COMET CENTRAL

I think I have lost my mind...

The short version is that my father in law has a good friend that owned a 1962 Comet for 15 years. My guess about 10 years ago he took it to a body shop to change the paint to red and also do a 302 V8 swap with C4 Transmission. He also swapped the original suspension (front and back) from a 1965 Mustang. I think time and money got away from him so I am now the proud owner of that 1962 Comet. See pics below. Its missing some bits and pieces and the bumpers which I will get to in a minute. I have ordered several parts from ebay and been searching all hours of the night for parts and ideas for this build. I want to build a cruiser so I don't plan to lower it and I just want it to drive good and look as good as it can given my limited budget and the work that has been done already. So I start with the fondest of hopes that this Comet will be back on the road again. We shall see.

So just got back from a long day. I found a 63 Comet Wagon in Lynchburg that was basically junk but it was complete and had the badges, bumpers (rate a 5 out of 10). I convinced my father in law to ride with me and we drove about 160 miles each way to drag it home. The crazy part is what once was sitting in basically a junkyard is now sitting in my driveway. There is not much there but the bumpers were pretty good and the grill is pretty good ( 6 of 10) and it has the radio and some other bits and pieces on the dash and doors that I need. It took a good bit of the afternoon to get the bumpers off and some of the other emblems. I promised my neighbors that I would have it here just a few more days and then she is off to the scrap yard.

So with a little bit of editing with Paint, this is my plan:

That is gonna look great. Keep as much trim and stuff off the wagon. The stuff is hard to find and once in a while there is someone looking for that stuff.

Nice Comet. Thanks for the advice. Will do.

That will be a great looking cruiser when you're through. Like Boss said, there's probably a lot of good stuff on that wagon that someone who's doing to a wagon what you're doing to your car would love to get their hands on. I'd take what you need, then advertise it as a parts car. Might be just what someone needing 63 wagon body panels is looking for. Looking forward to following your build.

Jim

That's a very nice looking car. Love the color.
tom

Just a quick update. Engine and transmission are now installed using V8 Conversion brackets. Front bumper installed and starting to look like a car. Also welded in a patch panel in the floor so I installed carpet. Worked on windows too this weekend and I need some new window channel tape as the one that I have has lost its stickyness. I bought a windshield and waiting for it to be shipped by freight. A couple of pics.

Wow moving right along, it is looking good.

See Ya,
Mike

Lookin' good!

Jim

Yes it's looking great! Those torque thrusts will look awesome !

Hey Darryl,
Good to see another 62 on the forum, did you end up using the 3 piece conversion mounts? Im curious as to how well they work, i fought the set of single bushing mounts i got from Total Control Products for the better part of 2 days and it still seems like it might be in at a tweaked angle side to side. But it sounds like your mount was a breeze. Keep on Keeping on the progress is coming fast!

looks great !! right choice on whls and color....pop

Thanks for the words of encouragement. The motor mounts came from Amazon (Ecklers) and it has 3 pieces per side. No hardware so I made a run to Home Depot to get some 3/8 inch Grade 8 bolts Qty 6 for the main body/frame supports and then some nuts and washers for the connections between motor mount and the L shaped support bracket. It took about 3 hours to get it in but I had already removed the other mounts which didnt fit correctly. I installed the body mounts first, then the engine mounts and then the L shaped brackets but kept them loose. Me and a buddy with an engine hoist fiddled with it for about an hour and then dropped it in. I thought the kit was well put together and its all torqued down and I would recommend it. The C4 bell housing has about a dirt dobbers nest of clearance (I keep finding them in various locations on this car). I did have to remove the drive shaft and the transmission crossmember so we could tilt it while installation. Its a tight fit but I think it was pretty straight forward.

List of items below (couldn't find my HD receipt) :

MAC's Auto Parts 42-78573 V8 Conversion Qty 1
3/8 inch Grade 8 Bolts (3.5 inches long) with nuts,flat and lock washers Qty 6
Fine thread nuts (and washers) for the L-shaped bracket- I think 7/16 Qty 2
Coarse thread nuts (and washers) for the engine mount studs - I think 7/16 Qty 2

I hope that helps.

I appreciate the response, i was going to use those originally but was worried about the strength of the L bracket specifically, but depending on how the current setup works in the car i might be converting to those anyway