[Kane822]

I know we have all read about people who want to do this. I don't just want people to post their unsupported criticism so I am just going to say that right now.

Anyways this weekend I am going to cut the roof off of my 65 coupe which I got for free and converting it to a fastback with this 65 fastback roof I got off craiglist. I will be posting pictures of the job as it goes starting off with just a picture of the roof and a link to the website that inspired me.

http://users.zoominternet.net/~jmiller126/

[66 restomod]

Interesting project you are taking on.
There will be people who wont agree with what you are doing but we all take different paths with our cars. I have made mine a restomod and upgraded many things that the 100 point guys hate. But I have a car that I think is safer and performs much better than an original.
Are you able to get the internal structures for the back?
Good Luck and Be Safe
Ron

[Kane822]

yeah everything but the hinges, in fact you can not see it well in this picture but most of the old wheel well is still attached so I have everything you see in the pic as well as all the interior frame. it will be pretty much cut and paste. I will cut and weld it all in at the factory seems.

I understand that some people will not be happy with it, but its not like either of these cars had much of a future. the fastback roof was already removed by the time I found it, and the coupe was just rusting because its previous owner had given up on it hence the reason I got it for free. I would restore it to original but it will require a lot of time a money and if I m not completely happy with it then I will have a hard time putting in the effort it needs. This way I build my dream car for less and I have something I can enjoy for a long time. Maybe some day when I am out of college making the big bucks I'll have the money to fully restore a original but for now its going to be mostly custom fab work.

[Calponycarsmike]

I see now how you are going to do it, and it solve the qrt panel problem. I think it is great, I am a big fan of building your car your way. I am currently building a Fiat X1/9 with a modern motor, all kinds of custom work to the body to make it lighter and let air out. When i was getting started guys on the Fiat message boards and clubs were like "but it is a 74 the first year it was imported to the US it is tooooooo rare." So I offered to sell them the car for $2,000...shocking no one stepped up to save it...so under the kife it went.

Be sure to post lots of pics.

You can follow along with my builds on my blog Morgan's & Phillip's Motoring Life

[Kane822]

ha ha sweet dude, I have already been following that page I read it yesterday before I posted anything on here. Right on good luck with yours and I'll be sure to keep posting lots of pictures, eventually I will try and host a site but for now I am just getting started, I just got the car about three weeks ago because I told a friend I want to restore a 68 fastback and he called me two days later and said he had a friend that was giving away his 65 coupe. Its like you said on your site they can come from anywhere, and sometimes you just get lucky.

[Jay H 237]

What's the condition of the coupe currently? If it needs floors, torque boxes, frame rails, ect I would replace them before cutting the roof off. That way you will have some support for the body from the roof. Once the underbody is structually sound then cut the roof off, and I would still brace the door jambs, you really don't want the unibody shifting around. You could leave the doors in place but just tack weld some stock from the front of the door jamb to the rear portion.

[FordGtMan]

Nice project your doing there. I have always been against chopping something up that there is a limited number of, but really id hate to say this but the world is not going to miss one mustang coupe that got chopped. I feel that mustangs are for doing whatever you want with it. I only get ticked when i see perfectly restored 67 fastback get eleanored, or something of that extent.

[Kane822]

I understand but this coupe is nothing special other than its truly the first car I have ever got for free. I am planning to make it unique. Right now I got big dreams for it and I hope it stays that ways. Thanks for the torque box advice I had planned to brace the doors but I didn't consider the fact that I have about a 5x3 inch hole in the floor. I will make sure I address that before this weekend.

[andrewmp6]

Like i said before this is a big job and its real easy to mess it up that's why i tell most let a pro do it.Its a unibody car you gotta brace everything on it before cutting the roof off.

[fastbck65]

Interesting project. I wish you the best. I'm friends with a guy who has already made a '57 Chevy convertible out of an old four door car.

He is now in the process of doing the same with a '60. Don't let naysayers bring you down. If you are confident and do everything correctly you'll have a nice car.

My dad always says, "if you can't find what you want...make one."

[jspagna1]

I say go for it. If the coupe was rusting away then it's saving another Mustang. That's how I look at it. Keep us posted, I would love to see how it comes out.

[Kane822]

Thanks guys, I hope to get the bulk of it done this weekend, so hopefully I can have some pictures for you soon.

[67ragtopStang]

I guess it's too late now, but an interesting option is making a convertible out of it with a fastback removable roof. A guy in Utah has done it a couple of time and I saw the cars sell on ebay. It's a cool idea I think.

Here's a some photos of those cars.

[Kane822]

Yeah I am not far from where that guy is only about 2 hours. I have heard of his work... I think it would be cool but it seems like it would be much harder than just welding the roof on... I think it is a great idea though.

[67ragtopStang]

Well, you'd have to add the convertible structure underneath and his top is made of fiberglass.