1978 Mustang II refurbishment thread

[allmyEXes]

I'm starting a new thread here to track the progress on Mustang II that me and my brother own.

Current condition as of 8-11-2022

View of the back looking forward. Back bumper need replaced. The thick urethane? Skin is pealing up off the metal reinforcement. A one day Bondo job was done to make it look better while a bumper is sourced

If the seat was out of it, you could see how original and solid it is. It still has factory green paint on it. Hardly ever is salt used on Alabama roads. this MII was purchased new in Huntsville AL at Woody Anderson Ford Dealership. This vehicle has been off the road for at least half of its life.

Back seat

Left rear view

This is a factory original V-8 2bbl C4 automatic car. The Exhaust manifolds, oil pan bell housing, torque converter and motor mounts are unique to MII

Yogi says "It's got a Mustang II front suspension"! Uh Duh...
More will be added as pictures are rounded up and some new ones will be made of the underside of the car as soon as it goes on the 4 post lift.
I'll be adding and updating more soon.

 

[allmyEXes]

These are pictures from ~2 years ago. Anywhere there is gray 2 part primer the surface has been sanded to bare metal.

Scoop as it was going on. Top surfaces sanded to bare metal and treated before applying primer.

 

[allmyEXes]

Current condition as of 8-31-22

 

[allmyEXes]

More pictures from 8-31-22

 

[allmyEXes]

Here are some pictures of the bottom of the 1978 Mustang II. These were made on 09-07-22

 

[allmyEXes]

More from 09-07-22

Exhaust system is complete with a converter test pipe. Do you remember when you could buy these?

Oil pan is unique to Mustang II

Questions and comments welcome...

 

[Josh P]

Looks really good under there. I don't see anything excessive that would cause any problems

 

[sandsprayer]

Looks really good under there

Agree!
Can't help but think of Charlie's Angels when I see these cars-Jaclyn Smith was my dream girl
Good luck w/ this project

 

[allmyEXes]

@sandsprayer Here's a picture of her from 1976

 

[sandsprayer]

She sure was a lot more attractive before High Def!

 

[Josh P]

She sure was a lot more attractive before High Def!

That could be a two way street. Just sayin....

 

[allmyEXes]

I know that there are a lot of Ford guys here, Ford guys as in Explorers are not the only Fords that you own. However, this parts request is a longshot. Some of you have had Mustang IIs in the past and many of them have been turned into roundy round 4-cylinder racers and many more have had the front suspension assemblies cut out and installed under antique street rods, so loose Mustang II parts aren't just sitting around.
Sometime back in the mid 1970's FoMoCo used some kind of white plastic too make their instrument housings out of. I've had a few Mustang IIs and a couple of Mavericks and everyone of them that I have taken apart, the white housing, the back half of the instruments just crumbles to a point of being unusable. Does or would anyone have some Mustang II instruments in their collection of spare parts? I don't know if 1974 through 1978 will interchange but I would think that any year could be made to work. Any taken out of vehicles in the extremely hot climates probably just crumble. I'm hoping to find some that have been removed from a rusty junker and tucked away for 20 plus years.
The only other alternative and it will be for the future owner to do, is make a black aluminum backing plate that a set of aftermarket gauges could be installed in that, that line up with a stock instrument bezel facade. Anyone?

 

[Josh P]

Aftermarket gauges is the way to go. Does it have a tach, speedometer and the 3 smaller gauges towards the center under the vent? Can you post pictures of the dash in this thread?

 

[allmyEXes]

look t post #1, scroll down to the open trunk picture. The instrument bezel only is laying in the trunk.

 

[Josh P]

look t post #1, scroll down to the open trunk picture. The instrument bezel only is laying in the trunk.

I was being optimistic hoping you were parts hoarding....

 

[allmyEXes]

We've only had a handful of Mustang IIs and most of them had been nearly destroyed and parted out before we got them. There are parts on this green one from 15 different M IIs. Most of what you see here is what we've got as far as Mustang IIs go.
Monday I'm going to make sure that the driveshaft is the correct one for it and if you look in the trunk (picture) you will see a red gas filler neck hole cut out of another parts car. That will repair this green one. There is an auto shifter in there for a C-4 transmission however if an AOD was going to be installed using a Fox-body ~ 1889 Shifter would be the way to go without having to get into some odd fitting and mods etc.

 

[410Fortune]

1889! That is an old mustang shifter!!

Keep up the good work, get this pony back on the trail!

 

[allmyEXes]

@410Fortune I was trying to think of an AOD shifter that still used a shift rod instead of cable, but I suppose that either could be made to wok. Stock M II driveshaft may be too long for the AOD transmission. The overdrive transmission would work well with 4:11 gears...

 

[Josh P]

I used the stock shifter in my 68 cougar when I swapped a 4R70W in.

 

[allmyEXes]

@Josh P It work out ok? I'v never put an AOD/4R70W in an early Mustang...I'd like to see a picture of the Cougar