Its time for me to buy a Mustang 2 front clip. I have heard many stories about people having to notch and grind away sections of the control arms to make things fit. Then I heard about the Heidts crossmembers getting hairline cracks after 10,000 miles. Some guys on another forum are telling me to use c4 corvette parts. My plans were to use the Speedway Motors kit for my car. What do you think? I could leave the stock front and and just use the drop spindles and buy a seperate disc brake conversion kit? But I would like to upgrade the steering to a rack and pinion. So it just seems to make more sense to buy the Mustang 2 front clip.
By the time you spend all the money & time to do all the upgrades to the stock suspension, you'll be getting close to the cost of an MII anyways, so it sounds like you're on the right track. Whatever kit you buy, plan to use triangulated lower control arms. The factory MII strut rods don't work out so well on these cars.
The Mustang II frontend has came a long ways over the years.You shouldn't have any problems using one.They make shorter control arms if needed to keep the tires inside the fenderwells...Fatman might have a bolt in for your car... Steve
I'd be that guy that plans on spending the money to restore the stock suspension. I have heard not only from you SLIDE but from a buddy that worked at Fatman that I'll be into it for close to what a MII costs. There is just something that I really like about a well planned "stock" suspension that is set up to give the car the right stance. MII's don't look right even though you never see them. I am certainly not against using one but if I can get away with the stocker then I am all for that. I think Fatman's MII is probably your best bet. I have heard great things and my friend Del's looks like a real solid piece. Go for that if you can swing it.
I used the Fatman ultra-low under my 54. I went with their tubular lower arms and stock MII parts for everything else. I could not have been happier. I daily drove the car 12 months a year for many years. Never a single regret. If I ever build another one of those cars, I'd not even shop around, I'd just order another Fatman.
Well, what is the word on the Speedway motors kit? Cause the TCI kit is a little over $1800 and I would ***ume the Fatman is about the same. I was hoping to spend closer to $1500.
I have a Hedit's crossmember, with stock Mustang arms, springs, and spindles. I did up grade to the bigger chevelle brakes kit from Speedway. We've been all over the country and going on 6 years, no problems so far.
I bought my kit off ebay from a company in Iwoa. The kit fit great and the install was a breeze. I drove the car for a couple of months then threw airbags under it. Man.. I miss that car..
Double check this, a friend with a '54 Chevy once told me the front wheels aren't really centered in the fender well openings. If a different clip is going in and you have the option to correct this I think you should.
Okay guys its time for me to decide. I just called Fatman and they are asking almost $1900 for the mustang 2 front clip. This is a tubular arm and crossmember kit with 11in rotors. So I guess my question is this: Is the Speedway motors Mustang 2 front clip a good quality piece? I don't care to have the tubular arms unless that is a MUST.
FATMAN has the ultra low crossmember. it drops your car another 2" without expensive dropped spindles.
Just make sure you get the triangular lower control arms. The OEM MII style lower arms with separate strut rods are a barrel of headaches on 49-54 Chevy cars. (The OEM upper arms are fine.) Also, on the Fatman deals, make sure you use engine mounts that cantilever from the inside of the frame rail to the engine block, then downward to the Fatman crossmember. (Almost all other kits the lower section of the crossmember welds to two perpendicular planes on the frame rail to prevent frame twistage.) Not sure if Fatman have corrected this in their newer kits, but the Chevy has a 14ga. plate on the bottom of the frame rail. Fatman's lower crossmember is 5/16" wall. I'm not crazy about welding that heavy thickness to the light gauge bottom plate on the Chevy frame. Hopefully, they include a thicker plate for the bottom of the frame now? Oh, and make sure you have a welder strong enough to get decent penetration on that 5/16 stuff.
I'd do a search on the HAMB before buying if I were you. Where is El Polacko? He's the guru on this stuff. Before I went Fatman I'd buy the bolt-in from Ch***is Engineering. I've read a LOT of Mustang II threads over the past years and never seen anybody say anything bad about them. Fatman has had all kinds of complaints all over the HAMB. (Failures of parts, design flaws, etc.)
Have checked prices with any of the Alliance Vendors? A $50 Alliance membership might save you some serious$$ in the long run.
The ch***is Engineering kit cost over $2000. I am trying to figure out what the weak points of the speeway motors kit is so that I can decide.
I have used the speedway kit on a couple different cars.on the 54 i did it turned out fine...but,we chose the dropped spindles and it put the crossmember way to close to the ground for me.a little over two inches if i remember correctly.the ? Is what are you shooting for other than the steering?with stock spindles and standard ride hieght it a great kit for the money.if your plan includes air ride or going any lower possibly,choose the fatman ultra low for sure.it is engineered to get the car down without any problems.hope this helps.
fatman altra low is the way to go if its gona be on bags were a dealer and can hook up alliance members sweet!
I have been driving around with my heidts front end for ten years and no problems but a speed way kit works fine. On the green car because of the wheels I used I bought 1in narrow control arms so I could turn even when it its all the way down. I have a speed way kit on a 53 wagon in the shop and they install very easy. Good Luck
I was planning on keep the original inline 6 with powerglide tranmission. Will the stock motor mounts work for that setup or do I need to find some new motor mounts?
if your keeping the original motor and ******, why do you need discs? Those stock front suspensions were pretty damn good on the 54's. The steering may need upgrade but theres ways around payin 1900 for a MII. Just food for thought if your on a budget. If not, then go nuts! Ive heard good and bad bout fatman, but it seems like a lot of the bad has been taken care of. Go through Gambino, he'll do ya right.
Go with the Heidts. The quality is top notch. Fatman would be my last choice. I have used both and heidts by far has nicer stuff. It may cost a little more but its worth it. Never been impressed with fatmans craftsmanship.
If you want discs and a rack and pinion, it's time to pick up a Jaguar XJ6 sedan, take the front end off it, junk the rest of the car, and use that front end under your Chevy. The Jag front end unbolts, one pair of holes lines up, and to make it work only involves adding a piece of plate to one or the other so you can bolt the rest of it up. It has the right wheel bolt pattern, the track width is about the same as stock, and it lowers the car a few inches. You do need to come up with an upper shock mount, but that's not hard to fabricate. Even if you have to have everything on it rebuilt, it should be less than the purchase price of any of the Mustang-II crossmember kits. They have good big discs and a rack right on them, factory. The rack is finicky to rebuild, best to have that done, but from what I understand can be had done for around $300. There are also a couple of rear-steer racks (mid-80s Saab apparently is one) that can be used on the stock suspension, but I haven't been able to iron out the specifics.
I usde Jim Weimer rod garage Must II kit. went in beautifully. Got tubular arms, air bags, manual rack, dropped spindles and disc brakes for $1780
Does anybody know if this works with all years of xj6? I'm looking at a 91 xj6 for $350. Sounds a lot better than 2grand on the kit
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