New kit turns a 1969-’70 coupe into a fastback

 

by Tom Shaw

photography by CARS, Inc.

 

Coupes are plain Janes — cheap and plentiful. Fastbacks are the sleek and stylish hotties — and they command a premium. That’s a basic truth of life. So what if the plain Jane coupe could morph into a hottie fastback?

It can. Jim Barber of Classic Automotive Restoration Specialists, Inc. developed the process in his North Carolina workshop, and Mustang Magazine is the first to show how it works. 

Basically, you start with a coupe body, then cut away all of the roof from A-pillars back to the trunk, leaving only the floor structure, wheelhouses and rear tail light panel. All roof, C-pillar, door jamb, trunk, and quarterpanel structure is removed. But building it back involves some additional fabricating.

“Ford did not simply change the roof and the rear quarterpanels, the change begins at the base of the windshield,” says Jim Barber. “Comparing the two windshields, overall height on the coupe is 1.185 inches taller than the fastback. At the side window and quarter glass area, the coupe body is actually 1.25 inches taller.”

To do it right involves more than just chopping the windshield frame and roof.

“Ford also changed the angle of the A-pillar. The fastback A-pillar is laid back 5 degrees, so not only is the height of the door glass different, but also the front edge of the door glass on a fastback is 5 degrees different than a coupe,” advises Jim. “So unless we made a special glass, the A-pillar must be changed. I spent over 50 hours measuring the two cars, and another 150 hours reading any published material I could find.”

The floors all appeared to be the same.

“Inner and outer wheel houses, and the tail light panel, showed the same part numbers, so I began to believe that the conversion could be done,” Jim recalls. “I did not want to disturb the foundation of the car. Because the floors, wheel houses and taillight panel were shared between the coupe and fastback bodies, meant that during the conversion, the drivetrain and suspension could remain intact, and I would have a solid platform to work from.”

After much research, Jim determined that he would need to tool 22 pieces of inner structure, and 13 more pieces of interior soft trim. This is in addition to the exterior panels. As you might imagine, most of these obscure inner structure parts have been obsolete for decades.

Jim, not one to shrink back from an ambitious project, decided to jump into the job as a feasibility study. If he got the conversion finished, he planned to offer a conversion kit. If a major obstacle arose, the project would likely become a one-of-a-kind prototype.

The good news is that the conversion is now complete, and Jim has tooled up for all needed pieces, so coupe-to-fastback kits are now available to selected shops in one of two forms;

 

• the complete kit that includes all sheetmetal, mouldings, glass, drip rails, weather strip ($7500), and…

• a kit with all needed sheetmetal but no interior parts for the restomod guy who’s going to do a custom interior anyway ($5900)

 

The job obviously involves major structural work, so it’s not a job for beginners. If you can’t find a qualified shop in your area, C.A.R.S. can do it for you.

So if you’re planning a Mustang build and wondering whether you should buy a rusty fixer-upper, try to find a solid original Mustang, or start with a new Dynacorn body, your options just increased by one.

 

 

Roof skin

Trunk Lid

Quarter Panels

Quarter Extensions

Windshield, Rear Window, Front/Rear Side Windows

Windshield Stainless Trim

Rear Window Stainless Trim

Drip Rail Molding

Drip Rail Weatherstrip Molding

Rear Window Filler Panel

Inner Rear Quartpanel Structure

Torsion (trunk spring) Housing

Trunk Hinges

Roof Support (top of rear window to roof)

Fold-Down Rear Seat Brackets to Floor

Fold-Down Rear Seat Brackets to Inner Wheel House

Various Pieces Dividing Trunk and Fold-Down Rear Seat

 

 

 

Wheelbase                      108.0            108.0        

Overall Length (inches)     187.4             187.4        

Overall Height                  51.2 (+.9)      50.3

Weight* (lbs.)                  2,835             2,860 (+25)

Trunk Liftover                   29.6               29.6        

Trunk Capacity (sq. ft)      9.8 (+4.5)       5.3

 
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