iv'e read through this subject before, but im getting a pair of 67/68 cougar tailights from ebay and im looking at getting the shelby tail panel in fiberglass for a 67 mustang. if anyone who has done this could give me some pointers on how to trim it to fit the maverick i'd appreciate it! i need to know so i can decide on getting the fiberglass panel or not. thanks, jim
I haven't done this but Ray(Razorsharp) has and it is a great looking mod, I'm sure he will chime in when he sees this, there are some good pics of it floating around here.
Ray (Razorsharp) did the 68 Shelby tail light conversion which I am sure it is very similar if not the same as the 67 Shelby conversion would be. I think he has some of the pics posted in his gallery of him doing the conversion. I have already purchased the 67 tail light units, the 67 fiberglass panel and tail light polished aluminum trim rings do do mine with along with the sequential blinker unit and wiring. I am also going to do the flip up/down gas cap conversion. I did purchase some metal support boxes to help support the tail light units so that there was not some much pressure on the tail light panel since these lights are pretty heavy as far as tail lights go. I just need to figure out what adhesive to use to bond the fiberglass tail light panel to the remains of the original tail light panel after it has the raised area cut out to to allow the lights to fit and the new fiberglass panel to lay flat against it. I also need to get my sons car done before I start on mine. Can not have two projects going at once, our garage is not big enough. I will would also like to know any tips that can be given on this mod so I can apply them to my car when it is started. Keep me posted on what you find out and good luck with your mod. I think it will look great when done. Thanks Allen Small
thanks alan, i know nothing about doing this yet. i should have the lights in a few days. i assumed the lights would attatch to the original tail panel after some cutting. i thought the fiberglass would just fit around the lights and not have to support any weight. not sure about bonding the fiberglass. i know there will be some choises of methods. should it be bonded? or screwed so it can be removed? is the maverick wide enough for the lights and gas cap to fit without cutting the shelby panel? im hoping to only have to trim around the outside of the panel? com'on guys i know you have done it!
Hi Jim, I finally saw this. Yes, I have done the conversion. I used the Shelby/T-Bird lights though. I think the Cougar lights protrude out too far but that's just my opinion. A little time consuming putting the panel in but I like it. I did bond mine. You''ll have to do a lot of trimming so I don't think screwing it on like the Shelby will be an option. I have a link to my photos in my signature so you can get an idea of what was done. You can contact me if you have any questions. Good luck with the car. Click here for Photos
hi Rayz, thanks for the help. man i knew your car was nice but didnt realize how much work went into it. your photos pose many more questions though. i thought i would just cut out hole for the lights to fit in, but i see you cut out a large part of the panel. why, and what did you weld in its place? did you weld a panel for a shelby? also i notice the T-bird lights are a rectangle. the cougar lights are like a stretched pentagon shape, at least thats what they look like in the pics. i dont have them yet. i think the 67 shelby used these and the 68 used the T-bird but not sure. the guy on ebay with the shelby tail panel said it uses cougar lights but im wondering now if he just wants to SELL! oh yea.....what did you do with the O-HOLY hood? i have a grabber hood, but i need alot more clearance for my intake and carb. i dont want to cut my grabber hood. waiting to find a great deal on a fiberglass cowl but no luck so far. my second choise would be a boss 429 scoop. but dont want to cut a grabber hood.
Well, the biggest difference between the t-bird lights and cougar lights are that the t-bird lights fit almost flush so the inside of the light has to have a fairly large hole to sit in. I only welded the center section back in after I flattened it in order to install the gas cap. As for the fiberglas panel, it would not fit the Maverick panel with the raised portion so the entire raised portion had to be deleted, or flattened out. Oh, and I've already sold the holy hood but by all means don't cut a good grabber hood. There is a lot of demand for them. You can get some pretty good money for it and get you a standard hood and put any kind of scoop on it you want. Grabber hoods look gawdy with another scoop anyway. "MaverickMan", one of our members makes, a great cowl hood out of carbon fiber that you might like.
Ray, What did you use to bond the fiberglass panel to the original metal tail light panel on the maverick. Also do you think you could just cut out the raised section only and not have to add anything back in to do the gas cap swap or is the area that is left once you cut the raised section out not enough material left to do the swap. Thanks for any info you can give me. Allen Small
Allen, I used 3M panel bond adhesive. They use it to bond entire qtr panels and roofs to cars so I don't figure this small panel is gonna come off. I had to add the center section back in because the Shelby panel has a very large hole, nothing there to attache the gas lid to. I think my photos show it if you haven't checked them out yet.
Ray, Thanks for the info on the adhesive. I am assuming that 3M panel adhesive is available at most auto paint supply shops. I have looked at your photos but could not tell if there was enough metal left after cutting the out the raised area. Guess the best way to tell is to lay the panel up there and check. But again you have already been through this process so if you say it has to be added in, in has to be added in. Why question a professional body man. Thanks for the feed back, you have been a great help :Handshake. Allen Small
Allen, it is 3M #8115 and yes, they should have it at any paint jobber. Good luck...and mostly, have fun! p.s. I fitted everything including the trunklid before I bonded the panel. I did not however have my new trunk gasket in place. Don't make that mistake. My trunk is just now getting to where it will close without slamming the heck out of it. I developed a few very small stress cracks at the top of the fiberglas panel that I will be repairing soon. I could have made some minor adjustments if I had known. Oh well, you know what they say. Learn by your mistakes.
Thanks Ray for the info on the adhesive, and yes I am learning from your trial and errors, I am a good student ! Thanks again. Once I get started on mine I will keep everyone posted and take plenty of pictures. Allen Small
