JFX001 wrote: The fix that I was told to perform on the cowls called for cutting the ends off, cleaning out, fiber-glassing both sides, dremeling the hole for the new vents to fit on the bottom (with copious amounts of silicone) and re-welding the ends back on.PITA job...but it did work.
That's how they did it in the early 80's. It would stop the leak, but not fix the problem. Now, there's some repro metal available, but it's still a huge job.
These are old car.
HappyAndy wrote: I have never heard of anyone converting a coupe to a fastback. Even if you could do it, you wouldn't want to. You'd spend far more than you would if you had simply restored an actual fastback and it will be worth much less when you're done. this is an urban legond, I won't say it cant be done, but no one with any sence would try it, the from the cowl back its a completly different body. The coupe to convertable has been done, but it is very ill advised.
It's been done many times. I know a guy who did it. Here's proof:
http://www.tinmanfabrication.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=62/prd62.htm
Then there's this:
I'm not saying it's practical for everyone, but the guy I know happened to have a rusty fastback and a solid coupe and the skills to pull it off, so why not?
I got a '69 Mach 1, 351/ 4 speed in a barter deal. No brakes, did not run. Dragged it to Bob's Speed Shop in Ft. Lauderdale to get it running. No biggie, a master cylinder, couple of brake lines fixed the brakes. Bob did some basic stuff and got it running quite well. Driving it home, I realized it was a 4.11 rear with 3200 rpm at 60mph. No power steering, no power brakes, no a/c, no options at all. Extremely powerful, the 351 had been played with. Overall, the most miserable driving car I have ever been in. A heavy beast in traffic, and the gearing made highway driving very uncomfortable and loud. OK, maybe I'm a wussy, but I was glad to sell it for 5K. Only had 1700.00 in it, so the profit was good.
It's been done many times. I know a guy who did it. Here's proof: http://www.tinmanfabrication.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=62/prd62.htm
I stand corrected.
Except for the part about the money.
HappyAndy wrote: I have never heard of anyone converting a coupe to a fastback. Even if you could do it, you wouldn't want to. You'd spend far more than you would if you had simply restored an actual fastback and it will be worth much less when you're done. this is an urban legond, I won't say it cant be done, but no one with any sence would try it, the from the cowl back its a completly different body. The coupe to convertable has been done, but it is very ill advised.
Actually, I saw this in one of the Mustang rags on the newsstand about 6mo ago. I quick searched and found most of the 67-8 conversions are about 4k-4.5k for all the body panels minus glass and some misc parts easily found. Plus for what people want to pay, you start with a rustbucket that needs all the major external panels anyway.
The car's base price is what is driving the conversions. You can get a decent coupe for at least half the price of the similar fastback. Let's not forget availability either. As for worth, sure it may not be what an actual fastback goes for, but even with the work to fit the panels you are still going to make out like a bandit vs buying a real fastback, imo.
I have a '65 fastback with the original paint. The factory build quality on these cars was terrible. My rear pillars are so wavy that many people think I did a poor conversion! So it's not hard to improve on them, and if you know what you are doing, swapping roofs isn't really that much more work if you are starting with a rusty car anyway.
Bring a magnet a flashlight and some crawlin clothes.
You'll need to log in to post.
