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Mustang II Suspension Project |
| The
most painful part of installing
a Mustang II suspension
on this car is that the paint is only a year old.
Removing all the sheet-metal, grille, engine, bumper, etc. to say
the least will make you grind your teeth. |
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  After
removing all the sheet-metal and engine, we removed all the suspension,
wiring harness, steering, and master cylinder. |
  Next,
we removed the shock towers. You
can use a plasma cutter, saw, or cutting torch.
If you use a torch, I suggest using a rag saturated with water.
Cut a small portion and cool it down with water to insure no
warping. Note in the
picture we left a portion of the shock tower on the front and rear
aprons. This allows plenty
of material to weld the filler panels to.
In addition, this provides additional support. |
 You
will need to cut the lip of the frame rail off to allow installation of
the suspension components. After
you cut this off, you will need to come back and weld where the gap is
and grind smooth. |
  Lay
your new cross member on and be sure to center per the instructions
included in the kit. Tack
weld in place and measure everything again.
Weld secure. |
  We
used a dummy engine and transmission.
Bolted the transmission to the cross member, centered the engine
into place. We then
measured and cut the provided motor mount, bolts provided, and welded in
place. Engines will require
a different oil pan. This engine received a 79 and up 302 oil pan with double
sumps. Note, you will also
need a new pick-up screen. Because
our car already had a 5.0, we utilized the stock 5.0 dipstick through
the block. If you are doing
this with a standard 302 or 289 they have recommended components in the
instructions. |
  After
the suspension and motor mounts are in place, it’s time to fill in
those missing shock towers. We
took the filler plates they provided with the kit and measured the
height first. We cut off a
section from the bottom and laid the panel in the hole.
Hold the panel against the hole, take a magic marker and mark the
back of the panel from the outside of the car.
Take the panel back out and cut it outside of the line by about
1/8 to 3/16. When you lay
it back in to weld it will not overlap the aprons.
You will actually be welding it to the piece of shock tower that
was left. This makes a very
clean fit. Grind your welds
and fill for a smooth finish. |
| After we finished our
filler panels we glazed, sanded and primed where necessary finishing
with a coat of semi gloss black. After drying we completed our
steering connections and prepared for the engine installation. |
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 After
installing the engine we were amazed at all the room we had in a once
crowded engine compartment. Now doing any routine maintenance is
going to be a breeze.
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| CLOSING
COMMENTS : When you purchase one of these kits there are a few
items that you will have to deal with over and above what is included in
the kit. Steering, Oil Pan, Master Cylinder and Headers. |
| Steering -
The instructions in the kit encourage you to use a collapsible steering
column this is a concern to 64, 65, 66 and 67`s. The reason for
this is the original Mustang steering box is located right in front of
the fire wall. On the Mustang II the rack is in front of the
cross member. In the event of a head on collision the odds of the
steering wheel being pushed up towards the driver are greatly increased.
This is not a reason to rethink buying the kit as most newer vehicles
have the exact same setup. So adding the collapsible column is a
great safety upgrade. Steering column selections are covered in
the instructions but the necessary parts are an added expense to the
Mustang II upgrade. |
| Oil Pan -
Depending on the engine you use you will also have to purchase a oil
pan. If you are using the older 260, 289, 302, or 351 a pan is
required. If you are converting to the 5.0 you can use the stock
5.0 oil pan. The 5.0 blocks have the dip stick in the block and
they come with the double hump pan. When using the older engines
you will have to plug up the original dip stick hole and use a double
hump pan with the dip stick in the pan. |
| Master
Cylinder - Now that you have the Mustang II suspension you now
have disc brakes on the front. It is time to throw away that one
reservoir master cylinder, (which is an accident waiting to
happen) and update to a dual reservoir with booster. We prefer to
use the 87 to 93 booster and master cylinder with proportioning valve.
Pedal assembly and brake line modifications are required in this
application. The instructions also give you some other more std options
which are easier. |
| Headers -
Your car may already have headers on it. There is no guarantee that they
will work with your new set up. You would think that eliminating
the shock towers would give you enough room to install what ever you
want. The shock towers are not the concern it is the steering
linkage. The headers we had on the car to start with would
not clear the linkage. We ended up using Mac's equal length
shortie headers that fit like it was made for it. This also allowed
us to use Mac's off road H-pipe. Both H-pipe and headers were designed
for 79 to 93 Mustangs. This will also allow you to use the
intermediate pipes. Allowing you to have the ball and socket fit bolt on
method eliminating those aggravating gaskets between the headers and
lead off pipes. In addition by having the intermediates on the muffler
allows you to easily unbolt your H-pipe from the headers and mufflers.
Making transmission removal a snap. |
| We feel it
is worth every penny and time invested installing this suspension.
The car handles and drives so much better than stock. I believe we
are at a turning point with the old Mustangs. I probably wouldn't
do this to a Shelby or Boss due to their value being judged by how close
to original they are. As far as the rest why not. People are
bringing these cars back to like new condition and more and more are
wanting to drive them everyday and take them on long trips. Why
not throw away that out dated technology and move up to what's better.
Our project 65 belongs to a retired air force man who drives it
everyday. He takes it on long trips and enjoys 24 miles per gallon and
has more horsepower than he will ever use. He loves the way it
handles, starts instantly thanks to fuel injection, has been
basically trouble free for almost two years. The five speed offers
him an engine that sounds like it's idling at 60 miles an hour.
Now that he has his Mustang II suspension, and power rack and pinion he
calls it the one finger driver it is effortless, no more sawing at the
wheel. |
| If you
have any questions about this upgrade please e-mail us or call us we
will be happy to answer any questions. |
| CLICK
HERE for...Classic Conversion of this 1965 Fastback Supercharged 5.0 5 speed Mustang
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