'69 coupe to fastback

[9350 10]

There's an article in the Jan'10 issue of Hot Rod magazine about a new coupe to fastback conversion kit. The finished car looks great. Anyone considering this?

[SlimeGold 69 15]

I've seen the car your talking about and it does look nice. I think there are still enough Sportsroof "project" cars out there right now tho. Even if you get a Sportroof with rust and body damage the cost of metal work would still be cheaper IMO than starting with a coupe and fitting all the Sportsroof sheet metal, and that's assuming you have a rust-free coupe to start with. However In the future, this may be about the only way to get a Sportsroof other than buying a whole new shell.

Edited November 20, 2009 by SlimeGold 69

[95venom 10]

I saw the article and thought it was really cool. Now I plan on using the seats, console, and suspension they used and putting them in my fastback.

can you find the article online? I couldn't.

[69RestoRod 10]

For a similar price you could buy a Dynacorn shell and not need to wait and find unexpected problems on the parts they didn't replace. Mind you that you still need the glass and interior specific parts.

[S code 69 13]

As long as you can buy a solid west coast fastback for 5-10K I can't see the point in conversions or Asian made Dynacorn mustangs.

 

I never start a project with resale in mind, but I keep it in mind, nothing beats the real thing and if it's cheaper all the better.

[EastYorkStang 63]

I'd rather just buy a new DynaCorn shell.

[S code 69 13]

I don't get it, why would you pay as much for an asian made shell as you can buy a driver quality fastback? I'm not trying to argue I just cannot grasp why anyone would do that, and if you had worked with Dynacorn garbage sheet metal already I really can't imagine it.

 

I made the mistake of buying a dynacorn hood for my car, when I made the cutouts for the turn signal indicators I could take the metal and bend it around like playdough. crap, pure crap.

[Sidthing 10]

Hey S code, maybe that's why they brag about using thicker gauge sheet metal and more spot welds, their steel is weakened by rice contamination. I get pissed when I buy parts for my old Fords and they try to sell me imported parts because they are "cheaper." Piece by piece soon all the old cars will slowly become imports.

[S code 69 13]

That's true, there is a little domestic made Ford Tooling stuff out there and it's well worth the money.

 

Dynacorn uses a heavy soft steel so they can get away with easy manufacturing, you have to work with it to imagine how different it is from original sheet metal. even if their body was high quality it's a fake, just a ricer mustang want to be I just don't get the appeal myself.

[Sidthing 10]

We're dinosaurs S code in this new global economy. I wonder how long before wanting Made in USA is considered a racist view?

[Jayru 17]

I'm not saying that cheaply made overseas stuff is good, but Made in the USA hasn't been synonymous with quality for quite some time.

 

You can't go on the name alone for either anymore.

[Sidthing 10]

Well the reason probably being that not all stuff claiming to be made in the usa isn't. They are making stuff in china and sending it over here to be finished off and claiming made in the usa. We can do it better over here, and we always have. Our darkest days were through the 70's and 80's but I still see more American made cars on the road than the jap or euro ones from that era.

A quick story, the company my dad works for was bought out several years back by an international conglomerate so he deals with Europeans of several nationalities. An Austrian engineer told my dad of a trip to China to a plant where generators were made. The Chinese had a problem with their generators shorting out, so this Austrian was paid to evaluate their whole manufacturing process from start to finish. Well he found the problem, there were two of these Chinese slave laborers who didn't know that they were soldiering wires on wrong. The Austrian pointed out the problem to the officials that hired him. They stopped production assembled everyone outside and executed the two men who had been soldiering the wires wrong. That's Chinese quality control. Do you want to support that?

[Jayru 17]

I'm not supporting China in any way, and i'd gladly buy a quality American made product any day over China, but I just don't believe that story can be true.

 

There is no doubt the Chinese have questionable labor practices, but that would be a PR nightmare no other country/business would allow themselves to be mixed up in!

 

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/propaganda

[Sidthing 10]

It would be a nightmare, but China doesn't have to worry too much about negative publicity: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121865176983837575.html

[69RestoRod 10]

I don't get it, why would you pay as much for an asian made shell as you can buy a driver quality fastback? I'm not trying to argue I just cannot grasp why anyone would do that, and if you had worked with Dynacorn garbage sheet metal already I really can't imagine it.

 

I made the mistake of buying a dynacorn hood for my car, when I made the cutouts for the turn signal indicators I could take the metal and bend it around like playdough. crap, pure crap.

 

I've never bought a thing from Dynacorn but I hear the they are the quality repop to be had over the rest of the garbage in the market. Cut out pieces from your hood and are shocked you can bend them by hand? 18 and 16 gauge metal is thin stuff, you should be able to bend it be hand. There's a reason there's bracing all over the hood, so the wind won't change the shape of it. I've done a bit of work on 69 metal Mustang and F100 and am surprised how little effort is needed to reshape some of it.

 

How was the fit and the look of the hood? I have no idea and will be in the market for a new one rather that deal with my hacked up one.

 

The main reason to go with a shell is if you got a rusty mustang with good parts and crap metal. Or got burned on an Ebay buy, I know it never happens. Body shops can take years for floorpans and quarters if you're lucky. Any good ole boy can swap everything from one shell to another and pay for the help they need in the middle. It becomes a battle over time and desire to drive the damn thing more than anything else to some.

Edited November 21, 2009 by 69RestoRod

[Legion 10]

In my business we have an equal mix of product that is designed in house and bought from the market place...and some of it is sourced from Pacific Rim countries, including China. We travel there quite often to the manufacturing plants to review QA standards, watch production runs, etc. I've never experienced anything close to seeing something like that in 10 years. I will say most of the plants house their employees on site, feed them, and only give them one day off a week work them long hours...in less than desirable conditions.

 

 

 

Well the reason probably being that not all stuff claiming to be made in the usa isn't. They are making stuff in china and sending it over here to be finished off and claiming made in the usa. We can do it better over here, and we always have. Our darkest days were through the 70's and 80's but I still see more American made cars on the road than the jap or euro ones from that era.

A quick story, the company my dad works for was bought out several years back by an international conglomerate so he deals with Europeans of several nationalities. An Austrian engineer told my dad of a trip to China to a plant where generators were made. The Chinese had a problem with their generators shorting out, so this Austrian was paid to evaluate their whole manufacturing process from start to finish. Well he found the problem, there were two of these Chinese slave laborers who didn't know that they were soldiering wires on wrong. The Austrian pointed out the problem to the officials that hired him. They stopped production assembled everyone outside and executed the two men who had been soldiering the wires wrong. That's Chinese quality control. Do you want to support that?

[S code 69 13]

Sure you can bend any sheet metal by hand, but the dynacorn stuff is like copper. no comparison to real auto body steel, for a fender or something I suppose you can live with it because even as cheap as it is it's going to take more abuse than your paint job will but in a stuctural application I wonder.

 

As far as rust goes just buy a car without any, or so little rust it doesn't matter. they're out there and not that expensive, anyone who thinks major rust repair is somethging you have to live with just isn't buying their cars in the right area. shipping is cheaper than fixing.