'69 Coupe Grande - Operation: Blank Canvas

[lead_magnet 12]

Well, beings as this is my first post I suppose I should introduce myself. Ummm..I live in Colorado, was never really a Mustang fan *takes cover*, but I've grown a liking for the '69's, esp. the coupes. Call me crazy, but I like them more than the fastbacks. Anyway, long story short, I just bought my first mustang, for a whopping $500 bucks, with a clear title, that is now in my name, so the project begins...

 

The only thing I know about the car (as I have little to no Mustang knowledge) is that it was a Grande, which I understand was an interior package of some kind right? It had a black vinyl top and black interior, original paint looked to be like burnt orange metalic, kinda. It currently has a 302 in it with an auto-trans of unknown type, not sure which rear-end is in there either, as I can't tell them apart. It does have stainless steel H-pipes under it, which doesn't look stock to me, and it has a new tranny cross member. The looks to have been hit in the driver's side front, but not hard, the inner fenders looks straight.

 

The Good: The car has little to no rust, and no bondo. Front glass, rear glass and back quarter glass is all there. Radiator support is there and straight, inner fenders are there and straight. Car came with the lower dash and original gauge cluster.

 

The Bad: That is all that is there, apart from a 302 and unknown tranny, well, most of them, still being in the car.

 

Here are some (alot) of pictures: If anything stands out to you Mustang guys let me know, as I'm not to sure of what I'm looking for, all I know is this car looked straight so I thought it would be a good place to start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the worst rust, driver's side floorboard, really not bad at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whew...thats all the photos. Now I know it's not going to be easy, nor quick, but I want to turn her into my daily driver.

 

Here is my general plan so far:

Comepletly dissassemble

Soda-Blast everything, prime and paint undercarraige, engine bay, interior, inside the trunk and all suspension (that I'm keeping) black, leave the rest primer.

get rid of the vinyl top

5.0 out of a newer mustang (fuel injection)

Probably won't have a rear seat, maybe a roll cage

Might try a custom, minimalist dash

maybe fuel cell

 

my reasons for this is I might try to run it in the classic division of the pikes peak hill climb, so I'm thinking of a street legal daily driver that might be track worthy, nothing crazy performace, just a little sporty.

 

...that's as far as I have gotten.

 

So here are my first questions:

First thing first, just to make sure, because I'm not going to restore this car to it's original condition... is it okay to do that to a Gande, or were they super rare, and changing one is going to be a huge screw up?

 

Sorry for the long post, but I think it's all on the table now...watcha think?

[Vegassman 10]

...was never really a Mustang fan *takes cover*, but I've grown a liking for the '69's, esp. the coupes. Call me crazy, but I like them more than the fastbacks...

 

Cool.

I could've started my intro with this exact quote.

 

Not much to add other than welcome, as I'm in the same boat, but with a significantly more complete car to start with.

 

Good luck! I'll be following...

[RogerC 136]

I say build it how you want.

[69RavenConv 286]

Grandes were the "luxury" Mustang. They're not particularly rare (unless it's got a 428) so build it any way you want. They had extra sound deadener, unique seat upholstery, better suspension, rim-blow wheel, unique pinstripes and just about all the chrome trim you could get on a Mustang. Since you're missing nearly all of that on your car, you've got mostly a plain coupe anyway.

 

Keep all the trim and vinyl top fasteners and badges, etc ... much of it is not reproduced and you might be able to sell it.

 

Keep us posted and have fun with it!

 

(if you're curious what your car looked like originally, check out Nelson's 428 Grande, possibly the nicest Grande out there):

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/723477/1969-ford-mustang/page-2

Edited March 8, 2012 by 69RavenConv

[Mike65 475]

Welcome, I am also building a Coupe & I started with a shell that was used as a parts car.

[TexasEd 188]

Your transmission is probably a C4, that was the common 302 auto.

 

Welcome to the site and keep us updated.

[cb0y1 11]

Where in CO? I just picked up my 69 coupe a couple weeks ago and am starting into it in the Springs area. I pretty much have the same idea with mine as daily driver capable but track ready. Pro touring style is what I am after.

[lead_magnet 12]

I'm down in Trinidad for now, but will be moving shortly.

[BillW 0]

Lead_Magnet,

 

I too have a 69 Grande, although in somewhat more complete condition than yours (it is street legal and drivable although it is in the transmission shop getting the FMX being rebuilt). I have acquired the majority of the interior of a 69 Mustang (I do not know if it was a hardtop, convertible or fastback), including basic seats (front and rear low back with head rests), a dash frame, a cracked dash pad, a console with 8-track player, an instrument pod, two tail light housings, and several boxes of stuff I have not yet been through.

 

I am in Cheyenne so not that far away. Let me know if you are interested in anything. I will be open to offers.

 

Bill W.

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

i would like to see you restore it back to original. very rarely have i seen a top notch restored grande (probably because people don't think they are worth anything, thus don't want to invest to restore it all the way).

 

however, it's your car and should only do what you want to do.

[Fordrevhead 29]

Very solid shell! So jealous of the midwest. I get a basically unrestorable, albeit close to complete, rust bucket parts car for $500.

 

Post the vin if u dont mind or run it in a vin decoder to check the color. Sounds like Indian Fire or Calypso Coral both cool colors IMO.

 

If you have the will, perseverence and dedication to bring it back to life do what you want... They are labors of love, you cant have any regrets!

[lead_magnet 12]

Sorry I haven't updated in a long time, yesterday there was a big change of plans. The past few months I have been aquiring parts for the car. I now have the hood fenders, quarter extentions with the extra chrome the grande had, and both doors.

 

Here is the kicker, I know its been talked about here, and one of the forum members have done it, though it is still a taboo topic. The coupe to fastback conversion.

 

I just bought this

 

No title, floor is rusted out of it, rear suspension was torched off (was a 9") front frame rails are rusted, front shock towers are rusted out, taillight panel is rusted out.

 

I think I'm going to cut the roof/quarters off of the fastback and make a fastback out of my coupe. The important parts of the fastback are all perfectly straight, support structure, roof, pillars, etc. The fastback had to be pretty damn rare, it was not a Mach 1 (the guy I bought it from had a Mach 1 coded 70 fastback out there, but it was worse so I took this one instead). It had the 9" rear end, its an "M" code 351 4v, It looks to me like it is orange in color, and unless someone swapped the interior at some point, it had red interior. It also had power steering and power brakes, plus, you're all going to think I'm crazy, and it's quite possible I'm looking at something different than I think I am but it seems as if it was a column shift, though maybe that was swapped out of something else.

 

Anyone need a straight roof/quarters from a 69 Grande? Or any of that vinyl trim edging? :p

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

so much for loving the coupes more than fastbacks!

 

post lots of pics showing the change.

[70mstang 11]

70s have that special safety feature that locks the key until put in reverse. That may be what you're seeing on the column.

[lead_magnet 12]

Started cutting the roof off of the fastback today. Found out it has disc in the front, will be bringing those over to the coupe as well. Anyway, I'm basically drilling out the spot welds, and prying the different body panels away from one another. I'll take detailed photos of where I've drilled, cut, etc. before this roof comes off, and I'll do the same on the coupe. I might be overly optimistic, but its going well so far, and I don't think this will be that difficult to pull of, should have it done withing a month or so if all goes well. I only have 500 in each car, so worst case scenario I'm out some time and 1K.

[JTG 10]

A friend did a similar project and if I remember correctly the windshield angle between the coupe and fastbacks were different. Just keep that in mind.

[RPM 1,190]

I love it. You sound like those guys from down under who take on big projects. Measure twice cut once. Can't wait to see the progress pics. Good luck.

 

Bob

[lead_magnet 12]

Okay, day 2 of cutting on the roof. All is going well so far. I have the entire driver's side of the roof section free. The font pillar, "b" pillar, and quarter panel are all now detached from the car. I'm not too concerned about preserving the quarters, as they need to be replaced anyway. I am keeping them attached to the roof to help with referencing the part once I transfer it to the coupe. As you can see from the photos, I am only separating the panels at factory seams. I am doing this by drilling out the spot welds and prying the panels apart. I have occasionally used the dremel tool with a cut-off wheel to make small cuts. I should have the roof off of the fastback by tomorrow. Photos follow:

 

 

On the fastback I'm being rougher on the lower part of the car, whereas on the coupe I'll be harder on the roof. *crossing fingers*

[lead_magnet 12]

To JGT: Yeah, the window rake is different between coupe and fastback, but I'm taking the entire A pillar as it was installed from the factory so this wont be an issue, if one were to cut it, and try to match it on the other car, this would be a huge concern.

 

To RPM: Thanks for the encouragement! I litterally have had 5 people stop by today (some I've never met before) and ask me what I was doing, lol. One guy in a brand new mustang pulls up and asks "What are you doing?" ... Me: "cutting the roof off of this car" ... Him: "What the hell for?!?" ... I laughed, then took him into the garage and showed him the coupe. After explaining the whole project he seemed a little confused but was interested to say the least, he said he is going to stop by from time to time to see how things are going. He said he has a 67 fastback, would love to get my hands on that!

[lead_magnet 12]

Roof and quarters are totally off the fastback now, going to start on the coupe. LAST CHANCE for anyone to speak up that needs body panels from the coupe, it's all straight and bondo/rust free if anyone needs a panel (roof?) I can try to keep it intact, if not I'm going to cut it whatever way makes my life easier and scrap it. I'll post pics of the roof tomorrow.

[RPM 1,190]

So how many spot weld drills have you gone thru?

 

Bob

[1969 coupe 15]

Roof and quarters are totally off the fastback now, going to start on the coupe. LAST CHANCE for anyone to speak up that needs body panels from the coupe, it's all straight and bondo/rust free if anyone needs a panel (roof?) I can try to keep it intact, if not I'm going to cut it whatever way makes my life easier and scrap it. I'll post pics of the roof tomorrow.

 

PM sent.

[lead_magnet 12]

I've gone through more spot welds than I care to count, and have many more to go, haha. Here is the 70 in its current state, and the roof/quarters that are going to be transplanted onto the coupe.

 

Build plan update. I will be going with a 4.6L out of a 99-04 Mustang GT with the 5 speed manual trans, just picked up the combo for 1000 bucks, plus it comes with all 4 wheels (bullet style) tires, suspension, calipers, rotors, pedals etc. etc.

 

 

 

[lead_magnet 12]

MODS: Would it be possible for you to change the title of this thread to something like "coupe to fastback and 4.6L conversion" please and thank you?

[rd49221 14]

Sounds like you got a good deal on the engine/trans & supsension, etc