Hot Rods High School Hot Rod 1964 - DESIGN HELP!

I picked up this '63 Comet this weekend. It's a 260/2-speed car. My concept is for a circa 1964 daily driver, weekend racer. Something a well-to-do high school kid may have drove in '64.

Future plans are for a 289/C4, maybe some mags or more likely chrome reverse. I want to keep it mostly stock looking - column shift etc....

I am looking for design help....what do I need to make this look? What tires? What wheels? What exhaust? Etc.?

Any help is appreciated...I am young buck and wasn't around in '64!

 

First off, if your future plans are for a V-8 then go to a 65 falcon center link and steering box and then use mustang everything else. 63-64 falcon/comet V-8 is considerably more expensive than the 65 stuff. Second, go to 5 lug due to wheel choice. A maverick 5 lug rear is a direct bolt in. You can get a "detent kit" to convert your two speed automatic column to a 3 speed(C4) column. Hedman 88400 seem to be the header of choice but not sure if they'd work with a column shifted automatic. Do the Shelby mod to the upper control arms because it's cheap and will give you better steering geometry and handling characteristics. They are great cars if planned out correctly. I really like the ford "GT" style wheels on these cars. With these wheels you can fit a 235/60/14 under the back. The aftermarket also sells reproduction "GT" wheels in a 15 inch size. Good Luck with your project. BART.

 

Most well-to-do '64 high school kids in my area drove their parents new cars. The few cars that kids owned in my HS were about 10 years old, including my '54 Ford.
Chrome, or painted steel wheels (No mags) with small dog dish caps, moons, or full Olds/Plymonth/Caddy wheel covers; larger and wider belted (No radials) rear tires, down-in-front or raised rear attitude, nosed and decked along with a few other mild custom touches, and dual loud exhaust were the HS norm in '64.

 

If a highshoolkid hade a 63 Comet in 64 it would problaby be bonestock more and less.
Mods would problaby be something like this.
Dogdish hubcaps and beutyrings with red painted rims. Maybe torched frontspring to give it a rake.
Remove one muffler for sportier sound. Some racingstickers and then i guess you are ready to go shasing chicks.

 

Pop the hubcaps off, paint the wheels black, skinny white walls, cut the y-pipe w/a hacksaw, rig-up some duals for that 260, done, 1964.

 

Never torch springs to lower a car.

You can easily cut a portion or a whole coil off of each stock spring, to get the desired lowering, without ruining the temper of the spring.

I think I have a pair of Shelby GT-350 front springs, trimmed to fit a Falcon/Comet.

If I can dig them out, you can have them. They will lower the car, and improve the handling.

 

It's already a V8 car. It has a 260.

 

Oops... sorry. Disregard my info then.

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In 64 I had one of the newer cars, a 60 Bel Air. There were some 59 Chevys and a lot of Tri Fives and 55-57 Fords sprinkled in. Jacked up fronts minus the bumper,baby moons with black painted wheels were the norm or 57 Plymouth wheel covers.
I only knew of a few in high school that had multiple carbs but many had “plugs” welded on their exhaust pipes. There were engine swaps after buying a 6 cylinder Chevy and popular was converting to stick from an auto.
I guess I wasn’t from the “haves” side of town.

 

Hello,

The above post was put in a Comet thread back in March 2017. The Comet was sitting by the side of the road with a sign on it. My son needed a good solid car. As a first time driver, we wanted a tank...ha! But, practicality, meaning money/new car was an issue. He did not care what kind of car he got as his bank account had “car money” saved for years.

The choices were old hot rod cars like a 55-57 Chevys, but our insurance agent told us that those cars for teenagers were some of the highest cost per car in the industry. We asked what was the lowest… the answer was a two wheel drive pick-up truck…or a compact car.

Instantly, I thought of 55-57 Chevy trucks, but the “custom car” high insurance came into play. So, the local truck dealer has some new, small pick ups for sale. As soon as we took him to see the trucks, we turned around and went to several “car” dealers. He did not like trucks as they could only carry another passenger. Nothing pleased him, so we were stuck for a car.

Then one day this 61 Comet was sitting by the side of the road. It was a light blue silver color, for sale, and had no dents other than a small ding on the rear bumper. It looked like a little old lady from Laguna Niguel drove it since new until it was for sale.

We looked at it carefully, while the insurance agent said it qualified for the compact car discount. (actually, there were 3 in the family and 3 cars, so the family car identification was not going to work. It was his car, but a family insurance plan.)

Jnaki

With the help of “The Moose,” the car was lowered and the Moon Discs were added. We did not buy the car as it was destined for Arizona. My son ended up with a different, low mileage, 4 speed, hi performance car that met the discount insurance standard.

 

The 260 is a V8 so I would thing the car has 5 lug wheels.

In the wheel department the original equipment chrome rim hup cap offered on the 64 Cyclones would look great. HRP

 

I guess I was so rushed to reply I overlooked the obvious. My bad. Do what every kid did....... exhaust, wheels and a 4 barrel carb.

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I would run the engine and transmission until they fail.

Save your extra cash for college, or trade school.

 

This ^^^^^ I had a '63 Chevy II when I graduated in '70, and cheap cosmetic stuff was about all I had the money to do to it.

Are the photos in the original post the same car....one side is brown-ish and the other side appears to be gray primer?

My guess would be that it has 13" wheels? Maybe find some stock, steel 14's and paint them gloss black..

Lynn

 

The early 5-lug wheels were 13's, but were not around for long. I would move to 14's, or even 15's. It opens-up more tire choices.

 

Thats the plan...although I am a few years out of both HS and college....I should be saving for my daughters education! My goal is to really keep this thing relatively stock....with just enough hot rod flavor. If you find those springs that would be great. I'd love to have them.

 

If they are still there, they are in my storage unit, in San Leandro. It is not like me to toss something like that.

I drive an autocross prepped 1960 Falcon (same tub as your Comet), so I have tons of answers to what works on these, and what does not, in terms of chassis, suspension, steering, and brakes.

In addition to the springs, I'd to the Shelby control arm relocation (oft called the Shelby Drop). It does not lower the car, per se. It changes the camber curve on suspension cycling, for vastly improved handling. I think that I have an extra drill template. If I can find that too, you can have that, as well. All you will need to buy to do it is the proper size drill bit, if you don't already have it. It is 17/32".

I'd also put a 1" front anti-sway bar on it. The one for a 1965-1966 Mustang fits just fine. 1" blocks in the back will finish out knocking off the "grandma's car" look from it.

If you are not already familiar, there are two vendors local to us that have tons of parts we both can use:

https://www.falconparts.com/ (All of the bolt on stuff from the Falcon, save body work fits. They are in North Highlands, by Sac.)

And:
http://www.mustangsplus.com/ (1965-1966 Mustang stuff mostly interchanges with your car, save a few things. They are all the way out in Stockton, if you want to save on shipping.)

 

The proper HS look from when I was in HS was way too wide rear wheels/tires, and long shackles, and air shocks.

This is not a recommendation, it's a recollection.

 

the last one would be the simplest, maybe ad some chrome bellflower tips

 

Hi-Jacker decal on window, girlfriends scarf & ring on rearview mirror will complete the look!

 

Chrome steel wheels, not reversed, with cones, and chrome lugs.

Keep it simple, and cheap.

 

You forgot the garter belt!

 

That car is the BALLS!
Here's what I did to my '62 Fairlane a few years ago.
-Satin Black
- '63 289
- Straight Dual Exhaust
- Ridler 675s
I have plenty of leftover NEW parts, and all the research, if you need any assistance.

 

Yeah you're right, that goes on the tach though!

 

Head over to this thread over 300 pages of ideas and some great folks to pick their brains.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/64-65-comets-old-drag-cars-lets-see-pictures.335534/

 

@FrankenRodz Man that things looks great! What type and size of tires are those?

 

@AndersF is actually correct for '64 on the heated springs. No it is not the correct way or best way to lower a car but it was commonly done in the '60s. I can still remember clear up into the later '60s young men taking two torches and two packs of Lucky Strikes sitting under the bumper of the old heap and heating the springs on either side of the car until it settled on the lucky packs.

We have better options now or smarter options but heated springs were common back in the '60s. Another option if you had a little cash and a coil sprung car was rewound station wagon springs. I donot know the process but the spring shop would either do it or send them out for ya and when they rewound them they came back shorter. Also a little stiffer it seems I am guessing from lack of travel that they would have once had.

The chrome wheel covers that were posted by @HOTRODPRIMER would have been a common mod in the early '60s they were cheap enough from JC Whittney. If you lived in the San Francisco Bay area then Wheels by Paulsen where an option, a little more pricey than wheel covers.

I was not in high school in '64 but I was around and old enough to remember what I commonly saw. I recall quite a few painted stock wheels with the caps removed, and wheel spyders were still on vogue. On a balls to the walls hot rod for an older guy with cash Mag Wheels were tits. But I do not recall seeing too many hot rod comets prior to the factory upgrade in '64/5.

All that said pretty much anything available on '64 could have been done if you had the cash. LOL

 

Tinted windows and high beam headlights, lase painted roof, chrome exhaust tips.were popular in my neck of the woods. A Comet/Falcon/Valiant would not be a first choice in cars.

 

I forgot about the lights, yellow low beams and a small aircraft landing light in the high beam hole.