1967 Ford Mustang Coupe to Fastback Conversion - Coupe-To- Fastback Conversion

Here's our Mustang before the guys at Drake descended on it. Sorry about the crappy, snapshot nature of the picture-we were literally pushed out of the way by four dudes with power tools as we shot this.

Even if you aren't planning on reusing your trim, take some care when taking it off. Sometimes learning how to take stuff off will better help you put the new stuff back on.

Fixed glass is either glued in or held in place with a rubber channel, as is the case with our Mustang. Shop manager Jesse Villarroel cut away at the weathered and dried-out window channel. Even though we will be installing a new windshield, we saved this one to test the fit after our new roof is installed. No sense risking chipping or cracking a new piece of glass.

Recon owner Ray Carmody helped Ramon Aguayo remove the doors. Inspect the hinges at this time. Rebuild or replace them if they exhibit any play. When you are putting the car back together, it is nearly impossible to properly align the doors if the hinges are sloppy.

The fun begins here. Carmody grabbed the loudest air hammer in the shop, chucked in a chisel bit, and attacked the roof. Air hammers are the fastest way to remove large sections of metal you don't need to save. Start by hammering straight down into the panel, cutting a pilot hole. Then cut at an angle across the panel, peeling the excess away as you go.

We fully endorse the Facemelter air hammer grimace.

Don't just blast away indiscriminately, though. Notice how Carmody left a couple of inches of clearance around the perimeter of the quarter-panel? There are braces and support panels in the C-pillar and sail panels he wanted to save. He also took care not to cut into the outer wheelhouse, which runs close to the quarter-panel at the wheel lip. We were assuming the wheelhouses would be in good shape, and damaging them while taking off the quarter would just create more work to do later. The point: Be careful with what is behind the panel you are cutting. You may need to keep it intact.

After large sections of the roof and quarters were cut out, Rob Inman switched to the Sawzall. With a long blade, he was able to cut through the roof skin and sail panel bracing in a single pass.

Inman cut the remaining sections of the roof with the Sawzall. Here at the driprails, four different stampings come together. The Sawzall blazed through much faster than an air hammer would have been able to.

Just an hour into the job, and our coupe was barely recognizable as a Mustang. After doing this for several years, Carmody knows just how much of a coupe's roof needs to be retained to fit the fastback parts to it.

An oxyacetylene torch with a cutting tip will remove big sections of sheetmetal almost as fast as an air hammer will, but you have to be even more cautious of what's behind the panel you are cutting. Villarroel is cut through the Mustang's seat pans to get to the spot welds underneath, but using it to cut the quarter-panel off may have damaged the wheelhouse and sail panel bracing.

When drilling out spot welds, you can save yourself a lot of aggravation if you use a punch to dimple the center of the weld. It gives the drill bit something to dig into, preventing the bit from walking all over the place. You'll have to do this if you're drilling into a curved surface.

Once the big sections of metal are gone, you must trim away all the remaining edges in preparation for fitting the new sheetmetal. From the factory, nearly all mass-produced cars are spot-welded together. Cut through the spot welds, and the car comes apart. There are a number of ways to do this, and the easiest is to drill the spot welds out using a bit that is slightly bigger in diameter than the spot weld. Oftentimes you will only need to drill through the thickness of one of the two (or more) stampings joined together, so be careful to only drill deep enough to remove the part you want. See how the tab from the front framerail is separating from the Mustang's floorpan as the welds are drilled out? There's no sense in drilling all the way through the floor, creating extra holes you'll need to fill later.

You can also buy dedicated spot-weld cutters for your drill. These incorporate a spring-loaded center point that anchors the bit-the teeth on the perimeter of the bit actually do the cutting. Villarroel recommended using something to lubricate the tip, whether you use a spot-weld cutter or a regular drill bit. He used gear lube, but you can also use WD-40. This keeps the bit from overheating and going dull. Don't push down too hard, either. That also causes excess heat that will dull your bit.

The spot-weld cutter cuts around the weld in the pattern seen here. Notice how the floor is starting to separate from the panel it had been welded to underneath it?

You can also use a grinder to cut out spot welds. This works in spaces too tight to fit a drill. Use the edge of the grinder to cut into the weld, leaving behind something looking like a major divot in the grass of a driving range (especially if you're a hack golfer; we won't name names).