Can I document a Comet build here? The Comet is like a long Mustang, and I'm putting a Mustang engine in it. Hopefully the moderators will allow it.
Here's the story. I recently finished building the 65 Mustang of my dreams. Full build thread here:
http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/b...com/build-forum/713338-build-thread-65-convertible-rust-bucket-pro-touring.html
And then we had our first child, and I realized that rear facing car seats consume a lot of space! So, I wanted to find a "quick" project that I could put together this winter and have for cruising around next summer. I'd also like to do road trips with it and go around some cones at Goodguys. My wife wanted a car with fins. So, late this summer I started searching for a 1962 or 1963 Ford Fairlane and Mercury Comet. Both have fins, would give us more space, and would be an easy chassis to modify with Mustang parts.
In late September I found this 1962 Mercury Comet Custom. It's an all original car with one repaint. It started out life in Hollywood, CA and ended up in Michigan in the late 90's.
It's a killer start to my project because cosmetically it's almost perfect. It even has new chrome on the bumpers and the seats have been recovered.
We actually drove the car for about a month before I started tearing into it. To make that possible I added rear seat belt mounts:
Fits like a glove:
I had a Cobra engine and trans from a '96 that I parted out a year ago. They've been sitting in the corner of my garage waiting for this. 120k miles and probably never ever washed:
I pressure washed it a whole bunch before tearing it apart. I stripped it down to a short block. It was a good running motor, but I wanted to freshen it up with new gaskets and detail all the pieces.
Here's the short block cleaned up:
I stripped the heads down to the bare casting:
I re-assembled the heads with new Viton seals and clean valves that I hand lapped. I then had the heads skimmed. It took .004" of material to get them flat. I assembled the long block with new timing chains and guides:
The valve covers were stripped bare and coated with wrinkle paint:
The timing cover and all pulleys and brackets were sand blasted and painted with engine enamel. The intake is still the stock powder coating. It was in nice shape.
Stock exhaust manifolds were sand blasted and painted in VHT header paint. The EGR bungs are all capped.
I did a rear head cooling mod on this engine and I'm using On3's t'stat and cooling line mods in the front.
Okay, so I have an engine. Now it's time to make room for it. Before I did any cutting on the car I built a set of subframe connectors out of 2x2" box:
If you're wondering why the underside is a turquoise color, I learned that it's called "slop grey" and is a mix of grey and whatever color they had leftover that day....usually a shade of green. The Ford plant in New Jersey that built Falcons and Comets used this instead of red oxide.
And then I cut out the shock towers:
I bought a Welder Series MII cross member that's designed for coil overs. It's a universal kit and takes a lot of planning to make it happen. Here's how it starts off:
Here's the story. I recently finished building the 65 Mustang of my dreams. Full build thread here:
http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/b...com/build-forum/713338-build-thread-65-convertible-rust-bucket-pro-touring.html
And then we had our first child, and I realized that rear facing car seats consume a lot of space! So, I wanted to find a "quick" project that I could put together this winter and have for cruising around next summer. I'd also like to do road trips with it and go around some cones at Goodguys. My wife wanted a car with fins. So, late this summer I started searching for a 1962 or 1963 Ford Fairlane and Mercury Comet. Both have fins, would give us more space, and would be an easy chassis to modify with Mustang parts.
In late September I found this 1962 Mercury Comet Custom. It's an all original car with one repaint. It started out life in Hollywood, CA and ended up in Michigan in the late 90's.
It's a killer start to my project because cosmetically it's almost perfect. It even has new chrome on the bumpers and the seats have been recovered.
We actually drove the car for about a month before I started tearing into it. To make that possible I added rear seat belt mounts:
Fits like a glove:
I had a Cobra engine and trans from a '96 that I parted out a year ago. They've been sitting in the corner of my garage waiting for this. 120k miles and probably never ever washed:
I pressure washed it a whole bunch before tearing it apart. I stripped it down to a short block. It was a good running motor, but I wanted to freshen it up with new gaskets and detail all the pieces.
Here's the short block cleaned up:
I stripped the heads down to the bare casting:
I re-assembled the heads with new Viton seals and clean valves that I hand lapped. I then had the heads skimmed. It took .004" of material to get them flat. I assembled the long block with new timing chains and guides:
The valve covers were stripped bare and coated with wrinkle paint:
The timing cover and all pulleys and brackets were sand blasted and painted with engine enamel. The intake is still the stock powder coating. It was in nice shape.
Stock exhaust manifolds were sand blasted and painted in VHT header paint. The EGR bungs are all capped.
I did a rear head cooling mod on this engine and I'm using On3's t'stat and cooling line mods in the front.
Okay, so I have an engine. Now it's time to make room for it. Before I did any cutting on the car I built a set of subframe connectors out of 2x2" box:
If you're wondering why the underside is a turquoise color, I learned that it's called "slop grey" and is a mix of grey and whatever color they had leftover that day....usually a shade of green. The Ford plant in New Jersey that built Falcons and Comets used this instead of red oxide.
And then I cut out the shock towers:
I bought a Welder Series MII cross member that's designed for coil overs. It's a universal kit and takes a lot of planning to make it happen. Here's how it starts off:
