I have located a front end from a 1975 Mustang II complete for $250 to $300. Is this a good deal? How much frame rails do I need to save? Do I need the steering column? The unit have 4 lugs disk brakes. Will it fit a 63 Ranchero, 65 Mustang or 74 Maverick, my projects.Back to top
I was looking for a Mustang II clip for some time but never had much success. When I spoke to junk yards, I always asked that it be cut off at the firewall and include everything from wheel to wheel and also the steering column. I did finally find one local for 200.00 but they wanted me to take it off myself with hand tools so 250 to 300 doesn't sound bad if you get everything complete dropped in your truck bed. You might want to look into the aftermarket cradles that are built to be installed between the existing Maverick frame rails. You will spend around the same amount of money but you won't have to figure out how or where to mount the stock cradle. By the time I finally found a stock clip, I had already collected new forged spindles, upper and lower a-frames, a new rack with tie rod ends, brake brackets that adapt 5 lug 11 inch Granada rotors along with GM metric calipers. I then realized that I no longer needed the stock clip because I would have replaced all of the old suspension anyway so that would leave me only needing the cradle. I just decided to build my own cradle, copying some that are available. Actionrpm (Jack) gave me a ton of invaluble help, as he has done a lot of these swaps, and was very patient answering all of my never ending questions. You can also buy the splined coupler to adapt your Maverick column to the MII rack so you can get away without having the stock MII column too. Good luck with whatever way you decide to go. Bob
I can buy a whole pinto for $300 aruond here. i guess it might be worth it to buy the car and sell thefront end out of it....
I've seen a lot of Mustang II/ Pinto front clips for sale on Ebay. They cut them off and junked the rest of the car. Most won't ship something that big and they were all too far for me to go and pick up. Be careful of what year that Pinto is. I believe the early ones are not the same as a Mustang II. I was told that if it is a big bumper Pinto then it is the same as the Mustang II.
You have lots of choices. I used the stock crossmember and removed ALL of the original frame rail material. If you do it that way, you will have to notch the Maverick frames almost 1 1/2" on each side (actual measurements have been long lost). But I know that once you get through notching the Maverick frame rails, there isn't much left. Really isn't a problem, though...just weld it all up GOOD (no cheezy welding) and reinforce everything and it should be fine. Then you have to figure out how to mount the strut rods (if you decide to use them) and then of course the steering, brake lines, motor mounts, etc. Lots of decisions to be made and it's lots of work. But if you remove the original shock towers, its WELL worth the time and effort. With no towers, a 460 will fit perfectly with room to spare. Or a 5.4...or 4.6...or about anything else you'd want to fit in there. I'd like to do one with a modded V10 and a couple turbos, but that kind of project is something that i may never be able to work with....heck I can't even find another Maverick to start with! As for which cars to look for, the '74-later Pintos and Mustang II's are the ones to watch for. The '71-'72 Pintos will work but the spindles are different as is the rack. They're not quite as popular in the aftermarket. The '73 Pinto was a bastard child...there were so many differences, that almost nothing works with the '71-'72 or '74-later. How much to pay? Depends on how bad you want it. Last one I picked up was already removed from the car and I gave the guy $100 for it and thought that I was paying way too much. Only thing I used off of it was the springs, rack, and crossmember. Everything else is aftermarket.
