[adriang011]

I recently bought a 1953 chevy pickup and was thinking about subframing it. i was wondering if buying an aftermarket IFS mustang II would be the same as just buying the donor car?? or will buying the car make things a lot more difficult.
I was thinking about doing the same thing to the back and installing a 4-link. do u guys have any reccomendations on magazines or anything that show how to do these things step by step?? any help is appreciated.. thanks!

[Onefunponcho]

A donor car is the cheapest way to go.. so unfortunately thats what i have allways done. requires alot of extra time and ofter some cleaver fab.

I have helped others install a fat man fabrications setup and a heidts and both went in perfectly and came with dandy instructions. Be ready to shell out some coin for the aftermarket ones

[matt167]

the original MII is much diffrent than the aftermarket kits available.. suspension geometry is the same, but the factory MII was on a unibody, and the crossmember itself is sheet metal.. original can be used after lots of fab.. but there are bolt in and weld in crossmembers available for AD trucks

[MARTINSR]

I have done the subframe routine and I highly recommend the Mustang II kits. The worse part about the subframe swap is the rad support has to be cut all to heck. The Camaros are too wide, the inner fenders have to be all cut up.

I HIGHLY recommend biting the bullet and spending the bucks for a good Mustang II front end.

Brian

[Centerline]

I second the Mustang II. Installed a Heidts unit on my '53 in one afternoon and spent right around a grand including the 11" GM disk brakes. With some judicious swapmeet shopping you can easily come in under a grand for a Mustang II IFS. If you do a clip you still have to rebuild the suspension so it can wind up costing just as much and be way more difficult to install correctly. The Heidts unit is engineered to fit the chassis so there is no "workshop engineering" required.

Here's my finished chassis with the Heidts unit installed. Like I said, it only took one afternoon to go from bare frame to a complete Mustang II IFS.



Also, don't let anyone tell you Mustang IFS aren't heavy duty. This one supports a Chrysler hemi with ease.

[MARTINSR]

It's like any "frame swap" the free frame or clip sounds like such a good idea, it's CHEAP.........in the beginning! By the time you make all the modifications to sheet metal, the rad support, the rad mounting, motor mounts and all the other dozens of things it doesn't save you a thing!

Brian