Thread: About to (maybe) buy my first hotrod. Please school me on 1931 Ford Coupes

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MII = mustang two

JMHO, there is nothing wrong with a correct MII (Mustang 2) front end if it is done correct. As tech says the original design is correct and good, furthered by Fatman's article. I have a MII in my sedan, it has been in it for 16 years with no problems, handles great. The cheap imported crap I'll agree with is no good, but lets not condemn a great design because of some aftermarket imported (cheap) crap.

Originally Posted by Doug427

Can you tell me what that front end is that you're referring to so that I can steer away from it as I shop for a car?

Doug, don't misunderstand, the MII is a good design that will work great. Even the Pinto is a good design that will work well on a lightweight rod, particularly if the builder used a four-banger for prime power. It's just that when people who don't know what they're doing start dinkin' with it and changing it, they destroy the inherent quality of the design and make it into something that it was never intended to be. I have stopped going to amateur car shows because of this. I see stuff that I wouldn't drive down the street, but I can't talk with the owner about it because they get all pissed off and cause a ruckus. They get their feelings hurt and tell me I don't know what I'm talking about because they're embarrassed.

Here's the wikipedia writeup about the car that had the front suspension we're talking about.....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_M...ond_generation)

Here's a perfect example of messing up a good thing........ A good friend of mine came by the house one day to show off his newest purchase, a '56 Ford "Effie" pickup truck. It was probably the prettiest little truck I have ever seen in person and he invited me to drive it. Shiny baby blue paint, 454, 8V-71, two fours, rolled and pleated leather, etc., etc. Lots of "eyeball". Well, I found out on the first turn that whoever put that abomination together failed to include enough positive caster to make the steering wheel return to neutral after the turn and I felt this knot begin to form in my stomach. Imagine shelling out 35 thousand clams for a truck that you have to manually return the steering wheel to neutral following every turn. I never even mentioned the debacle to my friend, lest I bust his bubble, but I really felt sorry for him.

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Just encase you are still confused Doug, what everybody is saying is it appears the front end in the Coupe you posted photo's of has a Mustang Two front end. Some excellent feedback on your question and the only thing I will add is, cruise the internet and look at photo's of rods and note what really lights your fire then narrow that down to the finer points that you like so that you have a fixed picture in your head of what you are after.
I known that years ago I watched an old movie on TV called Hot Rod and since then the ultimate rod I would like to own is a '40 Willy's Coupe with a blown Hemi in it but due to the lack of funds, I have as much fun with the T Roadster I own.

Yep, I'm the same way, love my sedan and my T Bucket both!
I've found that the secret appears to be to love what you have, not what you want. I use that same philosophy when I'm looking at a car or other item (guitars are my other weakness), I only love it after it's mine, no hard feeling that way.

My confusion was that I mistakenly thought that the problem was with a particular manufacturers version of the Mustang II suspension. Personally I would prefer a dropped solid front axle.

I like both types of front ends, and both have their pluses and minuses. The ifs cruises smooth and straight in my sedan, I find myself doing 80 down the hi way before I know it, and the drop axle in my T cruises almost as smooth, although I know when I'm going fast in it, lol..

One more question if you all don't mind. Where is the best place(s) on line to look for one of these cars. I know what I want - a steel '31 Coupe street rod.

Originally Posted by Doug427

One more question if you all don't mind. Where is the best place(s) on line to look for one of these cars. I know what I want - a steel '31 Coupe street rod.

Have you typed into Google or Bing "31 Street Rod"? Amazing what modern search engines can find!

31 ford street rod - Bing images

I'm a Google guy myself. Click HERE

Doug, I have had no problems with several Mustang II I have used and recommend a good kit, I have seen many that look and surely drive like a nightmare. Before ever doing any suspension work or putting one together I would read all you can on either type, and try to rule out some biased opinions including mine and learn all you can. I have a old top notch book by Timothy Remus called Boyd Coddingtons How to build hot rod suspensions which is crazy priced now but really informative (out of print0, at least for me it my bible on suspensions, please note though Boyd is on the name there is nothing written by him, just his suspension guru.
The one other major problem with the MII design is not geometry but pieced together messes since so many people hack it and even use old original stuff incorectly.
I know some on here are suspension gurus but the ride quality which is pretty poor on MII cars of the 30's is do to unsprung and sprung weight. Everything suspended by springs is sprung weight, which on a early rod is quite light compared to todays luxury rides like the body, frame, motor interior etc, then everything on the otherside of the suspension is unsprung weight like spindles, rotors and brakes (shocks & springs are divided by 2 and placed in both categories). well the stock MII had pretty light unsprung weight so when you hit a bump the light weight suspenion moves up and the heavier body doesn't move much, making the suspension work. Now here is the problem, we rodders tend to er toward performance not ride, massive brakes, large rotors and calipers making the factory unsprung weight much higher, tubular a arms are used alot due to being lighter and should be stronger in cases where they are made properly, not to mention our sprung weight is much lighter than the MII also (my 32 roadster weighs 2200 lbs) so now we hit the old bump with a heavier suspension which moves the light weight mass of sprung weight ex. body & frame etc. and we move like crazy, and now this thing rides rougher than our Lexus that was mentioned. The only thing that can be worse is a hacked together incorrectly installed dropped axle so you have to decide yourself because there are options in the rod world but those are the main two, you choose something else you wll even need to do more learning snd research but both the MII and dropped axle installed correctly and sized correctly will make a good setup in my opinion. I am not a expert! but they probably make up together about 95 percent of all early rods Good luck and research!

Originally Posted by Doug427

One more question if you all don't mind. Where is the best place(s) on line to look for one of these cars. I know what I want - a steel '31 Coupe street rod.

I use SearchTempest: Search all of Craigslist nationwide & more as well as Cars On line.com: Classic Cars For Sale

BIG-JIM

Sent you a PM .............