My project: '68 Fastback

This project started 3 year ago when I was lucky to find ’68 Fastback for sale in Russia – you may not believe but there are more Ferrari’s in Russia than Stang of any year let alone classic Stangs. The car was located 2000 km from my home and my trip to pick it up was an adventure on its own (just imagine freezing cold and stalled in the middle of nowhere tow truck because of summer diesel fuel). What I bought was in a very sad shape – a lot of rust everywhere, poor restoration efforts, Soviet-era 3.0 V6 under hood (it didn’t fit well – frame rails were spread 1” and there was a big hole in the hood since it was too tall).

I had the car sandblasted and took it to a bodyshop. Complete front end was replaced along with firewall, rear q-panels, wheelwells, floors, trunk lid and rear apron. The body geometry was corrected – the car was hit from the rear at some point.

The first bodyshop was a mistake that caused me a lot of time and money. After 7 months of restoration I took it to another shop that did an excellent job. But it took another 10 months.
Finally Fastback is at home and I am ready to start wrenching. :)

The way I found it:
i-6.jpg


disassembled for sandblasting:
i-44.jpg


after sandblasting:
i-51.jpg


some restoration pics:
i-180.jpg

i-194.jpg


finished bodywork:
i-225.jpg

i-224.jpg
 
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Thanks! I plan to install 392 stroker with EFI (I have it already in my garage) and fortified AOD (probably Lentech - I haven't decided yet). The car already has '01 Cobra IRS in rear and CPP mini-subframe kit in front. I'm thinking about TCP front coilovers and Global West UCA.

I doubt that there are any classic Cougars in Russia - personally I haven't heard about one.

All parts come from the US. I can order small parts (only simple stuff - no electronics etc.) directly from Summit - they ship via USPS. I'm unaware of other companies that are ready to ship via USPS - unfortunately UPS, FedEx etc. don't deliver to my location (that's rural Russia). The rest (sheet metal, engine, tranny etc.) is ordered through an American company that supplies spare parts for American cars to Russian shops - it's cheaper to use they delivery/customs services than to do it myself (normally I would have to pay 30% of customs duty).
 
He lives in South Africa. He operates a similar business in SA, and has been getting involved in some european countries. Thought I would let him know so he could forward the company info to customers in your part of the world.

Thanks.