I joined this forum in May of 2012 right after I bought my Mustang, and have been a regular here since. I have posted many questions, and tried to help answer others. I have included many photos, but never a complete set. My car is basically done now and I thought I would post a thread of the build. I will add to it daily, or when time permits.
So here is the first. A rolling chassis. No engine or transmission. Most interior parts were there. But everything in boxes. The PO had given up. Bought it on Ebay, and probably paid too much. But it was my dream car.
In some ways I was lucky, because the frame rails were solid. The car was a Texas car. But in others i had to search out the previous work done on the car. i found several places that were filled with tape and bondo.
The worst spot, and took the most time to repair was the passenger quarter panel. I did get it pulled out.
it's probably worth mentioning that when I got into this I had no knoledge of welding. My plan was to have someone else do the welding. However once I got started i realized there was much more than I could afford. So I went to Lowes and bought a mig welder and learned. I burned a few holes in the beginning, but got better as I went along.
Now on to fitting the doors and fenders. Both doors were badly rusted so I purchased ones made by Golden Legion. They may of been made for a Chevy, that's how bad they fit. I gave up on them and got Dynacorn doors. They were not perfect, but I was able to get them to fit.
Golden Legion. And these are original fenders.
The biggest problem with the Dynacorn doors was the flair at the lower rear. I cut it pushed it in, and welded it. Came out great.
Nice progress so far, and nice success with welding. Seeing someone else pick up welding for the first time gives me a bit more confidence that I'll be able to do it when the time comes.
So while i'm doing all this welding and body work i'm thinking of what parts i might be missing. Hmmm. I don't have an engine or transmission. These are sort of major components that I should try and find. so I go one eBay and search for "toploader" I search closest first, and find a guy 10 miles away that has several of them. We get together and i buy a 68 small block correct toploader 4 speed.
While i'm there I notice he has a 67 or 68 coupe that is really beat. i ask him what he is doing with it, and he tells me he is trying to sell the engine. A 74 vintage 351 windsor. It runs, but he doesnt know much more about it. so.... I now have an engine & transmission.
I continue on eBay and buy a bell housing, clutch, shifter, etc, etc.
Keep the post coming, since I have a 68 Fastback I have followed a lot of your post over the past few years. Looking forward to the complete story. Using it for inspiration.
Great thread! Thanks for sharing. I'm impressed your friend was able to shoot single stage enamel in a garage and get good results.
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