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Projects 1965 Comet Caliente Convertible Project

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by 65CometRagTop, Jun 12, 2012.

  1. 65COMET
    Joined: Apr 10, 2007
    Posts: 3,086

    65COMET
    Member

    Jeff;looking good!! The steering column floor support and the brake pedal supports look great,plenty strong!!!Could you relocate the ac compressor?Do you really need ac in a convert? ROY.
     
  2. 65CometRagTop
    Joined: Jun 17, 2010
    Posts: 284

    65CometRagTop
    Member

    Roy,

    Thanks I’m happy with it. I have looked a relocating the compressor but I would have to change how all of the accessories are hung on the front of the engine. A lot of builders do that but I really didn’t want to go that route. The compressor fits great and I will buy an aftermarket set up like Southern Air for the air and heat. In the mean time I’m putting the stock heater back in it once I fix what’s left of it. We really don’t need air in the car for local driving but we plan on driving the car to Arizona and other hot states so we wanted air.
     
  3. 65COMET
    Joined: Apr 10, 2007
    Posts: 3,086

    65COMET
    Member

    Jeff;is there a shorter compressor that may work? Just thinking there must be a way around having to undo you work!!!! ROY.
     
  4. 65CometRagTop
    Joined: Jun 17, 2010
    Posts: 284

    65CometRagTop
    Member

    Roy,

    That’s a very good idea I didn’t think about doing that. Actually I haven’t had a chance to post the latest pictures and progress. I went ahead and modified the shock tower and installed the engine and it fits great with lots of room. This is the first time the engine has been installed with the engine and transmission mounts and there are no jack stands involved. I am currently working on the cross bracing supports in the engine bay that were all cut out and missing when I got the car. The stock ones would not fit anyway with the EFI intake. Why would I do things the easy way when the difficult way is so much harder (dyslexic thinker).
     
  5. Mike51Merc
    Joined: Dec 5, 2008
    Posts: 3,856

    Mike51Merc
    Member

    Jeff:

    Are you sure your brake proportioning valve is properly plumbed? Looks like you have the front port of the MC going to the front brakes.

    Perhaps your MC is different, but many have the rear port serving the front brakes.
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Aug 17, 2012
  6. 65CometRagTop
    Joined: Jun 17, 2010
    Posts: 284

    65CometRagTop
    Member

    Mike,

    No I am not sure the lines are correct. Thanks for taking a closer look. I got some images from the internet that showed this configuration but I went back out on the internet today and found some others that look like yours. It seems every schematic I see is different. Well it looks like I will be redoing some brake lines this weekend. Do you know if the rear lines can be reversed in the proportioning valve? The schematic I am currently looking at for the rear lines is opposite from how you have yours the front is the same. It’s funny this schematic says it’s for a Granada proportioning valve installed in a 1965 Comet which is exactly what I have.

    As for the master cylinder there is an “F” in the casting of the front fitting and an “R” in the casting for the back fitting. I was assuming that was for front and rear. I have another car with close to the same master cylinder that the lines are opposite from that.
     
  7. Mike51Merc
    Joined: Dec 5, 2008
    Posts: 3,856

    Mike51Merc
    Member

    Jeff:
    I bought my prop valve from this guy, and here's a link that shows schematic:

    See ebay item # 230839645799

    You'll notice in the picture that the front brake circuit shows the inlet at the top and the two outlets at the 3 and 6 o'clock positions. I've seen different setups where the front inlet is at 3 and the outlets at 6 and 12 o'clock.

    I don't know if you can "reverse" the inlet and outlet on the rear circuit. Theses prop valves are supposed to detect pressure differentials and I'd suspect reversing the flow would interfere with that function.

    BTW, I'm doing a 63 Falcon Conv, not quite as intense as yours, but very similar nonetheless. Shelby drop, Granada brakes, 302 with a C4.
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Aug 17, 2012
  8. 65CometRagTop
    Joined: Jun 17, 2010
    Posts: 284

    65CometRagTop
    Member

    Mike,

    Thanks for the info. I will change my setup to match yours. That is what I am seeing in other placers too. The only thing is I can’t verify what is front and rear in the master cylinder. Got any ideas?

    I just found the answer to which is front and which is rear on the master cylinder (link below). The front fitting on the master cylinder is for the front brakes and the rear is for the rear brakes so the "F" and "R" in the casting of the master cylinder are correct.

    http://www.justanswer.com/ford/1vyxc-97-ford-explorer-master-cylinder-port-goes.html

    Cool build I like the look. We were thinking about smoothies but I think we will go with slots. A couple of questions:

    Did you take a coil out of the front springs or is it just the shelby drop?

    That looks like a Borgeson adapter did you go with a Borgeson power steering box?
     
    Last edited: Aug 17, 2012
  9. Mike51Merc
    Joined: Dec 5, 2008
    Posts: 3,856

    Mike51Merc
    Member

    Thanks. I bought the car with the smoothies and they're probably staying.

    I didn't cut the coils---yet. I have long tube headers and I have to be really careful about ride height. The Shelby drop doesnt' lower ride height much because it just unloads the springs less than the 1" that you dropped the UCA, but i have no original measurement to compare it to. I'd love to lower the whole car, but there's just no place to tuck in the exhaust under a unibody.

    Yeah, I bit the bullet and bought just the Borgeson adapter ($170) as the lesser of all evils. I didn't want to rebuild the power steering because I didn't care to have it in the first place. The '63 Falcon V8 has some orphan (one year/one model) steering components like the 1 1/8 sector shaft, the drag link and tie rod ends, which are very expensive ($85 tie rod ends, unavailable drag links). The only alternative is to swap out the entire setup with '65 parts which adds up $ real quick.
     
  10. 65CometRagTop
    Joined: Jun 17, 2010
    Posts: 284

    65CometRagTop
    Member

    I did both the Shelby drop and cut one coil out and the car sits pretty low. I am a little worried about speed bumps especially with the transmission pan which has an area in the middle of it that drops down about an inch farther than the rest of the pan. I may need to cut that off and weld it flat or during driving it may get cut off for me. If you want any measurements let me know.

    Yep having “one year” car parts tend to be a bit pricy. My car is a one year car but luckily not all parts on it are one year.
     
  11. 65CometRagTop
    Joined: Jun 17, 2010
    Posts: 284

    65CometRagTop
    Member

    Below are pictures of what I have done in the past two weeks. I have worked hard but don’t have a lot to show for it. I fixed the clearance problem I had with the engine and the driver side shock tower (first picture).The second picture show the gap between the engine and shock tower which works fine. I installed the engine and transmission and it is the first time there are not jack stands involved. The engine mounts and transmission mount fit great. The next 2 pictures are of what I have spent most my time on the engine bay cross bracing since the stock braces were cut out before I got the car but the stock ones would not have fit with the engine anyway so that was work already done. Thanks to Mike51Merc who noticed I had a miss match in the brake lines in the proportioning valve I fixed that and luckily didn’t have to make any more brake lines just a couple of hours of disassembly, re-bending and reassembly. The last picture is of the ground clearance which is a little lower then I wanted. There looks to be a problem with the transmission pan. There is 6 inches of clearance at the front of the engine oil pan and 5.5 inches at the oil filler bolt but the trans pan is below that and I think that might hit speed bumps. Have to try and figure something out there.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

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    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  12. 65CometRagTop
    Joined: Jun 17, 2010
    Posts: 284

    65CometRagTop
    Member

    Sometimes it seems like I’m not getting anywhere so now and then I like to look back at what I started with. Below is a picture of what the engine bay looked like when I got the car.

    [​IMG]
     
  13. PA-IndianRider
    Joined: Jul 24, 2011
    Posts: 372

    PA-IndianRider
    Member

    OUCH!!!! :eek:
     
  14. 65CometRagTop
    Joined: Jun 17, 2010
    Posts: 284

    65CometRagTop
    Member

    John,

    I agree. Someone got really creative with a Sawsall. I think their philosophy was “We don’t need no Stinking welder when we have aluminum pop rivets”. I had to weld up all those rivet holes and grind them flat as well as fill the big holes with plate and weld. It’s not going to win any beauty contests but it’s strong.
     
  15. Mike51Merc
    Joined: Dec 5, 2008
    Posts: 3,856

    Mike51Merc
    Member

    Oh boy Jeff, you have a strong stomach.

    By the way, what drag link (center link) did you swap into there?
     
  16. 65CometRagTop
    Joined: Jun 17, 2010
    Posts: 284

    65CometRagTop
    Member

    Mike,

    I bought a new center link from FalconParts.com below is a link to the center link I purchased. If you have the center link with the Ford power steering cylinder attached to it there is an adapter offered by Borgeson (link below) that converts that center link to a manual center link. The thing is it’s about the same price as the center link from FalconParts.com

    Center Link: http://www.falconparts.com/ford-fal...&pageStyle=H&resultCnt=12&keyword=C5DZ-3304-A

    Adapter: http://www.borgeson.com/xcart/catalog/Drag_Link_Adapter_Ford_Mustang_MidSized_Ford-p-1514.html
     
  17. Mike51Merc
    Joined: Dec 5, 2008
    Posts: 3,856

    Mike51Merc
    Member

    Jeff,

    I bought the Borgeson adapter for my center link. I must have been mistaken, but I understood that '65 center links had the tie rod holes moved further inboard and used longer inner tie rods.
     
  18. 65CometRagTop
    Joined: Jun 17, 2010
    Posts: 284

    65CometRagTop
    Member

    Mike,

    I was told that the 1965 V8 Falcon center link was the same as the 1965 Comet. That is want I bought. It seems to work fine.
     
  19. Veach
    Joined: Jun 1, 2012
    Posts: 1,081

    Veach
    Member

    Looks very cool good luck to y'all and welcome from Texas
     
  20. 65COMET
    Joined: Apr 10, 2007
    Posts: 3,086

    65COMET
    Member

    Jeff;I'm gone for a week and you make great progress!!! I would not worry about your oil pan hitting,mine hangs lower than yours and it has never hit[even coming down from huge wheelstands]!!! I like your tower brace,looks plenty strong!! ROY.
     
  21. 65CometRagTop
    Joined: Jun 17, 2010
    Posts: 284

    65CometRagTop
    Member

    Veach: Thanks! That’s a cool car in your avatar. What wheels are those. Do you have a side view picture of the car?

    Roy: Thanks that’s good to hear about the oil pan. I hope your trip is a fun one. Any idea what month you want to try and go to the Long Beach swap meet? I am still concerned about the transmission pan since it sits in the center of the car and not between the wheels. I think I will swap it out for a shallow pan which came on 4R70W transmission in earlier years. It’s not a race car so I’m not concerned about fluid starvation on hard cornering. Today I’m working on the exhaust system (cats placement and wiring), battery pan, plumbing the power steering and trans cooler, EFI intake placement and mounting … and the list goes on. That’s the thing about building a car from a bunch of other car’s parts nothing just bolts in. That’s the challenge and the fun. Yes I know I am a glutton for punishment.
     
  22. DREW148BHP
    Joined: Oct 31, 2006
    Posts: 253

    DREW148BHP
    Member

    It looks great. I love the car tilting idea. Great work!!! The engine looks great in there and I love the rod end style shock tower brace.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:eek:ffice:eek:ffice" /><o:p></o:p>
    <o:p> </o:p>
    I must have missed it but is that a Ford Explorer or Mustang 8.8 rear end? <o:p></o:p>
     
  23. 65CometRagTop
    Joined: Jun 17, 2010
    Posts: 284

    65CometRagTop
    Member

    Thanks we are having a good time with it. As you said I am not trying to kill myself to get it done but I try and do something every day that has to do with the project.

    That is a Mercury Mountaineer (Ford Explorer) 8.8 it&#8217;s a limited slip diff. It&#8217;s the one from the donor Mountaineer we stripped for parts. I started out wanting to use it as is and found I had to move the spring perches. It is a little wider so I got 2005 Mustang rims that fit perfect the trouble with that is my daughter hates the rims even though she is the one who wanted them so now I am going to narrow the rear end by shortening the left side tube and using another right side axel. My brother and I are going to do that during the Thanksgiving break. Below is a link to the process in case you are interested.

    http://www.stangfix.com/testforum2/i...c,11946.0.html
     
  24. 65CometRagTop
    Joined: Jun 17, 2010
    Posts: 284

    65CometRagTop
    Member

    It&#8217;s been 3 weeks since I last posted pictures. It sounds like I&#8217;m at confession. I have been getting some work done on the Comet but there have been lots of other things going on so I don&#8217;t have a lot to show. I spent the 3 day weekend at a Softball tournament in Hemet with my daughter which was lots of fun but no work done on the Comet that weekend. I cut the parts I needed from the Mountaineer exhaust system and made most of the exhaust system for the Comet. I have started on the wiring. The small box in the picture is the engine bay harness and the large box is the chassis harness. At some point here I will probably get some help from Art at Wirediet.com on the wiring. They dieted the Mustang harness for me for the FFR Roadster I built.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  25. DREW148BHP
    Joined: Oct 31, 2006
    Posts: 253

    DREW148BHP
    Member

    Are you going to run all of the emissions equipment, cats and all?

    Are they trimming the wiring harness to just control the engine and trans?
     
  26. bluebolt
    Joined: Jan 9, 2008
    Posts: 309

    bluebolt
    Member
    from Benton LA

    Nice project Jeff! I still have my 1965 Comet Cyclone 289 four speed I bought in 1982 but it has not ran since around 1989. Sat for years at my sisters place in Wisconsin, brang it to my place in Louisiana a few years ago.

    A few suggestions:
    14" wheels will probably not clear the rear disc brakes, check before you buy more wheels and tires.
    The headers will be a pain with your modifications and the GT40P heads your engine has with the revised spark plug angle, try Maverick/Granada manifolds.
     
  27. 65CometRagTop
    Joined: Jun 17, 2010
    Posts: 284

    65CometRagTop
    Member

    Drew,

    I am going to run all of the emissions stuff from the Mountaineer. The engine will think it&#8217;s still in the Mountaineer except the Mountaineer went on a diet and lost size and weight. I&#8217;m not going to have wirediet.com diet this harness. If I run into problems I will see if I can hire Art for a day since he lives about 45 minutes from here. I really like the harness Art dieted for me for my FFR. It was so easy and it was the right thing for that project. This project is a little different with more room and not as big a harness. If I am wrong about this I will just have Art diet the harness.

    BlueBolt,

    Cool car do you have a build thread yet? Let me know so I can go look. The 14 inch wheels I have fit fine on the Mountaineer diff. Not lots of clearance but plenty. The GT40P heads are a pain in the arse when it comes to headers. I didn&#8217;t like any of the options I read about. I ended up making some Frankenstein headers from a couple of sets I had. Not pretty but they will work. It&#8217;s not a performance car so the flow is not as much a factor as fit and ease of maintenance. Thanks for the heads up about the Granada/Maverick manifolds I will take a look at those.
     
  28. bluebolt
    Joined: Jan 9, 2008
    Posts: 309

    bluebolt
    Member
    from Benton LA

    My poor Cyclone is on the backburner until I get some other projects done. Yeah the GT40P spark plug angle does cause problems but most cast iron factory manifolds will celar no problem. Too bad the Falcon/Comet specific hipo manifolds are no longer made.
     
  29. 65CometRagTop
    Joined: Jun 17, 2010
    Posts: 284

    65CometRagTop
    Member

    BlueBolt,

    I know what you mean about other projects. I have lots of those too. Luckily I got the ok to finish this first, well first after everything else that is first. Let me know when you start a build thread.

    As for the headers I might start all over again on the exhaust system. Do you know any specifics about what manifolds would work like year or model &#8230; ? I saw some other manifolds from an 80&#8217;s LTD that looked like they would work too.
     
  30. bluebolt
    Joined: Jan 9, 2008
    Posts: 309

    bluebolt
    Member
    from Benton LA

    You are looking for a drivers side exhaust manifold that has a casting number that starts D1DE- or D3DE- or similar that has the THIRD digit of "D". The third digit siginfies what car line the part was originally desigined for, "D" was Falcon in the early years and Maverick later. I do not know what the Granada manifolds have for part numbers but they are probably the same as Maverick.

    I have not personally tried this but various internet sites show the Maverick manifolds as working fine. My Cyclone has an ancient set of Cyclone headers that clear perfectly.
     

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