PAGE 1: "THE SKUNK"
PAGE 2: ABOUT TUNNEL RAMS
PAGE 3: HOW & WHY
PAGE 4: BUILD NOTES -- 302/5.0 SWAP, C4/5.0 NOTES, MII ENGINE MOUNT FABRICATION

Why a Mustang II? What the hell was I thinking?

I ask myself that a lot.

Seriously.

I went with the MII because it was there at the moment I mustered the courage to throw down and do this. I was at a hot rod swap meet with my father-in-law, and I'd told him that hot rodding looked like fun. He challenged me to build my own 'rod, at which point I said I didn't know anything about cars. He said, "Buy this," and pointed at the II. "It's perfect. No engine, no tranny, needs a makeover. I'll teach you." I knew if I didn't do it right then, I'd never do it, and I'd spend my life wishing I had.

So we loaded the shell of a Mustang II onto a flatbed along with a tired old 302, a freshly-rebuilt C4 transmission, and a couple of buckets of parts, and schlepped it all back to his shop, where it sat in a pile for a month or so while I did my homework. Total outlay at that point was about $1000. $300 more for a donor car and $400 for the induction -- which was the piece de resistance around which the car would be built -- and we were in business.

(You read that right. I have $2,234.38 into this car to date. And that includes $50 and pizza for the neighbor kid to help me wrestle the engines in and out during the 5.0 swap.)

A little homework revealed that the 1978 V8 Mustang II was the slowest Mustang ever made, a 139 horsepower cow with a pathetic 17-second quarter mile time. To its credit, it had awesome handling characteristics (front and rear sway bars, staggered shocks, & independent front suspension), and the lightest curb weight of any V8 Mustang.

My idea was to build a car that has hot-rod performance, classic musclecar looks, and a bit of modern sport-compact aesthetic. As it turns out, the Mustang II, with its short wheelbase, European-style handling, and light curb weight, was the first American sport-compact.

The II provides a unique and effective Pro-Street platform. A 5.0L H.O. is a drop-in, it's old enough that emissions controls are not required -- this means no smogger heads, no cats, no vacuum lines sucking down precious horsepower; and with a stock curb weight of 2800 lbs (even lighter with the T-tops!) it's nearly half a ton lighter than even the new V8 'Stangs.

Quick drag-racing lesson: 100 lbs. of weight shed is equivalent to a relative gain of 10 hp & 10 ft-lbs. of torque at the peaks of their respective curves. That means that 300 rwhp and 300 ft-lbs. of torque in this 2600 lb. car is like having a new 'Stang with 400 rwhp & 400 ft-lbs. of torque. Weight shed is free horsepower. Thus endeth the lesson.

Be sure to sign my guestbook, particularly if you do your own work on your ride, and especially if you have a unique ride. If you have questions or comments, I'd love to hear them.

Peace out.