Damn you GRM!
Damn you GRM!
I wanted a Mustang II when they were new and loved the Cobra II. I just seemed to end up with Pintos instead. Had a couple of them back in the day.
i saw a white with blue stripes cobra 2 today, looked loike crap, had about 10% of a shredded car cover still on it, clearly hadn't been moved in a while. i'm going to keep it on my drive-by list for a while. here in MI, there's probably not much left of it underneath.
carguy123 wrote: Sexy car NO. Cheap car yes. As I understand it not only do you need to fix the brakes and whatever but you have to spend a lot of money stiffening it up. I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing, but just a thing you need to consider in your $$$math.
This is why they make mig welders and 1-3/4" steel tubing
in all honesty though.. are they really that terrible a car.. or are they just living in the shadow of the monster Stangs of the late sixties and the later fox bodies?
imo people just don't like them because they don't think of it a real mustang. I happen to think they are a little cooler than the everyday mustang..
In reply to Strike_Zero:
Seriously. This damned place feeds my car obsession just a little TOO well....
I think the IIs are maligned because of two things: Like Mad said, they are living in the shadow of other Mustangs, and they are based on the much more hated Pinto. Otherwise, I think the II is actually a better starting point for modification than the 1st gen.
mad_machine wrote: in all honesty though.. are they really that terrible a car.. or are they just living in the shadow of the monster Stangs of the late sixties and the later fox bodies?
As I understand it they were designed for a 4 cylinder and had the 6 and 8 foisted off on an under designed chassis because the world wasn't ready for a 4 cylinder Mousetang.
I remember back when I was in college.. one of the guys in one of my classes had a Mustang II "King Cobra"
What was that all about? Just a sticker and tape job on a cobra?
I have been looking for a good Mustang II myself for this wicked 2.3 turbo engine I have. Having owned about 60 Mustangs in my time I wish to state that I really liked my beater 74 with the 4 cylinder. It was my 4th car ever..bought when I was 17 in 1977 and I drove it until 1989.
Aside from an abnormal ability to rust even in our wonderful Texas climate...I love the little critters! Distinctive looks, wide range of engines, suspension was groundbreaking and my girlfriend liked it better than my 69 convertible!
Find me a decent one and I will trade my Miata, 91 Capri XR2, 2 aspires (1 with a b6t) and the remains of the 87 Turbocoupe for it.
Ain't nothing wrong with you ....at least from the Mustang lust side of your brain.
Bruce
ValuePack wrote:dean1484 wrote: Just for a little more encouragement. I saw this the other week in NH while we were out to dinner. I had to go get the camera and snap this shot.Up in the Meredith/Winnepesaukee area, were we?
Yep. We vacation there every year just down the street in Meredith Center. We discovered that there is a cruze night at this dinner just by chance.
Link to photos form that night>>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/22169868@N03/sets/72157627541791368/
Some really great cars. My favorite (because My dad had one and I lived in the back seat) and I have not seen another one in 20-30 years was this Mercury Comet
(My Wife and my Daughter with the car)
Ok Total Hijack of this thread but it was such a cool car. 
Since then I have renewed my search for a 1964 comet - 2 door with a v8. I want to do a light restomod putting the engine and trans from a mid 90's mustang in it and keep everything else stock. Hell my dream would be to put in one of the new 5.0 motors but this is also a budget build and I don't think those will be budget motors for a while.
I was a kid when Charlies Angels was on TV and even had the Farah Fawcett swimsuit poster. I can still see them now. Umm it now. At any rate, make mine a black Cobra with the tackiest gold stripes.
carguy123 wrote:mad_machine wrote: in all honesty though.. are they really that terrible a car.. or are they just living in the shadow of the monster Stangs of the late sixties and the later fox bodies?As I understand it they were designed for a 4 cylinder and had the 6 and 8 foisted off on an under designed chassis because the world wasn't ready for a 4 cylinder Mousetang.
Well, damn near every every street rod you see on the road has Mustang II suspension and pretty much every Shelby Cobra replica up until the Factory Five used Mustang II as well. We're talking about cars with very heavy and very powerful big block Fords and Chevys, Mopar Hemis, etc etc, and after all this time, it's still the suspension of choice. It might not be the best ever, but I'd say the chassis is as good or better than anything else built in the 1970s
Not my favorite 'stang, but they can be made to run!
My favorite Mustang IIs-- The Monroe Handlers
I would really like to get a good look at that solo car....
They were inferior to the Capri of the same era in pretty much every way. I'm not sure why anyone is interested in this thing save for parts availability.
In reply to pres589:
Why?? Because it's affordable and fun. When was the last time you saw a 1970s Capri for sale for $400?
Example: Myself, I run a 1986 Nissan 300zx in SCCA rallycross. Probrably the least logical car choice on the planet, but I win trophies with it for a grand total of $550. Sometimes it's ok to take a road less traveled.
for $400, I say do it, cage it, throw good suspension/brakes under it and throw some 2.3L turbo at it and bring it to the UTCC next year 
I like them, but I'd throw my Zetec in there to be different... while I'm dreaming I might as well throw a turbo at it too. 
ReverendDexter wrote: I feel your pain. This is one of the sexiest cars ever made, IMO:
It just looks... right.
For me, this posts shows exactly what is needed. For some reasons, cars from the mid 70s through the 80s look like they're on stilts to me. I'm dealing with this on Tom Celica. The Mustang II looks like a great car that someone jacked up to high heaven. I guess it's the same suspension design as in the 60s, but on a smaller car it looks weird.
Getting a Mustang II down to something reasonable shouldn't be too hard. A Arms in the front and a SRA. Then appropriately wide rubber. Personally I'm not a fan of 16+ inch wheels on these cars. 15s maybe, wide 14s even better. Just getting hard to find the tires.
pres589 wrote: They were inferior to the Capri of the same era in pretty much every way. I'm not sure why anyone is interested in this thing save for parts availability.
QFT. I've heard it said that Ford did the badge engineered Capri because they didn't want the Euro import showing up their new Fox chasis. It's a bummer, too, because the next Euro Capris were awesome looking.
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Having owned a '77 Capri, I'd rather have a MustangII or Pinto due to availability of parts.
Pretty much the same, isn't it?
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