What is Wrong With Me? Mustang II Content

I had the same visions, mine was a 2.0L sedan. The kid who bought it from me didn't have it long:

sorry.. I stand by the II looking better than most of the Fox Bodies.. it is smaller and better proportioned.

mad_machine wrote: sorry.. I stand by the II looking better than most of the Fox Bodies.. it is smaller and better proportioned.

I agree.

I'd love to find a clean and cheap Mustang II or early Pinto, but the Florida rust has not been kind to them.

i almost bought a 72 Pinto hatch last summer for $600. it was granny fresh and had something like 70,000 miles on it it looked like brand new. it was bright orange with a black interior.. 4 cylinder/4 speed.. but it was gone by the time i got the money together, so i got my Camaro instead..

I actually owned a 78 cobra and it was outfitted with the stick. After I blew the tranny sky high I installed a c4 into the car. It was an extremely tight fit and took us a day with a hoist and several large hammers.Why do I bring this up you may ask??? Well after doing a little research (very little) I believe I discovered the car was never offered with a c4 but was actually equipped with the c3. The funny end to this story is that a local tranny shop at home was starting out and I was their first customer.Working off the floor and using jack stands they took nearly a week to do the work.Apparently the c4 didnt R+R any easier for them either. They still honored the 250$ price and are still in business to this day

The Mustang II should have used a C4, but came with a downsized converter and bellhousing.

Old thread but I had to share:

http://www.streetlegaltv.com/features/car-features/a-mustang-ii-we-can-all-respect/?utm_source=feedly

That doesn't suck.

Dammit people! Stop making me want fords! My Daddy would be turning in his grave if he knew I was overcome with the wants for a ford. I remember this thread from back in the day and it took me months to get this out of my head. But, I love cars from the seventies, especially unloved cars from that decade.

Sometimes I don't know why I even hang around you people at all

Imagine if the M2 looked something like that originally...

Interesting that the front bumper is actually metal.

In reply to nicksta43:

there are a couple of cheap Vega's near here......

http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/cto/4211369632.html

http://portland.craigslist.org/grg/cto/4209786041.html

darkbuddha wrote: Old thread but I had to share: http://www.streetlegaltv.com/features/car-features/a-mustang-ii-we-can-all-respect/?utm_source=feedly

6 ways of awesome

nicksta43 wrote: Dammit people! Stop making me want fords! My Daddy would be turning in his grave if he knew I was overcome with the wants for a ford.

Are you are saying you inherited an irrational hatred for an automaker?

In reply to ditchdigger:

Yes, although I don't see it as irrational. They all smell bad.

i would like one of these with a more modern or rebuilt 302 and a 5 speed.

Usually the hate on these cars are from people who don't know anything about them and posted on a certain E36 M3ty hipster Gawker site.

There were possibilities then...

And I am sure there are possibilities now...

Isn't this car like really light?

All the hate with this car i think is only really to do with the fact that it weighed the same as a Datsun Z but made 140hp vs 160/170 (260/280z era) with an engine half the size which is irrelevant with a car that age since you are probably going to be changing it anyways.

I mean do these cars handle terribly or something? A S30 Z isn't the best handling car ever and I feel the need to compare those cars.

In reply to kanaric: Not too light, it was several hundred pounds heavier than the pinto it was based on. IIRC, 2700#. But weight loss is not hard to do.

Front suspension is a nice self contained 2x wishbone/rack and pinion combo that has been a mainstay in the hot rod world. The rear suspension is the weak spot being leaf.

The primary reason the MII has been shunned is in its first year it wasn't available with a V8. In '73 you could still get the 302 & 351. The new '74 MII was available with a smog era 2.8L V6 as the biggest option. That's why the original Gone in 60 Seconds referred to Eleanor as the last of the "real" Mustangs.

The Mustang II returned it to its "sporty" compact car roots after a decade of growing in size and horsepower. The enthusiasts that grew up with the Mustang over that first decade didn't recognize it as a "true" Mustang, and by Ford branding it with the II on the badge pretty much sealed the deal.

40 years later, any of the drawbacks the car had when built new can easily be remedied. Just very few people are willing to put the money into one to do it.

In reply to neon4891:

Honestly, after having looked at the rear suspension of the Fox/SN-95 cars, I think I'd prefer leafs. Cal-Tracs can fix a lot of issues, right?

Rob_Mopar wrote: 40 years later, any of the drawbacks the car had when built new can easily be remedied. Just very few people are willing to put the money into one to do it.

That and owners who are selling them want $$$

$800

$1500

$1450

Those have been up for months at those prices. You can get a running/driving Fox or SN95 for the same $$.

Great now I'm going to CL for MIIs/Pintos...

Alway wanted to build a big block powered convertible MII, like this (see if you can spot all the changes other than the convertible):