Hello all,

I'm usually just a lurker here, reading the 05 board, I never even realized there was a classic forum :bang: Anyway, my father and I have been working on a 68 fastback and it's slated to be completed in the next month or so. Just wanted to share a few ideas that we have going on it, and ask your feedback on a few things...

Our fastback has a 289 3spd, that we're leaving it stock for now, since 90% of our effort has been to give the car new sheet metal, and pound out the caved in roof. (the guy we bought it from, his garage collapsed on the car).

A few things we're doing differently to the car:

- painting it Jaguar Platinum
- adding the shelby trunklid, but retaining stock tail lights
- adding GT exhaust valance
- adding shelby door scoops, but keeping sail panel louvers
- installing a 1968 brushed aluminum dash & door panel kit from Burton Antique Auto Parts (a fairly new product, not a 67 dash conversion kit)
- custom black/silver interior (black headliner, silver plastic panels, black carpet
- custom black/brushed aluminum vinyl seats (black outer, br. alum. vinyl inserts)
- custom designed (by me) lower front fender emblem (where the GT emblem usually goes in the rocker strips) my dad joked if Shelby can put his name on a car, why can't he? so I came up with this emblem.

here a couple pics of the custom emblem, and photoshopped comp of what the car may look like (silver color isn't quite right but ya get the idea




(yes we used 'bullet' instead of 'bullit' so not to be associated with the movie...RSR stands for my father's initials)


(a photoshopped image of what it will look like - not our car)

We're also adding front disc brakes. Because of this, we're not really sure of what kind of wheels to put on it...my dad doesn't want to go bigger than 15". Any suggestions would be appreciated. Your thoughts on the interior, and emblem would be appreciated too. I should be receiving one of the emblems this week.

Thanks in advance.

 

I would use these!

 

Where are you getting the emblems done? Will they be metal or plastic?

 

Sounds like you have some great plans! I wouldn't change a thing except maybe sticking with the small wheels. A project this adventurous can (should) get away with some larger rolling stock.

 

Thanks for the replies.....I am having the emblems cut from billet aluminum by Steve at BilletBadges.com. He normally does custom emblems for F150s, but was very interested in helping me get these made. He's a great guy to work with. I came up with the design with my 3d software and then sent him the files.

They're going to be polished, but if I wanted to I can have them chrome them. I'm going to see how they look polised first.

I agree on the tire size, and would like to see at least 16's but we'll see. Cragar had some nice classic wheels, whattya think of these:

 

Nice wheels. They look alot like the ones from Wheel Vintiques.

Problem I found is that Cragar doesn't list a correct backspacing for the 17x8 for an early Mustang.

 

You have some good ideas. The interior concept does not jive for me. The doors are black and then you transition from them to the "brushed aluminum" color on the plastic parts of the inner quarters and trap door area. You need to keep the colors flowing once they start if you know what I mean to be consistent and achieve "the flow".

 

Jay, it looks to me like the doors are silver, and the door panels are black.

 

Ah, you're right. Now I see it. Curious on the dash next? It's a difficult transition.

 

The dash metal will be black, with a black dash pad, and brushed aluminum dash kit....the doors will be silver, with a black insert & br. aluminum accent. The only place it may not jive would be the front kick panel...and we just might paint that two-tone to continue the line of the door insert.. here is a photo that might better explain it, the silver isn't very good on this one either:



Here's a picture of the door panels:


Here's a picture of the instrument cluster from the kit (notice it's a 68 not a 67)


And lastly...here's a picture of the custom emblem in the making, just received it tonight, and should have the 1st one in my hands on Saturday:

 

If you want a 15" wheel, this would look nice. The 16" is even better, IMO i think that you should go with at least a 16" wheel. Oh and by the ways love your car, or will love it...

 

Look around this forum some more to see why 16" wheels are a bad idea. You really cannot make a case against the 17" these days from a cost/performance perspective.

 

Nice to have "new blood". Some neat ideas on your car - We'll be watching for "real" pictures soon!

Think about wheels VERY carefully - they'll "make or break" a car.

 

heh, thanks GT350, that's why I post here, to bounce the ideas off folks who've been there - done that...

Jay - I tried looking around for wheel comments like you mentioned the 16" being a bad idea, but couldn't come up with anything...if anyone has feedback on 15s - 17s please drop em on me.

Been thinking more about that front kick panel, maybe it'd be better if we just painted it silver to continue the color 'flow' into the dash..... :scratch:

- We're also going to look into putting 69 sport mirrors on the doors..I know the mounting angle is different on the mirror base, and the door surface is different too, but I've seen several 68s with these, and they look pretty good...anybody out there put these on? we have a couple beaters to use for test fitting.

And lastly......chrome fender moldings? yay or nay? it seems to me that the more serious restomods leave em off (ala fastforward fastback, etc) and the more classic restos put em on....I'm thinking ours should have em on. whattya think?

sorry for so many questions, but I appreciate ya'lls responses.

 

Bob makes the point on wheels in the Plus Sizing Thread.

Your best bet is to leave off trim like the fender molding and the rocker molding. It is something you can add later but cannot remove. Besides, the car will look cleaner and meaner without the trim.

When you order the decklid and endcaps, make sure you specify for endcaps to use the stock taillight panel ... they sell both.

The stock upper vent with the lower scoop is intereseting but it does not work from the times I have seen it ... it tends to clash. If you want to be different and achieve a cleaner look I would leave the scoop off entirely and leave the space empty. The '68 quarter with no ornament would be the cleanest look you can get. Then maybe steal the signature of the FFF and inset the top vent. That is one of the cleanest features of that car and I would steal that in a second.



What are you doing for the hood and nose?

 

yeah we actually thought about that sail panel inset. may think about it some more....it is one of the best things I like about that car.

I'll check out the that tire thread, thanks. For the hood, we're using a 67 with the turn signal scoops. for the nose..uhm, basically keeping it stock, and putting the chrome vertical bumper guards on (front and back) rather than a chin spoiler.

seeing as how we've already got the holes in the quarters for the scoops, if we were to keep them, how do you think the side scoops jive with the FFF inset on the sail panel? The 2nd image has the louvers instead:

 

Just an observation, and I credit Jay and some of the other guys here for helping me to realize it...

Sometimes, what you leave OFF is more important than what you add on. For instance, I started looking at some items (horns for instance) from a cleaning / maintenance standpoint - if I can hide them or leave them completely off, it's one less thing in the way while you're cleaning, and one less thing to distract a viewer's eye...

As far as wheel size.... Pick up a copy of this month's Mustang monthly, in addition to what you read here. Bramlett's "Restomod Corner" is about "backspacing", and talks EXACTLY about what I mentioned in the other thread about "the difficulty with 15's & 16's".

 

Sorry to tell you, but the second pic has major clashing going on. the vents dont match. Sorry

 

There are some great ideas being thrown around in here.

Having just finished paint and body work on my car, Id suggest that you don't let pre-existing holes dictate design decisions. Filling them is always an option. When building mine, I looked at everything that I thought didn't contribute to the overall smoothness of the car, and lopped it off. I've been really happy with the results, and if I decide I need those vertical bumper guards back, I can always do so, and that goes for pretty much everything else that got smoothed out.

As far as scoops and vents and whatever else, do what makes you and your pops happy. In my own opinion, using the Fastforward Fastback as a basis to build your own machine can only be a good thing.

 

The scoop with the FFF upper treatment is great! The scoop with the stock upper vent just does not work for me, it clashes completely.