My ‘65 Comet 5.0 Build

[65’Comet5.0]

Growing up I was always die heart Chevy but when it came time to buy a project car soon as I saw my ‘65 I had to have it. Growing up going to races all over the north east I can’t recall having ever seen one so that appealed to me big time. I love how uncommon these cars are and knowing locally at any show there won’t be another. The one I found was a great starting point it’s not 100% perfect but the biggest thing is it’s rust free. Immediately I began coming up with a list of upgrade for it.

IMG_2995.jpeg (144.77 KiB) Viewed 671 times

This is the day I got it home, first thing it needed was a proper home and a shop for me to work on it in so I began construction of a 20x40 garage shortly after,

IMG_2049.jpeg (95.2 KiB) Viewed 671 times

IMG_2048.jpeg (96.14 KiB) Viewed 671 times

First round of mods was to replace all of the rear suspension, For that I went with Calvert racing 1” drop split mono leaf springs, caltracs, and adj shocks.

IMG_2067.jpeg (46.73 KiB) Viewed 671 times

Install went smooth and while all apart I figured perfect time to upgrade the rear drum brakes to disc so I ordered up a conversion kit from leed,

IMG_2068.jpeg (47.29 KiB) Viewed 671 times

Here the car is all back together,

IMG_2070.jpeg (100.1 KiB) Viewed 671 times

IMG_2069.jpeg (98.2 KiB) Viewed 671 times

Next up was the front suspension, For this I went with Detroit speeds front suspension system.

IMG_2073.jpeg (102.27 KiB) Viewed 671 times

This system consists of their one piece lower control arms, coil over shocks, 1-1/8” front sway bar. Everything went together with no major issues. I did have to slightly adj the transmission cooler lights to fit under the much larger sway bar.

IMG_2071.jpeg (89.37 KiB) Viewed 671 times

I was then able to adj the front end down to get the car sitting level again,

IMG_2072.jpeg (96.86 KiB) Viewed 671 times

Next round of mods will begin shortly, I’ve got a flaming rivers manual rack and pinion conversion here waiting to go in. I have new wheels being delivered tomorrow (fingers crossed they fit). Once the steering is done then it’s off to the chassis shop to have a set of global west tubular sub frame connectors welded in and then off to the alignment shop.

[poboyjo65]

All looks great! Nice stance!

[Caveman49]

Very nice, shop and car! Welcome

[Jims65cyclone]

Welcome aboard! Great looking car and shop.

Jim

[65’Comet5.0]

Thank you, Have been learning a lot from this site.

The rack and pinion came in from flaming rivers. Only to find out they don’t supply make or provide any of the parts needed to make it work with the factory column. Due to this I decided to return it and I’m going to just replace all the stock steering linkage and save myself a lot of time money and work.

New wheels came in for the car, I love how they look on it. Just need to find all black center caps. Fronts are a 15x7 4” bs, rear wheels are a 15x8 4.5”bs. Unfortunately the rear wheels aren’t going to fit so now I have to cut down the rear housing or locate a maverick 8” housing. With the current 15x7 4.25” bs wheels and 225/60r15 tires on the rear I only have about 5/8 clearance between the outer fender and tire but have quite a bit of room on the inner fender side so need to center the wheels up to clear better.

IMG_3756.jpeg (97.9 KiB) Viewed 607 times

[65’Comet5.0]

On the ground with the new wheels installed,

IMG_3762.jpeg (130.25 KiB) Viewed 560 times

Wednesday the new rear wheels will be here with the correct backspace to hopefully not have to modify the rear other than installing longer wheel studs.

[65’Comet5.0]

Rear wheels arrived and are mounted. They are a 15x8 with 5.5”bs. Have about a half inch of room between the tire and leaf spring. Tires are a 225/60r15 all the way around.

IMG_2075.jpeg (64.98 KiB) Viewed 501 times

Car looks so much better now,

IMG_2074.jpeg (103.48 KiB) Viewed 501 times

[65’Comet5.0]

Have a lot of updates in the works for the car,

Had to replace the master cylinder and proportioning valve, previous owner had the old one plumbed in backwards and while bleeding the brakes we also noticed quite a bit of rust in it and was getting a lot of trash out of the lines so figured it was best to just replace it and fully flush the lines.

I’m also going to be installing a Holley terminator x efi system with their 5” digital dash screen. I also have an adj fuel regulator and a aeromotive 340lph stealth fuel pump coming. I’m removing the belt driven fan off the 5.0 and swapping it to an electric. Last but not least I have a vortech v3 sci super charger kit ordered. It won’t ship til probably end of next month. With the stock motor it’ll be set at 5-6lb of boost but once it’s in and running I’ll start gathering parts to build a new motor that can handle much more. End goal is to be in the 550whp range with it.

[SASSY]

Please post as you go! Very interesting!!

[65’Comet5.0]

Please post as you go! Very interesting!!

Will definitely keep this thread updated as the build progresses. I’m very excited to get started on it, I’ve always wanted to build a super charged car.

[65’Comet5.0]

Getting closer to starting on this,

73560272008__C613091D-EC8A-4AD6-962C-ED749073A946.fullsizerender.jpeg (80.61 KiB) Viewed 71 times

IMG_3875.jpeg (57.31 KiB) Viewed 71 times

IMG_3878.jpeg (50.8 KiB) Viewed 71 times

IMG_3879.jpeg (69.6 KiB) Viewed 71 times