History 64/65 Comets old drag cars lets see pictures

I like 64/65 comets with 427 FE & Cammers that is the way they ran back then, I am referring to afx comets.

 

Everyones idea of a 'BUDGET' build is different,I used to run Stock Eliminator and there is nothing budget about it.Believe me,and you can ask a lot of Ford guys,I have wanted a FE in my Comet for many years,but it needs to be 600+HP and though attainable,it is not cheap!!My 65 Comet ran a best of 10.67 at 127.56 at 3150lbs,me in it,using a 347 and a Jerico,don't have any numbers on the new 418W yet,but I could not build a budget FE to make the power I wanted. ROY.

 

Roy- just got in.. Any updates on the clutch disc carnage???

 

There was a '68 Cougar flopper on ebay not long ago,said it was here in Mi.Not sure if it was the Gate Job tho.

 

Roy,heres my take on a budget race comet Remember these!?
Slotcar racing is all the rage again around here.What better car to walk in with!

 

Funny that Slot 1/4 mile racing is taking off here.Saw it for the first time this summer, looks like a kick in the pants. A friend of mine here is doing some racing out of his shop once a month. Thinking about building a car and running with them. Need to do some kind of racing over the winter. Besides I need to work over that Red Light Bandit , Hes been kicking my Ass this year.

 

If this was 1965 and you were running in the BFX class with a 347 ci with a 3150 car, I don't know what you weight? The Factory BFX Comets weight 2600 lbs W/O roll cage, Lakewood bell housing and safety equipment. You have a good running BFXer Roy. Now the best I ever seen Doug Nash run the 65 car was in Oct of 1965 at Milan Dragway with a 10.60 and beat the short WB Hemi Dodge W/injectors on it!! Doug Comet was striped, No hood, radiator, one seat, no roll cage at all and Doug was not a large guy. I would say it weight'd 2250 at min. I have to get to word now my Comet? AFX DAVE

 

Dave;get out in the shop and get to work!!! Thanks for the information,I had no idea they had gotten those Comets so light!!!With the better tires we have now and better rear suspension those cars would be well into the 9s!!! ROY.

 

Thats humbling.....

 

Bags are packed and we are leaving in the morning. Thats if Fast Eddie gets his make up on time Ha. Cant wait, Cant Sleep, Will be in Vegas Tommorrow night, Hopefully keeping Fast Eddie and Eric 427 Sohc out of Jail. Be there Thurs Afternoon. Drop on by

Havent been there since 08 , Cant wait to see what the car will do out there this time, Just had the Cobra jet engine in there the last time.

 

I Know i'm a Stick guy but I have seen a Auto, Radials, and a little flat tappet cam engine Do This and in a Heavier car.



Looking Good Jody

 

More evidence that leaf springs and Caltraks and a 10.5 tire,flat ass work!!Three Pedal Cars ROCK!!!! C-YA Thursday Ken,keep Eddie away from the bar maids tomorrow night or you may have to pick him up on the way home!!!! ROY.

 

1.39 60'.....on the back tires!! Thanks Ken. It went 9.34 this past weekend with a miss in high gear. I think we'll have it fixed for Cecil County.

By the way a certain robin egg blue '64 Falcon running a 427 H.R. is coming to Cecil from Florida. He plans on recreating some history from '64!!!

Have a safe trip and try to stay out of jail out there on the left coast. I hope to see some 9.80s or better from you out there. Keep me up to date if you can. I'll be in Georgia for the Moonshine Festival with some guy called Daddy Warbucks this weekend...

 

What do you consider a budget? How much power did your 347 make and how much did it cost. I know you don't have any #'s on your 418"er, but how much did it cost. I talked to Blair Patrick, he can make 640HP with a 445" stroked 390 for $9-$10,000 depending on options with a production 390 block. I believe and he concures that a stock stroke/rod 390 with 10.0:1 cr (with modern low friction pistons/rings like we make here at CP he he), a zesty hyd. or flat tappet, mild/moderate portwork on iron heads and a performer rpm will easily make 500+ and if you had him build it and brought him nothing, it wouldn't be more than $6500. If the car is very efficient (like a well sorted out "Stocker") that 500hp 390 would run with your 347 all day long @ 3400 lbs or liter. I'm not try to talk crap to you here, I just believe it is optainable IF you use modern speed parts. By the way, our 390 stocker made 496 with the 600 cfm carb not the bigger 715/735 that is allowed and iron "R" heads. I know of a Edelbrock headed legal 390 that recently made 548Hp. Yes this is not a "budget engine", however without the restrictions of stocker engine I am convinced you could have a pretty healthy FE for comparitable money. For anyone interested you can reach Blair @ (423)831-1514

 

I agree with A/FX Dave and the Panneton Bros.I haved played with FEs in the past and had no problem with availability of Ford parts and making them perform.The cam I always ran was a Ford solid lifter C4AB-6250-C with 324 duration and .500 lift.I used a variety of Ford heads including 352,406,427 and 428 with stock blocks.I always ran at least 12.5 to 1 CR and Hedman or Hooker Headers.Always a 4-speed and 9 inch rear with 31 spline axles and Detroit Locker with 4.11-4.30 gears.

 

I have to agree that FE's can be built fairly cheaply to make very respectable power as well. Many readily available junkyard parts (blocks, heads, cranks, rods, etc., etc.) can be turned into performance pieces, and stroker kits are everywhere for these engines now. Edelbrock heads run about the same cost as quality small block heads. Intakes and valve train pieces can get pricey, but scrounging the classifieds and swap meets can reap rewards.

I have built 2 428's using mostly cast off and used parts, the last one started as a $500 used short block with ported iron heads, the current one uses a $300 junkyard core and uses a $45 junkyard intake.

The biggest hassle and expense I can see with the change over would be the replacement of all the associated accessories, exhaust, and drivetrain pieces.

 

Robert Pond has just finished some Med. Riser type Aluminum heads "as cast" that flow deep into the 300 cfm area and the Exh will smoke a ported Edelbrock by a country mile. Don't get all caught up in exh. port flow ratios have to be 70-80% of the intake. A killer exh. port will always help and intake (think overlap stroke). Keith Craft did most if not all the work on these for Robert. I don't know cost yet, but the idea was to sell a cast head the will use existing intakes and headers and take a ported Edelbrock to task.

 

I've seen and held those Pond heads, and yes, they are awesome, but they aren't cheap either! I tossed out the Edelbrocks as an example as out of the box they don't cost much more than reworking a pair of iron heads for comparable performance yet have more potential to go beyond most common (352-390) iron heads, and are comparable in cost to a pair of decent small block heads. There is some wickedly awesome FE stuff out there that has been developed in the last 10 or so years, but much of it falls into the how fast can you afford to go range!

 

You have a great point on the Edelbrocks as well as most off the shelf aluminum heads these days. You'll spend about as much trying to resurrect an old set if iron heads that won't flow as well. In the late 80's
my bro-in-law Chris and I built a 390 Stocker that had no exotic parts, even had a cast cam, @ legal weight to F/S (I believe 3530 or 3570 lbs) ran 10.90's/11.0's at 121 with 600 carb and head flowed 240-245 with legal valve job and no acid porting. With some "touched" heads in the 260-265 cfm range it ran the 10.70's at 123+

 

What did they do to get the B/FX Comets that light? My 65 has all glass front end, bumpers, trunk lid, and lexan quarter windows with aluminum headed windsor, tube front axle, guted interior, two ultra light t-bolt style bus seats and according to the IHRA it is 2,800 lbs without the roll bar. Did they have glass doors and lexan door glas?

The Factory BFX Comets weight 2600 lbs W/O roll cage, Lakewood bell housing and safety equipment. You have a good running BFXer Roy.

 

I cannot say "I was there" , but that seems extremely light. I'm thinking the "swiss cheese" treatment may have been done....

Loaded up, heading for Famoso in the morning with Roy. Looking forward to finally meeting some of you guys. I told Roy, I'm sitting at the firepit with a notepad, since I'm the greenhorn!!!

Dale

 

Judd;I don't know where or how they got them that light.My 65,stone stock,weighed 2985,with a 289,T-10,and 8" rear.Now,with glass fenders,hood and bumper,gutted steel doors with fixed Lexan windows,aluminum Kirkey seats,aluminum interior panels and trunk,aluminum headed 347W,Jeico trans,full mild steel cage,weighs,2985,figure that one out!! Headed to the CHRR,meeting up with Dale in route,the Colorado gang is in route,should be six Comets there.I have NO clue how the new combo will run,still have no data to go by! ROY.

 

The first thing is you guys aren't using original factory welding sealer delete body's that were used on those FX cars that came out of the Calif. plant. If you have the fuel tank out and close the rear deck lid and take the car outside on a bright day. Now craw under the rear of the car and you will see light coming in a lot of places. You can not get that weld sealer out from between those panels what ever you do. That how I can tell and now you can tell a (REBODIED) 1965 AFX or BFX Comet. With the factory doing that thy got rid of 100 to 150 lbs of weight!!! Now you guy with the recreations just have to add a little more HP. That's it for now. Have a good time in time in California. __________________ Yours truly AFX DAVE ________________________

 

Even at 150 pounds you still need another 600 pound loss!Acid dipped bodies?

 

Roy,Dale,Ken Good Luck. Wish I was able to make the event to see all those comets. I will be watching on the internet thru bangshift.
Roger

 

At about 12:30 today Roy and Dale ran, Roy ran a 10.61 and Dale ran 12.74. Then a couple pairs later Ken ran a 9.95. Another 64 comet ran a 13.7. My lunch break timimg was perfect.
Roger

 

That-a-boy Ken!! Consistently getting in the 9's now!

 

Glad you all made it out there safe and cars are running good. Congradulations and hope you all get a new low ET for yourselves.

Also which car is Dales?