1968 Coupe - Fast back conversion

[horse sence]

well i have another conversion to do. it's a very clean 1968 6 cylinder coupe. this one is much cleaner car than the 65 conversion i did and will be a lot easier as all of the parts are available. still waiting on the Dynacorn sheet metal,should be here today.i am going to let my nephew,Nick help on this one. should be a lot of fun. Nick is in school the rest of the week so we will probably start cutting saturday. here is a few before pics. i will try to be a little more detailed on this one.

 

[horse sence]

guy's i have been looking this car over and it has a perfect roof. i know a few of you have been looking for a 67-68 roof. if any one needs one pm me by saturday and i will save it. they are kind of a pain in the butt to save but i will if someone needs it. otherwise i am just going to cut it up ,its easier to remove in pieces. far as i can tell it is dent free. Jim

 

[Fstbk]

Cool.

Hey, whats all that green stuff on the ground in the pictures?

 

[horse sence]

guess you mean the grass? thats what happens when the wet stuff falls from the sky here in cali. ,think they call it rain. dont see it here much. damn i have to fire up the mower soon.

 

[Fstbk]

I thought you were in Texas?

 

[horse sence]

nope, california foot hills 20 miles from the sierra's.

 

[horse sence]

the sheet metal made it in late yesterday.i went with the weld through coating this time so it looks like bare metal. i just hope my spot welder will work ,if not i will have to clean the edges to be welded. every thing will will be spot welded just like factory.
dynacorn sheet metal ,i would say is way better than even the origional ford metal. it is a much heavier guage and very straight .you have to see the trap door! holly cow is it nice,beutifull grain and way heaver that stock .lots of pieces there but there is i lot i will not have to use, more for the use it later pile. i got the un welded parts again because i wanted to be sure every thing would line up .the welded version ,you are kinda stuck with what you get .i only unpacked one side for pics just to many pieces to have to lay out.

 

[66Coupe289POWER]

Wow I wish you were on the east coast I could use that coupe roof. Nice project and I will follow the progress.

 

[edgars23]

Very nice. I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

 

[horse sence]

looks like Nick isn't going to be able to make it this weekend so i went ahead and removed the roof and the back window area,dont worry i saved the roof .it took about 1 1/2 hours to do tring to save it but i did it. i have a little work to do tomarrow but i want to remove the quarters a little later in the day.looks like it is going to strip down pretty fast . the doors will remain on the car as they will be used to help align the new quarters. i didn't even have to adjust them the were just about a perfect fit. the tail panel will stay in as well its in very good shape. the front window frame will remain in the car as well because it is the same coupe or fastback. the rear door jamb will stay i will trim the old quarter off and the new one will set right in place.

 

[horse sence]

i trimed off the quarter skins,there is still the flanges that need to be spot drilled and removed in several areas but it easier to handle this way. the rear door jambs are still intact just need trimming.
the windshield frame has to be cut behind the inner plate above the door wind wing as the new roof jamb will slide back inside it just like orginal. i got to this car just in time ,rats had built nests ontop of the rear wheel tubs and they are rusty but will blast with no problems. next step will be finnishing trimming every thing and blast and primer were ever i cant get to later with the new quarters on

 

[zookeeper]

Man, you are one ambitious builder! Looks like that was a pretty nice car before, and I can attest to how hard nice fastbacks are to find. When I bought mine in '01 I had to look for over 6 months to find one that was in good shape and within my budget. My wife was constantly find '67 and '68 Mustangs in the local paper and telling me, "here's a '68 Mustang for $3500, isn't that what you're looking for?" When I told her it was a coupe, she'd ask how I could be so sure since it didn't say in the ad. I told her that if it were a fastback, it's be at least twice that price if it were worth saving. I can't imagine trying to find a nice on today, which is probably exactly why these conversions are more and more common. Nice work!

 

[horse sence]

i have beem tring to do about 10 things at once today but i managed to get the pass. side front and rear door posts trimed along with most of the wheel tubs. i still have to trim the wheel lips and lower rear quarter lips. the owner decided he wanted to do the tail panel with shelby lights he will be bringing that out monday. the wheel tubs look realy rusty but it is just surface rust will clean up easily with the blaster. any who this is what the door posts will look like when trimed. don't remove the strip of metal at the bottom of the wheel tub and rear door post that will stay. the inside of the rear door post stays at the bottom ,the piece with the oblong hole.the upper part trims off as the fast back piece will be different. the rain gutter has been trimed off of the front door post and will be replaced with the fast back gutters. you will need to remove the tar around the wheel tubs because the trunk devider will have to be welded in place. helpfull hint .vacume up the tar and check your shoes before you go in the house .you won't have to hear ,who the hell tracked this black crap on my white floor tiles? right hand raised

 

[horse sence]

Man, you are one ambitious builder! Looks like that was a pretty nice car before, and I can attest to how hard nice fastbacks are to find. When I bought mine in '01 I had to look for over 6 months to find one that was in good shape and within my budget. My wife was constantly find '67 and '68 Mustangs in the local paper and telling me, "here's a '68 Mustang for $3500, isn't that what you're looking for?" When I told her it was a coupe, she'd ask how I could be so sure since it didn't say in the ad. I told her that if it were a fastback, it's be at least twice that price if it were worth saving. I can't imagine trying to find a nice on today, which is probably exactly why these conversions are more and more common. Nice work!

i have been seeing a lot of coupes lately for very reasonable prices,cheep enough to make a conversion worth it .around $3,000 for the dynacorn metal and $2000 - $2500 for a fair condition coupe and you have a fast back for around $6000. a dynacorn body is $16000 now and you still cant register it .the conversion will be registerd as a coupe retaining the coupe # but that doesnt bother me. a convertible is even easier to make from a coupe now that all of the convert pieces are available.

 

[gbic1]

Looks good. I just started a 66 Fastback conversion.

 

[horse sence]

check out my album here on stang net ,i did one last summer. with all new parts.

 

[horse sence]

i got it all trimed out today. found one small rot spot in the drivers wheel tub,nothing very bad i will patch it after blasting. the driver side rear bumper mount was never welded down all the way ,just the very front and you can lift it . i will weld it down after i blast . it is ready to be blasted but just the rear inner structure for now . i will primer it before the new metal goes on. i will probably blast tuesday. i have another car to blast and i will do them both at the same time.time to fire up ol leroi again. after leveling it up again first piece in will be the rear seat devider it has to go in first or you can't get in in one piece later. then the tail panel.

 

[horse sence]

i fired up leroi this morning and sand blasted the back of the coupe. cleaned up realy well.just the one small spot of rot ,the tops of the tubs are clean a solid. got every thing in primer. tomarrow i will level it up and start to work .

 

[Fstbk]

Man, you are really making me ponder another project car.

 

[horse sence]

it should only take a few days to complete ,i will try to include measurements .i will be measuring from Johnnys car it has never been wrecked and every thing lines up realy well. find a coupe and start cutting.remember all you need is a good front and solid under structure it doesn't mater what the outer sheet metal looks like . i wish dynacorn had all the pieces for a 69 convert that is going to be my next project some day.