After I was finished thinking, I tried to work the pieces into shape one day when I was at the house by myself. I wheeled the mig welder over, and stood in the trunk with some clamps and a hammer. Carefully I started tacking the pieces into place and quickly learned what it is like to have a piece of slag fall into my shoe. I still don't know how it got under the tongue of my shoe, but I can remember how it felt. After that night, I had gotten the center section held in and got the left side in place. The next night, I was trying to get the right side in, but found the bends in the metal wouldn't fit the contours of the trunk right, so I asked my Dad for some help. He wheeled out the torch and gave me an idea of what some heat and a hammer could do. I didn't really want to use the torch, so I ended up using a hammer and welder to slowly get the piece to fit. Does the right side look great? No. Am I happy with it? Very much so. Here's the floor with the gas tank set in after welding it all back together. By the way, you cannot buy the floor of a Comet new. You can get some falcon trunk parts, but nothing for the comet. I was hoping that by the time I got to it, I could just buy the parts. After all the work, I'm kinda glad I couldn't. Here are some pictures, including ones after I got it all painted up. By the time I was finished, I had replaced everything from frame rail to frame rail and from the shocks to the bumper. The thought of making most of that with my own hands still amazes me.
By the way, if you ever wondered how much stuff you could fit into the back of a comet here's a photo. I know I was curious to find out, after all this was the first time I had a weather proof comet trunk. It's full of some extra 65 Mustang, Comet, and Hornet parts. Too much stuff to keep track of, but I'm glad I got it out of the way and into the trunk. This was actually taken on the last night I got to work on the car, which was about a month and a half ago.
I have been working on a 61 comet for years! (you know personal projects always get worked on last!) I am going a little diferent route. But I have to say they are neat looking cars! different! There are pics on my website www.schwartzwelding.com or Schwartz Inc. on facebook. Thanks!
Terrible Tom & KC Thanks so much! Schwartz- Thanks for sending me the link to your pictures. I think I've seen your avatar and always wondered what your car looked like. It's going to be real cool when done. Good luck with yours! I've been working on this car since may 09 already, and am particularly curious when it'll finally be done.
Before I did the trunk, I had to do the floors in the car. They weren't too bad, but still, they weren't too great. Just before I tried anything with the car, I had almost forgotten that I bought this car to learn on. For some reason, I was being timid, and was afraid to actually grind or cut anything. I was afraid that I'd make it worse. Yet, a bunch of parts on this car had been patched at some point long ago, and were done so pretty poorly. Are my patches better? Probably not, especially not the earliest, so I guess I can't judge. Here is the before photo...
So, I think I've said this earlier, but this thread is going to be a bit out of order. The car is no where near done yet, so I can't skip that far ahead, but today I'm going to upload some picture from the fist attempt at metal work on this car. It was sometime in the spring of 2011, probably during spring break. I had been hoping to sell the Comet so I wouldn't get distracted when I was studying for my exams that coming summer. After having people continually offer me nearly nothing for the car, and realizing it was worth more to me than it ever would be to someone else, I figured I should do something about it. So there I was, frustrated with my rusted car and lack of skills to do anything about it. I am always amazed by the people here who can turn a sheet of flat steel into a curvaceous or racy rod. Armed with goggles, ear muffs, and an air-powered cutoff wheel I decided it was time to do something about the rot in my floors. I taped out an area on the floor that was worse than any of the others and began cutting. I cut through about 3 old patches, and into original Ford steel. After a few minutes, I was staring at the driveway, through my car. I couldn't believe I had actually cut a hole in my car. Now it was surely worthless, and I'd only be able to junk it. I grabbed the sheet of steel I bought from one of the local roofing companies, set it up on a fender stand, and found my dad's pneumatic nibbler. The summer before I had watched our friend use an electric shear to cut the metal for my trunk pan (the one I had, but had no idea what to do with) and wanted to try my hand at it. Next thing I knew, there was a steel rectangle in my hands. After a little work I had this:
After making that patch, I never actually welded it in, until many months later, possibly not until that August. Here is a photo of a Primanti Brother's sandwich I ate only 4 days after cutting out my floor, down near Pittsburgh before the end of my spring break. Around this time, I also got to take my very first car for a ride. Back when I was 14, I had gotten a Nash metropolitan . After rebuilding the engine, we never actually got it running, but rather ended up mothballing it. I waited about 12 years to try to drive it, and realized it was time to let it go to someone who would really appreciate it. (Edit 1/2017: Although it was small and slow, and I parted with it because of those reasons, I am very much a fan of Bantams now. Check out my Bantam build thread for more on that.) After 10 years of having old cars, I had collected a bunch of extra parts I will probably never use. I tried my hand at selling stuff at a local car show. It got a little wet that day, but it didn't stop me from trying to clean up the barn and get a little extra Comet money. This is the Upper Saddle River show in NJ. If you ever have the chance to go, take it. (Edit: This show has now moved a bit further south in NJ, who knows what 2017 will hold for it.) Before heading back to school, I found the thunderbolt style scoop that had come of my Dad's Falcon, and decided to see what it would look like on my Comet, it's not a bad look but I think it may look better on someone else's car.
Finally after sitting for about 24 hours of tests, I was home free. It was time to start looking for a job and getting to work on the Comet again. I kept staring at the loose patch and hole in the floor. After asking my Dad about it enough, he told me that if I dug out his mig welder he'd help me weld the patch in. Spending about a day digging it out, I dragged it out to the car and asked him to do the honors. After doing that one patch, I suddenly had about 25 patches cut to shape for the floor, and he was giving me a dirty look. I had never attempted to weld before. I was always taught to turn away and avoid it, so I made sure to far stay away from it for as long as I could. Apparently, 15 years earlier, the last spool of wire he ran through it was stainless. After fixing that, he tacked it into place. He hadn't done much welding in a few years, and he kept trying to get me to do it. He was getting practice, and I was getting an education. Here he is welding some patches in below the rear seat. Here you can see all of the patches in place. Sitting in the car during this, I couldn't get over how small the car is inside. I wonder what it'll be like with some seats in it.
After some grinding and a little more scraping, it was time to paint the floor. I went for some left over por-15 that my Dad had left from working on his nova. That got me about half way through and I went to buy another can of it. I forgot how expensive this stuff is! Hopefully it works as well as they say, so this will never need to be done again. My Dad did most of the welding on the patches in the floor while I watched. He talked me into trying a few times, and I burned right through the floor. By the time the hole got bigger than the one I was trying to patch, I passed it over to him again and he finished up the welds. In the pictures, you can see the floor is all patched up and painted. If you zoom in enough, you can see the door jam is also painted. One day while my dad was out, I finally got sick of seeing a spot of rot in the jam and by the cowl. So, I cut out the bad area, wheeled out the welder, made a pattern, cut a patch, and finally gave it a shot. Beginning by tacking it into place I gradually tried to figure out what I was doing. I couldn't believe I actually made a hole disappear, and made the car stronger. I was pretty proud of this patch. I know it isn't a real nice patch, but it was the beginning of my actual efforts to cut, shape, and weld. Showing my Dad that I had patched this spot completely on my own was quite awesome. Perhaps with enough practice I can get better, but I figure that will take a few more Comets. By the point this was done, I was excited that I had a cabin floor, but was still wondering how I would ever get that trunk to fit into place, but as you've already seen, it apparently did work out. Now I have solid floors all the way back to the bumper. If you look carefully, you may be able to see the automatic brake pedal still hanging there. As always, there is more to do, including many more pictures to post. Thanks for watching.
There's a pretty cool 61 Comet on Ebay. I'll try to snag the pictures and get them up here later. It's two toned and has had a 302 swapped into it. Check it out.
I grabbed these pictures from ebay. I thought this car was pretty cool, I am planning on two toning mine, but in a slightly different way. My plans call for the roof being one color and the rest of the body the other color. I'm not sure how much I like the roof color above the molding line, but it was a thought in my mind when I first got the paint. It kind of reminds me of a 57 ford. I'm hoping that a darker color on the roof will maintain the formal lines of the greenhouse, while creating the illusion that it is smaller. The bottom of the car will be a burgundy, yet it will still be lighter than the roof. Here's hoping my thoughts are correct!
My 60 wagon I've been working on since Nov. 2011. How's your 61 project?? I was lucky with a Calif. car , no rust to repair.
Early "big Fin" Comets have some of the best of the last of the MEL style house cues. Nosecones and Gunsights were part of the package, I coveted those big shiny fins for years , found one in abandoned junkyard with mostly intact stainless trim. relax, it's the process taht's the fun , ...workin' on it over ten years but it's almost half finished ! . , .. was yard art for first five, then on-road in various stages. Pic found in car: yard art:.. early work: <> <> ... I took a Dutchess County (NY) BOCES class in "Auto Body Restoration" and learned what to do when the car is: "no-one knows what would fit- if it was available" ... assembled with interior and re-chromed bumpers : .. last summer
Great thread RJ been looking at a 61 now also need something else besides my wagon lol powerband great job on the wheel wells what did you turn at the track
By the way have you found anywhere that has stuff for the 61 comet i havent been able to even locate taillight lenses was hoping to get new front fenders and bumpers.. taillight lenses seems nobody makes anything.. ugh making my buying desision harder help before this car slips away from me
Interesting project thread, I imagine comets are pretty rare in the states these days? I can see a few similarities with my australian built falcon, front guards & bonnet are the same!
Powerband, I still love your car. I remember when I saw it up at Bear Mountain a couple summers ago. I never thought I'd see a cool 61 Comet like yours, especially there. My build has been on hold for a few months, but I still have more to post here. Woody, Comets of any year can be very hard to buy parts for, but generally you can find anything used. If you go for the 61, I'd love to see it, I really like your wagon. I've never seen it on here before, and I've been missing out, the two tone is great and the wheels are making me jealous. Liam- I love those australian falcons, if you look at one of my past posts, I was trying to find someone to photoshop an xp nose onto an s-22. Your cars look so much meaner than ours, they're great!
Well, here's a little bit of light work for your enjoyment. The car needed both doors, both skins and boxes were shot. Thankfully the car came with a passenger side door which I replaced earlier, but it took over a year to find the other. At the time I found the other I was in upstate NY and it was on craigslist in NW Connecticut. One weekend, when I was making a trip south to where the car is, I decided to take a small detour which only added about 3 hours onto the trip. It's a good thing gas was cheaper then. The seller was a great guy named Ed who specialized in Model A parts. When I first pulled up, I found an old two story building with a few early Ford projects and stacks of rear ends. When Ed showed up he opened the garage door to let me in. There was the door, sitting in front of me. A perfect red door from a 1963 Falcon Futura. Just as quickly as I noticed it, my eyes began darting around. He had all sorts of great treasures. It's been over two years, so my memory is a bit foggy. I remember chrome, stainless, steel, and amazing piles of wonder. Next to us was a Model A coupe which he was working on for a friend. I asked if it was getting hot rodded, judging from the way the wheel wells were notched. Apparently, he is not a hot rodder and that was a bad question to ask. I got to find out that the door in front of me had been in his collection for over forty years. At one time he actually drove the car around until the motor went and he junked it. For some reason, he kept the door and the front bench seat. If you're looking for a seat, he probably still has it. I needed to get back down state so I hurried out and thanked him. It took me another year before I got to install the door as school decided to interfere with my project; but every time I saw the door, all I could think is 'that's a heck of a nice door.' Fast forward to last year to a sunny day in the best winter in my memory. Sure climate change can be problematic, but when it means you can play with your toys in the driveway during the winter in a light jacket, it's awfully hard to see a downside. While the drivers side was off the pillar needed a bit of repair. This was actually the first time I took up the courage to pick up my Dad's welder (I've mentioned this earlier) and see what sort of trouble I could get myself into. The first patch went well. I took the air nibbler and cut out a piece about the right size, cleaned up the rotted area and tacked it in. I was so excited I tried to go further. That was when I remembered that although welding is meant bond metal to metal, it can just as easily burn a hole through it.
Three years have passed. Progress to be posted again soon! Don't you hate when build threads just fizzle out?
The Comet has been dormant for the majority of 5 years now. I have a bunch of photos still to post and a few new developments. One frame rail needed patching, along with the rear cross member. That was taken care of. The brakes all around were rebuilt and all new lines were routed to the new dual master. I had a drive shaft made to fit between the SROD transmission and the 8.8" rear. I'm not all that happy with it, and I hope it doesn't cause me too much grief. It's all a learning experience. I'm also not too happy with my rear end choice. I guess I'll work to replace both. I dismantled the front bucket seats to send them out to a great company which used them for patterns to enrich their product line. I have the finished interior sitting in boxes and I can't wait to install it. It's beautiful black vinyl. It turns out that the engine was from an 85 Mustang but the clutch assembly was from a Mustang II. Those cars used a plastic device to rout the cable through the firewall and into the cabin. Mine was a little melted. I was very lucky to find a person on the internet who was making new ones out of metal. I was equally lucky to find a new clutch cable. At times, I wonder if it would have been easier to install a z-bar assembly. I am also fairly tolerant of things including installing doors. However, pedal assemblies in cars with ample rust under the dash are awful to deal with. I've had the clutch pedal in and out of this car about 7 times. It's finally in for the last time. The trans is supported with a new c-4 swap bracket. It works nicely. I installed a small permanent magnet starter to clear the front suspension. I picked up a set of arvinode mufflers to mount on this, mostly to see how I like the sound of them for possible installation on something else. The entire underside has been cleaned, seam sealed, and por-15'ed. I really hope it holds up well. I haven't been under the car since 2012, so I dread what I may find. The original gas tank was shot, but I managed to find a reasonably priced new one on craigslist. I believe it was out of a falcon, but it fit perfectly. It even came with a new gauge sending unit. I created sheet metal pieces to bolt the fenders onto. After thinking about it more, I will probably be removing them to install something fantastically better. We finally got the engine running, but there seems to be a wiring problem which we're hoping is really just the fault of a bad ignition switch. I have a new switch waiting to be mounted. I have a new 6 cylinder 3 core radiator for a 65 Mustang waiting to go in it. (The 6 cylinder version had the inlet and outlet I was looking for). I recently found a set of nice quarters and inner wheel houses on craigslist from a person who was cutting up an entire Comet. Mine have patches over patches and the insides are just destroyed. Now the adventure will be mounting them up and finishing up the body. Finally, I have located an XP front end. I'll be posting more about that and hoping that I am able to get it shipped here from Australia. It's crated and waiting. More photos to come as well as more progress reports. Some of the Bantam projects will be going on the back burner while I try to get this car finished up for the summer.
Here are a few photos showing a lighter colored roof versus a darker colored one. The lower body will be a burgundy color. I am fairly certain I prefer a darker roof. Most likely, it will be a very dark metallic charcoal color. I've also included a photo of a monochrome burgundy S-22. What are your thoughts?
Here are a few photos of Falcon XP front ends. What do you think? To me, the whole grille set up seems more aggressive and interesting than the original 61 Comet unit. I've included a photo of a nice S-22.
2manyprojects: On this car, I lucked out for once. It actually had the window sticker. It also had most of the original S-22 details.
Here is a photo of the car that donated its quarters for mine. I remember seeing it listed on Craigslist locally for a while last year. This year, it was listed as a bunch of cut up sheet metal. My quarters don't look to bad in the photos, but in real life, they haven't held up very well. Hopefully I can get these new ones hung in the near future.
The Jalopy Journal
