Building my 65 Comet

[saSSoman8810]

Not much time to work on the car. I work at a golf course and we are trying to get ready for spring.
Yes it's getting close to spring here in Tn. Supposed to be in the 70's next week. Reminds of why I never went home after getting out of the army.
I grew up in the U.P. of Michigan where summer was one bad month of ice fishing.
I did get the lower quarter panel patch tacked into place yesterday. Didn't get it attached to the inner panel yet. Still have a hole to repair .
Should be able to get it completed by the weekend and hopefully have enough warm weather to shoot some DTM primer on the whole back end of the car and the one front fender I have stripped. Then I can use some body filler to get the final work done . I only use fiberglass reinforced filer over bare metal because it's waterproof. This car had water damage under the filler that was put on over bare metal from past repairs.
If you see bubbles in your paint ,there's a good chance water got under your filler and as the rust grows it pushes the filler away from the parent metal.

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I am not a body man by any stretch of the imagination, but I get it done the best I can. I have been around some very good body and paint people in the past and they showed me and explained to me how to do some things. I hate body work. I like metal work.
I worked with one off the best painters I have ever seen and he refused to do body work.

[Groover]

Never apologize for your best effort... at least when your saving a Comet Nice work.

[Caveman49]

Yeah it’s getting much warmer here in Alabama, I’m hoping to get back on the body of our 66. I hear you on the body work, but whenever I do anything on an old ride, it’s more enjoyable for me, I call it my therapy. Turn the tunes on, make sure the beer frig has some beverages and have at it…
Lou (one of the members here, along with Jim and several others) has really helped me with understanding paint and body, and gave some excellent write-ups on this topic.
I spray epoxy primer on after any metal work and before using filler. I did put filler over metal on the hood of our 66, but removed it to try and work some metal, and I’ll prime it when I get it close, then skim it.
Years back all I knew was make it look good, slap the mud on
All the best with your build.

[saSSoman8810]

Have you guys bought welding gas lately? I got a shock yesterday when I went to my local AirGas store. Usually 75/25 mig gas is $68 a bottle.
Well it went to $109 in 2 days. This will mean I will be using shielded wire for body panels as much as I hate the slag and that means changing the polarity of my welder. Then when I do structural welding I have to change the welder back over to gas and change the wire.
I guess I will just buy a small shielded wire welder just for welding body panels.
I just took in a 59 F100 to do a Crown Victoria frame swap and that's a lot of welding and a lot of gas. Looks like my shop rate will have to go up .
I am too old to quit working and just go play golf. I don't like half of the people i play golf with because they can't talk about cars.
Sorry about the rant . I bitched when I had to stop using a torch to weld because of plastic coat hangers

[Caveman49]

I’m sure you have waaaay more experience at welding than I do, it’s really only been a couple years for me using a welder. I do have, and did start with a cheaper shielded wire machine and then purchased a migmax 215 from HF, seems like a pretty good unit. I’m using a smaller bottle, bought it outright, and the last exchange was probably a year or so ago, I think it was around $38, or something close to that. I was preparing to weld some quarter panels, put some .023 in and then sold the car(s), barely used that wire.

Well most of my welding now will be more for heavier metal, so I gotta swap it back to my .030 or .035 (can’t remember which one I have) next time I break it out.

I don’t golf, caddied when I was a youngster (back in the sixties) never had much interest in chasing a little ball around, Lord knows that’s what I’d be doing only caddied for the monies….

All the best with your project.

[saSSoman8810]

I was looking online this morning and Harbor Freight has a Titanium 125 flux core machine for 149 and it has good reviews.
Probably go with that so I don't have to convert my Hobart over to flux core.
I do have a tig machine with a thumb trigger which comes in handy when you are trying weld in awkward positions.
Trouble is the gas situation and my new shop is not wired yet for 220 so I have to run it off my generator until I get my electrician friend over here to run a 220 dedicated circuit.
I will need that soon so I can start bending bars for my 8 point cage and bars to brace the front frame rails. Plus I am making gussets for the dropped axle to keep it from bending should this thing have a tendency to do wheel stands with slicks.

[bigdan]

Have you checked Holston Gas for 75/25? We use Airgas at work and I've noticed quite a bit of difference between them and Holston. Looks like you're making good progress though.

Dan

[saSSoman8810]

Thanks Dan. Since I own my bottle I can go anywhere. I will check with them.
Getting ready to install my sliders and rear end. Need to take a break from body work. It's mind numbing. I may just rough it in and have a friend come over and finish it. That's why I had a guy work for me in Florida. He could work on a panel as long as it took to make it perfect.
He would walk around behind my shop and take a few tokes on a doobie and come back in and sit on a roller stool for hours and block sand.
Since I don't partake in that I guess my patience is not as good.

[Sugarmaker]

saSSoman8810,
Nice work on your repairs. I have a small portion of those skills but not planning to get into anything like your doing. Thanks for the great pictures of your work. You are going to inspire others to keep these old machines on the road!

[saSSoman8810]

Thanks for the compliments. I learned by necessity. I was too poor to hire it done when I was growing up so I learned by doing.
I had my first welding helmet and jacket when I was in the 9th grade. I had been sneaking into my dad's shop when he was at work building reversed wheels for the neighbor kids cars. He caught me in there and said you think you can weld ? Here go weld up the frame on a log truck that some logger had brought to be repaired. he said if you can weld overhead then you can weld anywhere. He bought my welding jacket and hood.
Next thing I was building water pipe roll bars in dirt track cars. We would pack the pipe full of sand and heat the pipe with a torch and bend the pipe between 2 trees.
If that's your red Comet in the picture that's a beautiful car. I hope mine turns out that nice.

[saSSoman8810]

Got some new toys for the Comet. Just need to put some rebuild kits in the carbs and change the funnel web for the tunnel ram after I port match the
runners.

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By the way do you like my restored desk I found in a junk shop.

[Sugarmaker]

saSSoman8810,
Yes the 'lil red' Comet is ours. I Like welding and light fab work. I am not good at much of anything so I just stick stuff together. Body work, not my thing I can do a little of it but not something I desire to do every day. I do have a tractor project that I will be working on this year. I like working on tractors, mostly old orange ones, that need what I call a Clean, Refurb, and Paint! The tractors don't have to be as nice as a show car!
Here are a couple that needed a lot of time and tears:


My other truck toy, which is done. Won't get painted as long as I own it.


I do like your desk! The old refinished wood is wonderful! I get into a little bit of wood working too, again just dabbling in various things. We are similar in age, I just turned 72 in Jan. My wife bought me the Caliente for a Christmas gift in 2023! I think I will keep her. After being married for 52 years it seems like the thing to do! I think I told her something similar that this would be the last old car I buy too!:)
Looking forward to your work on your Comet too. Keep those pictures coming! By the way your sheet metal repairs look very good! You have good skills!

[saSSoman8810]

Got an idea of the stance by taking it down off the jack stands. Didn't want a nose bleed gasser or a street freak.
Had to move the car over to make room for a paying customer's 59 F100. Frame off paint job ,chassis updates and Coyote motor swap.

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[Jims65cyclone]

If you have the time to fool with it, it would be cool if you started another thread on the truck build in the All in the Family section. It would be interesting to see what you do with that one.

Jim

[saSSoman8810]

Start disassembly of the F100 on Sunday. Going to see the southeast gassers today at Brainerd.