Hi all. I traded my 66 thunderbird convertible: To this: And than you might wonder why... As that thunderbird was the smoothes car in the world.. But it had some things left on the to do list and it was frankly to new! I have a 49 Jeepster that someone allready converted to Mustang 2 /302/t5 and a full custom 1950 Pontiac streamliner.. And i sold 1940 ford hot rod as it was unable to get registration here in europe Its safe to say i like the older stuff, and a 3100 has been on my list since i was a kid. This car has the look (for me) and does need some peronal tweaks. But i want to keep it stockish. It has stovebolt 216 and a torque tube. What i want to change is: -a weld in mustang 2 front end. As now the beam hits the frame ( it sits to low) And anything over 40 MPH seems te move away from roadfeel and control ( I dont want to frame swap if i can prevent it!) -change to an open axle and longer dif ratio and four link it. I think the inverted the leaves on it, anyhow my end game is to end up with more drivabel truck with the old school parts. I have a full B body (1994) frame than i can steal an axle off. As for now i want to stay away from front clipping it etc. As i also plan to keep the Stovebolt. I do not need speed as the other two cars I mentioned before have V8's ( one even supercharged for an 02 Jaguar, but that is not for here!) And i love the way this engine runs. So swapping it to 350 might be easy bang fort the buck.. but i dont see the point here. I have a few questions. As parts here are not as easy sourced. Has anyone grafed a Yoke on to a torque tube gearbox to convert it to open driveline? I dont want an s10 t5 Swap, the box on it is fine and gives it charater. Has anyone four linked a B body axle in the rear ( width wise it fits) I want that because the gear ratio in this thing is good to plow the land.. but i don't have any land to plow, my garden tractor is sufficient for our lawn?
I would guess the reason no one has responded to your post...... is the mustang word, it's taboo around here. So if you do it, keep it on the QT side for our sake. Yes you will see the word pop up here and there, but trust me, it's a no no! Looks like a great start. I'm not up on the these chevy pickups and the front susupension, but I'm sure somewhere out there someone has made or makes a dropped axle for it? Good Luck with your project!
The easiest front end solution is to get a dropped axle for the truck, raise the spring pack a little to get some suspension travel, and then you keep the stance but have better driving. Can stay with stock brakes or upgrade to disc. I don't think a MustII is needed for what you want. On to the rearend. Just mount the new rearend on your stock leafs. No need to four link it. However your trans is still set up for the torque tube, not an open driveline. That's one reason for the popular T5 swap when using the stock 216/235 engines. Easy to adapt to the engine, and then easy to connect driveshaft to the new open drive rearend. I am not aware of any tailshaft type swap to get open drive on your stock trans, but maybe there is one that someone is familiar with. Easier is just get a open drive trans that was used in later years (mid 50s-early 60s) with the 235 engine. It should be pretty near bolt-in I think.
These trucks were meant for 45 mph rough roads. I’ve yet to see a rebuilt original that handled like my (OT replacement). It literally handled like a sports car. PS to boot. Don’t let the Hamb rules dissuade you from something that works.
the 3600 (3/4 ton) used the same engine/trans with a 2 piece driveshaft, the second half was where they converted to an open rear end.
I know I just need it to keep up with Semis here I have seen multiple solutions. I just don’t like all of them.
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