Mustang 2 Front End Questions.

[65fastbackresto]

I`m driving my beast to a car show Saturday morning, and realize...it drives like crap. Being as everything up front is new and the alignment is good, it has me thinking it may be upgrade time. I hear mustang 2 conversions are cost effective and do provide a better quality driving experience. I guess I`m wondering best way to do this, my car is manual steering, I don`t mind that, but what all has to come off the donor car?

 

[horse sence]

uh oh, sounds like it's take it apart time again
i would buy the new bracket and buy the controll arms new , save a whole lot of time and effort. or buy the whole kit, it will all be new. ready to pull that motor and tranny again?

 

[65fastbackresto]

Yea I am ready to pull the motor and tranny, my cam is too big, sucks too much gas too. Is this not something I can go to a salvage yard and get? There is a local yard that sells cars by the lb for 25 cents, so a gutted mustang 2 or appropriate car should not cost much, but I don`t know what I`m looking for, don`t know what years work, what models work, or much of anything yet. I`m not real sure how they get the cross members out of the cars without destroying them....

You said buy a new bracket and buy the control arms new, are you talking about the cross member that holds the rack and pinion and the motor?

 

[horse sence]

yeah you will have to modify the cross member to use it ,not worth it. buy one ready to go from heidts and get new controll arms

 

[65fastbackresto]

Wow, heidts kits are $2155 and up, don`t want to spend that much...not yet anyway. Somebody has to have a solution based more on information than money, I hardly ever find them until after i do something, but I need to research this some more before my wife notices over 2k missing....not ready to cross that bridge yet.

 

[horse sence]

i think you can buy the cross member seperatly, i know you can for street rods.

 

[65fastbackresto]

Well my budget isn`t going to allow for that right now, which makes me want to trouble shoot what I already have. Opentracker set me up good on my front end parts, adjustable strut rods, roller perches, some other trick stuff I can`t even remember now. Anyway, there are only 3 things I can think of that could be causing issues, 600lb coil spring up front, not much give in those things except in hard braking, granada disc brake conversion (I`ve heard other people complain after this mod), and lack of a Monte Carlo bar causing some body flex. If anyone can think of something I may have missed let me know.

 

[horse sence]

is it just a stif ride ?

 

[horseballz]

Your first mistake was the Granada swap, if they are actually Granada spindles! While they can be bolted in, the steering arm that your tie rod ends fasten to are the wrong geometry for pre-67 Mustangs. There are numerous "bump steer" kits and other band aids out there that can HELP the problems, but not truly correct them. As you turn your steering wheel the toe in begins to change at an incorrect rate, etc. CSRP makes Granada "style" spindles that have the correct steering arm geometry. With everything correct, your Mustang should drive wonderfully! You say "alignment is good" but to what specs? Did some shop set it "according to the book?" If so, that is half the problem, as the OEM specs were not for modern tires, etc. Have you done the Shelby Drop? A properly setup Mustang should drive and handle like a dream! A Mustang II setup is not without it's own set of issues, such as increased turning radius, header clearance issues, etc, etc. Not to mention the cost. It sounds like you started with most of the right stuff and you could likely cure all your ills with the correct spindles and the proper alignment specs. Should not be too pricey. You should read at least the first of the following links, but all 3 of them would be most informative and are a good read:

http://home.bresnan.net/~dazed/suspension101

http://dazed.home.bresnan.net/bump

http://dazed.home.bresnan.net/drop

HTH,
Gene

 

[65fastbackresto]

Yes I have the shelby drop, and yes its aligned to shelby specs, per Opentrackers specs. I was in the shop with the guy the day he aligned it and he did a great job, took him about 4 hours to get it right.

I did feel like all along it was the spindles, I`ll get some time in a bit and read the links you sent Gene, thanks a bunch.

And horse sense yea its pretty stiff but it works good, it stays pretty flat in corners which is exactly what I wanted. The front end dives down under hard braking so i don`t think its too stiff, its just... stiffer than most. With the meiyer racing 4 1/2 leafs in the back though, it isn`t balanced if that makes sense.