Projects 1965 Comet Caliente Convertible Project

Thanks I think the brake setup should work well. I know what you mean about seeing rust free cars stacked on top of each other. It’s just a shame. I see a lot of post on this forum about old rusting junk yards and cars left to rust away to nothing I just about can’t look. Well we can only save so many by ourselves. Thanks for appreciating the work.

Jeff

 

Looking good!

 

9/26/2011 - It doesn't look like much but below is a picture of a weekends worth of work. Lots of rust. The first diff is the 8.8 that's going in, the second diff is the 8 inch that finally came out and if you look closely at the spring you will see it's in 3 pieces so it's time for new springs. Is there anything still usable on this car? I keep digging to get down to the good stuff but I think by the time I'm done digging there will be nothing left. I still can't get the bolts out of the front mounts for the springs so I guess it's time for the saws all.

 

10/2011 - My daughter and I have spent a lot of time during the weekends on the car and have the differential and the new springs figured out. We cut the old spring perches off the diff and installed new ones in the right place. The tire in the picture is a used one that I bought so I could figure out what tire size to buy. I think I want to have a higher side wall so I will buy another used tired different size to try that out. The rims worked out great with the mountaineer differential and the tire centers exactly in the rear wheel well. We figured out the spacer size for the mountaineer drive shaft since it is a little too short and I will have my brother make it over Thanksgiving. We have stripped everything out of the car again engine, transmission, differential … in preparation for sand blasting.

 

12/2011 - It has been a while since I posted my progress. Things have been really busy at work thank god so I have spent a lot of time there. In between I have gotten some things done. We had the car sand blaster so I welded in supports and had it towed to the sand blaster. The “Not for hire sign” must mean for anyone other then me because I just hired this guy to tow the car.

 

12/15/2011 - I am finally getting to the point where I'm not digging down to get to the good stuff. I'm actually putting stuff together that will be permanent. It’s a good feeling. The car is back from the sand blaster and wow what a difference. I had it primed because this will take me a while to do and the SoCal climate does promote some rust so with primer I will have to grind it off where I have to weld but it won't rust. I have cut away an area for the left side sub frame connector and cleared the way for the outer sub frame reinforcement. All is .120 wall square steel tubing. I have about a mile worth of welding to do but things are moving forward.

 

1/8/2012 - Well it may not look like progress but I got the drivers side frame rails welded in from the bottom. Still have to weld from the top. I cut the Swiss cheese parts of the floor out so I can get to the top of the frame rails for welding and so I can start replacing the floors. I am working on the passenger side sub frame connector and replacing rust with steel where ever needed.

 

Looks plenty strong,should really tighten up the chassis!! ROY.

 

Roy,

Thanks! I do like how the sub frame connectors and the unibody repair turned out. It was lots of work but worth it. It’s funny but Ford would have had no problem fitting a complete frame under this car. I guess it all comes down to cost. In a later post it will show I added out riggers to the frame too.

Jeff

 

2/6/2012 - I have been working on making puzzle pieces for the Comet puzzle that has some pieces missing. I have also been doing a lot of welding under the car. I have even been able to prime and seam seal some of the under carriage, finally progress. Below are some pictures. One of the pieces that did not come with the car was half of the cross member that goes over the transmission. I have seen other builders make pieces like this but I have a new appreciation for the time and work it takes to make these things. I also moved the car tilter to the other side so I can work on the passenger side of the under carriage. My daughter has started on the fenders and she also did the application of the primer and seam seal under the car.

 

2/20/2012 - I have been working a lot on the car but it seems like the more I do the less it looks like I did. I have finished the structural work under the car so now I get to work on the top. I have finished rebuilding the rear torque boxes and replaced the floors under the rear seats. I thought I would be able to get much more done this weekend but with welder problems and other commitments it just didn’t happen. Below are a few pictures.

Jeff

 

2/26/2012 - You guys are going to get sick and tired of seeing pictures of the floors in my project but here are some more. I made and installed the back seat floors and the front passenger side floor. I also installed more frame connectors from the sub frame connectors to the outer pods.

 

Very cool. Looking forward to the finished product.

 

Cool! Looking great!

 

3/4/2012 - What an incredibly gorgeous weekend!!! Perfect for working on the car. Believe it or not below are more pictures of the Comet floors. I know strange isn’t it. But I think I am done. I’m not done with the transmission tunnel but that will have to wait for the install of the engine and transmission. Welding, welding and more welding …

Ahh Dad your shirt is on fire.



WHAT!

 

Jeff;looks great!! That Comet will be stronger than when it was new!!!! ROY.

 

A lady at least in her 80's pulled up next to me last week in Pasadena driving one. I couldn't believe it. Off white, white top....See could barely see over the steering wheel....'65 convert......unreal.

 

Roy: I think so too. I thought I would start with a strong base and work up from there. I am getting close to current day. I have made it into March 2012.

Mazooma1: It’s nice to hear there are still some out there on the road. I don’t see very many 65’s coupes or convertibles.

 

I forgot to mention that I like your car tilter!

 

JunkYardFrog:

Thanks the car tilter worked out great and fit my budget (what budget). It would have been nice to have the car at a 90 degree angle to the ground but I just didn’t feel safe with that although this is much better than having to do all that work with the car on jack stands. I made 2 four foot tall 4X4 jack stands to put under the frame while I was working just in case there was a problem with the engine hoist. You can see them in the picture below.

 

Aces to you for doing it all right!

 

3/12/2012 - Well it seems like I did a lot of work this weekend but I don’t have a lot to show for it. I guess that’s how it goes some times. Below is a list of things I did. The pictures don’t show all the work but what’s a post without pictures.

Reorganized my garage including adding a new rolling tool box so now I can work inside my garage
Added 3 new florescent lights so I can actually see what I am doing.
Cleaned the engine and transmission (what a messy job)
Removed the car tilter from the car and turned the car around
Installed the engine in the car in preparation for building the transmission tunnel.
Painted and installed the new oil pan with the new oil pickup
Repositioned the dip stick to the front of the engine and plugged the old dipstick hole.
Installed the new oil filter bung and oil filter
Installed the new transmission filter (another messy job).

 

No more car tilter???

 

I know it’s a sad day but I will be installing the new differential and front suspension parts and the car tilter is pretty hard on both.

 

Sorry Eights&Aces I’m not going traditional. If the car was more complete when I got it I would have done that but I’m going for gas mileage and reliability so it will stay EFI.

 

Very nice, ambitious project and coming along wonderfully. Congrats.

 

3/18/2012 - Despite the rain and cold I did get some things done. Yes I know I am a delicate flower it got down into the 50’s and I got out my long johns to work. I worked on a template for the transmission tunnel replacement. Does anyone have a magic wand that turns cardboard to sheet metal? I can’t finish it because I still need to go to the wrecking yard to get my console shifter but it’s a start. I worked on the differential installing new parking brake shoes, brake pads, and all the brake parts. It’ not done so there is no picture. I worked on the transmission cross member, the fit for the drive shaft (more cutting of the torque boxes) and worked on rust removal on body panels and making patch panels. Lots of work but nothing finished it’s still in progress.

 

3/25/2012 - I did get some stuff done this weekend but with the rain I did not get as much done as I hoped. I decided I was tired of trying to get the engine and transmission in and out of this car and having to lift it up so high so I made a modification that will make it easier (pictures below). I started on making and installing patch panels for the body (more pictures below). I made a trip to the wrecking yard and managed to drop off some junk but it was raining too hard to get the parts I needed so it looks like that’s a job for next weekend.

 

4/11/2012 - I did get some things done over the past 2 weeks but it has been busy so I did not have as much time as usual. I’m still working on patch panels for the body but I’m almost done. Below are some pictures one with me in it. My daughter thought we should have people in a least some of the pictures not just all car parts. The first four pictures are a series of before and after pictures. I’m pretty happy with the work especially since it’s the first patch panels I have ever done. Live and learn. Rather than butt join the seams I overlapped by about 3/8 of an inch for strength and to get everything to line up correctly. It will take a small amount of body filler to make it perfect. After the patch panels it’s back to the transmission tunnel. I picked up a 68 Mustang console shifter that I think will look really nice in the car.

 

Jeff;overlapping the panels should be OK! I had to go that route on some of the patches on my wagon,just be sure the back side is sealed or the rust will return!! ROY.