A question for you experts out there: Are 1973 Pinto Spindles the same as
other MustangII/Pinto units?
I have a MustangII cross-member on my frame. Months ago, I dragged what I
believed to be MustangII/Pinto suspension units home from the junkyard. I
reached the point yesterday, when I was ready to mock up the front
suspension in order to have a first look at pinion angle; so I needed to
have bushings and balljoints installed in my nice cleaned and painted upper
control arms. Well, the mustangII bushings didn't fit (the ball-joints
did). Parts books say the only odd-ball bushings were for the 1973 Pinto,
and sure enough, they fit my control arms. Got them installed yesterday.
Earlier today, I got the frame ready- but when I went to bolt on the upper
control arms, I realized they didn't fit; the two holes on the shaft which
bolts to the frame are maybe 1/4" too close together. And, the new bushings
are also spaced just a bit too close together and foul on the top of the
cross-member. AAAAARGH. So, it seems I will need another set of upper
control arms.
But- my spindles came from the same car (apparently, a '73 Pinto). I am
concerned about them. Are they different too? I test fit my rotors and
bearings (from Speedway, part of a kit to convert mustangII to big brakes
and chevy lug pattern). I didn't find any obvious problems. The caliper
conversion bracket also looks like it fits. Does anybody know if the 73
Pinto spindles have any differences that will matter?
If I'm just looking at control arms, I might just bite the bullet and buy
new tubulars. If I need spindles too, then it's definitely back to the
wrecking yard.
Maybe this explains why I can't figure out how this rack'n'pinion (73 pinto)
is supposed to mate with the cross-member. A web search today found a page
devoted to Manta Kit car buildup which require the '73 only Pinto
rack'n'pinion unit.
A frustrating day...
Ryan.
PS: anybody looking for a good deal on a set of rebuilt '73 Pinto upper
control arms? ;-)
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