'68 Mustang in total makeover need

I started a thread about converting a mustang coupe to a fast back and received great responses but I had been very quick with the question and didnt provide enough information. I actually married into our '68 mustang, it belonged to my wife before we were married. She got it as a 16th birthday gift from her dad, that was 8 years ago. So as you might guess the car has great sentimental value to my wife. The car has allways had great paint but under that paint is a very bad structure, there is ALOT of body filler under the paint as I have found out in the past few years. The cabin/trunk floor are severly rotted as well as the front and rear subframes. The only good parts on the car is the interior, bumpers, trim which are in awesome shape as well as the hood, and the front fenders are good. My wife has allways wanted a 67 or 68 fastback but she doesnt want to get rid of our '68 coupe, her father told us he would rather see us sell the coupe and buy a more solid fastback because he and I both know how bad the coupe is. Because of some of you guys I have a pretty good idea of what it would take to convert the coupe into a fastback, but one of you mentioned using a fiberglass race fastback body. I looked into these and they say they are intended for racing only, and they have no doors or front end but the body is complete and weighs 100#. Here is an option that I am interested in trying, buy the fiberglass '67/'68 fastback body for $3300, use my doors my front fenders/hood all my trim/bumpers and interior plus the rear FB trim I can get off ebay. Since the subframes are rotted on my coupe I would build a full frame and use some mustang II stuff up front and a 4-link/9" in the rear. It would be alot of work but in the end we would be using all the interior, doors, seats, dash, fenders, and bumpers, trim and the hood from our '68 coupe. I think it would still have the sentimental value that my wife wants as well as I could start over with a much better shell. What do you guys think?

Get a Dynacorn fastback body and save yourself a whole lot of heart aches. You will be able to use a majority of your coupe parts except for the fastback specific interior stuff.
By the time you build a frame and go through all of the cost and agravation of fitting an interior into it the cost will exceed the 15 grand for the Dynacorn shell. Also remember that the "Glass" bodies are race shells and basicly are devoid of any interior.

James, that'd be a sho nuf wicked pissah, but a TON of work. I was watching an episode of that Chip Foose show where they took a 63 Corvette fiberglass race cay body, you out the hood, doors...and made a street car out of it.

Everyone on the show was cussing by the end. I don't remember too many particulars, but it was a major undertaking. They were having a very difficult time making it work & they're all professionals

I know I haven't offered up anything useful, but maybe some of the other folks will comment on the project and that particular episode.

Rick

I dont need all the bells and whistles, and I am not concerned with making a show car. The interior I plan on using will be free $$ except for some misc fastback stuff. As far as the frame, I will need to build a complete frame either way I go especially since the stock sub frames are done for. One way I can see it is guys make fiberglass T-buckets for the street all the time, my case would be similar except I would have a bit more complete interior. Do you think what I am trying to get at is feasable?

Originally Posted by rancheroo

James, that'd be a sho nuf wicked pissah, but a TON of work. I was watching an episode of that Chip Foose show where they took a 63 Corvette fiberglass race cay body, you out the hood, doors...and made a street car out of it.

Everyone on the show was cussing by the end. I don't remember too many particulars, but it was a major undertaking. They were having a very difficult time making it work & they're all professionals

I know I haven't offered up anything useful, but maybe some of the other folks will comment on the project and that particular episode.

Rick

Your definately right about an undetaking it would be but restoring my coupe body will be a nightmare. Its just a big mess and I am looking for a way to retain alot of my stock interior/ body panels but have a clean canvas to work with.

Originally Posted by james302

I actually married into our '68 mustang, it belonged to my wife before we were married. She got it as a 16th birthday gift from her dad, that was 8 years ago. So as you might guess the car has great sentimental value to my wife.

Well it won't be the same car if you do to it what you are talking about... so the sentimental value well be gone as with most of the orginal car.... so I say just dump the car and get a fast back in better shape... Take some nice pic. of it and dump it... the sentimental value won't matter anymore.. Or fix the car back to orginal then the sentimental value well remain... and pic up a fast back of your other want..
Just my .o2
Tim

Have you checked the fiberglass body over very carefully?...Does it accept all the stock window glass for example??...Being a race item I doubt they would go to all the bother of having all the stock pieces bolt up since most race cars wouldn't be running an interior or all of the stock body stuff...Are you planning on running fiberglass doors?..I don't know if the glass body would be strong enough to support the steel doors and if your planning to run glass doors will they accept all the door glass and window regulators to make them roll up and down?.........I think you would be better off finding a solid shell somewhere and use as much of the old coupe as possible to keep the sentimental value thing going with the new car.

Very good points. If I were to use the steel doors I would brace the door jambs front and back. As far as glass, the doors would be fine, the rear 1/4s would be 1/4" lexan riveted and covered by trim, the windshield would hopefully be a repop glass. As far as interior work goes, my door panels would go right back on the steel doors, I could make some bracing for the dash as well as everything else. The floor would be 16 gauge flat stock with a stock carpet and I would fab an 8 pt cage since the fiberglass body would do no good in a rollover. I plan on racing the car frequently and my wife allways enjoys watching so it can be a little rough (racey) around the edges. Any other thoughts??

"Very good points. If I were to use the steel doors I would brace the door jambs front and back. As far as glass, the doors would be fine, the rear 1/4s would be 1/4" lexan riveted and covered by trim, the windshield would hopefully be a repop glass. As far as interior work goes, my door panels would go right back on the steel doors, I could make some bracing for the dash as well as everything else. The floor would be 16 gauge flat stock with a stock carpet and I would fab an 8 pt cage since the fiberglass body would do no good in a rollover. I plan on racing the car frequently and my wife allways enjoys watching so it can be a little rough (racey) around the edges. Any other thoughts?? "

James My Brotha...the fiberglass race car body will be a shell. That's it. There are no door jams, there are no windsheld channels. There will be no way (as it comes) to attach any interior pieces, there's no 'Ford like' dashboard frame.

Drive the old girl (the car) until she breaks in half and work on a fastback race car on the side. Or, being up there in Maine, there have to be shops, or people to advise you on rebuilding your car. There are people on here that have replaced sheetmetal in just as much need as yours. Or, buy a Southern or Western Mustang shell and swap all of your parts over to it.

Good luck Brotha man, Rick

I learned a long time ago that if you have to eat some crow, it's best while it's still warm.

Just got off the U.S. Body Source website and it damn sure looks like the fastback they have on the front page has door jams. I'll shut my mouth and go back to sleep now.

Rick