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

[Ghost_drift]

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

If you get one like the one shown rather than a fully coverd one. I sudgest spraying it with WD40 and then wrapping some electrical tape round it as well. Just to give it better weather protection.

 

[bergauk]

If you get one like the one shown rather than a fully coverd one. I sudgest spraying it with WD40 and then wrapping some electrical tape round it as well. Just to give it better weather protection.

Well, I don't think that protecting it from the weather should be much of a problem as it sits inside the car under the dash. So it should be fine.

 

[Venari]

Just squirt your fuseholder in WD40, then get a paper towel, soak up the excess, then another paper towel and grip and push together which twisting counterclockwise. You should feel it pop and it will/should spring apart. Expect eh spring to be corroded. No reason to replace it completely, a new spring and correct cartridge fuse will be fine.

I didn't read in too much detail, but if the fuse is blown, you will need to figure out why before you replace it.

Engine bay looks familiar, much like my 1968 Mercury Cougar 302. And I'm in the UK - I love YankTanks!

 

[bergauk]

Alright, I'm back with a bit of an update. I went to go see The Watchmen with my friend today. [great movie btw, I highly recommend]. When we got back to my place I just had an urge to work on the car. So we went at it and pulled out the fuel pump. Neither of us really had any idea what we were doing but I was going off my dads instructions. I didn't document any of this because it really didn't take too long.

But anyways, once we got it off, we waited for my dad to get home and asked him what was wrong with it. Long story short, its dead. Now I have a choice. My brother says I should just go pull the mechanical fuel pump off the other motor and put it onto the one in the car. But I kinda want to just go buy a electric fuel pump. What should I do? Mechanical fuel pump = free, electric fuel pump = 50ish dolars. Opinions?

 

[Sniffs]

Ghost Drift: the auto parts chain depends on where you are in the US. it's huge over here, which means there's little chains all over AND private stores.

 

[bergauk]

Well, just back with a little bit of an update. My dad went out and bought the fuel pump.

And a new type of fuse. My buddy came over and made the installation much easier for me. Tried firing the car up. Everything sounds alright, but its not turning over. New problem. Theres a bunch of gas in the tank that looks like watered down red coolaid. Now I need to dispose of about 6 gallons of fuel.. I need a few more milk cartons for this.

But I'm one step closer to getting the car running. Which a good thing. Next step will be getting the body back into shape so that it looks like a car again. Then getting some new tires all around. I'm thingking BFGoodrich Radial T/A's in 205/70R14 in the front and 215/70R14 in the rear. What do you guys think?

 

[Sniffs]

let's hope that's not Deisel fuel. you should have automatically drained the tank. regular gas turns into something else

I just checked with Coker tire.com. it says 195/75's with modern tires, so your pick is about right (the original style recommendation calls them "695-14"). what wheels you going with, or are you just gonna put the steelies back on?

 

[Barracuda]

But I'm one step closer to getting the car running. Which a good thing. Next step will be getting the body back into shape so that it looks like a car again. Then getting some new tires all around. I'm thingking BFGoodrich Radial T/A's in 205/70R14 in the front and 215/70R14 in the rear. What do you guys think?

I'd recommend even going for 225/70R14 for the rear. That's what I'm looking into for my car, same tire too. I have 195/75R14's on my car and they're donuts pretty much.

 

[bergauk]

I'd recommend even going for 225/70R14 for the rear. That's what I'm looking into for my car, same tire too. I have 195/75R14's on my car and they're donuts pretty much.

If I could I would. 215/70R14 is THE maximum that will fit in the rear, theres already some crazy offset in the back just to make that possible.

 

[Barracuda]

If I could I would. 215/70R14 is THE maximum that will fit in the rear, theres already some crazy offset in the back just to make that possible.

Dang, I figured they would. Guess I better get a second opinion on what I'm able to fit since my rear wheel arches give me very little room.

 

[Sniffs]

seems that nobody puts the original tire size on a vehicle. there might be three in the ones I've owned over the years that had the original size on them (my 80's all had taller-than-needed, my ninties, wider-than-needed)

why do they always put hyper skinny tires on everything?

 

[kingcars]

Nice Comet...my dad picked up a 66 Comet about 10 years ago that had a 351 Cleveland, bench seat, and a top loader 4 speed. Even had the shaker hood. The body was too far gone though.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Glad you figured out the fuel problem. If I had seen this thread sooner I could have helped you diagnose the problem instantly since we had the same issue last year with my gfs 67 Mustang. Replaced the fuel filter, checked fuel pump, checked gas tank, rebuilt the carb 3 times. Only to figure out that the 1 year old fuel was bad. Its the first time I have ever had fuel go "bad" after sitting. I even had pictures of it in the "what have you done to your car lately" thread. The gas was very dark.
This is the post I talked about the bad gas and posted the pics. https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showpost.php?p=3082537&postcount=726

 

[bergauk]

seems that nobody puts the original tire size on a vehicle. there might be three in the ones I've owned over the years that had the original size on them (my 80's all had taller-than-needed, my ninties, wider-than-needed)

why do they always put hyper skinny tires on everything?

Well for me.. Whats on there is what has always been on there. So thats how I've seen it driven, and thats how I intend to keep it. The rims are actually a half an inch wider than stock but other than that, nothing else is really different otherwise though.

Glad you figured out the fuel problem. If I had seen this thread sooner I could have helped you diagnose the problem instantly since we had the same issue last year with my gfs 67 Mustang. Replaced the fuel filter, checked fuel pump, checked gas tank, rebuilt the carb 3 times. Only to figure out that the 1 year old fuel was bad. Its the first time I have ever had fuel go "bad" after sitting. I even had pictures of it in the "what have you done to your car lately" thread. The gas was very dark.
This is the post I talked about the bad gas and posted the pics. https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showpost.php?p=3082537&postcount=726

Yeah, thanks, I took at look at your pictures. And it's somewhat similar, but mines really clear red. Like you could almost see through it. It really does look like watered down cool-aid, wouldn't want to drink it. How did you manage to get rid of all your fuel? It certainly is flammable still, just, not usable for the car. Here's a pic :

Maybe mines just in a better state?



Anyways. On with the progress. Got the fuel pump installed a few days ago.

I know its kinda messy, but I will be doing some cleanup. Just wanted to get it all on and see if it'd start the car. The pump is really loud though. Maybe it'll quiet down after a bit.

Also, I got the fuse installed. It turns out the old one was bad. So it was good to get it installed. Again, I'll do some wire management.

That's all for now. If it starts in the next few days I'll post some vids of it.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

I drained all the gas out of the gas tank and put it into a 5 gallon bucket. Then unhooked the lines from the carb and just turned the engine over to get it all out of the lines.

A local exhaust shop actually allowed me to drain the bad gas in the 5 gallon bucket there in some special tank they had. Our gas was very dark red as you could see in the pics. Almost looked like tranny fluid. Smelled terrible too. I had a pic showing the the bad gas in a bottle and the good gas in a bottle next to it but those show up as red x pics now.

The good news is that you now have all new parts and all new gas so your fuel system should be all set for a long time. 👍

 

[Sniffs]

an old trucker told me that looks like Off-road deisel. mabey it was a goof at the pumps that caused to to be parked?

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

an old trucker told me that looks like Off-road deisel. mabey it was a goof at the pumps that caused to to be parked?

Old gas turns very dark red when it sits for a year or two. Check out the link I posted in reply #43. I have a pic of the gas that was in my gfs mustang. It is so red it looks like tranny fluid. That gas was 2 years old.

 

[bergauk]

MAJOR UPDATE: The car runs. All it needed was, a fuel pump, new fuse for said fuel pump, and new gas.

We got gas in the car about 15 minutes ago and turned the key. It was sluggish at first and didn't wan't to stay going for a few seconds. Tried again a few more times and it fired right up. Next step: Contact Grandfather and ask about getting the bits and pieces to get it back into roadworthy condition. That is all. Keep checking back in here for a video soon.

Just a quick edit: My ears are ringing, and I love it.

 

[bergauk]

Sorry for the double post, but its totally worth it.

Started it up today again. My brother drove it up and down the block. One of our neighbors came over and asked what was in it.

 

[kingcars]

There's no finer feeling than getting an engine started, congrats!

Though I do hear a knocking noise when you bring the camera to the engine bay...any idea what it is?

 

[bergauk]

Probably something random. Might be the fan. The car isn't it driving condition anyways as it is. The carburetors leaking somehow, and the distributor cap got eaten by rats. I'm gonna go over the engine and inspect everything before I start DD'ing it. Thought it wont really be daily as I don't really go anywhere thats out of biking distance.

 

[Barracuda]

Very nice, she sounds great 👍

 

[MinoltaMan89]

Sounds fantastic. Be ready for a lot of attention when you start driving it.

 

[bergauk]

I'm already trying to get ready for that. I got a lot of stuff I need to check out before its fully roadworthy. Thanks for the comments on it guys.

 

[Sniffs]

I heard what people meant by a ticking sound. something's definetly stiff.

the Carb seems to be feeding fine (nice revs), but a leak? ida tought that a rebuild would be an automatic default during reconditioning of an old engine. my cousin has a 70 (something) mach 1 'Stang that died when I was out for a test ride 'cause he put a new carb on, but not a new gasket to go with it.

if you could afford to pick up a collectable, I'm surprised you couldn't afford an automatic tuneup. that's a no brainer for someone that can afford it.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

I heard what people meant by a ticking sound. something's definetly stiff.

the Carb seems to be feeding fine (nice revs), but a leak? ida tought that a rebuild would be an automatic default during reconditioning of an old engine. my cousin has a 70 (something) mach 1 'Stang that died when I was out for a test ride 'cause he put a new carb on, but not a new gasket to go with it.

if you could afford to pick up a collectable, I'm surprised you couldn't afford an automatic tuneup. that's a no brainer for someone that can afford it.

Most of the time carbs work fine without a rebuild. So thats usually one of the last things most people look at when tuning a car. Plus like he said, he is just getting started on it and will replace parts as he goes. I also want to point out that something as simple as dirty gas will cause a carb to leak. So after a while that leak could go away.
Congrats on getting it running. I cant view the youtube video from work so I cant comment on any noises.

 

[mustangGT90210]

I heard what people meant by a ticking sound. something's definetly stiff.

the Carb seems to be feeding fine (nice revs), but a leak? ida tought that a rebuild would be an automatic default during reconditioning of an old engine. my cousin has a 70 (something) mach 1 'Stang that died when I was out for a test ride 'cause he put a new carb on, but not a new gasket to go with it.

if you could afford to pick up a collectable, I'm surprised you couldn't afford an automatic tuneup. that's a no brainer for someone that can afford it.

From what he's said earlier, his brother wrecked the car 7 years ago and they had it before that. But it had been sitting since it got wrecked

 

[Brokenneckj]

Yup Thats A Ford V8 Whoo Hooo!
Is it the Original Motor?
Friend of Mine Blah Blah Mothers Comet blah blah blah Fathers Falcon.

Easy To Werk on. And the best thing is the parts are Sooper Cheap.
I am sure you will find a Forum of Very Friendly People to help you learn about them. And you know those guys will know there stuff.

Im sorry if I missed anything I poked around through the thread and once I saw there was a vid I had to check it out!

...and for the record Yes I know its a Merc. I prefer the Cougar Over the Mustang.
and the Comet Over the Falcon.

 

[bergauk]

Mini-update: I got the fender put onto it finally. Not much to say.

At least it looks like a car finally. Still waiting on a few key parts though. Ballpark estimate of 2 months till completion.

Also I did some cleaning to the hubcaps and they look great. Cant wait to put them back on with the new tires that we'll be buying eventually.

 

[Smallhorses]

Do you plan on putting in / or does it already have a stereo?
I replaced the door speakers in our Porsche today (6 1/2 inch) with some nice Infinity ones, but the old ones (fitted by the previous owner, not the originals) are still fully functional. We're having one of the yearly free-for-all trash pickups tomorrow, and I was going to put them out as electronic recycling, but I figured I'd ask someone local that's doing a rebuild if they wanted them first. 💡
Let me know if you're interested and I can post some pictures. They're yours if you want them as they're just taking up room in my garage at the moment. You can pick them up at 五 - "Go!" if you end up making it for that, or before that if we can arrange a time.

Let me know what you think.