Buy an 03/04 or Restore 68 Fastback

[Bdubbs]

Beautiful! There is no right answer to this question… but which do you prefer to drive more, the 03 Cobra or 67 Fastback?

Usually I drive my 03 cobra more, but that hasn't been the case so far this summer. I like banging gears, that's one thing the 67 is missing. If the wife decides not to drive it much (it's her car) then I'd be tempted to swap out the C4 for a 5 speed.

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[ZiaRunner]

Honestly it depends on how much you can actually do yourself restoring the '68. Labor cost is what racks up the $ on restores, especially metal fab and replacement.

However, if you're paying someone to fix up the '68? There's an old saying - the cheapest way to restore an old car is to buy one already restored. People regularly spend more to restore a car than it's worth. A friend does a couple cars a year, in his own shop. He did a GTO once. It was the guy's first car, it wasn't a highly desirable GTO. The car needed extensive metal work. He tried to talk the customer out of it, or even starting with a better shell. Customer went ahead anyway. In the end they spend $20K MORE than that restored car was worth.

The market for Fastback Mustangs right now is nuts. I've seen cars that needed TONS of metal work, complete basket cases, and not super rare hipo versions, go pretty deep into 5 figures.

That’s where I get nervous. One Shop told me they could reskin the entire car for $20K. The thing is I don’t know why I would need the entire car reskinned nor do I necessarily want it. I want to retain as much original metal as possible. I only have rust holes in the lower rear quarters and one door. It needs love but It’s a desert car not a basket case.

 

[03cobra#694]

@Black Gold 380R . Glenn, you might have some input on this.

 

[01yellercobra]

My second car was a 70 Mustang. It spent more time in the garage then on the road. I finally let it go when I got my first late model Mustang. It's been 17 years since I've done that and I have yet to miss it. At this point I enjoy looking at other people's classic cars more than I desire to own another one.

But since you have it and it's your dream car I say store it away for now. Pick up a terminator so you have something to drive while working on the other one. I think that's where it gets a lot of people. They want to drive the project and they can't. So they lose interest and move on.

 

[Black Gold 380R]

@Black Gold 380R . Glenn, you might have some input on this.

Thanks for the heads up Brad. Hadn't seen this thread.

Okay, as someone who lives in this classic/Terminator ownership world (as does @Bdubbs) my situation was a little different than yours @ZiaRunner. I purchased my classic in 1989. I purchased my Terminator in 2007. I restored my classic to a drivable level in 2010 (took a long time to start because I was in the military and stationed in different locations while my classic sat at my parents house).

I blew the motor in my classic in 2015 and went all out on my classic in 2020 (Due to COVID. Had nothing else to do LOL). I have a build thread here in the classic Mustang section if you want to check it out.

Now, you have the 68 but it isn't drivable and you need to restore it. The funds you have are to be utilized to either restore the 68 or buy a Terminator.......

In my opinion, if your ultimate goal is to own both, then use your current funds to buy a Terminator.

The reason I say that is in most cases, not all, if you use your funds to restore the 68 now then later on......due to time, money, Terminator availability/cost, life, family and other things that will get in the way, you will probably never get your Terminator.

If you buy a Terminator now then your 68 will be in your possession and you can rebuild it as your time and funds permit. AND you will have both...

Another reason I say buy a Terminator is because you mentioned you will be doing most of the disassembly and reassembly yourself. If that is the case your time and labor doesn't cost you a penny (well, except for materials/things you need such as sand paper or tools).

So, when your not out driving your Terminator you can be in the garage taking your 68 apart. You can be sanding the body panels or scrapping all the grease or dirt off the bottom of your under carriage, you can be fixing rust holes, you can be learning a new skill (i.e. welding, body work, automotive painting, engine assembly, etc.) by watching YouTube or searching Google. You can be pulling your engine and transmission out.

There is so much you can do to your 68 simply by putting your own elbow grease in to it AND you will have your Terminator to drive to boot.

As you seen by the timeline I posted above, Rome wasn't built in a day and the ability to have a nice Terminator AND a nice 68 is going to take time if you don't have the funds to buy both outright. Or you can just dump all your eggs in one basket and go all out on ONE car. As you can see I prefer the time and Classic/Terminator approach.

Good luck to you and your choice. I believe you can have both, but you will have to have patience, a plan and stay the course.

As @01yellercobra mentioned, when people see their old Mustang sitting in the garage and in pieces it's easy to lose interest/desire. So, that is a pitfall with my plan/path.

Good luck my friend and please let us know what direction you go in......

 

[tporter67]

Id have to have both. One to work on and one to leave be and drive. Not having a car to drive can be mentally draining if it's a big part of your life. I'd just get the fastback running and driving to where you can have fun with it. (As long as the rust isn't sketchy structural parts) Then, when to funds are available, paint and body.

I've got a 65 Fastback that I'm building up and I've still got the 03 that runs to keep me sain lol. I'm not too worried about the exterior on the 65, I'm probably gonna drive it around in primer for months once it's roadworthy.

 

[cj428mach]

As the owner of one of the more desirable classic mustangs I would say Terminator every single time. My 69 Mach has 400 flywheel hp 428cj, with FItech EFI, tko600 and AC. It's completely boring to drive compared to even a lightly modded Terminator. I honestly forget I even have the Mach sometimes it's so forgotten about. I get excited to fire up the Terminator and see what she has in store for me, I always have and I hope I always will.

Building a car will absolutely eat a person alive. I'm building a POS 64 falcon for my daughter (it has family history) and Godzilla swapping it. I'm sure I have 20k in front suspension, engine, transmission and replacement sheet metal. I'm sure it'll need another 40k to get it done or close to it. After all that it still won't compete with the Terminator at any level.

I think a terminator will have more value and less numbers than a 67-68 fastback C code.

 

[03cobra#694]

As the owner of one of the more desirable classic mustangs I would say Terminator every single time. My 69 Mach has 400 flywheel hp 428cj, with FItech EFI, tko600 and AC. It's completely boring to drive compared to even a lightly modded Terminator. I honestly forget I even have the Mach sometimes it's so forgotten about. I get excited to fire up the Terminator and see what she has in store for me, I always have and I hope I always will.

View attachment 1801710

Building a car will absolutely eat a person alive. I'm building a POS 64 falcon for my daughter (it has family history) and Godzilla swapping it. I'm sure I have 20k in front suspension, engine, transmission and replacement sheet metal. I'm sure it'll need another 40k to get it done or close to it. After all that it still won't compete with the Terminator at any level.
View attachment 1801712View attachment 1801713

I think a terminator will have more value and less numbers than a 67-68 fastback C code.

That car should be bad ass Mike.

 

[cj428mach]

That car should be bad ass Mike.

I hope so.

I was originally thinking about terminator swapping it since the AJE front suspension is 94-04 Mustang based and I could just get a donor car terminator. I decided I didn't want to deal with trying to fit steering and master cylinder around a 4v. The Godzilla fits better but not as much as I'd hoped.

People laugh and say I'm trying to kill my daughter with the engine combo. I figure I'll raise her on the Terminator and use it to teach her to fear/respect the horsepower.

This Falcon is kind of a neat car in that it's a factory V8, 4spd car my dad owned right out of highschool from 1969-73 when he sold it. I stumbled across it halfway across the country in Florida in 2021 on Facebook not even looking for it. We had to bring it home and save it. Since I already have my own 64 falcon, I figured my daughter should get her grandpas old car.

 

[01yellercobra]

I hope so.

I was originally thinking about terminator swapping it since the AJE front suspension is 94-04 Mustang based and I could just get a donor car terminator. I decided I didn't want to deal with trying to fit steering and master cylinder around a 4v. The Godzilla fits better but not as much as I'd hoped.

People laugh and say I'm trying to kill my daughter with the engine combo. I figure I'll raise her on the Terminator and use it to teach her to fear/respect the horsepower.

This Falcon is kind of a neat car in that it's a factory V8, 4spd car my dad owned right out of highschool from 1969-73 when he sold it. I stumbled across it halfway across the country in Florida in 2021 on Facebook not even looking for it. We had to bring it home and save it. Since I already have my own 64 falcon, I figured my daughter should get her grandpas old car.

Are you going to switch to the FRPP intake that levels the throttle body out?

It's all in how you teach them. My kids grew up around fast cars so they know what they can do and respect them. But at the same time it gives them the itch. Thankfully my daughter is currently content with her V6. Though occasionally she starts eyeing stuff with more power. My son on the other hand has been bitten hard. He keeps threatening to come after me with his cars. I'll add that they're both grown and have been driving awhile.

 

[cj428mach]

Are you going to switch to the FRPP intake that levels the throttle body out?

It's all in how you teach them. My kids grew up around fast cars so they know what they can do and respect them. But at the same time it gives them the itch. Thankfully my daughter is currently content with her V6. Though occasionally she starts eyeing stuff with more power. My son on the other hand has been bitten hard. He keeps threatening to come after me with his cars. I'll add that they're both grown and have been driving awhile.

I haven't decided on the intake yet. I have a hard time stomaching $1k for a piece of plastic. If the overall height of the intake was lower I'd be more excited to open my pocket book. 1k for a throttle body reangle and minimal gains doesn't excite me, but I forget that's what NA power is like. That's what forced induction does is it ruins you on power gains. I tend to expect power gains to come in large chunks of 25rwhp minimum not 8-10hp anymore.

One of the first Godzilla swaps I saw in a car the guy built his own adapter to keep the throttle body below the factory intake. I'm leaning towards that as my solution.

I hope you're right in the teaching thing but I'm not a good example myself. I began go cart racing at 8yrs old and quit at 16yrs old. I thought I could handle horsepower until I wrecked my first car (65 falcon). It taught me to fear a car and what can happen. I live a block and a half from my dad and we have dinner there every Sunday night. When we leave my daughter sits on my lap and drives us home. I hope getting her started early and giving her opportunities will result in a better more aware driver when she's an adult.

 

[LS WUT]

I haven't decided on the intake yet. I have a hard time stomaching $1k for a piece of plastic. If the overall height of the intake was lower I'd be more excited to open my pocket book. 1k for a throttle body reangle and minimal gains doesn't excite me, but I forget that's what NA power is like. That's what forced induction does is it ruins you on power gains. I tend to expect power gains to come in large chunks of 25rwhp minimum not 8-10hp anymore.

One of the first Godzilla swaps I saw in a car the guy built his own adapter to keep the throttle body below the factory intake. I'm leaning towards that as my solution.

I hope you're right in the teaching thing but I'm not a good example myself. I began go cart racing at 8yrs old and quit at 16yrs old. I thought I could handle horsepower until I wrecked my first car (65 falcon). It taught me to fear a car and what can happen. I love a block and a half from my dad and we have dinner there every Sunday night. When we leave my daughter sits on my lap and drives us home. I hope getting her started early and giving her opportunities will result in a better more aware driver when she's an adult.

If I identify as your child can you build me a falcon? Asking for a friend

 

[01yellercobra]

If I identify as your child can you build me a falcon? Asking for a friend

I really thought that was going a different direction. Guess I was in the Navy too long.

 

[cj428mach]

If I identify as your child can you build me a falcon? Asking for a friend

My daughter asks if I'll ever remarry or have anymore kids. I tell her I stopped at 1 because I wanted to be able to spoil them. She likes the idea of no one else getting my attention or $$$ lol.

 

[LS WUT]

My daughter asks if I'll ever remarry or have anymore kids. I tell her I stopped at 1 because I wanted to be able to spoil them. She likes the idea of no one else getting my attention or $$$ lol.

Haha that’s awesome man, I support that very much. Good on you for being able to do such a thing.