Bought this '63 Mercury Comet S-22 20+ years ago, and drove it for a bit. Was going to customize it, but life got in the way and 16 years ago, I moved from Seattle to Baltimore. Stored it at my dad's place in a carport until I could figure out what to do with it. Time passed as it does and a couple weeks ago my dad, cleaning out his property, asked if I still wanted it or if I wanted to sell it. I decided that the time had come to ship it over here to Baltimore. So he put a battery in it, some gas in a jug attatched to the fuel pump (since the tank was varnished) and started it up. Drove out of the carport where it had been sitting for 16 years and onto the truck to ship here. Took about 10 days to get here, ended up being delivered to my house at 11pm last Thursday night. The truck it arrived on was a semi, and was too big to get down my small streets, so the driver called me from a main street about a mile from the house to have me come and get it. Since my dad had kept his battery, I brought a new battery up and some gas. Started right up and the lights even came on! One rear tire was completely flat, though, so I drove it very slowly the mile back to my house, at night, with the tire flapping against the wheelwell, past the cop shop (yikes) and to my driveway. Washed it up Friday night to get the moss and algae off it... It's a little rougher than it was when I parked it 2 decades ago, but there's not much rust, and only a couple small dents. The interior is the worse for age, though. The carpet is tore up, the seats are aged and the door panels, which had been removed, are warped. All the side trim is in the car, though, so I don't have to go looking for it. For the time being, I'm gonna clean it up, put it in black primer, dump it, and drive it (with new tires and gas tank). like my old Falcon: But in black. Then start saving to fix it up the way I wanted it when I started. It's going to remain I6 powered, though I'm using the Aussie crossflow 6. it's already got a Mazda 5 speed manual adapted to it, but whe the Aussie engine gets in it, I'll probably go to a T5. Then some 15" salt flat wheels, red pearl over black paint, and the red interior redone with this material as inserts (and upper part of the door panels): Here's a photoshop of what the finished product should look like:
Im digging the final product. The current paint doesn't look to horrible, Id almost buff it and drive it like that.
Held up well considering dirt floor storage in a rainy climate. Check the floors out well, may be some surprises. I agree the black paint on it looks pretty good, my opinion better than a flat black quickie respray. The insert material for the interior, hmm? Like the photshop, will be watching for updates.
If you look at the pic from when it got here first, you can see rust on the passenger rear quarter around the trim holes and at the corner of the roof/decklid, as well as sunburn on the roof and upper surfaces, so just buffing out the paint won't be good enough. I tried buffing it out over the weekend and the paint's a little too far gone (and awfully thin on the upper surfaces, where it was buffing through even with very mild compound). That's why I'm going to sand it down and do the black epoxy primer for now. The floors aren't too bad, though, but man, the headliner needs help. Looks like some mice decided to hole up inside it and there was a TON of mouse house/seed shells up there! I need to locate a Maverick V8 rear end, and look into the Scarebird front disk conversion to 5 lug.
That is very cool.... I like the wheels. My house is all mid-century 50's...have drapes that are that pattern but in gray..... Subscribed.
"ITS NOT FOR SALE! DON'T EVEN ASK! I'M GOING TO RESTORE IT SOMEDAY!" I always thought this statement from an owner was just a myth. Glad some guys actually do fix em'. That's going to be a great car.
Cool car & I really like your final version of it when it gets there. Also, a waaay cool dad for keeping it for you that long.
The Jalopy Journal
