What are my options Beyond Subframe Connectors?

So I am building a 500hp+ 460 for the mustang. In the process I am going to be doing alot of other things as well. The car now has a 302/C4/8" combination. So I picked up a used 9" from a 71 mustang. We are in the process of stripping it down and getting it all cleaned up and rebuilt with all new suspension front and back. Im going back with a complete center section with 3.25 gears, a Detroit Trutrack with 31 spline axles, and new drum brakes. I also will drop the C4 for a C6. I even found the correct 2 arm gear shifter lever to install in it and kick down lever. I will be getting the Crites 429/460 engine mounting kit, and Tin Man Subframe connectors. On top of that, I am going to pull the dash, and all the seats and carpet. I have 1 small area in the passenger rear floor that needs a patch. While im in there, Im going to do some re-wiring, send the cab and everything forward wiring off to Midlife to get rebuilt and reconfigured for my setup. Im also going to upgrade the AC system to the classic auto air system. Im getting the CVF Racing front serpentine kit with the sanden AC compressor, so I might as well upgrade it all and get some real AC you can feel going instead of the elf whisper of cool air the original system produces. This car also didnt have the 3 gauges in the center. I have all that to use as well and im having the rocketman ammeter to volt meter conversion. done along with having my idiot light converted so it will be a idiot light/tach. Getting rid of the resistor wire to use electronic ignition. I am going to convert to a 3 speed wiper motor and controls too. I will be finishing it off with a bunch of new reproduction dash parts and a classic car stereo. so the wiring job is important, since everything will be torn out anyway.

So beyond all of that work I know there is more I can do to stabilize the chassis. I really like those X braces to go between the subframe connectors that they make for the earlier mustangs but no one seems to make one to fit the 71-73.

Im really looking for something substantial to keep the twist out of the car. I am wondering if I can modify something like this X Brace to fit or have a fab shop make it custom. I will probably have to wait for this till everything is in the car and the exhaust on so they can ensure it will all work together and clear. Mike Maier make this setup for 64-70 mustangs. I just dont understand why they dont make this stuff for our 71-73 mustangs as well. This would be a great setup to have.

So Is there anything like this out there for our 71-73 cars that you guys have run across?

Since the interior will be stripped while the floor patch and subframe connectors get welded in, is there any place on the frame that would benefit from some added welding?

I also found the TCP front support brace but it doesnt look as beefy as the Maier version, but it is made for 71-73.

Show me what you guys are doing! Please! Im trying to get a game plan for this year is place and start collecting parts. This is a big project and will probably take most of the year to complete. So Im not in a big hurry, but I do need to get the ball rolling.

They don't make a lot of this stuff for 71-73 because of the small market size. Sometimes the best bet is to get something for a 70 in pieces and then modify it to fit your car. This is what I did with Mike's cross-brace. I bought it as a kit and then I did my own bending and welding to fit. I am sure you can do similar with the cross-brace. You can call and ask if they can sell it to you in pieces. Feel free to tell them I suggested to call them (they know me as the guy from Wisconsin).
In this post I showed the cross-brace before painting: https://7173mustangs.com/threads/mu...hread-1971-m-mach-1.19381/page-16#post-388583
Here are some more recent pictures. I used a 2" L profile as firewall bracket since our firewall is curved compared to the earlier ones that were straight. I also have Mike's MOD1 front suspension so I modified the cross-brace bar to mount above the shock tower mount to avoid jacking up the car to remove it. This was a great mod since I am consistently removing the cross-brace to do different jobs.

THAT! Is exactly what Im talking about! Great job!

Did you have to modify anything on the car to make it fit?

with the kit version I could modify it if need be to clear my beast of a 460.

I just heard back from Mike Maier and he said they have been working on a setup for 71-73 cars! Finally! He has a customer that wanted a x brace subframe setup for his 71-73 car and is having them fabricate it and install it. So he said in about a month or so they will be able to make it to sell.
So that is fantastic news. And if he will make the monte carlo as a kit, that will be good too, if he doesnt make one already put together. I really like his design better than the TCP version that is aluminum with Rod ends. Too much flex to that setup. But what Mike makes looks solid!.

Thank you for the info!

I did the same thing as Tony.

P

jowens1126 said:

THAT! Is exactly what Im talking about! Great job!

Did you have to modify anything on the car to make it fit?

with the kit version I could modify it if need be to clear my beast of a 460.

I just heard back from Mike Maier and he said they have been working on a setup for 71-73 cars! Finally! He has a customer that wanted a x brace subframe setup for his 71-73 car and is having them fabricate it and install it. So he said in about a month or so they will be able to make it to sell.
So that is fantastic news. And if he will make the monte carlo as a kit, that will be good too, if he doesnt make one already put together. I really like his design better than the TCP version that is aluminum with Rod ends. Too much flex to that setup. But what Mike makes looks solid!.

Thank you for the info!

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No mods to the car. I fabricated the cross-bar to fit around then engine and accessories. That's the advantage of DIY. MIke's fabrication is awesome, but keep in mind that they are a small shop and can take a long turnaround time to complete this stuff.

For my subframes I added a crossbar when I fabricated my own driveshaft loop. It is not as rigid as an X brace but it helps. The space is very tight with the exhaust.

Very tight on the exhaust, mine will probably be tighter since its going to be full 3" for the 460 to breath.. Fortunately I'm not in a big hurry. It's going to be 2 to 3 months before the engine is done and who knows how long the transmission will take but I assume not as long. I have a filthy rusty axle housing that will take me at least 2 weekends to get clean enough to paint. I'll be waiting on quick performance to build the strange pro N case trutrack center section but it shouldn't take too long for that. I have to get the car to the welding shop for a floor patch. So lots of work to do. Lots of waiting on parts to come In. Hopefully it will be drivable by summer.















Theres a whole heap of other work i want to do as well. I really would like to get it up on some really tall jack stands and strip the whole bottom side of the car and epoxy prime and paint it. Same for under the hood, it needs it bad. Might drop the fenders and do under there too. Im going to have to pull all the wiring from the cab forward and send that off to get restored and reconfigured. I need to send rocketman my amp meter gauge and my idiot light gauge to get converted. Thankfully brakes are done, and its been painted on the outside and the interior is in very good condition, though I do need new front seat foam and covers. no telling how long it will take to get seat covers. Some people have been waiting 6 months for certain fabric colors. I just want basic plain jane black.

The next big battle will be finding a competent exhaust shop with someone who actually is a good tig welder.

jowens1126 said:

The next big battle will be finding a competent exhaust shop with someone who actually is a good tig welder.

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Sounds like you got some fun days ahead of you. I have a 460 and with a C6. The headers are a bear. I have the hookers 6115's but you might want to check into FPA or Crites. If you go with the Hookers make sure you check the welds around the flanges and mating surfaces. Several members have had issues with them. On one of the mine the mating surface weld was not wide enough and I had to add a little weld to fix it from leaking. I am running 3" all the way back with a H crossover. The pipes run straight back from the headers and then over the axle using a mix of bends from a kit. Everything is welded except the mufflers - I used clamps on those. They hooker long tubes do sit lower to the ground, but I haven't had any issues other than when the alignment guy caught the collector flange on the lift when he was pulling the car on to it. Don't know how the hell he did it? A couple of other areas you may want to keep an eye out on is the radiator cooling. Don't know your game plan there but if you plan on using a stock type 429 radiator make sure you get a 429 shroud (Crites carries them -not cheap) or you may run into cooling issues due to the fan not sitting in the shroud properly thus failing to giving max air flow plus a deeper shroud will interfere with the drive belts. Hood clearance is another issue you are going to run into most likely with your engine build. I have to use a 1" drop down air cleaner housing. It just clears. Also depending on your brake booster / mc type you may be limited to the valve cover type you can use. Hope this helps a little. Here are the few pictures of my exhaust.


Bad mating surface. Exhaust running straight back and then over axle.

Bentworker said:

I did the same thing as Tony.

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Superb job on the firewall bracket mount!

Thank you kilgon. All of those things have been on my mind. I'm using a 4 core champion radiator right now, but I don't like it because it feels like it's made of tin foil. I may get Griffen to make me a good one out of actual aluminum. I don't know about the fan situation though. I'm going to be using the cvf racing front drive kit. I have no idea what kind of clearance issues that will present. I was thinking of running a stock mid 70s fan and fan clutch. I was hoping the reproduction shroud would fit but I don't know yet. Probably won't till it's in the car being test fitted. I'm using the crites motor mount conversion kit. So I don't know if that positions the engine in the stock location or not.

As for exhaust, I put my order in with FPA for the headers they sell. 13 weeks till they are ready. I know they fit good at least. A friend told me he was using the pipes hybrid system with 3" to the muffler and 2 1/2 to the back because he didn't think 3" would clear the axle and fuel tank. I'm not sure of that yet. I know exhaust is going to be a bear. I'm totally not sure if a x or h pipe is better. From what I've read, probably the H pipe is fine. I don't need alot of scavenging because my LSA is in the 111-112 range. The H would probably be easier to fit. I do hope I can get one of Mike's new 71 subframe and X brace kits. I'm going to see if he can make sure theres room for 3" pipes in there. It will be a good 4 to 6 months before I'm ready for it so hopefully he will have everything worked out by then. He seemed to me that he would have that project finished sometime in February. I'm not sure if the customer is also getting the monte carlo brace, so i may have to get that as a kit. I am going to talk to him again at the end of the month and see if I can go ahead and order a setup, just so I'm in line with plenty of time to spare.
I'm going to be using the aeromotive stealth fuel tank system. I'm running braided SS 1/2" lines to a bypass regulator on the firewall.

I found a 71 Lincoln 429 air cleaner. It's identical to the 429 non ram air cleaner on the CJ. I plan on getting it modified with a 1 1/2" drop to fit the weiand stealth intake. I still have to measure but a friend with the same setup said his ram air cleaner just fit with a 1 1/2" drop. I may later on take it back and have them modify it to a ram air version as shown on the 429 megasite. I just need a day off to take it to the welding shop.

I just watched one of Mike's videos about the subframe connectors and X brace. The brackets for the X brace are actually welded in after the subframe connectors, so you can position them to clear your exhaust. That just shows the thought he puts into the stuff he makes. I can't wait because these things look like they will seriously add strength to the middle
point of the car. Far better than anything else I've seen so far.

Awesome videos on them.

Bentworker said:

I did the same thing as Tony.

View attachment 71620View attachment 71621PView attachment 71640View attachment 71641View attachment 71642

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are you running coil overs?

jowens1126 said:

are you running coil overs?

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Yes

Bentworker said:

Yes

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What kit is that?

jowens1126 said:

What kit is that?

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It is an older Maier Racing kit with JRI shocks. It was before Mike and his brother split the business. Mike Maier sells the modern version of it.

Bentworker said:

It is an older Maier Racing kit with JRI shocks. It was before Mike and his brother split the business. Mike Maier sells the modern version of it.

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, which is the one in my pictures under the shock tower brace.

You can also stitch weld every seem on the car were panels meet, like how they did on the TA cars. It will definitely make the car a lot stiffer.....and it doesn't really cost anything but time and materials.

Kilgon said:

Sounds like you got some fun days ahead of you. I have a 460 and with a C6. The headers are a bear. I have the hookers 6115's but you might want to check into FPA or Crites. If you go with the Hookers make sure you check the welds around the flanges and mating surfaces. Several members have had issues with them. On one of the mine the mating surface weld was not wide enough and I had to add a little weld to fix it from leaking. I am running 3" all the way back with a H crossover. The pipes run straight back from the headers and then over the axle using a mix of bends from a kit. Everything is welded except the mufflers - I used clamps on those. They hooker long tubes do sit lower to the ground, but I haven't had any issues other than when the alignment guy caught the collector flange on the lift when he was pulling the car on to it. Don't know how the hell he did it? A couple of other areas you may want to keep an eye out on is the radiator cooling. Don't know your game plan there but if you plan on using a stock type 429 radiator make sure you get a 429 shroud (Crites carries them -not cheap) or you may run into cooling issues due to the fan not sitting in the shroud properly thus failing to giving max air flow plus a deeper shroud will interfere with the drive belts. Hood clearance is another issue you are going to run into most likely with your engine build. I have to use a 1" drop down air cleaner housing. It just clears. Also depending on your brake booster / mc type you may be limited to the valve cover type you can use. Hope this helps a little. Here are the few pictures of my exhaust.

View attachment 71646 View attachment 71653View attachment 71654 View attachment 71651 View attachment 71652
Bad mating surface. Exhaust running straight back and then over axle.

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What intake manifold are you running? I am concerned about clearance with the Blue thunder 2-4V I want to use.

Hopefully they won't forget about the ragtop folks when they do 71-73. I'm getting a complex over being left out!

cwalker509 said:

What intake manifold are you running? I am concerned about clearance with the Blue thunder 2-4V I want to use.

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Sorry to take so long to get back to you. I have an older Weiand dual plan. The front height from top of block to top of manifold is about 5 1/4". I also have a 1/2" spacer on it. I have a 1 1/2" drop down air cleaner and I just clear. Need to remember I have a 460.