kennyg

All the builds I've seen of these bodies on TV and in magazines, state that they need extensive fitting and finish work, which requires bondo, lead, or some type of filler. kennyg

svopaul

You simply cannot build a car without using body filler.....it's not using thick layers of it that is the key.

Any restoration is going to require extensive fit and finish work....unless you don't mind panels not lining up like original . (IE: Look at an original deck lid on an original California special ).

Building any car takes many man hours for body work, blocking...etc. And a good job can easily go through 2-3 or more blocking sessions to get a car straight.

Anyone that tells you their restoration has no filler in it anywhere is lying....period. In order to get a car arrow straight it takes a combination of filler work and blocking with a good urethane primer to get the car to that point. In the end though even with filler work a magnet should still stick to the car in those areas easily.

390 4spd

True sooooo True

SINBUSTER007

i understand what you are saying about body filler and alignment, but do the dynacorn bodies require body filler? and for what if anyone knows. i would assume that you were talking about an original restoration, but i might be wrong. alignment will be with just about anything except a brand new car right from the factory, that should be expected with something like this.

jim010

The January issue of Mustang Monthly has a Dynacorn Bullitt Mustang on the cover. Very cool.

Cheers

svopaul

Consider this.....back in the 60's these cars were not made with precision like you see in the Infinity(I think that was it) commercial with ball bearings rolling down the hood to fender gaps showing how nice the fit and finish was.......with that said the tooling made for these cars is made from original sheetmetal which was not perfect to begin with so you cannot expect Mercedes fit and finish on a reproduction of a 1967 Mustang. So if you want nice gaps and a nice straight car UNLIKE the original Mustang then yes....the Dynacorn body will require some filler and fitment. Not to mention the factory seams which originally filled with lead or not filled when you get the Dynacorn body so you have to take care of that as well. The Dynacorn bodies are as thick or thicker than the original and the metal is especially nice when compared to the offshore parts that were availabe up until they came on the scene. Many vendors still sell the low quality parts so beware!

The 67-8 bodies also come with the convertible inner rocker and seat riser adding more strength than an original fastback body would have.

The new 69 Bodies come with the big block shock towers.

So there are improvements that have been made.

purplepony

Thought I'd chime in. I would love a Dynacorn Bullitt "modern replica". I've come to the conclusion through some superficial research it would cost me between 80-100K by time it was all said and done. I remember a long while back, way before dynacorn bodies or Barrett Jackson were even on the map, a friend told me that you can never recoup the $$$ spent restoring a car when you sell it. I thinkk in a few years, you'll see used dynacorn fastbacks selling for a reasonable price as compared to buying new. I'll just have to look for the Bullitt on that magazine cover. Thoughts?

svopaul

I disagree with the blanket statement that "you can never recoup the $$$ spent on restoring a car when you sell it"......there are too many variables that easily contradict this statement. Currently Restomod and Pro Touring cars are bringing more than restored ones....but regardless of the way you go it really all depends on quite a large number of variables from your choices for parts used to who you have build it or if you build it yourself.....also WHAT you build has a lot to do with it.

If you restore a 6 cylinder '68 Coupe then no...you are not getting your money back. We even have a 1 of 1 made car just like this here at the shop that is documented to be owned by Ford Advertising and was used to advertise the "See the light" promotion back then....custom color and a 1 of 1 combination but sadly this car would not bring a return on investment which is really why it still sits here with nothing done to it.

If you build a reasonable restomod then you can come out ahead....but if you buy a $15-$25K Fastback and then tear it apart and start over.....adding forced induction or a $6K intake setup and $6K worth of brakes...another $12K in an engine and do all the custom goodies and end up with $100K or more in the car then unless you built something with mass appeal you are going to have a hard time recovering your investment.

I tell all my customers one thing from the start....and that is to ask yourself this: "Are you building the car for Yourself....or someone else?" Meaning that if you are building it for yourself then enjoy it and make it your own.....but if you are building it with intentions to sell it then you need to either do a restoration or build it in a way that it will have the broadest range of appeal.

Then you have the builders rates....Some of them are extremely high which can skyrocket a budget and others are reasonable being less than car dealership rates.....If you go to someone like Foose you will get a quality job but it's going to cost you dearly.....if you go to the guys that do Pimp My Ride then it will cost you dearly and you will end up with a pile of junk and REALLY lose out.

In the end you CAN build a classic for less than the cost of a new Mustang and have something that will appreciate but you have to be realistic if this is your goal as you will not end up with a world class car for that kind of budget.....But World class type cars can be built and hold more value than the amount invested....happens all the time.

Just be smart and don't get star struck because that really cool intake catches your eye but costs $7500...purchases like that will quickly skyrocket a build cost.

SINBUSTER007

i guess it comes down to just a few choices then in the beginning. one, you are going to pay very similar prices if you do a dynacorn mustang to near stock build compared to a brand new 2010+ mustang GT. second, do you wish to wait 3-5 years before you can drive it or do you want to drive it now? three, how much of this will you have time for? new cars require no time, dynacorn bodies will require time and effort into the building of the car.
i do have some hard choices to make. i like the style of the new mustangs and the ability to drive them now. the disadvantage is all the electrionics on the car. (sorry sometimes mass amounts of new technology can be a bad thing) [the only reason i say this is because i have a 2006 that the battery always dies and i know if something goes wrong with the board, the car will not run] with the 68 or 69 dynacorn bodies you will have a classic look which i like but for me it will take probably 5+ years to complete. {there will be glitches in these cars too but some you can still drive the car with.} i cannot afford both at this time (though i would like to). the only thing that is giving me second thoughts about the dynacorn's are the body filler thing. alignment should be a given and necessary, but body filler on a new body? can you explain what you are refering to svopaul? your patience and information is great help to me in deciding what to do.

svopaul

You are leaving out a few things:

1) Building a classic is something that will retain value.....that 2010 Mustang will do nothing but depreciate for a VERY long time until one day it too becomes a classic....right now we are at 45 years for the early ones....

2) Driving a 2010 Mustang may get some attention when they first come out but right now nobody turns a head to any of the 2005-2009 Mustangs anymore....it's just another new car.

Those are just things you have to consider as well based on your wants.

You have to get over the body filler aversion you have....there is a BIG difference between someone slapping 3 inches thick body filler on a car and using filler as the finishing tool it is intended to make a car perfect. Body filler is not a bad thing.....UNLESS it is used to pack rust holes. Filler is used to fix imperfections.....for very small imperfections a high build primer does the same thing and this is why a car is block sanded multiple times before considered as paint ready.

The Dynacorn bodies originally came with the factory seams filled....however some people wanted to use lead as per original while others wanted to use more modern methods of filling a seam. These cars where a quarter panel attaches to the roof has a factory indention that must be filled and no matter what you do....that must be done. However a thicker seam like this isn't filled (or should not be) with regular body fillers....there are different fillers for different purposes. Also sometimes during the fit and finish process you might ding a panel....that may require a slight bit of filler or the high build primer may remove the imperfection if it is something that cannot be worked out with typical metal working techniques.

I think what you really need to do is find a shop that does quality work that is willing to let you observe how the process works....then you will gain a better understanding of body work techniques and the proper use of fillers so that you don't have the aversion you currently have....a better understand will address those concerns.

Black GT500

Although I agree with you on new car values, I believe unless you buy it new or near new and hold it for 40+ years most cars, collector or not, are NOT going to see a big return on your investment. Obviously there are a few exceptions to the rule, but cars in general are a very poor investment.

As to your "nobody turns a head to any of the 2005-2009 Mustangs anymore" statement, I have to disagree. People are regularly rubber-necking to look, constantly giving big grins and the thumbs-up and I still get approached and hammered with questions and complements almost every time I stop and get out of either of my 2008 Mustangs.

svopaul

Well obviously if you have a special edition Mustang you will get questions but my point is that in general if you are driving just a new Mustang that nobody really pays attention to them anymore....when the '05 first came out there was a lot of attention for a while and there will be with the 2010 but unless you pony up for the special editions you won't get much attention. Now compare that to a vintage one and you'll see the attention multiple many times over.

Cars are generally a poor investment and I often tell that to people who ask me....for example I had someone ask me what I thought about a new Shelby GT and future value....I told him that if he was buying the car as a coffee table to forget it. Buying a brand new car and putting it away thinking it will be worth something some day is about the dumbest thing you can do....However it is different when restoring a classic because the have already weathered time...are not made any more and generally appreciate or hold value. A typical 2010 Mustang will be worth almost nothing before it EVER starts to appreciate....IF it does. There are a LOT of speculators out there today and I think that's great because I'll be one of those guys that buys a no mile car from someone and DRIVES IT!

I don't recommend anyone using a car as an "investment" you build or buy a car because you like it and want to enjoy it.....however I'd rather spend $30K on a classic that will retain some value while I enjoy it rather than completely depreciate because it's just another new car.

As an example I saw a very nice '94 Cobra for sale recently for $5400.....so much for the guy speculating it was going to be worth a fortune someday....it has a LONG time yet to go before starting back up that hill. A friend of mine even bought a 26 mile SVO about 5 years ago....the owner Leased the car thinking he could cash in on it....stored it in a mini storage warehouse for years...when the lease came up he was already buried and had to buy the car and continue to wait. Original purchase price of the car was over $15K and when my friend bought the car he paid the same for it....now that guy leased the car, bought it at the end and paid for 18 years of mini storage fees....he lost his butt on that car and someone got to basically go back in time and pick up a brand new SVO.

SINBUSTER007

i think most of the new cars now adays from about 1979 to present will be worth far less than the older ones of the past.
most of the cars from the 60's and early 70's were hand built, yes in factories but there were way more people putting the cars together than today. now its just a robot putting pieces on, nothing spectacular about that. also the way the cars are made today, i think the value of them is way overpriced compared to the quality of the car itself. (ok, now you factory workers dont get on me because of what i just said). i think it also has to do with the market, who wants what and what kind. maybe in 30 years someone will want and 05-09 and will pay as much for it as we did brand new. we dont know what things will be like then. with anything its a risk or gamble depending on how you look at it.
i am guilty of not driving mine. since i bought the 2006, i have a little over 6,000 miles on it and the 2003 had 34,000+ miles on it when i bought it in 2007 and now has 40,000+ miles on it since.
i like the cars and like to drive them and that is what i would do with the dynacorn but not put tons of miles on it.

StangMahn

I'd also like to suggest, when you start putting together a budget, add in a few extra thousand, just in case. I dont know that I've ever heard of a big project (restoration) that hasnt had at minimum one hangup