Help me with my Santa list

The Era of The Square Body Racing Comets
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The Transplanter
Posts: 124
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2016 11:53 am
Location: Surrey England

Help me with my Santa list

Post by The Transplanter »

Hi guys.

Its been a while but I have finally got my 65 Cyclone out of storage for restoration (restomod) over the winter 8)

Being that im in the UK its a complete PITA for sourcing parts etc. Fortunately I do have a contact in CA who' is regularly sending cars over here which saves on shipping costs & import duties. But its always at least a 2 month wait before I see any reward for my hard earned! :evil:

So im hoping that with a bit of help/guidance I can get everything I need in one hit!!

1. Shifter:

First thing I noticed is that the column auto shifter is sloppy (we do have a term for this in the UK, but I will keep the profanities to myself lol :lol: ). The collar is all broken and the whole operation is vague to say the least! So now I have a dilemma; Do I buy a new collar and the required bushings. Or do I just fit something like a B&M or Hurst floor shifter?? Or even an original item from an early Mustang??? If I go for a floor shift, what parts would I need to lose all the column shift gubbings to get it looking like a stock manual?? And any recommendations of a floor shifter??

2. Carb:

Its still has the original autolite 4100 (or whatever was fitted). Its seems to work ok but its peeing out fuel everywhere so needs a rebuild kit. But I have noticed play in the butterfly shaft, so whatever bushing it has, has worn so bad that the throttle is not returning correctly! Also some of the linkage is missing missing to the choke butterflies. So at this point I am leaning towards replacing it with an Edelbrock for the sake of reliability/tunability. So my question would be should I shouldnt I??? If I should which Edelbrock would be the best option on an auto with say a mild cam & headers?

Or has anyone ever used those bolt on fuel injection kits? And are they as good as they look?

3. Headers

Who makes a pair that fit, with or without the column shift?

4. Exhaust

Again who makes a dual system for the 65 that will fit the above headers? Not to loud, but throaty!

5. Camshaft

Recommendations on a decent street-able camshaft that will work ok with the stock torque converter

6. Brakes

I have power drums which are shockingly good! But I want discs up front. Seeing as I cannot rummage through salvage yards looking for Granada spindles etc. Who does the best conversion kit, including a new booster & M/C??


That's all I can think of for now, but im sure I will think of most stuff soon enough :shock:

Thanks in advance

Al
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comethead
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Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2003 7:44 pm
Location: Palmdale, CA

Re: Help me with my Santa list

Post by comethead »

Hey Al the column shift collar is comet specific- it has a light indicator at the top. They don’t reproduce them. So falcon parts won’t work.
I you decide to go floor shift I believe 65-66 Mustang parts would work. If I recall there’s a link on the transmission that’s reversed on column shift cars.
Doug’s makes headers that fit.
CSRP sell a really great product. They have disc brake conversion kits, some with spindles.

Good luck!

Joe
1965 Caliente HT- 289/4 speed
1964 Falcon HT- track car- 302/4 speed
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The Transplanter
Posts: 124
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2016 11:53 am
Location: Surrey England

Re: Help me with my Santa list

Post by The Transplanter »

Thanks for the info Joe :)

Looking at the collar its completely broken, no wonder it feels horrible!

Looks like a nasty piece of cast material as well. I can weld most things, but I think that is beyond me

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comethead
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Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2003 7:44 pm
Location: Palmdale, CA

Re: Help me with my Santa list

Post by comethead »

You could use the falcon collar but it wouldn’t have the indicator light.

Joe
1965 Caliente HT- 289/4 speed
1964 Falcon HT- track car- 302/4 speed
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User avatar
The Transplanter
Posts: 124
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2016 11:53 am
Location: Surrey England

Re: Help me with my Santa list

Post by The Transplanter »

I will have a look at it once its in the workshop. Im wondering If I could machine the collar a bit to accept a sleeve and then turn a sleeve where the roll pin goes, and then use tungsten liquid metal to tidy up the outer edge! Once painted it wouldnt show...

Im still interested in a floor mount, and my mate has a couple of 65/66 shifters that he has removed from Mustangs that he has converted to manual, so will grab one of those next time im at his place.

I kinda like the originality of the column shift, but as a rule I prefer a floor shift as they are less "grocery getter" :D
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redhotcomet
Posts: 349
Joined: Mon Jan 27, 2014 2:22 pm
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada

Re: Help me with my Santa list

Post by redhotcomet »

I believe I still have the auto collar leftover from my car after the T5 conversion, if you're interested let me know.

Edit: Also wanted to mention that my Dad installed an Atomic MSD EFI system on his 70 Torino w/351C. The Cleveland was always temperamental with his Edelbrock. He said it made a world of difference. He put on a couple thousand kilometers this summer without any trouble. I think he's happy with it.
1964 Caliente hardtop, 302/T5/8.8"

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The Transplanter
Posts: 124
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2016 11:53 am
Location: Surrey England

Re: Help me with my Santa list

Post by The Transplanter »

redhotcomet wrote:I believe I still have the auto collar leftover from my car after the T5 conversion, if you're interested let me know.

Edit: Also wanted to mention that my Dad installed an Atomic MSD EFI system on his 70 Torino w/351C. The Cleveland was always temperamental with his Edelbrock. He said it made a world of difference. He put on a couple thousand kilometers this summer without any trouble. I think he's happy with it.
Thanks, I will let you know how I get on with the collar, as soon as I have move around of some vehicles so I can get the Comet into the w/shop :)

I have been reading a bit on the MSD Atomic EFI. On the face of it looks real good, but apart from advertisment's by various vendors, real life experiences seem thin on the ground, and the only reviews/comments I can find on the unit are people complaining with various running issues!
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