Hey guys. Trying to get some info here. I'm going to be picking up a 1973 Pinto this weekend Rust free, dent free, clean ***le and all there but been sitting since the 1980s and best of all its FREE if I get it out of the old man's yard. And so I started doing research. And I know that the early cars 71-73 have a different front suspension and brake system. And the rotors/calipers are unobtanium these days. Now the kicker. I have a 79 pinto with all the suspension/brakes intact. And everything is available new. I'm a parts man by trade. I know the Upper ball joints are the same from 71-80, I know that the tie rods and racks are different on the 71-72 cars. And the 73 rack is by itself but uses the 74 and up tie rods. That makes the 73 spindles a 1 year only piece as well. And I know that the 74 and up lower ball joints have a larger taper and different hole spacing for the strut rod. But I can't find any info on the differences of the lower control arms aside they were "beefed up for durabilty" My end goal is to get the 79 spindles on the 73. I have heard of folks modifying the late ball joints to fit the early arms which I don't mind doing. But has anyone tried swapping the strut rods and lower control arms from the late cars onto an early car? Or is that a lost cause?
Yea 74 and up Pintos and Mustang II Front suspension is the same with the exception of the strut rods if I remember correctly
Yup, got a '78 MII and the only difference in the front suspensions between the two is the angle on the strut rods. I think the Pinto is 45 degrees and the MII is 52 or 54 degrees on the strut rods.
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