Me? You shouldn't ask me anything? Because you know i really like those years mustangs.. I think they were sometimes cop cars out here in Calif--The CHP used them. I always wanted one, because they are such a good performer all the way around. I still remember the Consumer Report review when those cars were new. They didnt recommend that car. Why? Firstly it had toooo much power!!!! Ya. For real. And secondly there was no cup holder or other similar comforts. I'm not lieing either. That's when I realized my xwife must be doing their car reviews/didn't renew my sub. Clearly they had a different outlook!!!

I didn't have the money, but I wanted one. Never did get one of those 5.0 units but I had a 65 way back when. Course they were just different sheet metal on a Pinto or whatever. But still kinda cool, but by 1990 they were really something.

Its too nice? What if you were at a Mustang Forum instead of a F100?
What do you think they'd say?

You can always buy a drive train. I wouldn't cut up such a good runner.

But its up to you. I'm not gonna make it easy for you to do wrong though/you'll have to live with it forever. Just think about that. The story you can tell vintage mustang owners 20years from now!!! Oh ya. You better keep that a secret haha.

Goodluck

 

run the mustang .. I need body parts for my 54' .. you can blend in with the kid's at the car show.. an us old farts will show off our trucks..how much did you want for the parts truck??...it's gonna be to much work for you to hot rod the truck. and i would go with a 9 inch in the rear ..stronger when you pump up that 302..heck the rear in it is worth useing.. you don't wanna stand out from the crowd do you .. if you do ..kill the mustang ..

 

Kill the Horse. Gut it, Skin it and clean it. Use every part ya can and sell the rest.

 

That Fox is worth around $4k to the racers around here, if that makes any difference...

 

No 1971/80 Pinto (or Mercury Bobcat) uses a Fox body. The only Pinto related to a Mustang: 1974/78 Mustang II's are really nothing more than reskinned Pinto's.

Foxes: 1978/83 Fairmont/Zephyr / 1979/86 Mustang/Capri / 1980/83 Mark VI / 1980/88 Thunderbird/Cougar / 1981/82 Granada / 1982/87 Continental Sedan / 1983/86 LTD/Marquis / 1984/92 Mark VII / 1987/1993 Mustang.

 

I would keep the mustang and get a different donor. They are to much fun. 20yrs. from now you will not see to many. I know. In shop class in 74 we cut up a perfect 69 Roadrunner.

 

Oh thanks.

I had a 65 when they were new, and I didn't think it handled all that special or anything/at least not stock. It looked cool and it was considered a real small American car at the time-considering. I mean they made that cool gt350 setup--if you were wealthy, but that wasn't available to me. It seems later that they started making all kinds of cool aftermarket add-ons available and even in stock form they apeared to handle great. Of course all those years are supported big time in the aftermarket today--including the 65. I don't recall any CHP police cruiser Mustangs from 1965 though haha. At least not anywhere I lived. I thought of my 65 as mostly cool, because that to me was about when Detroit started moving away from the "big iron". I guess they made a 64 1/2 too? Or something like that. I forget exactly. For a long time it seemed Detroit was making only "big" cars and American consumers were hungry for somthing smaller, but not necessarily econo.

I've always liked the Mustang group in general. If I didn't have so many trucks, I'd have one.

Goodluck

 

I love Mustangs and that's a nice looking one at that, but... it has a known good engine and transmission. Also little bits HVAC, steering column, switches, fuel cut-off etc. might also be transferable. Why spend money on another drive-train of unknown functionality? After it's all over, sell the rest on Craig's list and get your $500.00 back.

 

"That" was never "made for a pinto" there are only a small handful of parts that were made by/for Ford in the whole assembly.

 

This is true, it's about time, I've been collecting parts slowly for a few years now. Had too many other projects going, Jeep CJ-7, house stuff, kids, you know.

Thats where I'm at. I don't want to do it but money is the bottom line with my stuff, we're on a tight budget and this puts me way ahead. I kind of wish it was a beater then I wouldn't care. Maybe I should go wreck it first

Since the '54 is so complete I'm thinking it would be better for now to only take what I need, maybe one of my sons will want a project in a few years. My oldest is 5 so it will be 5-10 years before he takes that much interest. I don't mind shortening the frame, they did one on "trucks" awhile back and it didn't look too bad, just a zig-zag slice on each side, slide back and weld and re-enforce. Plus I like the idea of going back to as many original parts since the truck as sentimental value.

I got some pictures of the fox body's front member and it would be a PITA, I don't want to modify the front that much and chance botching it up. I like the MII-based fronts but they are $$$. I do already have a volare setup, bought an entire 1985 Chrysler 5th Avenue for $150. Took the front end and the rest went to scrape, I didn't shed a tear over junking that car The main thing I like about the volare is the height adjustment since I'm not set on what I want the front ride-height to be. I know I don't want a ground scraper so anything above that should be "ok" with the volare as to keep the torsion bars loaded.

Amen!

Thats what I'm thinking and a reason to leave the mustangs suspension in-tact, it might give me a chance to get some decent coin out of reselling it if it's a roller.

I am concerned about this, I do know the shifter is too far back. I'll have to look and see if I can modify a shift handle that would sweep forward and up just enough because I want to run a bench seat. I've read that there was a T5 in S-10's that had a more forward mounted shifter. I think it was possible to get the parts of one to convert the mustang T5 to a more forward shifter but I'll have to research. I do have a small block C6 but I'm pretty sure I want to stick to a 5 speed for the mileage and fun factor.

I do want to keep the EFI, just so much nicer than carb's especially with the bit of ethenol we have here they are putting in the gas. I'm tired of tearing down carbs to clean that crap out after they have sat for a little while. Plus my plan is twin turbos and I think it EFI and twins would be a nice combo

Auto mustangs had the 3.08, sticks had the 2.73. I doubt the car was run hard considering the shape it's still in and it had been his daily driver since he bought it new.

Do you have pictures of your rear bare frame after that swap? I'd like to get an idea of what kind of work I'd be looking at. Parallel leaves are easy but I'd like to be able to get some traction since a pickup on leaves has a lot to be improved.

Yeah that is sad. If it makes you feel better I have a 1965 Dodge Coronet 440, 426 Street Wedge/727, one of 186 and I haven't considered it to be a donor yet, lol.



Thanks, I agree. I'll probably try to take the fuel tank and stuff too, everything to do with the 5.0/EFI I'll try to swap if I can do it cleanly.

Thanks for everyones input. I'm still not dead set on doing it and I've got time to think still. I think I'll do the frame shortening, volare clip install and go from there. The 1954 has a Mopar 8 3/4 with the 5 x4.5" bolt pattern, correct width so I might just use that. Thats an excellent rear end with lots of aftermarket support. Plus, like the 9" the removable 3rd member is nice.

 

here is my 55 F100 chassis with the 8.8 triangulated setup



sam

 

Thanks! Doesn't look too bad, did you make your lower links? If I go that route I would consider making my own using something like 2-1/4” x ¼” DOM with Heim joint's like the off-road world uses.

 

I actually got the lowers from an AirRide kit for 50's chevy trucks with 8.8 rears.. I don't think they need to be that long, but it worked out ok..

Sam

 

The design of this front end is a very good, and strong design. Just because it was used on pintos, bobcats, and that ugly 74 to 79 mustang doesn't mean it is weak in an way. It is very adaptable and suits almost any application. The design is carried on from and improved in the aftermarket. There are some aftermarket systems to avoid but there are also some very good aftermarket systems available. The original system used by Ford is a strong and functional system, easy to repair and there are lots of parts available for it. I often wonder, as others, why Ford chose this when it is obviously 'overkill' for the cars they used it in. I'm using the system in my Cobra replica with a 429 Cobrajet motor. I installed Ltd springs in it. After 10,000 miles I haven't had any problems. It is still as solid as when I built it.

.........mervy49

 

Just do it - You know you want to and like everyone has said here - that body type is a dime a dozen but, still popular enough to make some cash parting out what you don't need.

Are you needing one of us to kick you into gear?