fit a 351 in a Maverick without at least "shaving" the shock towers a bit. (I think may be a Crites header for 351w that fits, but they're discontinued if I remember right.) Stock manifolds fit a 351w, but why go through all that and not use headers? So... Some drawbacks to the 351 swap with stock suspension, although you get past some of that by shaving the towers. But if you can get rid of the towers altogether, then you can fit anything you want in there. 460, 429, modular engines...
Oh, and the 9"... Yeah, the only reasoning I can see behind that is either you're going to be putting down crazy horsepower on slicks, or you just happen to stumble on one for the right price.
ok well thats what i thought but figured i would ask that maybe i was somthing as far as spark plugs and headers being a pain which on most cutomapplications they are i couldnt see any real reason now i was going with 6 cyl orignally but i found out after a compression check the 250 is tired and since from what i have seen parts are pricey espeically hop up parts the decison to with a 289 or 302 wasnt hard i just wanted to make sure i wasnt missing critical flaw in the car well no more the usual one anyway
Shaving the shock towers is a good thing, even with a 302-based engine. It is far easier to change the plugs on my 351W with cut towers than it ever was with the factory 302 and stock towers. When you drop a 351W in one of these cars, the exhaust still wants to exit right where the upper A-arms are ... very tight, and this is where a Mustang II front end starts looking like a benefit. The headers in mine are fairly awful ... they turn right out of the port, almost straight back. If my motor is beyond needing rings and bearings the next time it is out of the car, I will likely go for a 331 stroker next. A 302-based motor fits better in a couple other dimensions too, and they have come a long way since I did this swap in the mid-90s. Ratio411 was mentioned ... he has done a 351C swap, which seems counter-intuitive given that it is one step bigger than a 351W, but the exhaust ports aim down instead of out the sides, and he has sold me on the idea that aspect of the that swap would fit better. 9 inch rear ... if doing an axle on the cheap (rebuilt old parts), 9 inchers are much easier to find posi and gears for. For an 8" posi, you are almost forced to buy new ... they are very hard to find used. I think that drives a lot of guys toward 9" rears. They also weigh more (40 lbs) and take more power to turn over. In a light car like ours, an 8" ought to live a long time if built right, under all but the most extreme conditions. Auburn builds a new unit for 8" rears that looks pretty good and is just over $400.
...and then there are people like me.... my Mav. is my "HOBBY CAR" i will be changing things on it as long as i own it...read my lips..."IT WILL NEVER BE FINISHED"... i've had 4 different motors...6 cyl...302...306...347...(none i needed) just wanted. built 3 different C-4s...(built another 1 yesterday) makes 4...this one w/gearvendor OD...(none needed) just wanted installed an AOD...pulled it and had it hopped up...pulled it and installed a full race AOD w/transbrake and lockout OD...(not needed) just wanted built 8" with 3:55s and power tracs posi... caltrac bars... rebuilt the stock frontend...then installed a...Rod and Custom rack-n-pinion coilover w/ disc brakes...(not needed) just wanted. full set of Dakota Digital guages...(not needed) just wanted complete Ron Francis wiring harness w/16 fuse box...(not needed) just wanted. i have more things i have installed but...didn't need... if we were building these car for "the need", they would have stock 6 cyls, 2:79 rear gear and bench seats... this is my ..."HOBBY"...see ya'll in the streets... ...LMHC...:Handshakelove my hobby car
I'm putting in an aftermarket Mustang II front crossmember set up because my Cleveland will fit much better than when it was in the car with the towers intact and those crazy Tubular Automotive headers. I'm also building a tilt front end so I want the towers gone and I can then tie the frame back into the cage. It's the "WOW" factor I'm looking for. I know what Jamie means by spending extra money because you want to more than need to. My entire crossmember kit ordered with the "you finish welding it youself" option cost me 279.00 plus shipping from Full Tilt Street Rods in Colorado. They don't make a direct replacement for a Maverick but their early Falcon/Comet is really close. Nothing some minor fab work can't handle. Gene is right about the total cost being something like a grand or so because the crossmember is, in fact, the cheap part. Now nothing is re-usable from the stock Maverick/Comet susspension that you removed. You need 2 Mustang II spindles, 2 lower a-frames, 2 upper a-frames all with ball joints, rack and pinion steering unit with tie rod ends, universal joints, couplers and 3/4 inch tubing to adapt the rack to your steering column, 2 coil springs, air bags or coil over springs(whichever you prefer), 2 shocks, sway bar w/ bushings etc. so it all adds up. I found my disc brake 9 inch Versailles rear for 150.00 years ago so that is the only reason that I have it now. I would have had to upgrade to at least an 8 inch since I had one of those dinky 7 3/4 rears that came in the 69.5 cars. I agree with Frank because this is a hobby and everyone spends money on their hobbies and it's never really complete.
