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

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

Post by lavron »

Cris4942 wrote:
Tue Jul 21, 2020 11:51 pm
All 4 fuses are intact, even thought it seems like there’s a slot for one more fuse?
There may be a slot for a spare fuse that won't have any wires attached to it, my radio slot was empty on mine as well because there has never been a radio in my Comet (and I guess there never will be) I can look on my old box and see what is there but I am replacing the whole harness and decided to forgo even having anything like the original so I have blade fuses under the hood so I don't have to lay on my back to try and change out fuses (it sucks getting old)

See Ya,
Mike
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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 »

Hmm... don't rule out that new foot dimmer switch. Seems to me the entire headlight current goes through that switch and back to the lights. Seems once I lost all my headlights (dims and brights) and had to keep pressing my foot against that switch to keep them on. You may have a bad switch or may have wired it incorrectly?

Of course the main light switch is as complicated as the wiring on the lunar lander, so there's a good chance that a wire is misplaced or a ground isn't making contact, etc.

Do you have the wiring diagram. It's in that 64 manual online. Can't guarantee that is correct for 62 but I suspect it is in this case.
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Cris4942 »

Hehe.. so I’ve been investigating how the wiring system works a little better and have direction on what I’m going to do.

From the dimmer switch I’ll check if the click changes the terminal which it most likely does, and if so I’ll figure out which one is for the high beams with the use of a multimeter. Afterwards I’ll check the connections between switch and the output of the harness. If nothing seems out of place I’ll have to go through the wiring harness. And if it so happens that I need rewire quite a bit, i think I’ll do a fuse box how mike mentioned cause although I am young, my back do be hurting. Also I might set up relays for the lights to better lighting and safety. Probably something that’s not really necessary but it’s nice to learn and just try things out.

Might do it tomorrow, also I’m taking my braces off tomorrow! No correlation but I just wanted to say. In the meanwhile I’ll be playing ball with my brother . Love y’all!

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

Post by tomb22 »

Good to see your not afraid to jump in and try to figure it out. I would suggest getting a 12 volt light tester. There cheap and work really well. It's a hand held needle with a 12 volt bulb in it that's connected to a wire with a alligator clip. You clip the alligator clip to bear metal that's part of the car and then you can probe with the needle. When the light lights you have 12 volts at that point. Easy to test switches, wires and sockets. Just make sure the alligator clip is connected to a good ground. :D
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by lavron »

tomb22 wrote:
Wed Jul 22, 2020 10:03 pm
I would suggest getting a 12 volt light tester.
I agree 100% with that, that is my go-to thing to test circuits, after using it I will go to something fancier if I need too.

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

Post by Jims65cyclone »

Hey Cristian...here's a link to a thread on adding headlight relays. Ron Sheeder included a schematic of how to wire it up. Sadly, Ron is no longer with us, but he left us a lot of good advice in his threads. Good luck!
https://www.cometcentral.com/forum/view ... =9&t=13793

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

Post by Cris4942 »

Hey guys I’ve been looking over the post and I will go over everything later but right now I want to express how much of moronic thing that I have done. I forgot to disconnect the battery while testing some of the connections and shorted a wire between the cable that supplies power to the dimmer switch. I feel dumb but at the same time kinda alright I’ll have to check throughly everything even more

Also a question, are all four lights supposed to turn on at once?I thought they were supposed to interchange between terminals

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

Post by Cris4942 »

I’m back, if not wrong according to my dad. If one of the lights don’t work, the other doesn’t either? Well one of my lights got shorted so hopefully it’s just that. I have to get some replacements to fully check it out. And if it’s not that, then I am for sure just going to rewire the whole front lights system and add relays, and while I’m at it, I’ll set up a fuse box on the drivers side kick panel. Which it’s okay since I’m getting some work in the next day after tomorrow. The whole wiring is a mess anyway so at least this way I’ll know the car like the back of my hand.

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

Post by poboyjo65 »

Most 16 years are in their bedroom playing games so in my eyes you look pretty smart teaching yourself how to fix these old cars. so that dumb feeling you get will sink in deep to help you in the future. so dont kick yourself too hard. :)

Yes all four should burn on bright, but only 2 burn on dim.
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by lavron »

I bought a 4 light headlight harness with ceramic sockets and two relays installed, it just plugs into one of the high beam plugs (I will probably switch the plug out on mine) it must have been a good price or I would not have bought it I would imagine.

Basically it just uses all the existing wiring in your car and replaces everything in front, I haven't got that far in my build so I can say how well it works yet.

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

Post by Jims65cyclone »

The only dumb mistake is the one you don't learn anything from. I bet the next time you do any wiring on your car, the first thing you'll do is disconnect the battery. That's a win. :wink:

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

Post by poboyjo65 »

lavron wrote:
Thu Jul 23, 2020 7:18 pm
I bought a 4 light headlight harness with ceramic sockets and two relays installed, it just plugs into one of the high beam plugs (I will probably switch the plug out on mine) it must have been a good price or I would not have bought it I would imagine.

Basically it just uses all the existing wiring in your car and replaces everything in front, I haven't got that far in my build so I can say how well it works yet.

See Ya,
Mike
Mike I've been thinking about getting 2 of these cheap relay kits & use half of each kit to wire them so that all 4 burn on dim & all four on bright. so it would be an add on without cutting any of the original wiring with no splices in the new or the old wires,plug n play.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/H4-9003-12V-4- ... 1438.l2649

I 've also had this set of headlights book marked too, & is the reason I wanted to get the relay kit above,but I was going to contact the seller & see if I could get all four lights that are high & low (3prong) because the specs says 2 of them are high only.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/5-3-4-Halogen- ... 1438.l2649

Cris after you fix your problem a relay kit would take the load off the switch & the dimmer, & may keep this from happening again. I had an old 4 wheel drive & the lights might go out in a curve or what ever,,it was scary. someone finally told me it was because I had put new halogens in it which drew more power or something. So after I put a relay kit on it- it was cured. After you get your problem fixed this may be something to think about ,run it by your dad & see what he thinks. Where are you located?
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by lavron »

poboyjo65 wrote:
Thu Jul 23, 2020 9:53 pm
Mike I've been thinking about getting 2 of these cheap relay kits & use half of each kit to wire them so that all 4 burn on dim & all four on bright. so it would be an add on without cutting any of the original wiring with no splices in the new or the old wires,plug n play.
That is the one I have. Of course, I have no original wiring to worry about :roll: It is a pretty good idea just using one of the existing plugs, I guess you would leave all your old wiring in there disconnected in case you ever wanted to go back to original.

I think the appeal for me was the ceramic plugs are supposed to not melt with halogens, I am wanting to try and go LED headlights but I too found a set of halogens that I could convert to LED later, still waiting to buy those. I think it is the same set bookmarked as you.

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

Post by poboyjo65 »

lavron wrote:
Thu Jul 23, 2020 10:13 pm
poboyjo65 wrote:
Thu Jul 23, 2020 9:53 pm
Mike I've been thinking about getting 2 of these cheap relay kits & use half of each kit to wire them so that all 4 burn on dim & all four on bright. so it would be an add on without cutting any of the original wiring with no splices in the new or the old wires,plug n play.
I guess you would leave all your old wiring in there disconnected in case you ever wanted to go back to original.

See Ya,
Mike
The one I got for the truck uses the old wiring,;the connector that you push on your headlights just plugs into to a connector on the new & still receives power as a signal,but only to turn the relays on & the relays have a power wire to the bat for the load. I assume these are the same.
yea I liked that set of lights because of the factory look
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Cris4942 »

I’m back, quite upset a little actually. Was ready to drive today when I hear my tires squeak and just like I had previously thought, the car has too much positive camber. I assume I installed lower control arm wrong. Which I’m not sure how. I put the wheels on and dropped the car before torquing it down. Please someone help me out with it

As to the light set up, I’ve got it all set up but need to figure out where to include the dimmer switch

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