Mustang II crossmember

I want to put a mustang II front suspention on my english ford. is there a crossmember that will except the factory mustang control arms? I have a frend that has a mustang parts car he said I could have the controle arms rack. spindals etc, or do I need to buy the aftermarket ones with the crossmember?

 

Honestly, the aftermarket MII stuff is superior to the factory parts in every way. I wouldn't even want to mess with tearing down a worn out parts car, cleaning the parts, painting them and going through all the fabrication just to save a few dollars and wind up with something not really worth having to start with.

 

^^^^^ agree ^^^^^ don't comprise safety for a few lousy bucks.

 

Check with the guys at welders Series. http://www.welderseries.com/blog/ they make a fold it and weld it up crossmember kit and might have one that is narrower, Normal tread width for those is 56 inches and that might be a bit wide for the English Ford.
Those guys are Hambers and post on here sometimes.

If you narrow the tread width the rack isn't going to work though and you will have to find a shorte rack.
The factory MII pieces outside of the crossmember are fine for most applications. Most of the components such as upper ball joints are the same as other Some of the bigger Ford Products. Check what other vehicles the upper ball joints fit for example.
What most guys don't like is the strut rod setup on the stock lower control arm. That tends to be a bit awkward to deal with in some applications.
The majority of pre 1990 or so Cobra kits ran the stock MII crossmember and front end. Thoroughbred Motor cars used them on their kits in the 80's They used a great deal of the doner car though. You may need to replace a few worn pieces but the stock pieces can and will work.

 

The rack and crossmember will need to be narrowed 11". This will place the steering column near the center of the car where it hooks to the rack. This will also require narrowing the frame as it is maybe 4" wider than what is needed. I did a Fatman on a Model Y with stock arms and coilovers. He sells the 11" narrowed setup. I also dropped the frame when I narrowed it as his setup sat too low for my 165/65-13 tires. See 1st pic in #3 post
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=256713&highlight=mercruiser
Really too much trouble. I did it as I got a M II front end for $100 and car had no front axle, but there are a number of brakes for Anglia spindles. I don't know if earlier are same, but a measurement and phone call to a brake maker will tell you.

 

what english ford? and what year? im into old euro stuff quite some, might be able to help.

 

Any MII crossmember, original or aftermarket, should accept the factory arms. The beauty of the MII setup is that you can swap out the originals for tubulars later, as time and money allows. The difference will be that with the originals, you must be sure to include the original strut support arms, while the tubulars don't use them. Go to fatman.com and see what they have.

 

I worked at Fatmans for years and while I may not work there any more I will strongly endorse to quality of their product. I also know that they have a dialed application for about any car you could possibly imagine. Also their crossmembers are very heavy duty, solid 1/4" wall tubing not 4 pieces of flat stock welded together. Their wide arm spacers are nice as well, they eliminate those goofy strut rods, and of course the polished stainless A arms are nice.

Like I said I dont work their and cant exactly say that I left on great terms either so feel free to take this a unbiased statement.

 

Good question! There's a world of difference between an early Anglia/Prefect, a 100E Anglia/Prefect, a Consul or Zephyr, a Capri, etc., etc.

 

I chose not to use MII on my 48 Anglia, had to move the SBC back too much (to suite me) used a narrowed opel gt (6") w/ disc's. 6" from center of suspension and 6" out of middle of the rack. very little firewall setback so I sat in the front seat!

 

Hi! Thanks for the link... here's a few "Dear Welder Series" tech emails about narrow Mustang II crossmembers:

https://www.welderseries.com/blog/?s=narrow+mustang+II

dw

 

I think im going to go with one of the 2 mentioned but havent desided yet. my rear is 44" from backing plate to backing plate so I am assuming the front is to. havent had a chance to measure it yet . just doing a little reserch before I make a desition on what frontend to use. any one know if there is a covette suspention kit that would fit.just thinking out the box.got to make a thread for that. any way Bonez the car is a 57 squire the same as a panel van but I have windows.
Skids a few companies state that only there a arms will fit.sorry guys for not replying so fast been working hard to pay for my hot rod sickness.

 

I currently have a Fatman MII in my Anglia. As mentioned by another poster, the pinion on the rack comes out near the center of the crossmember. I had to move the engine back, but not to the point where I sit very far back. It took 4 u-joints to get from the R&P to the steering wheel.

 

A '57 Squire is the 100E-style and has strut front suspension. The common swap over here is using '70s Ford Escort struts to get discs, although even that isn't a bolt-in affair. A Ford Escort rack may help for steering with an MII set-up, but check if it is front or rear steer.

 

Not to hijack, but does anyone have any experience with the crossmember from Speedway vs the one from Heidts? The Speedway one is about $ 200 cheaper, but that is only a minor consideration if the quality is not the same.

Thanks,

Don

 

ditto

 

4??? how does it steer? I know a guy that had a life savings worth of borgesons on a coupe and that thing steered like a constanoga wagon in 2' deep ruts...

well if that the case, I stand corrected on a narrowed fatman MII...

 

Wouldn't make much sense to replace struts with a Mustang II setup. The struts are simpler and make a much bigger engine bay. Just use newer struts, Datsun 240Z for instance. They have a bolt on crossmember that mounts the rack and control arms.

 

Ok I got a hedit crossmember from a guy on craigs list. what stock components can I use and what aftermarket should I get.I think im putting a s10 rear in the car so I need chevy lugpatern roters for the mustang II front. any advice?