Ok, my '63 Comet project is going to be taking some time to gather the parts and funds to do what I want to do (and fully intend on doing, as in my profile). So in the meantime, I'm thinking of doing a few quick, cheap mods and suede to get it on the road to enjoy it until the funds get available (so there isn't a torn up car sitting in the garage as a perpetual project). The idea is to dump it, maybe skirt it, shave the handles now, dechrome, and roll with it. The problem is since it isn't what the finished product is going to be, I'm having a hard time coming up with ideas that I like (or more accurately, I like 'em all and it's hard narrowing it down). So, I'm looking for "fresh eyes" that might help kickstart the direction it'll go for the summer. The interior is stock turquoise right now, but I have no problem dying it, say, black to go with other colors, as very little will be retained in the final build anyhow. I just know I don't want it tall, and I don't want flat black... The first pic is as it is right now...
First of all, that car is bad to the bone. I love them over the falcons. I like the orange color the most. As for the interior, I would T&roll it so dont worry about the color for now, Orange w/ white interior (accented w/ same orange around it. What would be cool too is to chop an 1" or so out of it. Make a suttle change so it looks like not change is done, but really there has been. Shaving it and the scallop treatment is cool Just my 2 cents.
I'm going to be going a bit nuts on the interior when the final restyle is done, so for now, the most I want to do is dye the turquoise black. if I went with a blueish or greenish suede, i could just detail teh interior, where tangeringe or some other color would have to be dyed so it doesn't clash too bad. But a few cans of MarHyde and Krylon don't cost much.. I like the chop idea, for both this and the finished product. Also, before I do the complete restyle, I wouldn't mind doing a subtle grille change, like a tube grille or something simple and cheap for this version. But I'm not having too much luck finding a tube grille for it. I wonder how much it'd be to chrome a home-made one...
A cheap cool fix for your grill issue, buy you some of the chrome honeycomb that the sell for the ricers at pepboys, cut and bend to fit how you want it, head down to yu local hardware store, and find ya some chrome knobs(some cheapo bullets that speedway and other places sell would be cool to) for like a dresser or sumthing grab as many as you think you need and screw those suckers on in somkinda uniformed patter, and bam instant custom grill. Just my .02c Drew
stick to the final build plan. all you'll do by doing little things that are not with the final build is waste time and money. not the solution to your situation. every dollar you spend on primer or trinkets, every hour you spend dying the old interior is a waste. there isn't much to a comet, you got drivetrain upgrades in mind? do them first. then work out the stance and body mods. you'll stay motivated by the final goal as you get closer, rather than it being years to collect parts, then the time will never seem to come, and 9 times out of 10 guys get stalled out on the "temporary" look.
Love the car, and i like the orange/peach idea the best. But I've always been one to go "weird" on colors (when I can afford to), or match the outside color to match the interior if it aint in too bad shape, so I dont have to go changing both the inside and outside... I'm a cheap bastard.
I thought about that, but... 10-15 bucks on black dye, no carpet, and a can of krylon for the metal, and tint for the primer I already have isn't going to cost much. That way I drive it while I locate and prep the S10 chassis or enigneer a new rectangular tube chassis) and the Lexus LS400 V8/trans combo (this car is not going to be traditional when done, like my last Falcon was, so I probably shouldn't really discuss what I'm doing with it here...). I have to wait to send the '60 Falcon nose (which I already have) out from Seattle inside my '63 Comet S22 hardtop that my stepson will be getting as his first car (which he wants to do like a traditional custom), then I can get to the "real" bodywork. I'll be shaving the handles and the trim anyhow, so that time won't be wasted. And I've been gathering parts for 15 years, as it is (started out by buying a '63 Comet convert shell in Canada, that got towed around with me for a few moves, then got left at my folks back field for a while when I moved here. I bought this running example off of ebay this past November, which really got the project going again). The sketch I did of the final build was done in '97, and I've known how I want it to look for a few years before that. I just had the gathering of parts and build interrupted by having to move from Seattle area to Baltimore back in '99 The main thing is I already have to finish the bodywork and paint on my buddy's MGB restoration, and get my freshly restored Fiat 124 Spider back in to repair the rear where some chick rear ended it lightly, so I can't even think about tearing the Comet down and starting the serious build until next year at the earliest (and I have to sell the Fiat before I can buy the chassis and drivetrain). I want to drive it during that year (the stock 260 V8 runs now, and all the brakes and steering are in good shape). I simply don't want it looking like it does while I do so. I'd like to do something more traditional and fun with it until all the parts are gathered up. If I just roll it around back of the garage under a tarp until the rest of the projects are done, it'll get forgotten much easier, and I don't want to make that mistake again. If I'm driving it in some custom form, I'll be more likely to say "ok, I've GOT to get this thing done!"
"Lexus LS400 V8/trans combo (this car is not going to be traditional when done, like my last Falcon was, so I probably shouldn't really discuss what I'm doing with it here...)." Hell, I am interested in the "why?" on this one. Why not a modern Ford motor? All in all, I like your plan and that grill treatment - I am guessing that is a early 60's galaxy grill and it is definitely cool, reminds me of El-C's F100. I say add a panel of silver flake to the rear quarter to make it pop!
At the risk of going OT with the description... Why Lexus? Dare to be different. I've built up a number of Ford small blocks, and hell, it's got one in it, stock (which will end up being swapped into the S22 hardtop before my stepson gets it. Not too powerful and with the stock 2 speed autobox, should keep him out of trouble for a while). But the Lexus engine can be had for less than a running 5.0 Ford (generally around $500 complete), has almost 300 hp in stock form (which is basically enough) and costs the same to hop up as the 5.0. The Lexus has no manufacturer markings on it anywhere (since they are covering up the fact it's a Toyota), but looks pretty cool undressed. It's also the only DOHC, hemi V8 that's physically as small and light as the Ford small block (all the rest, Nissan, newer Toyota, Ford, Mercedes, Porsche, BMW, are much larger, heavier, and expensive) Plus, the "WFT izzat?" factor when the hood's popped will be fun. The grille is simply custom. The '60 Falcon nose simply bolts onto the Comet, giving the smooth nose with the finned rear (I love that combo). I'm using the Falcon 7" outer headlight buckets and Comet 5 1/4" inners (Falcons had 2 headlights, Comets had 4) with simple trim rings connected by a chromed bar. I'm not going to use the Ford logo in the center, however, as I found a great looking Mercury Man emblem that will go there (it's actually a center cap for Mercury versions of the Magnum 500 wheel): The floating bar and headlight rings are being attached to perforated metal grillework (with 3/16" diameter holes) painted charcoal: And there's going to be ghosted pearl flames in the side panel under the candy yellow-tangerine. The color will be similar to the upper color of this car:
But, the final build is going to be a big job, and I still need to find and buy the chassis and engine, as well as wait until I can have the other Comet delivered across the country with my fenders and hood in it (as well as some misc parts that I've already gathered but are still in Washington). So I'd like to do a cheap and quick traditional styled custom fur under $500 in stuff I don't have already (tint, krylon, marhyde, skirts, grille, and trim rings) instead of parking it under a tarp until I'm ready to drop it on the S10 chassis. I like the suggestions so far. How about flake scallops?
lexus engine is fine, but why in hell would you want to put it on a S-10 frame??? is the car rusty? if you put it on a real frame, you're going to lose a lot of interior height, your floor will need to be 6" higher or so. the S-10 track is going to be considerably wider, and every thing you have to do to slam a stock falcon, you'll have to do ten times the work with the frame swap! i don't know what your'e intent is, but a S-10 frame isn't going to handle much better than a stock comet body, better bet is stick with the stock platform and upgrade it with aftermarket suspension parts for early mustangs, everything bolts in, add sway bars, kyb shocks etc. along with proper monte carlo and cowl bracing, if you really want to go nuts, you could fab up a sheetmetal backbone/interior console to give it some more rigidity. plus you'll stay lighter to keep your power to weight ratio favorable. i don't know how high the lexus mill is, but you'll probably run int height problems as well under the hood with the s-10 frame. i had a channeled s-10 blazer, and it required a hood bubble to clear the engine, and that has more vertical height than the comet sheetmetal, the s-10 crossmember is fairly tall vs. practically none in the stocker. if anything, start from scracth and build a low profile tube frame, tucked in close to the rocker panesl so you can drop the seats down low. don't get me wrong, i like all styles and dig your rendering of what you want, and i want to see the care done, not turned into some frankenstein project that never sees the light of day. there's just no practical reason to use that frame.
Yes to all of them. The first chassis I got had zero floors (also zero interior or running gear). The current one is rusty (with holes in the main floor pnels into the side rails), though I thought it was good enough to use until I got under it when i got it home and found that someone had cobbled together steel C channel in the rusty rockers to support it (about where you'd want frame rails to be). So the whole floor has to come out AND the cobbled in "frame" rails. Since it's a convert and doesn't have much cowl support even in stock form, I had wanted to give it a separate 'frame" to reduce flexing. It would also allow me to channel the body over the frame so that I could lay the side sills on the ground when it's bagged (and there's cheap but still good quality bag kits for the S-10, as well as dropped spindles) and keep the exhaust tucked inside the frame rails. The raised floor is always an issue, but it's a channeled custom, and that's always something you live with. The '82-whatever first gen S-10 longbed has a wheelbase of 117 inches, vs 114 for the Comet (the Comet is 5 inches longer than the Falcon) and is two peice, so it's easily shortened exactly (the shortbed has a 108 inch wheelbase, and would have to be lengthened, which I'd rather not do). The track on the S-10 is 54.4 inches, and the Comet is 55 inches in front and 54.5 inches in the rear. Close enough for me. I'd shave the ends of the frame down to fit under the car. My only real concern is rear frame kickup vs rear seat area. And this is the thing I'd prefer to do, but I'm not qute sure I want to yet, along with developing suspension mounts and suspension angles. It'd be less likely to get completed than a frame that I had to simply shorten a couple inches. But yeah, I'd love to do a frame like the Sniper had: Maybe I just have to bite the bullet and go with this and Mustang II parts. But again, I have to finish the MGB, and redo the Fiat http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cvetters3/fiat_spider.htm before I can get started on this (I can't tear it apart in the driveway), as well as finish the deck on the house, so I just thought it'd be fun to do something quick and cheap so I can enjoy the car and make it less ugly than it is now.
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