Hello All I'm Ben

[Benny]

I recently bought a 64 Comet that has been sitting for 21 years ...it has a 260 with 3 on the tree. I trailered it home (approximately 3 miles), cleaned it up and realized it needed some rubber. (fan belt, hoses, fuel line etc.) After replacing much needed parts I found out the excelerator pump wasn't pumping gas into the Carburetor ...so I took it upon myself to overhaul the 2 barrel fo-mo-co carb. After many hours of frustrating attempts and 10 gallons of gas I decided to pull the plugs to find out 2 cylinders were full of gas and I'm pretty sure I bent the pushrods..... at this point Would it be a good idea to do an engine swap ??? ...I'm thinking a 5.0 efi with a 5 speed and would I be able to do it myself ?
Any advice is much appreciated

[lavron]

Welcome to the forum Ben.

Sorry to hear about your frustrations, can give you a couple of things to consider on swapping to an EFI.

You will have to redo the fuel system like the fuel tank is not set up for EFI and there will be no drop in replacement so you will have to custom build one or try and fit one in from a different car like possibly a Mustang (won't fit but can be made to work). Second will have to come up with all the wiring and computer to run it, you might be able to find a donor car and pull all the wiring harness and the motor and then figure out how to wire it all up, again I don't know but there may be some aftermarket stuff available but nothing specific for a '64 Comet, maybe Falcon or Mustang again?

You can probably get a lot of advice on here about your 260 and suggestions for the best route, not saying any of the rest can't be done just not a quick drop in.

See Ya,
Mike

[Benny]

Thanks Mike
I Really like this Car and I'm up for any advice to bring it back to life.

[poboyjo65]

Welcome on Ben! I think you can do it your self!!!

[Groover]

I think I speak for all of us, when I say we really need to see some pictures of that sweet 64 before we offer advice

but seriously, my son and I rebuilt our 260 a few years back, and I may still be able to remember a few things about the process

Questions:
1. Did you ever get it running? Does it idle? A bad accelerator pump wouldn't stop it from starting or idling, just from accelerating under load.
2. What carb is it? 2100 I assume. Did you ch-ch-ch-ch-check the jetssssss (Benny? Benny?)
3. Are the valves bent or are you assuming that because of the fuel in the cylinders? If they are, what makes you think YOU bent the valves and that they were not already bent?
4. Have you checked the timing?

When we rebuilt our 260 we did it all completely stock and I'd say it cost about $1.2k. That includes the machine work, master engine kit, etc. Short of buying a used engine, that would be easier and cheaper than trying to put any non-stock motor in with EFI. But it really depends on what you want to do with the car?

Keep your stick on the ice... we're all pulling for you.

[SASSY]

Welcome on Ben!
Ya EFI that's where the fun is

[popscomet]

welcome...fix what you already have.....pop

[Lou's Comet]

I recently bought a 64 Comet that has been sitting for 21 years ...it has a 260 with 3 on the tree. I trailered it home (approximately 3 miles), cleaned it up and realized it needed some rubber. (fan belt, hoses, fuel line etc.) After replacing much needed parts I found out the excelerator pump wasn't pumping gas into the Carburetor ...so I took it upon myself to overhaul the 2 barrel fo-mo-co carb. After many hours of frustrating attempts and 10 gallons of gas I decided to pull the plugs to find out 2 cylinders were full of gas and I'm pretty sure I bent the pushrods..... at this point Would it be a good idea to do an engine swap ??? ...I'm thinking a 5.0 efi with a 5 speed and would I be able to do it myself ?
Any advice is much appreciated

Hi Ben, First, Congrates on you 64 Comet purchase!!

Couple things no particular order.

Did you try to spin the engine by hand, or do any prep before you tried to start the engine, like pulling plugs and squirting any lubricant into the cylinders?

If the motor has not been turned over in 21 years some valves were probably stuck and when you tried to start it the pushrods then bent because the valves were stuck. This happens a lot when engines have sat long time without being turned over. This is not a huge deal to fix if it is the only major problem.

The best thing to do is come up with some kind of plan, and for the plan to work it needs to be realistic.

First, What are you skills as far as automotive repairs and such. Have you done engine swaps in the past? Your mechanical abilities? Novice? Moderate? Advanced?

Goals? You want to just get it running? You want more performance? Etc?

Last but not least money?? You have to figure how much you want to spend on it. And as plans change( and most times they do) the money will go up. But if you are making progress the money prob won't bother you as much as throwing money at it and not making progress.

I would fix what you have, I am guessing first thing you want is to get it running? As far as the bent pushrods not a big deal, first you need to find out why they bent. I am guessing the valves stuck from sitting and when you tried to start it the pushrods bent.

The bent pushrods will tell you which valves are prob stuck. If you pull the valve covers and soak everything with PB blaster you may be able to free the stuck valves.

I would pull all the rockers and pushrods, keep them marked or in order so you know which cyl/valve they came from. Then spray the valve stem thru the springs with PB blaster or lubricant of your choice. Take a plastic headed hammer and tap the heads of the valves. You will feel a difference between the stuck ones and the free ones. You also prob see some valves not the same height as others, without the rockers the valve heights should be the same, all the intakes should be around the same height and all the intakes should be the same height, valves stuck open will be lower than the closed ones. Plus you have the bent pushrods to show you which valves are prob stuck. Do this till the valves free up and then some. This may take some time. I had a boat engine once with stuck valves, bent 3 pushrods. I did this everyday for about a half hour for a week, bought new pushrods and the boat ran for years with no problems, actually still runs a buddy of mine now has it.

Or you could pull the heads and send them to a shop and have them redone.

Again you are just starting on your journey with this Comet. The guys on this forum are great and their collective knowledge is huge.

As far as swapping engines not to be rude but hard to say if you are capable without knowing your abilities. But if you do go the engine swap route I would check the whole car over really good to see everything the car needs. Then decide what kind of money/time you feel is reasonable for your goals. A swap to a 302 5 speed would not be to hard, but going to efi would take more work and knowledge as Lavron and Fred have already mentioned.

*Edit, Just wanted to add, if you decide to fix it when you are checking for stuck valves you also want to look for broken valve springs.

Lou

[Jims65cyclone]

Welcome aboard, Ben! I agree with what the rest of these guys said. I don't know what your mechanical abilities are, but rebuilding what you've got, or moving up to a 302 4V would be a much simpler project. The EFI swap can be done, but it's not for the faint of heart. Take a look at Fred's (Sassy) build thread for a taste.
http://www.cometcentral.com/forum/viewt ... =25&t=1288

Jim