Hey guys,

I just started my ground up restoration on my 33 chevy pick up and currently have it down to the bare chasis. I got a hold of a 78 mustang ii front clip and am trying to switch it over to my pick up.

Funny story is that everything looked like it was going to fit right into the truck chasis so I started taking apart the front clip and took everything off of it except the crossmember. It had a lot of welds so I left it pending while I bought some new drill bits to drill them out... Well I left it outside and apparently someone thought it was scrap metal and took it to sell as scrap. Now I am trying to find out out what it the best crossmember to use on my 33 chevy truck.

I would greatly appreciate any tips and potential problems to look out for doing this mustang ii suspension swap.

 

If you had a question about an Olds it might get answered. I think they have other forums for Chevy and Ford stuff.

 

Know Mustang II front suspensions are quite poplular on old street rods. The aftermarket caters to these quite well. Not sure who's doing this, but an internet search, should bring up something.

 

Check out: http://www.fatmanfab.com/ They will know the answer and can supply the cross member. Most on CO don't get into 30s and 40s stuff but I've built a few and can tell you to proceed carefully.

MII is a popular replacement front suspension. You should study whether you really want to go with stock MII or one of the aftermarket MII variations. Time spent sorting out the options now will save you grief later.

Also check out H.A.M.B. (google it) These guys are into old time hot rodding and there is a ton of knowledge on site and available thru those who follow HAMB.
Good luck with your project.

 

I bought the fatman clip hub to hub complete. they modify the r/p to make it longer on my 49, good people

 

Actually this can apply to an Olds also, just not a truck. There are a few members that have upgraded their vintage front suspension, you might just explore the vintage car threads.

 

When updating the suspension it will come down to your budget as there are various options with various prices. You can get hub to hub kits for around $1400 for something with no frills and well into several thousand for other kits. Some companies, like Fatman, are now offering MII style kits that use shims for the upper control arm alignment adjustments. The original designs used T bolts under a hat that allowed the upper arm to slide in a groove for adjustments. Some people claimed the adjustments could move over time with the slotted arrangement. The newer design looks much better in my opinion.

 

Yes, a popular front end for custom rods. The Pinto uses the same setup.
As a long-time Pinto owner I can understand why. Simple, self-contained manual R&P unit needs only 2 big bolts to install to the crossmember. Suspension is pretty good and disc brakes were standard on later models. Sway bars were optional While a little tight at slow speeds, the manual R&P has a great feel on the road.