buidling a Family Rod. 65 wagon

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odie1969
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Joined: Mon Jan 11, 2016 12:24 pm

buidling a Family Rod. 65 wagon

Post by odie1969 »

About 6 months ago i bought a 65 4 door wagon 404 so far the plans are to build it into a nice daily driver for the family. I have been collecting parts since buying the car. So far I have a 99 mountaineer for the motor, wiring and rear end,Lincoln mk bucket seats and seatbelts, Fatman fab strut kit, T5 trans, and a hydraulic clutch setup. I'm interested in the dakota digital gauge cluster and vintage air surefit kit. Has anybody ever used the mustang gauges from dakota digital to put in the comet bezel. Also I will take anybodies opinion on ac kits from vintage, classic and old air. Living in Phoenix the wife insist that I have a/c for the wagon.
So far I have sold off the 200ci that was in the car I'm planning on selling the 3 speed and front suspension, steering column. I'm excited to get this project finally started get the motor trans and rear end set in the car and suspension mocked up, then send her off to paint.
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popscomet
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Re: buidling a Family Rod. 65 wagon

Post by popscomet »

WELCOME,sounds like you have all your ducks in a row,thats a sharp looking wagon and it'll be a DANDY when you get thru with it !!! good luck and again WELCOME !!............POP
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poboyjo65
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Re: buidling a Family Rod. 65 wagon

Post by poboyjo65 »

Welcome on! :D shouldn't be hard to sell those 65 frontend parts. I think ratical used those gages.
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Johno

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SASSY
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Re: buidling a Family Rod. 65 wagon

Post by SASSY »

Welcome! Looks like a pretty solid piece to start with.
There are some stories around about that strut front. I do think it is better suited to the way these cars were built than an M2 as long as the strut works correctly.
What are you planning for a column? I see didit has a tilt unit that is a bolt in takes the stock Ford s-wheel and wiring.
Fred
I'd rather do it myself if it's done right or not,,,isn't that what hotrodding is all about

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lavron
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Re: buidling a Family Rod. 65 wagon

Post by lavron »

Welcome to the Forum Odie, keep us all posted on your build and take a lot of pictures and post them because some of us can't read too well :P

Think about starting a build thread because it sounds like a cool build.

See Ya,
Mike
Mike's build thread
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=13058
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popscomet
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Location: Jacksonville, Arkansas

Re: buidling a Family Rod. 65 wagon

Post by popscomet »

the more I come back and look at that wagon the better I like it and to have one fixed up like yours will be is top notch,in facy thats the only way to have one,with that 3rd pedal,stout V8 and with OD....pop
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comet guy
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Re: buidling a Family Rod. 65 wagon

Post by comet guy »

Nice looking wagon. What a great looking build and great looking ride.

Robert

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Jims65cyclone
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Re: buidling a Family Rod. 65 wagon

Post by Jims65cyclone »

Welcome aboard! Sounds like it's going to be a great build. Like Mike says, take lots of pics and start a build thread. You can count on a lot of guys following it for ideas. :wink:
Jim
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redhotcomet
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Location: Saskatchewan, Canada

Re: buidling a Family Rod. 65 wagon

Post by redhotcomet »

Sounds like you've got a pretty well put together plan. Those years of Explorers make great donors.

The engines last forever, thanks to modern oil and precision fueling. If you replace the cam and valve springs with better parts they'll make great power too. Yours will have GT40P heads, with the relocated sparkplugs, so you might have trouble finding headers to fit. Although I've heard you might just need 90 degree plug wire ends. Are you going to keep the distributor-less system?

I've looked at the front drive accessory setup on those motors, they made them nice and compact to fit in the explorers smallish engine bay, so hopefully it'll work, after eliminating what you dont need.

Good luck with the build. Keep us updated!
1964 Caliente hardtop, 302/T5/8.8"

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odie1969
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Joined: Mon Jan 11, 2016 12:24 pm

Re: buidling a Family Rod. 65 wagon

Post by odie1969 »

Ok so I haven't updated anything since I first started this thread. haven't done much with forums since face book came out. But I have been working on the wagon, The Fatman Fab front end has been tested fitted, I seem Happy with this setup so far but I just push it around the drive way. I also got the 8.8 out of the explorer cut down and placed under the car, while under found that I needed new springs made. Sat the 5.0 in and bolted the t5 up, Appears that I will have to cut and trim the shock tower to get the a/c compressor to fit. also fit the rear gas tank from a 91 f-150 in the wagon for the efi. most recently spent the last couple of nights trying to fab up subframe connectors. hopefully I will get that done soon and update this thread quicker than I have in the past. I will also start uploading what every one wants and that is pictures,
What is the site every one is using now days to upload the photos to, I haven't really used forums in about 6 years.

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poboyjo65
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Re: buidling a Family Rod. 65 wagon

Post by poboyjo65 »

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Johno

odie1969
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Re: buidling a Family Rod. 65 wagon

Post by odie1969 »

Thank you. Nice write.

Comechero65
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Re: buidling a Family Rod. 65 wagon

Post by Comechero65 »

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like that will be a nice project. As far as ac goes, if you are looking to install an integrated unit as opposed to an underdash hang on unit, go with the unit from Classic Auto Air as opposed to Vintage Air. The units from CAA are servicible whereas the Vintage units are sealed and not servicible.
As far as comps are concerned use the kits as for an early mustang and it will fit without interference. Of course yoiu would have to abandon the explorer dress on the front of the engine. That means v-belts instead of serpentine. My 65.
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The GT40P heads are good but limited choices in manifolds or headers.
Ron
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Tims1965MercuryComet
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Location: Arizona. 5000 ft. above sea level.

Re: buidling a Family Rod. 65 wagon

Post by Tims1965MercuryComet »

Welcome. You live in Phoenix, we are 100 miles north of the valley in Wilhoit.
Tim
1965 Caliente 4 door
1968 302
Edelbrock Torker manifold and carb

popscomet
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Re: buidling a Family Rod. 65 wagon

Post by popscomet »

KEEP ON KEEPING ON !! POP
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