(At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

The Round Body, Finned Comets
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Joe Travers
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Joe Travers »

Great job!

One of these days, you'll be racing the truckers on the 610 Loop! :D

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tomb22
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by tomb22 »

Awesome job Christian. Bet you learned a lot. Keep us posted with school also. We want to know how the rest of the students react to your car. Take care of your self and enjoy your time at school.
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Cris4942
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Cris4942 »

Jims65cyclone wrote:
Wed Sep 08, 2021 11:32 pm
Wow, Cristian! You've done a TON of work since your last post, and it all sounds like it's worked out great. Those pics of your engine bay look sharp. I'm impressed by how much you've learned and taught yourself.

Looking back at your thread, you had talked about rust repairs that you need to do. Any plans in the works for that?

Jim
Hey Jim, I do have some plans to work on the rust soon, but they aren't conclusive as of now. The rust work was meant to be the next item to tackle after the radiator and the electric fan, but ever since I've finished that whole ordeal, my dad has been pushing me to change to disk brakes. My drum brakes work perfectly fine, especially since I recently changed the wheel cylinders on the back, but I also see why my dad may want me to switch to disk brakes soon. I think he's worried my drums won't be able to always be reliant upon sudden traffic stoppage. I know drums will do just fine as long as I take my space and am responsive of the situation, as I recently experienced something in that accord when the left lane on the highway suddenly stopped while I was going 50 because of a crash- I was able to stop in time. Altogether, I don't want him to worry, so it's why I decided to let off the rust work for a second. However, we are moving into the house next door soon and leaving ours to my older brother and his wife soon, and the mailbox in the new house is completely trashed as somebody crashed into it. Hence, my dad wants to replace it with a custom steel one. See where I am going with this?

I'm going to try and convince him to go halfway on a welder, as I am going to need a welder and he's going to need a mailbox. I have a couple of friends willing to help me incase I don't feel confident enough to tackle the mailbox after practicing. Nevertheless, I am looking to solve the rust soon, I promise. Either way, I am planning to get a welder and the equipment within the next upcoming months.

Thanks everyone for the kind words, I did happen to be stuck in a traffic jam while it was 95 degrees, and I did not have to worry one bit. A whole one hour an a half of care free inching. :lol: School is going amazing, and the students sure have a reaction to my Comet- you wouldn't believe how wide their eyes open up and how big their smiles get as I enter the campus. Have a good night!

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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Jims65cyclone »

Sounds like a good deal with your dad on the welder. Win-win! :D

Front drum brakes aren't inherently dangerous, they're just not as efficient as discs. They're susceptible to fading if overheated or if they get extremely wet, like forwarding through a deep puddle. The former can be avoided by not making repeated rapid stops or riding the brakes while going down long steep slopes, like in mountains. (Shouldn't be a problem in your area. :wink: ) Avoid deep puddles if you can, but if you do have to wade through one, just lightly press the brakes for a few seconds a time or two after exiting the puddle while maintaining your speed to dry them out again. The bigger issue with your brake system is that it most likely still has the single bowl "fruit jar" master cylinder instead of a dual bowl MC. If anything goes wrong anywhere in the brake hydraulic system (failure of a wheel cylinder, blown brake hose, etc.), you have NO brakes at all. The dual bowl system separates the front brakes from the rear brakes hydraulically so you still have enough brakes to stop. Also, if your brake hoses are very old they can become brittle and subject to failure. If you install a disc brake conversion kit, it should come with a dual bowl MC and new front brake hoses. If you didn't replace the rear brake hoses, including the main hose that goes to the T on the rear axel, when you replaced the rear wheel cylinders, you should.

If your fellow students ask about your car, and you really want to see their eyes get big, tell them about the stuff you've done to it and plan to do. Most folks your age don't even know where the hood latch release is, let alone how to do the stuff you've done.

Keep up the good work on the car AND at school. And keep us posted on both.

Jim
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Groover
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Groover »

for the record, I agree with Jim above. We still have drum breaks and I have never had any issues or concern about stopping safely. The dual bowl master cylinder would be a much better safety improvement than disk breaks in my opinion. However, from what I could see in the photos, the rust looks to be a bigger safety issue than both of those. If your rear leaf spring detaches itself while driving, that seems bad.

I'd start with the welder ;)
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351 Pinto
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by 351 Pinto »

I haven't followed the whole thread, but I see you are discussing brakes. Coincidentally, I will soon have a complete "Granada" brake set and the original 63 steering bits off my car. It all works perfectly, I am just "upgrading". The car stops straight and the steering is tight.

I would be willing to donate it all to your project, Cristian, if you decide you want to go with discs. Are you anywhere near Indiana?

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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Cris4942 »

351 Pinto wrote:
Thu Sep 30, 2021 9:06 am
I haven't followed the whole thread, but I see you are discussing brakes. Coincidentally, I will soon have a complete "Granada" brake set and the original 63 steering bits off my car. It all works perfectly, I am just "upgrading". The car stops straight and the steering is tight.

I would be willing to donate it all to your project, Cristian, if you decide you want to go with discs. Are you anywhere near Indiana?
Hi Pinto! Sorry for the late response, I've been working on my finals and major works; I'm not near Indiana but am willing to pay for shipping costs if you still have the parts. I will PM You.

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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Cris4942 »

Now to my normal rant...

I cannot get the brakes to work properly for the life of me. A while back, me and my dad decided to somewhat revamp my brake system since the brake pads were worn out. So we also changed the rotors (I found no place that would turn them), and maintained most of the hardware. Now, the brakes locked up on me. Admittedly, I used the wrong lubricant on the occasion, which caused my back plates to be indented and for the pads to catch to the back plate. Now, after sanding, the brakes seemed to work perfect, but at 50+ high speeds my car gets slight shudder in all areas- so knowingly, I made sure the brakes werent too hot, and let them cool down. Now more recently, I noticed the brakes getting more stiffer, soI am assuming that the brakes are slowly closing in without me realizing. I haven't opened them up to make a real visualization but maybe they are catching again on the backplate indentation? I am not sure, but it is frustrating

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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by SASSY »

Sounds like a master cylinder not releasing
if the springs on the drums are good.
Do the calipers slide easy?
I'd rather do it myself if it's done right or not,,,isn't that what hotrodding is all about

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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Jims65cyclone »

I'm confused, Cristian. You mention rotors and brake pads, but you also mention the pads hanging on the backing plate. Do you have disc or drum brakes on the car? :? What exactly did you and your dad do on this brake job?

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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Cris4942 »

Sorry for the confusion, I decided to redo the drum brakes.

I test drove it again and sure enough they were stiff, and heated up after going around the neighborhood, close to locking up on me again. I am not unmotivated by an6y means, but it is hard. I've been trying to fix this issue for a while now.

I read that slight shudder could simply mean that the brakes are breaking in, so maybe I was too tough on them by driving in the freeway. I think I will open them up and check what position they are in. if they seem not to get stuck, I will probably just reclose them and try again.

Im seriously considering just transferring over to disk brakes. However, I will not stop until I am able to diagnose the issue to its full extent before I change over, testing them out. I am becoming a mechanic, I want to know what I am doing wrong.

Cris4942
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Cris4942 »

Sorry for the confusion, I decided to redo the drum brakes.

I test drove it again and sure enough they were stiff, and heated up after going around the neighborhood, close to locking up on me again. I am not unmotivated by an6y means, but it is hard. I've been trying to fix this issue for a while now.

I read that slight shudder could simply mean that the brakes are breaking in, so maybe I was too tough on them by driving in the freeway. I think I will open them up and check what position they are in. if they seem not to get stuck, I will probably just reclose them and try again.

Im seriously considering just transferring over to disk brakes. However, I will not stop until I am able to diagnose the issue to its full extent before I change over, testing them out. I am becoming a mechanic, I want to know what I am doing wrong.

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poboyjo65
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by poboyjo65 »

Cris4942 wrote:
Sun Jan 02, 2022 5:20 pm
Sorry for the confusion, I decided to redo the drum brakes.

I test drove it again and sure enough they were stiff, and heated up after going around the neighborhood, close to locking up on me again. I am not unmotivated by an6y means, but it is hard. I've been trying to fix this issue for a while now.

I read that slight shudder could simply mean that the brakes are breaking in, so maybe I was too tough on them by driving in the freeway. I think I will open them up and check what position they are in. if they seem not to get stuck, I will probably just reclose them and try again.

Im seriously considering just transferring over to disk brakes. However, I will not stop until I am able to diagnose the issue to its full extent before I change over, testing them out. I am becoming a mechanic, I want to know what I am doing wrong.
Have you changed the rubber brake hoses? if not that is probably what is wrong.when they get old they swell in making the inside passage too constricting, & will cause brakes to drag & hang up. if they look old they are! lol
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Cris4942
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Cris4942 »

poboyjo65 wrote:
Sun Jan 02, 2022 5:45 pm
Cris4942 wrote:
Sun Jan 02, 2022 5:20 pm
Sorry for the confusion, I decided to redo the drum brakes.

I test drove it again and sure enough they were stiff, and heated up after going around the neighborhood, close to locking up on me again. I am not unmotivated by an6y means, but it is hard. I've been trying to fix this issue for a while now.

I read that slight shudder could simply mean that the brakes are breaking in, so maybe I was too tough on them by driving in the freeway. I think I will open them up and check what position they are in. if they seem not to get stuck, I will probably just reclose them and try again.

Im seriously considering just transferring over to disk brakes. However, I will not stop until I am able to diagnose the issue to its full extent before I change over, testing them out. I am becoming a mechanic, I want to know what I am doing wrong.
Have you changed the rubber brake hoses? if not that is probably what is wrong.when they get old they swell in making the inside passage too constricting, & will cause brakes to drag & hang up. if they look old they are! lol
Yup, I also changed the wheel cylinders (precaution) and the master cylinder(it went out)

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Joe Travers
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Joe Travers »

A hard chatter and stiff pedal together usually mean the linings are glazed over a bit.
Might help just to scuff up the linings a little if they're new. I'd scuff the drum surface as well while you have them off.

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