My 1965 Mercury Comet Cyclone UPDATE:Just a picture/car got a bath. 56k deathzone

[bergauk]

Alright, so this thread is about my Comet.

I'm pretty sure I was alive when this car was bought by my dad and mom. Apparently it was a real steal considering it cost as much as my baby stroller apparently. So around 700$ give or take. It is the Cyclone trim level which is the highest trim available for a Comet. Has some crazy 289 built by one of my dads friend for drag strips. Capable of about 16s 1/4 mile. I can't really list as much as I'd like to about the car because I'm still actually learning about it. So I'll just post the pictures of it that I took most recently.

Alright, so you can see it seems to have a lot of front end damage. But thats not actually true. The only thing thats wrong is the fact that its missing a fender, bumper, inner fender wall, and a few other various things. Luckily for me, my brother who crashed it back in '99 and is paying to get it back up and running finally. We do actually have most of the parts needed in the backyard. Including the impossible to find right fender, chrome trim to go around the fender, the light assembly, the grill [have two](pictures to be seen soon){later in post}, pretty much everything we need to get it street legal sits in the backyard waiting to be put onto the car. The only parts actually needed from an outside source are the inner fender wall thing, and the bumper.


I guess thats a nice list of things to be done right?

I'll start out by taking pictures of everything we already have thats going onto the car. So far I've only taken pictures of the grills because I cleaned them this morning. So I'll just post them.

 

[MinoltaMan89]

Now what Ford car was the Comet based on?

Looks like it needs a lot of work. Also, a 16 sec 1/4? How much does it weigh? A close friend of my mom's has a 1968 428CJ Mustang that's been sitting in a garage for close to ten years, and it would smoke that thing.

 

[bergauk]

Comet would be related to the Falcon. I never could find out what it weighed as there really is NO good resource on the Comet for some odd reason. I've searched for it though. Most of the stuff I know about the car comes from seeing it in action when I was younger and asking my dad about the car. He's had about 4 of them. Including a brown one which he saved the VIN numbers from that show it was number 500 off the line or something like that.

 

[buickgnx88]

Here you go: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1964-1965-mercury-comet7.htm

The 1965 Comet Cyclone weighs just shy of 3000 pounds.

 

[MinoltaMan89]

Four of them? He must really like them. You guys should create a site, so there will be some info.

Have you tried Wikipedia? They might have information.

 

[bergauk]

Well, 4 if you include this car, we have a spot in the backyard with all the salvagable parts from the other cars. It's really neat to go back there and have a look at all the things that are back there. We actually have an extra 289, and a manual transmission with everything you'd need to do the swap from auto to manual.

Edit: Thanks for the link Jordan. I never came across that site when looking.

 

[buickgnx88]

No prob, just searched for "Mercury Comet Weight".

 

[bergauk]

:doh: Man, I didn't think of that. Anyways, there wasn't much to do to the car today as it keeps on raining.

 

[MinoltaMan89]

Well, what do you plan to do to it first when it stops raining? Any ideas for color? How much power does the 289 make? Do you plan to take it drag racing?

Questions, questions, questions.

EDIT: I like the way the muffler is next to the front tire. *confused look*

 

[bergauk]

Lol, well it all depends on when my brother goes out and gets the parts needed for it to be legal. But I'm currently just cleaning off things and making them look nice. I think for the color, the white on it is just fine, But I'll probably get a nice respray done to it.

I'm planning on making it a daily driver, maybe improving the fuel economy first though.

And thats not a muffler, its a thing for warming up charcoal its just sitting there for no apparent reason, the exhaust comes out the back end and it sounds awesome.

 

[Jim Prower]

Hm. I thought the Cyclone had a set of subtle hood scoops in the nose.

 

[bergauk]

Nope, thats just a hood you could buy.

 

[Gil]

My mom had several Falcons, including a '64 Sprint that looked a lot like your Cyclone.
Pretty neat little car.
If you want to improve your fuel economy, either go with a 2-barrel carb of about 500CFM, or a Spreadbore, 4-barrel with about 600-650CFM rating.

The old rule of thumb for carbs is to keep CFM rating about twice the Cubic inch displacement.
Either set-up should get you in the neighborhood of 20 MPG if you drive prudently.

Good luck.

 

[Jim Prower]

Nope, thats just a hood you could buy.

Huh. Well, still, that's cool. Hope to see it on the road again...

*singing* I can't wait to be on the road again...

oops. got stuck in a loop.

 

[MinoltaMan89]

Seems like the Europeans/Aussies aren't interested. Everybody who's posted here is American!

 

[buickgnx88]

That's because the Europeans scoff at the idea of a car that can't handle a sharp corner, and the Australians have their own muscle cars that they think are better.

 

[MinoltaMan89]

That's because the Europeans scoff at the idea of a car that can't handle a sharp corner, and the Australians have their own muscle cars that they think are better.

That they think are better.

 

[PARAGON GT]

If I remember right, you posted this in another topic earlier.

Can't wait to watch the progress of this car.
It might inspire me to do something w/ mine.

 

[MinoltaMan89]

^What kind of car do you have? Are you talking about the Mustang in your avatar?

 

[PARAGON GT]

^What kind of car do you have? Are you talking about the Mustang in your avatar?

Yep, thats the one.

 

[Cano]

oh man how have I missed this thread so far? This thing is awesome, so complete! I have never seen this year of Comet in Mexico (Comets are practycally nonexistant here, thy were never sold here but there are a few around, but they are like 67-69), its really complete!!! you really need to get wrenching, with good detailing, the mentioned swap to a manual 4 speed and the hood scooped hood, and a nice set of wheels, blamo, a cool, stylish, unique (who does a Merc these days?) daily driver. Keep us posted!

 

[Barracuda]

Man it's too bad you're on the west coast, it would be pretty damn fun to race you, especially since our engine sizes are close.

I hope you can get her up and running as soon as possible, would be great to see and hear it in action.

 

[bergauk]

Hey guys, thanks for the comments on the car.


Big Update: The impossible to find part has arrived and was installed while I was away snowboarding.

Also, I said I'd take pics and oh boy did I.

Here they are.

First pic is what I did on my own for the black grill, I taped off the chrome bits and I'm getting it ready for being resprayed black like its supposed to be.

Second is a spare rear bumper, a mangled front one from when my brother crashed it, and a green drivers side front fender.

Third is a light assembly for the drivers side, 2 shock tower things, a gravel trap thats going on, and a chrome trim strip that will be going onto passenger side fender in the front.

Fourth is a Hurst shifter

Fifth is a bin full of random rusty parts, some in condition that could be put back onto the car, but most of them are already on.

Sixth is another tub/bin full of random bit and pieces.

Seventh, is yet another bin with some more parts that are really rusty. But theres a few good parts that I may want to swap on at some point in life. Like the pedal assembly to make the car a manual.

Eighth, is the manual transmission

Ninth, is a spare steering wheel, and two spare doors in excellent condition.

Tenth is a spare differential and an AC compressor apparently. The car doesn't have one so I don't know if I want to put it on or not.

Eleventh, TRIM PIECES GALORE! So many that I don't even know what they're for.

Twelfth, another driver and passenger side front fender. I need that antenna so it will be coming off.

Thirteenth, 2 pieces for the front end.

Fourteenth, Spare gas tank and another differential.

Fifteenth, The car has changed directions since I came back, so I'm guessing it got driven.

Sixteenth, Theres the part that was so impossible to get.

Seventeenth, Just another angle. my brother's friend did a nice job of making it look like it never left.

Eighteenth, Yet another angle.

Nineteenth, for Cano. The engine. Again, the keys are on the top of the air filter so I'm still guessing that the car has been driven.

 

[buickgnx88]

A) It's spelled Hurst
B) Transmission looks like a T10 4-speed.

 

[bergauk]

A) It's spelled Hurst
B) Transmission looks like a T10 4-speed.

Lol, well I'll go fix that.



Anyways, another update. The car does not run. I assumed it did, but apparently it doesn't. Reason? The electric fuel pump that was installed on it over ten years ago is acting up. Diagnoses? Possibly dead fuse. So I decided I'd try and find it. I documented the whole thing so you could all enjoy it with me.

Step 1: Find fuel pump.

Easy, its by the gas tank.

Step 2: follow wires back to wherever they may go.

over the pumpkin, easy enough.

up against the top of the underside of the car, still easy.

in between something, not so easy to keep track of, luckily the car is so old, thats like the only wire in sight.

in between exhaust and driveshaft. I can't even fathom how this was even done.

still following the exhaust and driveshaft.

not following the exhaust or driveshaft anymore.

it turned black.

its that brown wire at the top we're following.

Poking through the firewall. Final stop.

And theres the culprit. I don't know how to open it though. Might anyone know how to open it?

Lastly, there it is again, its moved further down the driveway because it's closer to being driven than the van in front of it.

 

[Ghost_drift]

That looks like the sort of fuse casing where you push together and then twist, to release.

 

[Sniffs]

only out west would you be able to find that many of the same vehicle in actually repairable condition (over here, even the eighties vehicles are piles of rust flakes). meanwhile, I've watched 8-10 collectables my step siblings left behind get sent to the crusher just to get them out of the way, and 2 in excellent shape get sold just to make some room for REALLY useless junk.

*sigh* there's no oldies, here.

 

[bergauk]

That looks like the sort of fuse casing where you push together and then twist, to release.

Thanks for the help. I asked my dad about it and he said the same thing, So I guess thats what needs to happen.
One problem. I can't seem to do it. I pushed on it and didn't want to cooperate.

only out west would you be able to find that many of the same vehicle in actually repairable condition (over here, even the eighties vehicles are piles of rust flakes). meanwhile, I've watched 8-10 collectables my step siblings left behind get sent to the crusher just to get them out of the way, and 2 in excellent shape get sold just to make some room for REALLY useless junk.

*sigh* there's no oldies, here.

Sadly, it was absolutely flawless when my brother got the car from my dad. He wrecked it though. And now he's finally owning up to it and paying for it to be repaired. Glad for that. It's so close to running, I can almost hear it.

 

[Ghost_drift]

Thanks for the help. I asked my dad about it and he said the same thing, So I guess thats what needs to happen.
One problem. I can't seem to do it. I pushed on it and didn't want to cooperate.

Have you got a Motorworld type shop, I am in the UK so I dont know what your auto parts stores are called. But you could get hold of an inline fuse from a store that sells car audio equipment. But you will need to fined out what amp that fuse is that is their. maybe from the internet, Haynes manuel. or from cutting it open. but get the same fuse from the incar audio store and then cut that old fuse out. and replace the whole thing with the new one. I hope that is understandable.

Something like this is what you whant.

 

[bergauk]

Thanks, that looks like a better swap. I'm sure I could that find piece too.