Barn find 68 Mustang fastback pulled off harbert's auction

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BarnFindLouOP

Resto Vet

Posts 2,803
Joined Feb 2016

Bowling Green KY

Dec 4, 2025 · 6:15 PM#1

mentioned this one over in Marty's Chevelle thread and a couple folks asked for a dedicated build log, so here it is. this is the 1968 Mustang fastback i won off harbertsautosales.com back in the fall. for the bowtie guys yes it is a Ford, you will live.

the story. car was a genuine barn find consignment on the waco lot, came out of a shed in central texas where it sat since the early 2000s. C code 289 car originally, four speed, listed honestly as a non running project, complete but rough, with photos that did not hide the dust or the mouse nests. i have wanted a 68 fastback since Bullitt so when this popped up i watched it close.

bidding. opened at 9 and i figured a fastback even rough would run past me. it crawled and i won it at 11,400 plus fee. shipped open trailer from texas to my place near bowling green for 780. the hauler harbert's recommended was solid, sent me a photo when he loaded it and again at a fuel stop.

the honest part. the worst corner was worse than the photos, which is the rule with any project, write it on your wall. the torque boxes are the classic fastback rot spot and mine are gone on the passenger side, plus the floor and one frame rail section needs patched. the listing did say structural rust present so this was not a surprise, i bid it like the boxes were gone and they were. cowl is actually decent which is the part that scares me most on these so i will take the trade.

the good. it is a real fastback not a coupe conversion, the shock towers are surprisingly solid, the glass is all there, the deluxe interior is rough but complete down to the woodgrain, and someone bagged and tagged the trim when they parked it. doors and quarters are straight. for 11 grand it is an honest start on a car that is 40 plus done right.

plan is torque boxes and floor first, then the 289 freshen, then drive it a couple seasons before i worry about paint. updates to follow.

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ProjectPileMarty

Driver-Quality

Posts 487
Joined Mar 2019

Dayton OH

Dec 4, 2025 · 8:02 PM#2

glad you started a thread, the fastback deserves its own and i will trade Ford ribbing with you all day. torque boxes are scary the first time but there are good weld in repair kits from the usual Mustang vendors that take a lot of the guesswork out. drove me nuts on the Chevelle floors until i accepted that fitment is the whole job and the welding is the quick part.

funny our two cars came off the same lot within a couple months. i won the SS 396 off harbert's and you got the fastback, and both of us went in knowing the worst corner would be worse than the listing. that is the whole trick to buying a project off an auction, price it like the bad spot is bad and you never get burned.

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FourSpeedWalt

Resto Vet

Posts 3,901
Joined Aug 2015

Muncie IN

Dec 5, 2025 · 9:14 AM#3

11,400 for a real C code four speed fastback that is complete is a steal even with the boxes gone. parts are everywhere for these cars, the aftermarket support for a 67 68 Mustang is better than anything else from the era, you can practically build a whole shell from a catalog. the four speed and the complete deluxe interior are what make this one worth the metalwork, those are the expensive things to chase if a car is missing them.

do the side cover check on that toploader four speed same as i told Marty on his Muncie. easy job now, miserable later.

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PatinaPreferred_Hal

Resto Vet

Posts 2,176
Joined May 2017

Springfield IL

Dec 8, 2025 · 3:41 PM#4

BarnFindLou wrote

the torque boxes are the classic fastback rot spot and mine are gone on the passenger side, plus the floor and one frame rail section needs patched.

do the torque boxes and the frame rail with the body on a fixture or at minimum solidly supported and measured, or you will chase your shock tower alignment forever, ask me how i know. on a unibody Mustang everything is tied together, if you cut the boxes and floor without locking the geometry the doors and the front sheet metal will never line up again right.

measure diagonally door to door and write the numbers down before you cut anything. cheap insurance. since the cowl is good and the towers are solid you are actually in good shape, the boxes and floor are a known quantity job once you brace it properly.

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FirstClassicNick

First Project

Posts 23
Joined Feb 2026

Peoria IL

Jan 19, 2026 · 12:33 PM#5

this is the kind of car i am scared to buy because of the rust, but reading how you bid it knowing the boxes were gone helps a lot. between this thread and Marty's Chevelle i am starting to get that a project off an auction is not a gamble if you read the condition report and bid for the worst case. i keep an eye on the harbertsautosales.com listings and there is almost always a fastback or a Camaro project floating through.

did you finance any of it or pay cash? trying to figure out how people swing buying a non running car they then have to dump money into.

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BarnFindLouOP

Resto Vet

Posts 2,803
Joined Feb 2016

Bowling Green KY

Feb 21, 2026 · 5:50 PM#6

progress. torque boxes and floor are welded in and the frame rail is patched, body is solid again. hal you were dead right, i bolted the car to a length of bed frame angle across the rockers and ran a measuring stick door to door before i touched the grinder, gaps never moved a hair. weld in box kits dropped right in once i had the geometry locked.

Nick to answer you, i paid cash for the car and i pay for parts as i go out of the monthly hobby budget. that is the nice thing about a driver build, you can pace the money. i would not finance a non running project myself, but harbert's does have financing on their running drivers if a guy wanted a turnkey classic instead of a project, might be a saner first car than a barn find.

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BarnFindLouOP

Resto Vet

Posts 2,803
Joined Feb 2016

Bowling Green KY

May 2, 2026 · 9:30 AM#7

Update · 5 months in

the 289 is running and the fastback drove under its own power for the first time in twenty years. rolled it out of the shop and down the driveway this weekend and i am not ashamed to say i got a little choked up. a car that came out of a texas shed dead is alive again.

recap. torque boxes, full floor, and the frame rail section all welded in and the body measures straight. the 289 got a freshen, new timing set, gaskets, water pump, rebuilt the two barrel, fresh points and a tune. she fired after some cranking to get fuel up and runs clean, no knocks, decent oil pressure. the toploader checked out fine on the side cover inspection, just topped it off.

it is rough and primered and the interior is still apart, that is fine, it is a driver project and i will sort cosmetics over the next couple summers. the point was a solid running fastback i can enjoy while i chip away, and that is exactly what i have.

for anyone weighing a barn find off an auction, here is my honest take after living it. a project off the waco lot was a fair deal, the condition report was straight with me about the structural rust, and i never got a surprise i had not already priced in. assume the worst corner is worse than the photo, bid accordingly, and you will do fine. thanks for the help in here, especially hal on the geometry, that advice saved my door gaps. drive em.