COMET CENTRAL

Ok, here goes nothing. Figured I'd go ahead and start a thread while I get my thoughts together on a plan. I've looked for one of these for a LONG time (I'm convinced they're the second best looking Ford ever made) and built my 65 Falcon after giving up the search. Life happens and the Falcon left, but wouldn't you know I'd stumble on this old girl a few years later! Poetic.

The car does have its share of issues, but not too bad. Floor pans are a definite, but torque boxes, frame rails, trunk lip, and rockers are all solid as they were in 65. Bottom doors and lower quarters need a little attention, but nothing ridiculous. The roof looks ok, but there's some ominous silicone caulk on some parts so we'll just have to see on those.

So plans for this car? Not 100% yet. I spent years on my Falcon project in bodywork and I'm comfortable with it, just not sure if I want to go down that road. Right off the bat, I think I'll do the rust repair and see how I feel after that. I think a little patina, fresh weatherstripping, interior, and drivetrain would be cool and save time.

Suspension is still a question; I'm leaning towards a 65 stock- style setup up front, possibly with coilovers. Chris Alston Chassiworks has a good looking design, but we'll see. Out back I'll ditch the 8" for a 9," probably move the leaf springs in and run monoleafs with Caltracs. Possibly a mini- tub, but at least remove the bump stops.

Engine / trans will be manual trans with a small block. I've built a few in the past that were mean enough, but I think a roller 331 set on full kill, EFI, etc. would be RIGHT. I've used Edelbrocks pro-flow on another project, so I may go that way. I'm kicking around maybe a "Clevor" fake boss 302, possibly a 351w stroker, who knows. I'll probably have to build headers either way, so we'll see.

Trans either toploader or TKX; I used one in my 53 Che#vy and think it'll fit, so we'll see there also.

All in all, happy to get started. Picked it up on a horribly rainy day, so cleaned it up and got it inside. It's a little crowded right now, but we'll make room quick.

So - time to get started! Thanks for looking -

Dan

Will enjoy following!
Like the fake Boss idea!

I put the Street or Track coil over front suspension in my 65 Cyclone along with their adjustable front strut rods. Very good setup and the guy lives not too far from me so I just went to his house to pick it all up. I have the same setup in my 66 Mustang. Put the Mustang suspension in back in 2008, the Cyclone around 2015ish. Both have held up well. I am sure the one you referenced is good too. A member on here used to work at Detroit Speed and has there front suspension on his 65 4 door.
https://streetortrack.com/suspension/fr ... ver-system

That's a good looking setup and hits the main points for me just like the Chassiworks setup; (1) not a M2, (2) stock towers, (3) coilovers, (4) good adjustable strut rods and (5) LCA camber kit. Nothing against the M2 suspension, just personally don't like the idea of removing the towers. Thanks for the tip!

Dan

I don't know the current price of some pieces but the canted-valve head route is.....Boss
I guess it all hinges around what you want to do with the car. That's a never ending dilemma in itself, sometimes.
I'm dealing with bass ackwards at the moment.

Joe

Joe Travers wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 03, 2023 8:57 pm

I don't know the current price of some pieces but the canted-valve head route is.....Boss
I guess it all hinges around what you want to do with the car. That's a never ending dilemma in itself, sometimes.
I'm dealing with bass ackwards at the moment.

Joe

I'm definitely weighing the Cleveland- headed small block. The only issue is I'm wanting to run fuel injection, and partial to Edelbrocks pro-flow setup (it's ran flawlessly on my 53 not-a-comet). Sure, there's the throttle body setups, but I'd rather run the multi port, so I'm torn. I guess a fella could tig injector bosses into a Clevor intake? Lots of possibilities, but gut says I'll probably end up trying to get 500ish HP out of a 331 instead. Plenty of time to research.

On a different note - anyone here test- fitted a TKX in one of our cars?

Thanks for looking-

Dan

The Cleveland headed small block is a tight but it will fit. When I first had the Boss 302 in mine with stock shock towers the plugs were very difficult to access and the header install was not easy. After sectioning the shock towers both of those issues are gone, although my headers are six piece which makes installation easier.
Jim

bigdan wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 03, 2023 8:30 pm

That's a good looking setup and hits the main points for me just like the Chassiworks setup; (1) not a M2, (2) stock towers, (3) coilovers, (4) good adjustable strut rods and (5) LCA camber kit. Nothing against the M2 suspension, just personally don't like the idea of removing the towers. Thanks for the tip!

Dan

I installed adjustable Vikings coil over shocks in my 65 and I'm very pleased with the results. Bolt right in place of the exiting shocks and I loved the height adjustment ability.
Tom

Welcome back Dan! That’s a good looking machine cant wait to see it done!

Joe

Thanks for the welcome, fellas. Slowly putting a plan together, should start rust repair soon. It's amazing how much support (mainly drivetrain and sheetmetal) these cars have just in the last 5-10 years!

Dan

OK - Question for the brain trust - what do we think our unibody (hardtop) cars can handle (HP) with subframe connectors (tied into the rockers, but all under the floor) and no cage? Planning on factory- style front suspension, probably Caltracs and leafs out back - nice and simple.

Thoughts? Thanks-

Dan

That would depend on how it's applied
Street tires or slicks
Manual or auto
Racing or street use?
I ran a 351C, 4 speed 456 rear gear on wrinkles with 0 strengthening to the car but it shook it pretty good on 4-5k launches at the track.
I don't think street tires with an auto or stick would hurt it.

SASSY wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 14, 2023 1:14 pm

That would depend on how it's applied
Street tires or slicks
Manual or auto
Racing or street use?
I ran a 351C, 4 speed 456 rear gear on wrinkles with 0 strengthening to the car but it shook it pretty good on 4-5k launches at the track.
I don't think street tires with an auto or stick would hurt it.

No track, just stoplights! So street/ 100% stick shift with street tires. I would think SFC's would suffice up to or above 450ish if that's the case.

Why? I've been noticing good SBF cores are a little harder to find, so a little internet investigating shows new short block prices fairly even across the board. Sooooooo if a 331 and a 427 are close on cost, why not go 427!? It'll just mean building a set of headers, but no issue there. Just plotting right now, but getting more serious every day.....

Dan

It will also mean shaving the shock towers.

Jim

1000hp with minor twisting
Just don't hook up!

Joe