Mustang '1' was 64-73, then ford introduced the **** box mustang 2 in 74 that lasted until the first fox body cars in 79 me thinks.
Mustang II's were essentially rebodied Pintos. However, it sounds gay to say "I have a Pinto front end in my street rod" so they market them as Mustang II's. I think some of that suspension architecture lasted through the SN95 Mustangs.
No, the Fox bodied cars were completely different. The MII has upper and lower arms with a coil spring. The Fox uses a lower arm with a coil spring and a strut. The strut locates in an upper mount made into the body structure.
THanks! Why I was wondering, there was a fella at a swap meet last year selling his dad's jigs to setup and weld mustang front end.....about 15 or so jigs.... I remember not being interested in them because i like straight axles but for the right price it would have been nice to have laying around or for trade to someone that can use them..... however, i remember him saying something about them being the ones that were before the II.....but he wasn't knowledgable about anything hot rod....not being smart, he told me he doesn't build hot rods....his dad had p***ed and he was cleaning house... most were 3/4-1" plate with guids welded on them......very good looking, quality work..
The first type Mustangs carried the coil spring above the upper A-arm...Lord, imagine what THAT would look like on a Deuce!! I think the II is likely the only small Ford front end that could reasonably be packaged for other cars.
It's kind of amazing that such a ****py car as the Mustang II,which vasically was an insult tothe name, should have what really is really a pretty good front end. I have a '77 Motor Manual showing pretty good illustrations if anybody needs a copy.
"Pretty good front end"? Did you ever drive a Pinto? Talk about "unsafe at any speed", those things flip over on a straight road.
I think it was simply the only easy choice that did not have a lot of structure too far forward of the axle line to be used on an early car. The earlier popular choice for this was Jag XKE, but people stopped putting those in junkyards for some reason. Around here, Mustang II is very strictly aftermarket--I don't believe I've seen a Mustang II or even a Pinto for ten years, not even in the junkyard. Maybe they still exist in Arizona, but here the last little heap of brown powder was swept out in the early '90's.
They still exist out here in Arkansas somewhere, because every racing season, the guy up the hill from me (dude has two thumbs on one hand...but that's another story) drags a new one out from somewhere and puts it's miserable existance to an end on the dirt track...he wont reveal his source though, I've asked.
71-74 pinto front end has lighter structure.It is also possible to locate drum front brakes as disc were optional.spindles were lighter on early disc spindles also they look the same but very few parts interchange.74 and later Pinto, Mustang and Mercury Bobcat all interchange.Do not use anything but 4 cylinder springs on most small block rods v6-v8 will usually be too stiff for most rods.in pinto etc. the engine is forward of the front suspension in most rods they fall to the rear more.v6-v8 suspension other than the springs is the same sway bar is also different dia depending on motor but A frames etc are same.I played with Pinto's a lot did lots of swapping of parts best backyard swap was 351 Clevland and C6 into 72 pinto back in early 80s Pintos could be gotten for the hauling back then so messing one up didn't matter .the biggest reason that Pinto/Mustang11 got so popular as a rod frontend is the crossmember could be purchased as a collision repair panel for something like $45.00 no cutting one out but you did need a wreck for A frames etc.
don't know what pinto you drove but the ones I had handled realy well now you did have to pay attention to those damded rubber biscuits on the lower strut rods because if they got worn your lower control arm would move around forward/back alot I beat a lot of "Muscle cars" on back roads just because of how well they handled and once I" built " a 2.3 turbo engine and subbed a paxton for the turbo it was hard to catch on the highway!
Iococca stated in his book that the MII front end was based on a Pinto, but considerably revised. He was a bit testy about calling the MII a rebodied Pinto, saying that was as true as saying a 65-66 Mustang was a rebodied Falcon. The 1st Gen Mustang had at least 3 size front ends 65-66, 69-70,71-73, i don't remember if the 67-68 were different(probably). The MII sat the standard for street rod IFS for the next decade or 2.
I know that early mustang/comet ch***is sheetmetal ,floorpans trunk pans, and fuel tanks all interchange and a bunch of suspension parts do also but I haven't played around with mustangs that much several falcons though
Ive been a ford dealer mechanic since Pintos and Mustang 2s were new and they rate well above what ford builds today! Still, I wouldnt put parts rated for a small car like a Mustang 2 or a Pinto on any larger car, but I see people putting them on 60s f100s! Good design for their time but best left on Mustang 2s and Pintos!
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