Brought to you in part by:

.


  Mustangsandmore Forums
  '64 1/2 to '73 -- The Classic Mustang
  67 mustang fastback project ?

Post New Topic  Post A Reply
profile | register | preferences | faq | search

UBBFriend: Email This Page to Someone! next newest topic | next oldest topic
Author Topic:   67 mustang fastback project ?
KenH
Journeyman

Posts: 6
From:
Registered: Apr 2004

posted 04-05-2004 02:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for KenH   Click Here to Email KenH     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Hello.

I am considering purchasing a 67 mustang
fastback project for $900. the car is
essentially a rolling chassis.

no front clip, no interior, has the rear
seat, no trunk lid, has good doors,
replacement floor pans, no front window.

how much rust is a $900 car worth? Are
these cars hard to find?

this was originally a 289 equiped car.

thanks for any advice.
ken

IP: Logged

sigtauenus
Gearhead

Posts: 2180
From: Far East, currently in Japan
Registered: Jun 2000

posted 04-05-2004 07:55 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for sigtauenus   Click Here to Email sigtauenus     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Ken, welcome to M&M.

I'm going to really start an exciting thread here as everyone chimes in their two cents. Hopefully i won't get chastised for any of this.

Here's mine...

What kind of answer are you looking for? Is the car worth buying? That can only be answered by you with what you intend to do with it.

I have been recreationally reading parts catalogs for about 15 years now. My wife always asks why. Last weekend we went to look at a car, and (among other things) the door handles were all scratched up, and she asks me how much they would cost to replace. Without missing a beat I said "$24.95 a pair from NPD." You gotta do your homework and be able to calculate what its going to cost you and make your decision from there. I spent most of my life too poor to actually buy anything and sat dreaming everytime I opened up the catalog and looked at the shiny new stuff I could buy for my decrepit mustang in the driveway and how much it would cost me whenever I did get the money.

My dad has been working on a 65 fastback for about 30 years now. Stuff like having kids, then building cars for them, etc, keeps getting in the way. Last time he had it to the body shop, he paid about $6000 for sheetmetal work and not a drop of paint was put on the car. First class work, the guy works the metal to the point that no filler is needed. To him its worth it because he has no intention of selling the car so resale value means nothing to him.

That's kind of excessive, but the point is you have to decide if you want to keep it, or keep resale value in mind as you restore the car.

Get a catalog and check out the prices for parts. Unless the car is first class original, and even then, everybody is going to spend about the same to fix up a mustang. It will cost you the relatively the same to redo the interior on a fastback or coupe, v8 or 6 cyl, 65 or 68. Cost you the same to rebuild the suspension or rebuild the engine too.

Here's the big stuff...

$600-1000 on the interior, depending on options. This gets you all new upholstery, carpet, dashpad, little stuff like sill plates and screw kits, etc. Pick up your missing seats at a swap meet for $50-100.

Brakes will run you about $400-500 to completely rebuild the drum brakes with new lines, cylinders, drums, springs, etc. Add about $500 to that (1000 total) to add disc brakes up front. Suicidal? brake shoes only from Autozone for about 30 bucks.

Suspension and steering can be rebuilt for another $700-800, and this includes all new control arms, springs, shocks, rubber bushings, rebuilt steering box, etc.

Nice wheels and tires can be had for $1000 a set.

That's all parts alone that just about anybody can do. Now for the fun part. Do you want to do the engine/transmission/rear end yourself or pay somebody?

Alex has a formula for a $1500 engine, but it entails doing the assembly yourself. Want a crate engine? $3500 and up easy from Ford Racing. Just want something that runs? $700 from Autozone for a long block.

Transmission parts run about $200 if you do the work yourself, multiply that by 3-4 to have somebody do it. A core can be had relatively cheap or even free for a C-4 or 3spd, you'll pay more for a 4spd or 5spd.

Rear end kit is about $80 for your 8", multiply that by 2-3 to have somebody do it. Add about $200 for a new gear set to change the ratio.

The biggest place you will lose money on a mustang is in bodywork. If you just want something shiny, go to Earl Shibe but he won't even wash the mud off before he shoots the paint for 100 bucks. Better paint jobs come from preparation, and you can either do the prep work yourself or pay a shop $80 an hour to do it for you. I've seen fantastic paint jobs for $3000-5000, and ludicrously nice for $10,000, but it always seem to be on a curve. Really, how much nicer of a paint job is something you spend $10,000 on over something you spend $5,000 on. Is it really twice as nice? I think not, but I digress. What about the parts you're missing. Fenders run about $130 a side, hood's about $150 and same for trunk lids. front and rear splash pans about $35 each. Headlight buckets are about $120 a side.

What else, wiring? You can completely re-wire most 65-67 mustangs for about $800 with brand new stuff. If you want you can sit and read a wiring diagram, you can fix anything that's cut with solderless connection kit and crimpers for $20.

Chrome? Bumpers, rocker moldings, all the "mustang" letters and 289 badges can be had new for about $400.

All the prices I've listed are ballpark for new reproduction, and I'm sure I missed LOTS of stuff, but they're fairly close for the average car.

From the sounds of it, you're looking at a parted out car needing almost everything. You can get stuff used either at a swap meet or on ebay, and you can expect to save about 50%, often more, on used stuff over the same part new. Over to your budget on what you can get new.

IP: Logged

Fastymz
Moderator

Posts: 18143
From: Reno Nv USA MEM#1240
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 04-05-2004 08:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Fastymz   Click Here to Email Fastymz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Welcome to M&M

Do you have the tools time and money to do a big project like that ?

I'd think you could spend alittle more a get a project car thats has few more parts already.

------------------
SCOOP

oddly obsessed with big scoops on little Mustangs

65 coupe,351w,C4,Big Boss 429 hood scoop,8" 3.40 TracLoc.

My Pics

IP: Logged

whiteknight289
Gearhead

Posts: 1000
From: Wheaton, IL, USA
Registered: Mar 2004

posted 04-05-2004 08:05 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for whiteknight289   Click Here to Email whiteknight289     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Ditto to everything he said. In a nutshell, figure you'll spend $20k to make a really nice car, $10K to make a driver, and that's doing most of the work yourself. From where you are starting, estimate a minimum of 2-3 years, and realistically 5 years is more like it. I saw the results of a study in one of the muscle car magazines that stated the typical 'project' car like you describe will pass thru at least 3 owners before its on the road. You don't want to be the guy first in line, losing all his labor and money so the third guy in line can finally drive your car. Study also said 9 out of 10 of these cars never make it back on the road, they jsut get shuffled from garage to garage.
That said, I hope you've got the gumption to be in the top 10%, I hope you finish your car in a year, and I hope you spend less than $5000 on it!

------------------
MCA Certified Judge, 1965-1966
66 GT coupe A code, Silver Frost
65 coupe modified - the White Knight
66 convert being restored
95 GT convertible/Cobra clone - black with white leather

IP: Logged

Fastback68
Gearhead

Posts: 2951
From: Sucat, Paranaque, Philippines
Registered: Jul 99

posted 04-05-2004 08:54 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Fastback68   Click Here to Email Fastback68     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
There's one another approach you can take. Get yourself a complete coupe and transfer everything over. The up side is that you already have the fastback's body stripped, ready for a ground-up restoration, plus you'll know where everything has to go.
But regular fastback's are not so rare that's it's worth the effort, IMHO. I've wrestled with a couple of decisions myself, but in the last two years I've chopped a 68 fastback GT J-code rust bucket, and declined to buy a 67 S-code rust bucket rolling chassis for $400.
If the body's in really good condition, go for it. If it's a halfway rust bucket, I'd forget it.

[This message has been edited by Fastback68 (edited 04-05-2004).]

IP: Logged

Laserchill
Gearhead

Posts: 107
From: Kernersville, NC
Registered: Mar 2004

posted 04-05-2004 10:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Laserchill   Click Here to Email Laserchill     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Hey Ken,

I have the motor and bodywork done. Still havve paint and interior to do.

I have spent 3500.00 so far.

I have quoted interior at 1000.00. Paint job will be 1000.00

All in all, I will have 6000.00 to 7000.00 in 68 coupe. It will be very nice.

I paid 350.00 for the original car and it was good with no rust and a '71 Mercury 302.

I put the 302 in storage and rebuilt a 66 Fairlane 289.

I will be able to use a lot of the original chrome.

Hope this helps.

Laserchill

IP: Logged

KenH
Journeyman

Posts: 6
From:
Registered: Apr 2004

posted 04-05-2004 10:19 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for KenH   Click Here to Email KenH     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks everyone, going to pass on this one.

far more rust than car! I will keep
studying my catalogs.

thanks!
ken

IP: Logged

Tom G
Gearhead

Posts: 552
From: Bethlehem, Pa USA
Registered: Nov 2001

posted 04-06-2004 07:47 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Tom G   Click Here to Email Tom G     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
$1800 car swap has now cost over 15k evaluate carefully what you want to do with the project. #1 do you have the time to complete it?
Alot of people bite off alot more than they can chew monetarily and their time. My 15k does not include the several hundred hours of my labor and time researching and scroiunging parts.
But by all means if the significant other gives you the go ahead DO IT! I have just about completed my 67 but they are never finished always something you want to perfect.My fastback has been a 3 year project so far and a strain sometimes on family life but the wife has seen the results of this labor of love so to speak. I was lucky enough to get a fastback before the Eleanor craze took off. They are now ridiculous for stuff the junk man would turn down. As posted above get a ballpark figure in mind on time and money before you start out with a "rolling chassis".
Just my 2 cent!

------------------
67 Mustang F/B 302 GT-40X FMS Crate engine T5, cable clutch conversion Flowmasters X Pipe 4.11 9". Clear water Aqua GT Clone 13.39 on 205/70/14 BFG @104 mph 03 Focus ZX3 BORLA exhaust Wings West spoiler (Arrest ME RED)

[This message has been edited by Tom G (edited 04-09-2004).]

[This message has been edited by Tom G (edited 04-09-2004).]

IP: Logged

All times are ET (US)

next newest topic | next oldest topic

Administrative Options: Close Topic | Archive/Move | Delete Topic
Post New Topic  Post A Reply
Hop to:

Contact Us | Mustangsandmore Front Page

Copyright 2005, Steve LaRiviere. All Rights Reserved.


Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.47d

Amazon Honor System Click Here to Pay Learn More

[Acronyms][Calendar][Chat][Classifieds] [Members' Pics]

[ Mustangsandmore.com Bookstore] [ Smokin' Fords] [Tech Articles]