1968 Mustang Coupe To Fastback Project

Once the inner structure is in place, Ramon busts out the plasma cutter and cuts out the recess for an additional reinforcement section that makes room for the factory fiberglass vent assembly.

The finished inner structure is shown here. You can see where Ramon even filled in a gap between the coupe inner structure and the new Drake Customs structure with a custom dimple died patch.

The interior mounting brackets from Drake Customs are shown here. The 24 individual pieces are handmade and allow for the installation of all stock Mustang fastback interior panels and fold-down seat parts.

The trim panel brackets found at the rear of the headliner and directly above the trap door area are simply attached with self drilling screws, just like the factory did 40 years ago.

As an extra precaution, Drake Customs test fits every car it builds with an original fastback interior trim panel setup and complete fold-down seat assembly. This allows Drake Customs to make any fine adjustments to the brackets, if needed, before the car is epoxy primed and shipped to the customer.

Drake Customs has its own jig to precisely locate the weld in brackets for the fold-down seat assembly and seat base. Designed off of the original bracket locations on a factory built fastback, the jig ensures the brackets are installed in the right location every time.

The final bracket installed is this long sheetmetal section that secures the bottom of the fiberglass quarter trim panels. As mentioned earlier, without all of these brackets you'd have a loose-fitting interior and no way to secure many of the fastback's rear trim panels.

We had our Heidt's Superide II front suspension system shipped direct to Drake Customs so the guys could weld in the front subframe while doing all of the other sheetmetal work. We set the camera down for 30 minutes and assembled the suspension ourselves just to get this drool inducing shot. You're welcome.

Ray begins the Heidt's installation on our bare front framerails by measuring and marking where the framerail reinforcements will sit and where the brand-new rails need to be notched for shock clearance.

Using a plasma cutter, Ray cuts away the frame section required for shock clearance when the whole suspension is in place. The plasma cutter is a great tool for cutting through metal quickly and without the mess of cutoff wheels.

Ramon steps in and begins to tack weld the Heidt's framerail reinforcement plates to our new front framerails. He works all over the place, changing locations of the tack welds to keep the plates from warping or shifting.

The completed installation after Ramon fully welds the reinforcing plates to our rails. We're now ready to slip the Heidt's Superide II cradle into place between the rails and true it to the chassis.