I am new to this but have loved the 65-66' Fastback at 1st sight, w/ a big raise coming my way I'm trying to get an idea if restmodding a 65-66' fastback is possible for 40K or less. I'm essentially looking for a modern technology driver wrapped in a fastback body, w/ 400hp and all the modern conveniences. The articles I've read about the SN-95 by Julian and other such projects gets my juices flowing until I see the price tag. Advice, suggestions from those of you in the know are needed because the other choice is just by a new one and get the body panels switched ala Tribute Cars LTD. to look like a vintage Mustang. Please help!!!
Thanks
PS Located in LI, NY  

I built my 67 for about 30K but it is not modern by any stretch of the imagination. I did everything (with help from my wife and sons) but paint it and it took a long time. There are so many upgrade products for suspension and drivetrain as well as electronics but they are expensive and if you pay a shop to do it the labor will skyrocket. It's a shame but often you can buy a car that someone else built and invested a ton of money in and get it for less than what they invested. I'm sure it could be done but you better have a lot skill and patience. Good Luck!  

...It's a shame but often you can buy a car that someone else built and invested a ton of money in and get it for less than what they invested....

What he said above.

Plus, I tell folks to buy the best car you can even if you think it’s a little more than you can afford.  I guarantee that in five years you'll be bragging about how cheap you got it.
 
A lot depends on your mechanical abilities and talents, I’m very lacking in those departments so  I went for a solid car that was mechanically in good shape.  I have spent the last five years replacing all the little things (and a few major items) and it’s still an ongoing project.  If someone tells you they’re through with their classic Mustang project … they’re lying because a true Mustang Enthusiasts’ is never through.  They are all ongoing projects no matter how good they look (LOL).

 

The virgin classic Mustang is getting harder and harder to find because of idiots who have bastardized them into something they were not meant to be.  I probably have 20 years left in my life, and my original 65 Mustang coupe will be inherited by my son.  That will make it a 65 year old car, and still daily driven.  You guys who alter them and race them burn them out and sell them; looking for some other form of a joy ride.   Well, the joy of driving a classic Mustang is not for the racers and alternation idiots, it's for the purists among us.  

Ha ha haha,,,, Soaring you old scrooge. I just saw you offering advice on how to put in a new dual master cylinder,, and you have a pertronics in there too,,,,shocking how you bastardize your car. My coupe has none of that, its points and single master cylinder like Ford built it. There arent that many cars out there that compete in Concours but those are the only guys that can say they kept it stock. I know what you're gonna say. You just changed it a little to make it safer and more fun to drive,,,well I think thats what those other guys will say too. I like both sides of the hobby, stock and restomod.  

Let me ask you this Mechanicalguy?  Do you drive your classic every day?  I do mine, and I even drive it several hundred miles on trips about 3 or 4 times a year.  Yes, it has a dual master cylinder, a 4 row radiator, a pertronix ignition and a shroud with an overflow tank.  That is so that I can get from point A to point B without having to call a tow truck.  I also have a Monte Carlo Bar and an Export brace.  That is so I can turn a curve at 50 when the sign says 30.  However, I do not consider these upgrades to be restomodding.  Restomodding to me means changing the looks/appearance of the original body plus gutting the original mechanics and updating with new modern day parts which is what the OP was saying he wanted to do.
Hey, if you are ever in the central Texas area, look me up.  I have a Lone Star beer just waiting for you.    

Well I might not drive it every day but I drive it a lot. I was just pointing out scrooge err, soaring that everyone has their own definitions of what they like and dont like. What makes this fun is when people do their own thing with these cars. There are some things I just dont like but probably the only guy that I would criticize is the guy who wants to change a true classic, like a boss or a 428 scj. Those are true classics and we all enjoy them. Other then that, I say have at it,,,,, do whatever ya like because I enjoy seeing those things at the car shows I go to, and I go to a lot of them. Looks to me like TARAfied did some real quality work there and you have to respect a guy who does it himself. I have a stock coupe that I have taken great pains to research the correct finishes and so on ,,,,but its not everyones cup of tea and I am frankly glad of that,,,, I enjoy seeing the diversity.  

Soaring you modified your car plain and simple. Your "opinion" is that I'm an idiot for making mine perform better while your not because you made yours handle better and more reliable? Besides the obvious hipocritical statements you make your also not very decent guy. I don't call you names for your choices and opinons that may be different than mine. You can share your opinon without the name calling. I've seen your attitude elsewhere. Many people respect your knowledge but I have no respect for you or your attitude. Your comments aren't even helpful to the original post. What are you trying to prove anyway? I took a rusted junk pile that would have been scrapped and made a cool car whether you like it or not it's worth way more the way it is than if I restored it concours original. I drive regularly and I enjoy driving it. I built it on a budget and did 99% of the work myself learning alot along the way. Nothing on my car could not be returned to original if someone wanted to do that. The mods I have done will not "burn" it out anymore than you driving yours everyday. I respect those who want to restore them as Ford built them but that's not what I wanted and obviously you either. Your car is not original and restomod! Difficult to call yourself a purist and then get defensive about the modifications you made. You say your car is a "restomod" and then bash guys/gals who modify their classic car by calling them idiots? Do you have any clue what your even talking about? You have called yourself an alteration idiot!  

Oh geez, the old restore vs. retromod argument.   This belongs on the OTHER forum of Modified Mustangs & Fords, now they really got into a couple of doozies over there.

They built enough classic Mustangs that you can still find them and make one anything YOU want today.  I remember riding, driving, and owning new Mustangs back then and if you were a ENTHUSISTS you modified your car to your tastes as soon as you got it.  I remember guys ditching there Magnum 500‘s off Boss 302‘s and getting “really cool slotted magnesium wheels” back then because they were too heavy.  The Magnum 500’s that everybody swears by today (including me I have a set on mine) were unpopular until the mid and later 70’s.  We all ditched those Autolite carburetors, stock intakes manifolds, and exhaust systems for Holleys, Edelbrocks, and Cherry Bombs mufflers shortly after making the first of those dreaded 36 months of payments.

I like the classic look but feel it would be foolish not to take advantage of items that would make my classic safer, more comfortable or more fuel efficient if I intend to drive and enjoy  it.  If I intended to  push it on and off a car trailer and treat it as a museum piece it might be different.   Bottom line, it’s your car and do with it as you please … I know I do.  

Actually Tarafied, I was not referring to you at all..  Stick your dick back in your pants.  I was referring to Coached4417 whose idea is to drastically modify his car to resemble the SN95.  Can he make his fastback shell into a new car like the Sn95 for 40 grand.  Hell no.  We are not talking about doing all the work yourself in your home garage with a 110 volt welder.  Basically, what we call this kind of post is a troll post.  Coach has not responded to our posts in several days which makes him a troll.  His expectation is to get us riled up with each other. Since this site is lacking in moderators who recognize a troll thread, I guess it will continue, or we should just quit responding to this troll.
And Bill Hamilton, I agree with you.  Just because we have made our classics able to run down the freeway at 70 MPH and not heat up or misfire does not make them a restomod.  It just makes them a daily driver.  A restomod is a drastically changed body and mechanical running gear to make them a hotrod, and a hotrod that the 65-66 Mustangs were not intended in the first place to be.  The bodies were not designed for the super horsepower that the kids are trying to put into them even with alternations such as sub frame connectors.  They were built for the blue collar man in America to enjoy a cheap sports car without the high dollar ticket.  

soaring3:
Actually Tarafied, I was not referring to you at all..  Stick your dick back in your pants.  I was referring to Coached4417 whose idea is to drastically modify his car to resemble the SN95.  Can he make his fastback shell into a new car like the Sn95 for 40 grand.  Hell no.  We are not talking about doing all the work yourself in your home garage with a 110 volt welder.  Basically, what we call this kind of post is a troll post.  Coach has not responded to our posts in several days which makes him a troll.  His expectation is to get us riled up with each other. Since this site is lacking in moderators who recognize a troll thread, I guess it will continue, or we should just quit responding to this troll.
And Bill Hamilton, I agree with you.  Just because we have made our classics able to run down the freeway at 70 MPH and not heat up or misfire does not make them a restomod.  It just makes them a daily driver.  A restomod is a drastically changed body and mechanical running gear to make them a hotrod, and a hotrod that the 65-66 Mustangs were not intended in the first place to be.  The bodies were not designed for the super horsepower that the kids are trying to put into them even with alternations such as sub frame connectors.  They were built for the blue collar man in America to enjoy a cheap sports car without the high dollar ticket.

"Stick your dick back in your pants."
nice, looks like you are enjoying no moderators too.  

While I wouldn't personally do it, I have no problems with people restomodding the "less desirable" classics.  I've seen a few real Boss 429s that I would have like to strangled the owners for what they did to them.  The best builds article in this months MM magazine really hits it head on.  

Since my Blue car is not an original car anyways, I plan on buying a real R code car, and modding the Blue one to my style of modding a classic.  By that I mean, with the exception of electronic ignition, and a few common sense mods, everything will stay true to the era of the car, and the interior and exterior will still look the same.

There are some really good looking restomod cars, and it's really cool to see what some people can build.  Like we discussed in the Eleanor thread, i just don't have the same amount of respect when people are building that style of car, and they copy someone elses custom build.  

I think Sammy Hagars fastback is an awesome car.  The amount of creativity, skill, money, and work that goes into building something like that, demands respect.  I still prefer the cars like I want to build over those types of cars, because that's just more my style.

It's all about what you like to do with them.  That's what makes our hobby, and each car special.  

I've never been called a troll before, just got back from vacation and finally could catch up w/ this thread. I appreciate the commentary the a little taken a back by the name calling and arguing. We are supposed to be having fun w/ all that is realted to our cars, aren't we? Anyway, I now know that what I was thinking of doing is way beyond my budget and you guys have helped me w/ that. The idea of having modern technology wrapped in what looks like an old mustang might still be possible w/ this company I saw on Barrett-Jackson called Tribute Cars LTD. where they took an 08' and placed body panels on it where it looked like a 67' Fastback. They are in Texas, have you heard of them and do you know of anybody that has used them? Just like you I want to build something that I can pass on to my sons, just needed to find out if the original idea was possible. Let me know about Tribute Cars if you have heard of them. Thanks  

Your last comment at least was one that I agree w/ and my main reason for loving the Mustang, it is a great sports car w/ out the high price ticket that a regular Joe American can actually get into w/ out a 2nd mortgage. I thought the Shelby GT350's 65-66 were the original definition of HOT ROD.  

I'm right w/ you in terms of lacking the skill to do this stuff, and I mean any of it myself, I read and watch as much as I can on the restoration projects out there and one of the hosts of the Speed Channel show Dream Car Garage mentioned how he built a restmod Charger for a customer for 40K and I wanted to see if you guys thought it was possible. I would hate to buy somebody else's project already done because to me that is the whole point in a project car anyway making it your own. Thanks for the comments, I was away for a family vacation that's why the replies were late in coming. I'm going to now take my budget and get into an 09' and possibly have Tribute Cars LTD., which makes body panels that make it look like a 67' Fastback, saw it on Barrett-Jackson, do know of anybody who has done this? Thanks