36 chevy mustang II delima

I am almost finished with my 29 so its time to start a new one. I have two 36 chevy 5 window master deluxe cream puffs. One all original including 207 motor. The one I am starting has a mustang II installed... kind of. I have spent hours searching the archives but still need some help. I want to bag this car so that the running boards will lay on the ground. The rear will be easy with a c notch over the axe. Not sure what axle I am going to use, any advice?

The front looks like an original M 2 front end with disk and 4 lug. Its a sketchy looking, bubba install. Are all M2 front end parts interchangeable? I see some with front rack and some rear as mine is. Do I need new a arms to install bags or use original. Will 2 inch lower spindles and bags get me on the ground or do I need to z the front frame? I realize this front end is not tradional but it will be hidden under fenders and full hood.

Still unsure the motor trans combo. Kicked around a flathead ford motor to piss everyone off but would like to put an LS 1 with a T56 six speed manual. Again not tradional but I am a hot rodder and use what is available, this would make a great driver and again, hidden by hood and fenders. Plus this is my car and I could care less what people think of me. This car will remain in its original paint.

So, should I look for a new front end or reinforce the one in it? Anyone do this to a chevy like mine? It looks like the running boards are a couple of inches lower than the frame. Thanks for all of your vast knowlege and some peoples useless information.

 

Poor install and a bit incomplete.

Please don't build anything to "piss off" anyone.

All Mustang II, Pinto and Bobcat cars had four lug rotors.

 

I was just joking about ******* anyone off. I did think it would be funny to do the opposite of everyone else and put a ford in a chevy. Plus I have 5 Flathead motors looking for homes.

 

Nice cars. Mine did,nt have bags, but it did have a mustang II.The original knee action suspention has alot of travel for the bags and alot of the BOMB lowrider cars use those. Keep us posted on the build. Here's our old business coupe

 

As long as everything is straight, you could certainly use what you have there. I would cut the crossmember a bit deeper, box the frame rails through the cross member, and use some 1/8" plate to triangulate the upper a arm mounts to the frame. I would hold off on doing any of that until I had the engine and trans I intended to use and at least mocked into place to figure out where the balancer and oil pan clearances were. You can come up with a nice low well riding front suspension based on stuff that you have just by doing the install correctly. That said, in my opinion, the stock Pinto/MustangII front crossmember isn't a great one to use on a bagged car. The pockets around where the bags go have a tendency to want to get real close to the bags when you have them deflated. An after market crossmember would be better with bags. Set up the way I suggested above, even without the drop spindles you can get that thing way down and still have resonable ride qualities and excelent handling. Just a personal thing, I never understood bags, myself...

 

i think the jag suspension is better, but i may be biased.

 

I've got a mustang II (78 mustang) in my 29 coupe, it works great.Never thought about air bags. i just cut the coils to get it to sit where I wanted itto. Did not affect the ride or handlingany.

 

The Jag suspension is okay, but about 3" too wide for this car! He is looking to get this car low... can't do that when the front tires and wheels are out side the fenderwells.

 

I built a 36 chevy master deluxe coupe for a customer a few years ago it had mustang ii with dropped spindles, air ride, LS-1 6spd with a magnacharger. Also had a 57 ford 9inch rear with triangulated 4- link and it rode great got 26 mpg (when your foot wasn't pushing the accelerator through the floor) ill have to get a pic dug up and posted. When the air was let out the chin below the grille s****ed the pavement and the running boards were about an inch off the asphalt. Those cars make great hot rods if you can get around all the wood inside which I done on this car replaced it with an all steel structure it takes alot of time and some pretty good metal working skills though.

 

Would love to see pics, sounds similar to what I am considering. Not looking forward to the wood working project. Both my cars are very solid but all four doors sag bad so I will be rebuilding them. I would love to see pics of someones doors that were converted to metal. I am wanting to leave most of the original wood and add bracing behind the seat and under the dash. I am looking for a new mustang front end, nothing yet. I just moved the car to my driveway so tomorrow I will pull the front sheet metal off and look over what I have.

If the factory front end is not as good to bag then do I need new a arms or the whole cross member. I have a T56 for mock up but I will need to borrow an LS 1 if I decide to go that route. I have heard from many that this combo will get you over 25 mpg and with very little mods you can get over 400hp. Still looking over my options. I am leaving the 207 stovebolt in my other 36 unless it is shot, then i might find a 235 to replace it.

The car I am dropping was a telephone car in Holbrook Az. I have every registration from 1936 til 1955, can still faintly read it on the doors.

 

Anyone else done one like this? I see kits for 37 and newer chevy but not sure what the difference is between my 36 and the 37 and newer cars are. Does anyone know if the MII front end with bags will get me low enough to lay the running boards on the ground? I have a feeling it will require stepping the frame in the front, is there any other way?

 

From looking at the photos I'd say that it is going to take some effort and a lot of filler plates to get that front end welded up on the frame right. They should have trimmed it so that the upright portions were flush to the frame rails but it looks like they trimmed it out with a torch. If you are going to bag the thing I'd go with an aftermarket crossmember that was made for bags even if I ran the stock A frames on it.

But if you want to run it with coils, figure out how to make some filler panels to weld in cleanly where they are needed (after you make sure that it is in there right and sets rightwith the engine of choice in the ch***is.

 

That would make for a nice Bomb. Particularly, if you suicide the doors.

 

The upper control arm is too high as well, the pivot point should be about the same height as the top of the frame rail. I can take pics of one if you think you need them, i have a pickup in my shop now with the m2 front and i have a fender off it so you can see everything.

 

The install on that front end is really rough, and it is factory original Ford stuff.

The Mustang II derived aftermarket components have had many of the factory shortcomings eliminated, and have thicker metal, a-arms instead of strut rods, 5-lug rotors, air bags, bigger disc brakes, lowering spindles, etc.

I think by the time you got done "correcting" what you have there, you would have spent some pretty good coin, and some serious frustration.

If it were mine, I'd get a new setup, with bags, and 2" lowering spindles.

As for getting he car on the running boards with the bags aired-out, no too sure. I think you'd be pretty close. The issue, at that point, might be the top of the tire hitting the inside of the fender. You might have to play with tire sizes, if you want to touch the ground.

That said, I no longer build cars that touch the ground when aired-out. It keeps my customers from damaging them doing foolish things. It also might save their bacon in the event of a system component failure.

 

Yep, it would appear as if Bubba had his way with it in the past. I would love to buy a whole new set up but they are around $2,000. Thats about what I paid for the car! I am still trying to learn about these front ends, what is interchangeable, width, etc. I can piece together bags, a arms, rack, spindles, but no idea what fits together, plus I kinda want to live a few more years.

Not wanting to set the frame on the ground but I would like the running boards to be close which leaves the frame several inchs up. I am going to keep looking for a new front end. I see the kits are for specific cars, are they different widths? How would I know what will fit my frame rails? I am not opposed to cutting and modifing the frame to make this work.

One more question, it is recommended to mock up the eng/trans before installing but the front end needs to be installed in one location to keep the wheels centered in the wheel wells. I would have thought you mount the front end and then the motor so it does not hit. Seems the motor is easier to relocate than a front end. What am I missing?

 

I don't have any pictures of the car I built this for, it was at Dream Car Restoration in Mesa for a while.

Not the lowest thing in the world, to do what you are asking is going to require a bit more than just a kit. It's going to require some custom fabrication.

 

No it is not entirely nessesary to mount the motor first. I said that because it sure is easier to set a crossmember low in the frame if you know where the crank pully and all of the various engine related parts are going to fall. Disclosure time... Elpolacko and I did this deal on a friends '36 two door sedan about 15 years or so ago. It worked beautifully, and the car was used as daily driver/work truck towing a LONG trailer for many years. This car was set very low as was everything we built back in those days, and the grill (a '35 type) was constantly being fixed from parking bumpers and road debris.

Cool, since I started typing I had to stop and help a client, in that time Elpolacko chimed in. I was going to say, if you want to go with aftermarket stuff, talk to him. He is right here in town, and his is the only stuff I would trust after market to not have comprimised geometry. Generally, I much prefer working with a stock crossmember, but if air is the deal, not so much.

 

I forgot about Kendog's sedan. He ran a pretty small tire on it if I remember correctly.

 

It does not matter how much you paid for the car. I have $10k+ in a car I got for free. Safety is priceless.

Living a few more years will begin with the foundation, which is the frame of the car, and the suspension brackets. Both are going to need, as El Polako says, some custom fabrication work. Listen to what that man says. He knows his suspension.

To me, what you have there looks like trouble, and I have been building custom suspension for 20+ years.

 

One sort of O/T thing I forgot about that car, but relavent to yours. Make sure you do some thing to either replace (prefered) or stabilize the wood in that car. The car I just mentioned in my last post, started as a nice original car with most of it's original paint and interior. The doors fit perfectly, gaps were nice, everything seemed as tight as a drum. After driving the car daily for about a year, we both started to get calls like "Dude, can you help me put the door back on the Chev...? It fell off in the parking lot!!!" Old wood at rest for many years doesn't much like suddenly being reanimated and vibrated around. stuff that was nice and tight and in good shape within a year or so failed completely. Just something to think about.

 

185/70-14 still have those American five spoke replicas around the place here... Don't know how I ended up with them.

 

:thumbs-up:

Yep, your in a cul-de-sac metaphorically. The only option you have to get where you want to go is to turn around and start over. If you can't do the work on your own, you will have to pay someone. If it comes to that expect to pay much more than $2K

It may be time to reevaluate your priorities and budget.

 

Just from the pics, I think you can make what you have work as a front end. Needs some fab work and welding. Not the most horrable front end install , just looks like how most cut outs start.
If you are building a show car and have the money, buy a new one or find a original lever front for the car.
just my 2 cents, Id rock it.

 

I think for peace of mind I will start over and know what I have. I do all my own building, no one touches it except one friend who is a master welder. I tack everything in place on the important welds. Oh, and I dont touch the inside of transmissions.. they are way too complicated for me.

Obviously I want to be safe but I do not think this car should have a brand new MII it wouldnt look right with its 75 year old paint job. I have more time than money so I will just collect parts as they become available. I must have ADD because I always seem to have three going at the same time. I am patient. They do not look that complicated with that manual rack and pinion set up. Just getting it in correctly.

I had no idea that the wood might start moving that much in the future. Most of it is really solid and I planned to reenforce behind the seat and under the dash, anywhere that cant be seen which includes full doors and the jam with the hinges on it, connected under the dash to the other side. I might add more now.

I might just Z the frame in front once its all apart, still researching. I appreciate all of your advice, many brains are always better than one.


By the way smokinbill, that car is really nice.

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I have a 34 Master 5W that I replaced every bit of wood in it and it is big job. It was going to be a fenderless highboy but then I channeled it enough to hide the frame, about 5 inches. With this done I decided to go with fenders and boards but the front fenders are against the ground where they meet under the grill shell and the running boards have about 1" clearance. The ch***is has good ground clearance so the channeling did it all. I guess what I'm trying to p*** on to you is channeling puts it on the ground for pennies in material but a lot of sweat equity. Still, I'd rather channel three than replace the wood in one. Oh yeah, it's running a DOHC 2003 Mach1 FORD engine.

 

I channeled my 29 over six inches, now I wish I would have done less. Thats how you learn I guess. The 36 I am working on has great floors, no rot just pitting. I will have to replace both front areas where wet feet rotted it but I will wait until the drive train is in and build around it. Otherwise I would channel it in a heartbeat. and lose at least 3 inches. Big change from a highboy to a five inch channel!