A few guys here ahve at least started, not sure if there have been any completed.

Not a flame, but I kinda think that this is along the lines of,..."if you have to ask,...."

Have you ordered the Kit already?

 

Easiest way to do the conversion is sell the coupe and buy a fastback. The metal is the easy part... it's finding all the tricky little fastback parts that takes the most effort. Or if you have access to a fastback donor...

 

Easiest way to do the conversion is sell the coupe and buy a fastback. The metal is the easy part... it's finding all the tricky little fastback parts that takes the most effort. Or if you have access to a fastback donor...

I have to agree with that. Sell the coupe and find a Fastback, you'll save yourself a lot of time, money and headaches.

 

I've done a few the 'old school' way by using an actual doner car- much easier as all the metal is there and already lined up, and all the interior was there. I paid less than 1/2 the kit price for a complete f/b with the interior... food for thought

 

I agree with the above. Selling your car and buying a fastback is easier. And "if you have to ask......."

But if you are dead set on the conversion and want to get started before the kit arrives here's what I would do: buy the Osborne assembly manuals for your car and memorize how every panel was assembled for both the fastback and coupe. Take every single measurement you could possibly think of on your car currently. Take pictures and impose the measurements on the pictures. You'll need things like the rear glass and interior panels to test fit as well. Strip the car to bare metal and examine it for any other rust repair that may surprise you such as full floor pans, rockers, ect. Get your door gaps line up on your car so you have a chance of them lining up on the new panels. All this is assuming you know what a rosette weld is or plan on buying a spot welder. It's also assuming this isn't your introduction to bodywork and know how to drill out spot welds, line up and weld in a new panel, ect. But honestly, if you knew how to do all that you probably wouldn't be asking in the first place. Buying all the interior, rear seat, ect could cost $10k+ once materials and the kit are factored in. Again assuming you have all the shop space, tools, time, and financial means to take on a project such as this. Again if all that was available, you probably wouldn't have to ask. That $10k could go to a rough driving fastback that you could enjoy tinkering with and slowly rectify. But it's your car and you asked so, good luck. It's a long hard road, I hope you are a highly self motivated individual!

 

Here is a donor car for 1/2 the price:
1969 mustang fastback
For sale 1969 ford mustang flashback. Complete car except motor and radiator. Not all parts are on the car because the man we got it from had started restoring it and had to move before he finished it. Pretty solid. He has title but hasn't been able to find it yet. We don't know that he will. If he does we will get it to whomever buys it. Comes with two extra doors and fenders and some other extra parts. Excellent restoration project. These are very rare and hard to find. 2500 obo. May consider trades on other vehicles. Please call only 931-644-9743.

Here's another with a 428 CJ motor:
1969 Mustang Fastback with rebuilt 428 CJ engine
1969 Mustang Fastback roller. Old rebuilt Florida title. Car is rough but with work is restorable. Original 8 inch rear end,. No interior. Rally wheels. Need rust repair work. Good roof. Freshly rebuilt 428 Cobrajet engine and c6 transmission....Only $9995 firm,..

 

Your car and your money, but...man, no thanks on that project. Plus, if you ever do need to sell, your market just got a lot smaller. Not many folks want to purchase a conversion compared to a real one.

I paid 10k for my complete (minus the motor/trans) rust free 1968 fastback...besides the wheels and suspension, the car is virtually untouched as seen in profile pic. Sell the coupe, save the money for the kit and spend the time you would have spent working on the car, looking for a car.

 

Those who do the conversions, my hat's off, but I've gotta imagine it's more about enjoying a challenge, enjoying the work, and having the time, then it is about dollars and cents and sense.

And then when you're done, your VIN # rats you out anyhow such that the value of the finished piece is highly compromised, unless it's such a radical resto-mod build that the status of "real fastback" is totally moot.

 

Mines a conversion and agree with the above. Best path is to buy a fastback, next find a donor car, the most difficult and expensive path IMO is to buy the kit.

 

I have done 1, using a rusted out fastback and a cherry coupe, using the underside of the coupe for the donor.

What the kit does NOT have are the 10,000 fastback unique parts to make it work, like seats, fiberglass, stainless, welded on brackets for all the panels, etc.

Remember, in 1969, almost as many fastbacks as coupes were built. Typically, more fastbacks are saved than coupes, based on perceived values.

For a 1965, fastbacks were only about 10% of the total, so more effort to save/convert them.

IMHO, you are signing up for a ton of work, and 10 tons of expense, to create something that is not a valuable item.

Basically, you need to find a complete fastback for a donor for all the other parts, and it will have the "kit" referenced above as part of the deal.

 

In the last few years I've seen complete 1970 fastback shells with all metal work done go for $3000-$4000.

 

I did one on a 65. I didnt use any kit or any donor. I just bought new panels and cut and shaped and formed. Honestly it really wasnt that hard. (if you know what your doing somewhat.) I bought a real fastback and used it as a template.

 

Where'd you get/how'd you make the inner structure?

 

For what it costs for the "kit" and what you'd have to pay someone to "install" the kit, you could probably buy a new Dynacorn shell. I'm assuming you'd be paying someone to do the conversion else you wouldn't be looking for "instructions".

 

This is absolutely a "if you need to ask" . . . . .

 

Inner as in what part? They make a trap door piece from Dinacorn. As far as the quarter window area, i just fabricated the area.

 

conversion

The consensus is more of the "Why?" It's still a coupe just like a 65 T Code is still a 6 cyl no matter how big the V-8 is.
This one was just sold for $8500- 1 owner, Mach 1, rare wheels, stick w/ lots of options. A restoration on this would be less than any conversion and be a real Mach 1.

 

If you are keeping this forever or not worried about resale then go for it. It is not something many people will do or even buy later. So with that said. I applaud you for asking the questions. If you are going to do it, then do it right. Once you cut then you have nothing to sale until you finish it or scrap it. Some guys do things "because they can" and others will say "just because you can doesn't mean you should". Just make sure this is an adventure you really want to do, make a plan, and stick with the plan.

 

Did you check youtube? I believe there's videos of someone doing this to a 65 or a 66. Probably the same idea with the 69-70. I think it would be a fun challenge!

 

Either way, keep us updated,..... :thumbsup:

 

You tube coupe to fastback and there is Hilliards mustang with a bunch of videos being done on a 65, interior parts for fastback will be the challenge

 

1. Sell your coupe.
2. Buy a fastback.
3. Any questions?

Gotta agree with others...I always wonder about the value on these when you stick a for sale sign in them. Even when people say "I;m never gonna sell it!"...let's face it...someday everyones gonna sell their prized rides.

If you are going to attempt it...good luck!

 

With a 65-66 all you need is a roof, trunk corners, and trunk lid. I have a 68. The coupe cost me $2600. Doing a retro mod. They're selling rust bucket 68 fastbacks for $10K. I plan on being buried in mine and it will have all new metal. Go with your gut.

 

You gotta be kidding with the "all you need......."

 

I'm surprised many think this is unachievable. Sounds as if nobody really has the skills to get the job done around here!

+1 to the video on youtube, using a fastback shell

My local shop, RST Performance, does these types of conversions all the time. It is impossible to tell that the cars weren't fastbacks or convertibles from the factory. Nearly all of the parts are available for the swap, and if you have the required skills to perform the conversion, you could be in it as cheap as the cost of the other roof.

 

Unfortunately, we never got the second half of this finished but we have pics that we can post later of it. This is how my family body shop business has been doing this type of conversion since the 60's.

 

Unfortunately, we never got the second half of this finished but we have pics that we can post later of it. This is how my family body shop business has been doing this type of conversion since the 60's.


Mustangs To Fear - Coupe To Fastback Conversion How-To - YouTube

It looks like that fastback could have been saved?? Im not a fan at all of cutting up an original.

 

fugazy fastback

 

Im in the process of doing conversion using a 67 fastback and 68 coupe. Once I did all the research it wasn't that complicated but I wasn't prepared for how tedious it is. With this being my 1st project there has been a lot of wasted effort and money but im having fun doing it.
Once you I got the windshield opening lined up dead nuts everything else lined up pretty good. I am using new full quarters, filler panel, deck lid and tail light panel and they all needed a bit of tweaking but over all not bad.
Again its not complicated but very, very, very tedious.

 

Not a single person here is saying it can't be done. What most are saying is "don't get in over your head". Not everyone has the needed skills. Many many a car project has been taken on by someone lacking the necessary skills/aptitude/tools/money or whatever. Time and time again the end result is a pile of crap which will later appear on Craigslist as an "unfinished project" and will only sell if the owner is willing to take a pretty big hit on what he spent. Or he has to farm out the pile to shop who will likely charge more than the car is worth to assemble it. There are many ways for this to go wrong ending up with a ruin of a car and an unhappy owner who decides to get out of the car hobby.
Sure, we don't know. Puzzled might hand fabricate custom motorcyle gas tanks for spare money. With one eye shut and one arm tied...etc. But more likely there is more enthusiasm than skill. I like enthusiasm, but that alone won't help build a car. If you've done a few progressively difficult car rebuilds/restorations and think you're up for it, why not? There's no harm in asking to see if somebody has laid out a roadmap of the process. Just the folks who tend to be good at such work also tend to be those who like to say "instructions? We don't need no steenking instructions?"

 

This is the point that most all are trying to make.