What will it cost to complete? That’s the whole question about this 1968 Mustang convertible. It’s available here on eBay with a bid sitting at $16,300 and just over a day left to jump. The winner will need to trailer the car home from Denver, Colorado. You should look carefully at the ad, and the offered videos, and even then, run like heck if budget-minded behavior is your thing.
Right up front, the post says that the car is an unfinished project that needs sheet metal repair, brake repair, engine repairs, wiring repairs, and more. Not encouraging, but then there’s also a conundrum to figure out: the car was just said to need sheet metal repair, and then the seller says that the paint and body are in decent condition. Is the rust damage lurking deeper? That’s deadly on a unibody car like the Mustang. (And the answer is, yes, it is.) Note that the engine bay looks very good, with a bunch of shiny, brand-new componentry. Good thing that the current seller is completely up front about the state of things underneath. We’ll get back to this in a moment.
The payoff for diving into this potential money pit is that you’ll have a J-Code Mustang GT ragtop when you’re done. What’s that? A car with a 302 featuring 4-V carburation. In addition, this one’s a four-speed that was originally equipped with AC and is a desirable and somewhat rare GT model to boot. The latter package includes a raft of goodies such as a GT pop-open gas cap, 4-inch fog lights, “C” stripes adorning the body, and GT chrome styled steel wheels. Oh, and a low-restriction exhaust system with quad chromed outlets, plus heavy-duty suspension. Not a bad haul of equipment. And from the pictures and video, the car doesn’t look too bad.
But let’s get to the truth about the state of the body, so that we’ re not seduced by what does, in fact, appear to be a tidy ride. The naïve (lame?) former owner took the car in for rust repair, trusting it to someone who was either a fool or a rip-off artist. Why the harsh judgement? Because anybody who glues and pop-rivets new metal in the cowl, firewall, floor, and elsewhere is simply a horrible human being. But forget the “quality” of the repair. That the car needed this much repair in the first place means that it should have been best avoided. Some might go so far as to say that this car sounds like it wasn’t worth repairing given the extent of the rot. To have done it wrong, in all the spots that are buried, means even more work undoing the mess. Then a total redo, with the associated costs, awaits. You decide if that’s where the smart money goes.
Notchback lovers are drooling. What a perfect mustang.
Wow all those rivets and sheet metal screws wasted.
These are the best years (67-68)
stangs.
Shock towers with small bolts? Crazy… welding is strength done correctly.
One could maybe over look say a lower fender patch … not me but…
What a waste of paint and labor.
I personally think this car is wayyyyy overpriced for work needed.
Welding in the riveted mess can done … but my question would be did the rust get properly removed.
Pulling heads for new gaskets…
I would have to strip all paint to inspect lower rockers etc. Torque boxes riveted?
Good luck with sale..
It’s shiny red, it’s a rag top, and it has a working tach.
What’s not to love?
Run like heck !!!!!!!!!!!!!! This one is trouble inc.!!!!
I used to teach at a school with the mascot Mustangs and a lot of the students (who had parents with money enough) bought them. The parking lot was loaded with Mustangs. And they kept the Ford dealership as well as other mechanics busy with problems galore. Fix Or Repair Daily was the byword.
Just to add a different perspective…I got my 65 Mustang when I was 14. I made it into the car I wanted because I knew I would keep it. 3 paint jobs, 2 interiors, and three motors later and I hit half a million miles last summer. It has been my true daily driver for 34 of the last 37 years. I understand the Ford vs. Chevy vs. whatever mentality, but anyone who is keeping any of these old cars on the road should be praised not verbally abused. If we don’t come together as classic car lovers as a whole pretty soon we will all be driving battery powered plastic cars without any personality.
It looks good until you start reading.
Looks like whu buys this is being took for a ride, in one way & more,piece of crap.
The shame of having done the repairs wrong is that most of the sheet metal, i. E. floor pans, firewall, rockers are all available and not ridiculously expensive. Someone could do this right but nobody will pay , 16k for a project that needs that much time and elbow grease.
I don’t know what a ’68 GT Convertible is worth, but I’ll bet that the bidders are flippers that will be much less honest than this seller is being when it is their turn to sell it.
Glue and pop rivets in the cowl?? Run forrest run…..
Brian K,
This car does not have factory A/C. If it did the vents and controls would be in the dash. The underdash hanging units were gone by 1967, at least for a Mustang.