Lavron's '64 Build Thread

[lavron]

They are a good company based in Israel.

Well, that is good to know, the cap was actually made in Taiwan not China, I guess that will be one in the same eventually

The name made me think of the ricer stuff I guess and I do see they make a lot of radiator products, hopefully this one will last 55 years and I won't have to worry about it again

See Ya,
Mike

[Joe Travers]

The name made me think of the ricer stuff I guess

Same here. I don't blame the cap failure on manufacturing, more like 'non-use'.
Seals shrunk from the car not being driven much in last few years, from what I can ascertain.

JT

[SASSY]

, hopefully this one will last 55 years and I won't have to worry about it again
See Ya,
Mike

Dont worry,, be happy,,, lol
Fred

[lavron]

Was doing something else today and got a little sidetracked, I was looking for my die grinder and was digging around in the back of the red truck, I decided to get a cover out of there I bought a few years ago at WM in the clearance section, it is a RainX cover and one car listed on the package was a Mercury Comet, well it is way too small to fit, not even sure it would fit on my wife's little Eco-Sport but I only gave like $10 for it, I decided it would cover the roof at least (barely) and keep rain from blowing into the car, for now, it might if it will stay on there



While I was in there I had pulled some of the trim out to avoid bending it, I think I mentioned I had some 404 rear quarter spear panels I bought off eBay a long time ago, they are far from perfect or even very good, I didn't give much for them. My intention is to paint them flat black, they fit right into the 202 spear trim, one is missing a "T" but I think I can just drill the holes for a regular "T" and run nuts on from inside the trunk, certainly won't de-value the parts any.


I also found out the "M" on the other one had been epoxied back on at some point.



I will just try and stick it back down with panel adhesive maybe, it still has one pin intact.

You can see they are full of dings, I tapped some of them back out the best I could but they never will be very good so hopefully, the flat black will hide some of the imperfections.



I sprayed one with aluminum primer on the end just to see if it would stick a couple of years ago, it appears to have, so I will spray them with that and then the black. I want to paint the centers of the letters with red.



A quick question on an unrelated thing, the plate around the shifter (not the boot plate) I need to screw down with some kind of flat-headed fasteners because there is going to be a flat aluminum panel over it eventually, just wondering if anyone has a suggestion for what I could use, an Allen head screw with a tapered head might work (like a wood screw) I want to have the panel removable in case I ever want to remove the current shifter I can do it without dropping the transmission.



I will run some rubber or something between the metal console top and the aluminum so I don't have to worry about any rattles (fewer) I would like to make grooves in the aluminum plate to match the dash but I may just do a brushed look on it, not sure if I could run a plate through the router table with a tiny bit on it and make the grooves, I will have to experiment

See Ya,
Mike

[SASSY]

I like the 404 spears! At one point years ago I was thinking of getting a pair and using them on the inside as part of a custom door panel.
Your ideas for them should add nicely to the car.
Fred

[Joe Travers]

A quick question on an unrelated thing, the plate around the shifter (not the boot plate) I need to screw down with some kind of flat-headed fasteners

Chamfer the holes in the plate w/ an appropriate reamer, install flat-head stainless sheet metal screws?

JT

[power band]

;
for cast small trim parts, body shop grade double sided (3M (sic)) will replace broken pins and keeps it simple . For cast trim 'surrounds' like letters and bigger trim with painted inside parts I found 'paint pens' used for marking parts are handy and come in basic colours.

the trunk lock badge, front fender gills and gunsights etc , pot metal cast parts had mostly corrosion blisters after @ 20 years in a junkyard.

. .

the '61 slowly replacing with better old trim but haven't had anything rechromed except original bumpers. Almost al body line trim is stainless , I mangled a few with the buffer and clays but a little effort can yield nice results.


have fun

[lavron]

How about I talk about the bodywork again and don't actually do anything Hopefully I can get some advice on pulling those body lines straight with a stud gun and slide hammer;

64 Comet Bodywork Prep 2

I would like to get the body line pulled forward some, I realize I will have to use a little filler to perfect it and I am ok with that.

Like I say in the video and I have said before, my current goal is to get windows back in the car before June.

See Ya,
Mike

[Cobraguy]

Mike I did the same repair on my Falcon I used the machine in the attached video it worked great. Since your using a stud style puller it will take longer but the video shows the technique. Start at the ends three or four studs at a time and work towards the center. If you end up with a line of raised nipples at the end use the stud welder without a stud like a spot welder to heat a 1/2" to 3/4" red hot dot then quench with a cold water soaked rag and the nipples will shrink flat or close to it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIWFQ2P19cQ

[poboyjo65]

Mike I did the same repair on my Falcon I used the machine in the attached video it worked great. Since your using a stud style puller it will take longer but the video shows the technique. Start at the ends three or four studs at a time and work towards the center. If you end up with a line of raised nipples at the end use the stud welder without a stud like a spot welder to heat a 1/2" to 3/4" red hot dot then quench with a cold water soaked rag and the nipples will shrink flat or close to it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIWFQ2P19cQ

wow I like that! are they expensive?

[lavron]

wow I like that! are they expensive?

I have seen those before, I think expensive is probably according to the buyer, the $99 HF Stud Gun was expensive to me I think those studless pullers have a separate box like an arc welder or a mig attached to them, if I remember correctly the little wheel thing that welds to the panel is a consumable.

Here is a similar type of unit that is pretty cheap ($260).

https://www.vevor.com/products/panel-sp ... ALEALw_wcB

See Ya,
Mike

[Jims65cyclone]

You could build your own.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIx_RLFy7fQ

Jim

[popscomet]

that homemade one looks good on film....wonder how many cars was built out of the metal from a couple of doors or fenders from a 60's car,,,like the ones shown having a dent pulled.... ...jmo pop

[lavron]

You could build your own.

Well, I got my stud welder Friday so I guess I will just use it I am surprised it is bigger and heavier than I thought it would be and I have 200 studs to use hopefully that will last me a day or two, I have seen some guys have trouble with the slide hammer and modify it to use a vise-grip but I will try it out first before I attempt any modifications, so more to come on that.

Yesterday I went out to give the 250 some exercise, too cold and snowy to drive it so it had to stay in the shed, there are some of my general ramblings in the video about my current focus and plans for right now so if you don't want to see an awesome 250 running and me rambling you might want to skip the video (I stay off-camera this time except my hands and feet)

Weekly exercise of the 250 plus some random stuff

Hopefully, it is a good plan for now. certainly, some of it depends on the weather which this is not the right time of the year to try and do bodywork and paint in an open shed in Missouri

See Ya,
Mike

[Joe Travers]

That's a really cool 6 banger build there, Mike! Was hoping you would wrap her up a little, but that's no biggie. Sounds strong idling for a I6.
Who says Ford parts don't interchange You just proved them wrong. Will be interesting to see the tri-carb setup run. That should work well with your engine

JT