What is the history of the Mustang II?

What is the history of the Mustang II? - 07/01/11 05:23 PM

What is the history in the making of the Mustang II front end?
Is this the same front end that is on Mustangs build in the 70's?
How did the Mustang II become to be in the street rod world?
Can i find a Mustang and take the front end of it and put it on my street rod?

Paul

Posted By: rabid scott

Re: What is the history of the Mustang II? - 07/01/11 05:57 PM

Nope, later 70's Mustangs IIs, same as the Ford Pinto.

It's called Mustang II because calling it a Pinto frontend doesn't sound as sexy.

Posted By: Mopar Ron

Re: What is the history of the Mustang II? - 07/01/11 09:02 PM

the"mustang II" frontend
first came out on the 71-73 pinto but it is slightly smaller,
the race cars guys like some of these parts.
then in 74 the front end parts were a little bigger
and as street rodders were looking to get an independent front end other than a
corvair or jag the pinto/mustang frontends started showing up under rods.
they were a very good riding and handling addition to a more modern rod of the day
with disk brakes and rack and pinion steering,
and as the aftermarket parts started showing up they became the front end of choice,
many company's stated making cross members for the more popular rods out there
and then tube "A" arms and bigger brake kits became available and that style front end
is now the pattern that most after market kits base off of.

the mustang II frontend is much better than the front ends used in the 65-72 mustang
(they even make kits to change them to the mustang II front end)
and yes you can cut one out of mustang II and fit it to a rod,
I have done that plenty of times "BUT"
it is a little more time consuming
(cutting it out,trimming it down and fitting it to the chassis)
it is cheaper than just getting a cross member from some place like fatman
but the fatman cross member fits great and saves time and looks more professional ....
hope that helps

Ron....

Posted By: AZ_A12_BEE

Re: What is the history of the Mustang II? - 07/01/11 10:02 PM

Ron, what more modern rides would do the job that the Mustang II would do?

Posted By: Mopar Ron

Re: What is the history of the Mustang II? - 07/01/11 10:11 PM

Quote:

Ron, what more modern rides would do the job that the Mustang II would do?

I am doing 2 on dakota chassis but the dakota has a wider track than a mustang II.
I did use a volare' front end under my 36 humpback panel truck.

I have 3-4 cars going together with mustang II front ends,
1-2 with dropped axles(maybe) and 3 on the dakota frames

can you say "TO MANY PROJECTS"

Posted By: GO_Fish

Re: What is the history of the Mustang II? - 07/02/11 02:34 AM

With how common the swap was and how old the Mustang II's are, I might suppose the supply of them is about dry, and not as good as the aftermarket available now anyway? If you have access to one, go for it.

Posted By: Supercuda

Re: What is the history of the Mustang II? - 07/02/11 08:15 PM

As long as you understand that the MII front suspension was a "good handler" only compared to the original stuff they replaced.

Brakes were undersized for most of the fat fendered stuff. Handling needed improvement, looks were blah, which is why all the after market stuff was developed, kinda like the SBC.

Posted By: AZ_A12_BEE

Re: What is the history of the Mustang II? - 07/03/11 12:22 AM

Quote:

Fat fendered

Posted By: Mopar Ron

Re: What is the history of the Mustang II? - 07/03/11 01:21 AM

Quote:

As long as you understand that the MII front suspension was a "good handler" only compared to the original stuff they replaced.

Brakes were undersized for most of the fat fendered stuff. Handling needed improvement, looks were blah, which is why all the after market stuff was developed, kinda like the SBC.

while I'll agree that putting the 11" brakes on instead of the 9 1/2" ones is a good improvement
I had 3 different rods with the stock A arms and 9 1/2" brakes and all of them handled and stopped just fine,
we put over 120K mi on my wifes 34 plymouth sedan with all stock stuff

the tube A arms do look better than the stock ones,
but on most cars you can't even see them,
they are almost cheaper than stock ones now.

I go with tube "A" arms and 11" brakes on the cars I do now.

and as far as handling, most all of the AC cobra kit cars have the mustang II style stuff under them as well.

would I put one under a 4,000 lbs car, probably not
but I sure would use one on just about any 30s or 40s rod under 3,600 lbs
a sway bar is a good idea as well but all my past cars did not have one and they were very reliable and fun cars to drive

Ron...

Posted By: dogdays

Re: What is the history of the Mustang II? - 07/06/11 09:41 PM

I believe a very similar if not the same setup was used on the 4000lb Granada and variants. If the MII had problems in bigger cars we'd have heard about it in the last 20 years or so.
It's relatively light and compact and the aftermarket support in the street rod sector is unbelievable. The geometry is pretty good too.
The Mopar bent torsion bar fronts have bad geometry and although there have been quite a few put in, many have required expensive rework to get to handle right. Look up E-burgs many negative comments about them. They represent a low point in Mopar suspension design, built during the years that ChryCo was flailing trying to keep afloat and putting out such gems as the Volare, whose fenders were known to rust off in three years or less.

R.

Posted By: Supercuda

Re: What is the history of the Mustang II? - 07/07/11 02:47 AM

The Granada used a suspension similar to the Fox Mustang, not the Mustang II. Like I said, the MII is better than a 20's or 30's suspension or brakes, but I wouldn't call it the best choice by a long shot.

Posted By: Mopar Ron

Re: What is the history of the Mustang II? - 07/07/11 02:59 AM

Quote:

The Granada used a suspension similar to the Fox Mustang, not the Mustang II. Like I said, the MII is better than a 20's or 30's suspension or brakes, but I wouldn't call it the best choice by a long shot.

Just curious Steve, what front end do you feel IS the best choice for a 30's rod?
I am always open to good ideas

Ron...

Posted By: Supercuda

Re: What is the history of the Mustang II? - 07/08/11 02:31 AM

Best? I dunno, I stuffed a 79 Newport front suspension under my 38, had to section the K member and centerlink to do it. Also setup the rear T bar mount up to accept A body length Tbars to widen, and cheapen, my Tbar selection. I know that someone made a kit to put a longitudinal Tbar suspension under early rods, forget who though. Only looks "good" under a fendered rod though.

An aftermarket suspension based, loosely, on the MII has most of the kinks worked out, can be made to look great on a fenderless rod and has tons of options, but using a stock MII as the basis of the swap will probably end up costing you more to replicate the aftermarket kits than it would to just buy the kit to begin with. That's probably what I'd do today, unless you want to put a last generation Panther (Ford full sized) suspension under it.

Posted By: 446acuda

Re: What is the history of the Mustang II? - 08/26/11 01:17 PM

Quote:

The Granada used a suspension similar to the Fox Mustang, not the Mustang II. Like I said, the MII is better than a 20's or 30's suspension or brakes, but I wouldn't call it the best choice by a long shot.

Actually a '75-'80 Granada suspension is just like a Maverick/Falcon/64.5-up mustang. The '81-2 Granadas are fox body based.