1965 Comet Caliente (little red)

[Sugarmaker]

Folks<
The Comet carb information tag
C5ZF H
8 5BB


We took the Comet for several short jaunts today as roads were dry.

Those trunk panels look very good!

[Sugarmaker]

Comet folks,
Cheryl and I took the Comet on a 30 mile trip tonight. Still learning for sure but as expected, I am getting more comfortable with it.All systems functioned as expected.
Visited the folks we bought the car from and they were happy to see it out on the road too.
Tomorrow afternoon our friends Mike and Sue are going to stop to review the Comet with us. Mike has several Comets in various shapes and sizes. All 65's I believe. He has had some of them since he was a kid. Some are hot rods, some are stock. Looking forward to his report on this lil red car.
The new BOSE speaker came in today, Will be able to have some good tunes in the Comet!

[comethead]

Folks<
The Comet carb information tag
C5ZF H
8 5BB


We took the Comet for several short jaunts today as roads were dry.

Those trunk panels look very good!

That’s a Mustang tag number. Strange it has the lever for a cable throttle.

[Sugarmaker]

comethead, folks,
Thanks! I will be ordering a carb rebuild kit soon. That may be the main reason for some of the rough running and starting. Also the choke may need adjusted as I suspected also. It is not coming open as expected.
Friend Mike and his wife visited today and he gave me a thumbs up on the "lil red" Comet, after a detailed review over and under, plus a test drive.
Mike has several 65 Comets and I respect his ability to review the car.
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl

[poboyjo65]

Folks<
The Comet carb information tag
C5ZF H
8 5BB


We took the Comet for several short jaunts today as roads were dry.

Those trunk panels look very good!

That’s a Mustang tag number. Strange it has the lever for a cable throttle.

Does it have the same number on the foot of the carb? look on the side of the front foot on the driver side for a number. tag could have been swapped.

[Sugarmaker]

Thanks for the tip on the carb tag! I will check that too.
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl

[Sugarmaker]

Jo,
I will try to remember to check the carb base number too.
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl

[Sugarmaker]

I have not found any numbers on the carb base yet,but will look.
While checking some things under the hood I found the short steel tube on the end of the vacuum advance was loose and the brass nut/ferrel had been tightened with a pair pliers at some point. Bottom line was that this seemed to be a vacuum leak that would limit/reduce the function of the distributor/ how the car did not accelerate well.
Tore into that and ended up breaking the screws off and pulling the distributor, Drilled out the broken screws without ruining the distributor lug that mounts the advance.
The distributor was very dirty, especially up inside the bottom three oil passages! Took the components out of the top and cleaned and lubed the base assembly. Plan to get new points and new vacuum advanced unit. Yea most folks would chuck the old FOMOCO unit in the trash and order and new after market. And yes I will probably spend half as much on a couple parts than and new repop. Just trying to save some of the original items on the car if possible. If I get this back together and running, then I will look at the carb function.






Just bought a really nice passenger side rear back up lens for the Comet from my friend Mike. Just another detail to improve the car a little.

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Installed a aftermarket vacuum advance on the cleaned up distributor. Installed a new set of points while it was on the bench. Reinstalled the distributor, a new small vacuum hose to the carb, and fired it up. It acted about the same as it did before. Then I adjusted the automatic choke towards the more rich direction and the choke actually stayed closed and it ran a little better. Our son Adam was looking at the cobbled PCV hose and pulled it apart while running and the engine stalled. So I got a new hose and then the 289 finally ran pretty good during warm up. Adjusted the idle down some as I think this had been turned up to try to compensate for all the vacuum leaks! Time will tell.
Roads are not good right now so no road test time, till it dries out around here. My goal is to not tear stuff off the engine if its working and functional. Just little steps to improve the drive-ability of the Comet.
Also had the local upholstery shop owner stop by to look at the front seats. He feels he can improve the firmness in the seat bottoms, which seem way soft. That's down the road a little bit.

[Sugarmaker]

CC folks,
Adam helped me go through the carb specs on the 2V. Still learning , but getting more familiar with that old 2 barrel.
I did not take the top of the carb off, so did not check the 7/8 inch deep fuel level. Also need some good weather to get it out and warm it up to see if the choke adjustments are helping.
Question on front turn signal lenses. Mine are clear I assume that was factory. I do see repro lenses in amber too. I need a new one and gaskets. I think I will get the clear ones. And use clear bulbs.
Open to opinions.
Have to go get the seat cushions for the front seats. Want to get those updated for spring too.
Hope things are good in Comet land

[poboyjo65]

I think most state laws the turn signals need to be amber not white or clear. so if you run clear lenses you probably need the amber bulbs. But you might want to check your state laws beforehand.

[Sugarmaker]

Jo,
I did think about the amber lights/ lens combo. The Comet has been inspected for about 20 years here in PA.
Still playing with the carb. Cant see the screw and cam on the passengers side rear of the carb. I believe that screw sets the idle as the choke is closed and opens.

[Sugarmaker]

CC folks,
Not much on the Comet, occasional testing of the carb adjustments. Much better than when we brought it home. I did adjust the center hood spear, and then raised the hood bumpers to align the front hood better. And it opens and closes without snapping like JAWS!
Ordered a bunch of little things to clean up details around the car too. I need to paint the door panels with a black strip where the paint has flaked off. I am guessing this should be a gloss black?
We are going to be busy with maple syrup production for next month. So the Comet and the truck wont get as much attention.

[Sugarmaker]

Comet folks,
Not much here just little things. New tips for sun visors, chrome lock grommets, have the new parking lenses to put in today and a new set of primary wires from battery to solenoid and to starter. new set of Motocraft plug wires. (they were a little longer that they old ones.)
New gaskets for the rear lights when I get the good backup lens for the pass side.
Syrup season is rolling along. Have made 60 gallons of syrup so far.

[Sugarmaker]

CC folks,
Thanks to good friend John Kelley, the new primary cables are on "lil red"! I knew these were marginal but once removed and viewed closer, they were toasty! lots of internal corrosion and poor batery connections. John also installed the new parking light gaskets and lenses from Auto Krafters.
While up in the air I looked at the power steering control valve again. I am a little concerned that it is not working to bring the car back straight after a turn. I found that the lock nut on the end under the cap wont loosen up! Not sure what went wrong but it turns the entire spindle through the valve body. Humm? Does this mean the cross pin fell out of the internal assembly?? So maybe I torqued the lock nut too tight? I know its about 8 inch lbs. But I may have not turned in back 90 degrees??? Any way about ready to tear into it. Not sure how to get it apart without getting the final lock nut off??
Hope things are good in Comet land!
Back to maple syrup production today. My pictures are not uploading properly for some reason?
This is me and greatgrandaughter Chloe. She is going to get a new baby sister in August. We were partying!


The Comet and the 32