Heidt's or Rod and Custom for Mustang II suspension?

[rhurley]

So, whats the best?

http://www.heidts.com/heip32-2.htm

OR

http://www.rcmotorsports.net/page6.html



Finally have the money - going to put in at least a 351 all beefed up. Will use the power rack, and all premium accessories.

What are some tips for lowering the cost on these kits without sacrificing quality parts? Some have said to get other parts elsewhere.

And, for thoes who have installed themselves - I have limited space, jackstands, and a nice welder - how difficult is this going to be? I am also in intro welder. Should I spend 50 bucks to have a portable MIG man come out?

What about preformance issues, if you were to do again, what would you have done differently on these kits?

thanks!!
-andrew

 

[reenmachine]

Heidt's is the only kit I've used, but they have been excellent. Great customer service, knowledgeable tech support, etc. The instructions were clear and easy to follow -- call them up and they'll fax you a set to look over before you purchase.

If you're not a solid welder, I'd leave it to the pros. This is your suspension, after all, and a f--k up could be fatal. That being said, the install takes limited specialized equipment. Jackstands are fine (a lift is nice but not necessary), the thickest steel you need to weld is 3/16" so most welders will do. There's a decent amount of welding to do, so if you think you can get a pro to do it all for $50 you're probably in for a surprise.

Cutting the shock towers out is kind of a pain. A plasma cutter makes it fun & easy, but I've done it with a sawzall and cutoff wheels -- a total grovel. Doable though.

See the photo gallery for this project for some pics of the Heidt's install:

http://www.reenmachine.com/1967_mustang_convertible.php

Good luck! Let me know if I can be of help.

-Pete

 

[Sundance]

I've seen both, and own the R&C. I can't recomend it enough. You could buy the kit and hang it on your wall and call it art that is how beautiful the TIG welds on this kit are.

I paid 40.00 at the time to have it welded in by a pro weldor. That price included a hour long lesson. I could have easily done it myself, but the lesson and piece of mind was worth it.

Weldor tip: I was going to use .030 (thick) wire. Books, classes and videos I've read, attended and watched stated that the thicker the wire the hotter the weld. Well the weldor taught me while yes this is true you won't get enough penetration with a 110 rig (Miller 135) there is just not enough umph.

So with a 110 he showed me to use the smallest wire and slow the bead down to heat the metal deeper. I was very impressed with his welds, and my welds have been much improved after his lesson. And I was pretty good before.

Cutting the shock towers out took me approx 1 hour for both sides using a porter cable tiger saw (sawzal) If you don't have a sawzal the porter cable is money well spent. Mark your strait lines and clean the rough sawzal cut with an electric cutoff wheel. Hardest part is the motor mount area. I just cut through with the sazal in several sections and used a spotweld cutter to remove the remaining "tabs". This is when you find out the stock lower a-arms and the engine mount are held by six spot welds per side!

Once the holes are cut place your patch panels in the opening and mark them to match the opening. A good pair of Wiss shears make easy work of the sheetmetal. If you buy the Heidt's kit at least get the patch panels from R&C. The Heidt's patch panels are void of strengthening ribs.

Don't weld the patch panels in till very last! And I mean last. Get your engine mock up and everything else done first. I welded mine in the same day I removed the shock towers and wish I hadn't when I made my own custom tubular engine mounts. Heidt's has better mounts BTW...R&C's are kinda tacky in my opinion. That is why I made my own. I wasn't very fond of the R&C steering column adapter either, but if you don't have your own lathe It's fine. Heidt's requires a Ididit column and I wanted to retain the stock column. If you want details on how I mounted the stock column let me know. I have the plans I drew up for it somwhere.

The R&C kit has so much surface area welding the crossmember to the frame, even if you stitch welded the crossmember...even poorly, the crossmember isn't going to go anywhere! Remember the stock mounts and A-arms are only held by six spot welds!

 

[rbohm]

these kits are about equal in quality and ease of installation from what i have seen of them. i know people who have used them both and most are happy with the results. you might also consider a kit from fatman fabrications, they have Mll kits for the early mustangs as well, and are as good as the two you mentioned. one thing though, before you install an Mll kit on your car, get as many articles about the swap as you can find and study them carefully so you have an idea of the work involved, AND some of the mods you need to make for the swap to go well, and be a quality install.

 

[mustangbrad]

Martz Chassis makes a real nice kit as well. Year One used this kit on the blue 65 fastback they did last year. The Martz kit looks like it distributes some of the load back up the firewall like the stock front end does. This eliminates all of the stress from being put on the frame rails alone. I haven't used any of these, so I am far from an expert. It might be worth your time to take a look.