picked up a 68 coupe the other day...

[fast94mustangGT]

hey everyone, havent been on the mustang boards lately because ive been restoring a 73 VW super beetle for a ride to take to wyotech in march. well my friend had a 68 coupe for sale for $600 and my dad bought it with out even looking at it, but he told me it was mine so i wont argue. its got a 200 I6 with a 3 speed auto. it runs and we drove it home(sure as hell wasnt the safest way but we only had to go about 1 1/2 miles) the front end is way out of alignment and the insides of the tires are wore past the steel bands. the front frame extensions are rusted, not sure how bad yet but from what i can tell the pass. side is rusted all the way through about back to the shock tower as is the inner fender(from battery acid that just kept rusting its way down) the driver side dosent seem to be as bad but still has rust, also there is a bolt on the extension that seems to be "pulling through" the frame.

the lower rear quarters are shot as is some of trunk. im not sure of the rear underside of the car yet as i havent been able to get a look. i dont think the floorboards are in to rough of shape but ill know for sure when i put it on my grandfathers ramp and can get under it. im gonna try to get some pics soon of it so i can see what yall think of it. but i found these on the fourms and can sort of give you an idea of wheres its rusting(from what i can see on the ground, could be worse). hope the owners of these pics dont mind me using them, im just trying to figure out if i should keep this car or trade it for a paint job for my bug.

i think this is a 69 but it will give you the general idea...the white spots is where i have found rust in the front so far, and the arrow is the bolt that i believe is tearing through on my 68.

i was told the rear of the car is no where near as bad as the front but i wont know for sure till i see it for myself. i just wanted to get some opinons on the amount of work for the front, im not afraid of alot of work. and im not looking for a show stopper just a dependable/safe classic mustang. also i took welding in high school, though my teacher usually had me in machine shop fabing something(took machine shop for 2 years before welding), i learned the basics of stick and was pretty good at mig. though i dont plan on doing the welding on the frame myself, my old teacher has the tools and skills to do this and keep everything in the stock dimensions and would do it at a fraction of the cost of a body shop and i would get to learn it all along the way. sorry for the super long post but im just really excited about this car but i dont wanna jump the gun, as it may turn into a parts car or another 67 or 68. but i just wanted some opions, ill have some pics of my car within the next couple of days. any help will be appreciated

 

[enferno]

whoops. edit

 

[hungrymonkey]

you did all that work in a day?

Can you come over to my house for an afternoon?

 

[thehueypilot]

They sell patch panels for about every section of a 68 so you can test out your welding skills. Try all the big Mustang parts houses like NPD, ect. Good Luck

 

[BB1966]

The $600 you paid for it is nothing!! You can afford to do a lot of work to a car when you can do it yourself. Ditch the entire suspension if its still 4 lug, put a good solid 302 in it and go.

 

[CarFreakGT]

The $600 you paid for it is nothing!! You can afford to do a lot of work to a car when you can do it yourself. Ditch the entire suspension if its still 4 lug, put a good solid 302 in it and go.

Ditto. In my area, you can't touch anything for anywhere near that price. That's way cheaper than I got my 68 coupe, and I got a very fair deal. You pretty much can't go wrong w/ that little initial investment, if you can do the work yourself or get it done inexpensively, as you stated.

Good luck, man!