Mustang II IFS build....

So, i have a turbo charged chevy v6 and 700r4 OD transmission to put into my econoline (no disrespect to Ford) with all that power and OD transmission you need to be able to go straight. which is something i havent been able to do for some time now. my steering box (rebuilt one) is just too old and worn out. i have a good 4 to 5 inches of slop in the wheels. it has gotten tot he point where it was not only unsafe but no fun to drive. soooooo time for UUUPPPPGRAAADEEEE. I have decided on a mustang II. I bought a Helix universal kit. i plan to add pics as i go. ** discalimer...i have never down this before...i have spent hours researching it...there is a good chance i might wind up with a pile of scrap metal when im done

here are some pics of what i started with...



current ride height



beginning tear down..




making room for the turbo V6 and grinding off the original motor mounts and bump stops


new ride height established...frame shimmed to level.


thats it for today. tomorrow i plan to work on the sub frames.

I don't know for sure but I've been told that the Mustang II crossmember for the 61-63 Ford F series unibody trucks is the same width between the frame rails as our Econolines. Might be worth checking into. Could make this swap a lot easier.

Duane in Tennessee

The maximum frame width for any mustang II cross member is 30 inches... and that is using the widest track width of 60.5 inches ??? our econolines are 33.5 inches wide

so the new setup is going to be narrower? that should be good for clearing the humps under the wheel wells, no?

i think the stock track width is around 63 inches. the widest mustang II is 60.5 inches. im thinking the tires are going to look perfectly tucked at 60.5 inches.

update... wow. that shit just aint working as smooth as i had thought. the frame is so high on our econos i had to sub frame my sub frame. im beginning to wonder if this will work out. here is a pic of the crossmember installed. i plan on bracing and gusseting EVERYWHERE. tomorrow...out comes the plasma cutter to cut out some of the inner fender well and a section of the original frame to make way spring towers.

what about extending the crossmember instead of using a subframed subframe? or would that eliminate the material needed to weld the upper towers to the side of the frame?

Check out Gene Winfields Econo on youtube, hes doing a mustang II front end on it. Ive been debating one that conversion myself, but I already have too much to do now!

Tim in Mich.

Big W wrote:what about extending the crossmember instead of using a subframed subframe? or would that eliminate the material needed to weld the upper towers to the side of the frame?

the problem with widening the crossmember is you have to widen the rack and pinion also. when you widen the rack and pinion the tie rod length in now not equal to lower A arms. that throws the geometry off and will produce a bump steer condition.


i ll check out that guys you tube. im curious how he did it. thanks guys

justahobby wrote:Check out Gene Winfields Econo on youtube, hes doing a mustang II front end on it. Ive been debating one that conversion myself, but I already have too much to do now!

Tim in Mich.

i couldnt find it on you tube. do you have the link?

This is the only youtube video I could find. It would appear that he has not done the IFS yet. This vid centers more on his inspiration and the layout of the Thunderbird IRS out back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMqwv_VUoNk

Sorry Army I didn't meen widen the cross member, but to extend the ends that weld to your subframe make them taller. This way you could possably eliminate having pipe on pipe kinda thing. That way the rack would stay the same and cross member height would stay where it is, just make the welded tops extend out farther, then use cussets on either side to suport it. Or do you need the extra square tube to be used to weld the upper control arm brackets to it.

Big W wrote:Sorry Army I didn't meen widen the cross member, but to extend the ends that weld to your subframe make them taller. This way you could possably eliminate having pipe on pipe kinda thing. That way the rack would stay the same and cross member height would stay where it is, just make the welded tops extend out farther, then use cussets on either side to suport it. Or do you need the extra square tube to be used to weld the upper control arm brackets to it.

yea but then your spring towers are sitting waaaay to high and you would have to cut down the top of the frame next to nothing to get the spring towers at the correct height. it seems to always be something like that.

maaaay beee i ll be the influence for Gene...lol

soooo...things went a little better today...felt like everything wasnt fighting me. i was able to cut out the old frame and sheet metal and weld in the towers. tomorrow i will be reinforcing, bracing and gusseting. i will also need to move the new brake booster and master inboard about 3/4 of an inch as the master hits the upper A arm.

Check with FatMan Fabrictaions. They make a Mustang II crossmember for a 66 F-100 that is the same hub-to-hub width as the Econoline and they make a special extended rack that keeps the steering geometry correct. I was going to fit the F-100 crossmember to my 63 pickup but the frame rail width on the F-100 is much narrower than the Econoline and I didn't want to cut up my frame rails to narrow them.
Fred

Army of Six wrote:

justahobby wrote:Check out Gene Winfields Econo on youtube, hes doing a mustang II front end on it. Ive been debating one that conversion myself, but I already have too much to do now!

Tim in Mich.

i couldnt find it on you tube. do you have the link?

I had it saved in my youtube account, now its not there. Sorry.

progress today....i finished up most of my bracing and started to put the front end together. the problem i have is that without a motor, trans and interior in it i cant compress the spring completely. but here are some pics of it kind of installed lol. tomorrow i plan to get the rack and pinion re mounted and hopefully get the motor installed.

That's coming along nicely. I say put some plywood over the engine hole and pile the neighbors and kids in the front, for gestamated engine and tranny weight, slap your front tires on and take some pics..lol. Because you no we're all praying for you, in the hopes that this works. I have a mustang clip that's just dieing to go under my 66.

Thank you for sharing what your doing here. I have a 63 on airbags that I have been searching for info on doing just what your attempting.

thanks fellas. hopefully the motor will go in this weekend and i can button up the front end. things went well today. i was able to flip the rack and pinion and fabricate some mounts. they will work but im thinking that i will redo them to cut down on the angle to make life easier on the borgenson joints.






and here it is...the missing link..the piece that green lighted my whole build...without this discovery i would not have attempted this build. its a steering box off of a 80's Volkswagen vanagon. 1:1 ratio. Steering wheel input on the top and the output is a steering shaft back to the rack and pinion.
AND yes when you turn the steering wheel to the right the wheels turn in the right direction. lol



i cut the steering column shaft off of the old econoline steering box (about the only thing that old worn out steering box was good for) and fabricated a mount to mate up with the VW box








here i a shot of where the VW box will rest. I just started to make the brackets to mount the VW box. once that is done then all i have to do is cut the DD intermediate shaft to length and install it with the brogenson joints. and i will post pics of that later. one of my concerns was that the brake pedal would come down onto the intermediate shaft. but it cuts up underneath nicely and with plenty of clearance.

Great job ure living proof bout anything we put our minds to is possible,dave

Nice work- what brake power & master & from whom did u get it all from?/

Twinpilot001 wrote:Nice work- what brake power & master & from whom did u get it all from?/

I cant take the credit for that one. i cant remember who used it first. i think he is on this board and is a master fabricator. i want to say he has an LS motor in an old van. anyways, i got it off ebay. its under floor mount for a 55-59 chevy pickup. thanks again for compliments. im taking the day off and going on a field trip with my daughter but i will be back at it saturday. here is a link to the booster... (dont forget you will need a 10 pound residual valve for the rear and a 2 pound for the front (if you a running discs in the front)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1955-59-Chevy-Truck-Power-Brake-Booster-Pedal-Assebly-/370556043096?hash=item5646dc7f58&item=370556043096&pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr

AWESOME VIC!!!

Lemme see if I have this correctly:

VW Vanagon has a device like a steering transfer case that controls linkage under the floor back to the rack.

You had to flip the rack.

The Steering Knuckles on this kit have the arms to the front, rather than the rear as is stock.

That's Crazy!!! Now if I can find a Vanagon in the wreckers! Heck, Big W probably beat me to it!

Thanx Vic= did the unit bolt up directly to the frame or did you have to fabricate a mount ? How does the brake pedal match to origional location?? Yes =i know how field trips are with the Daughters - i do the same also.