1965 Comet Caliente (little red)

[Jims65cyclone]

Do you guys like these headlight covers? I am not sure on them?

My vote is to lose them. Makes it look kinda droopy-eyed or sleepy to me, IMHO.

Jim

[poboyjo65]

I'd have to get a pic with the lights off,,a pic at night with lights on ,(on a full moon night ) & study all 3 pics before I could make my mind up. I have been looking for some of those that I had & haven't found them them yet. didnt think I'd ever need them...

the pic of it in the garage with head lights off I think looks pretty cool,kinda like the whole head light is chrome at first quick glance.

[Sugarmaker]

Jim, johno, Comet folks,
The headlight covers have some sort of cool factor, that would seem to be discouraged by PA state police?? they need something to do.
Kind of like our 1969 AMC that had shackles and the back end raised up. They did not like that!
On that note try finding a 69 rambler they are like hens teeth. Mainly because nobody wanted them and you could hear them rust. I did see a Scrambler on Facebook marketplace for around 50k! Yikes!
Anyway on the Comet, I think I like the rear end design and look of these about the best. I see a lot of pictures from that angle too!
I think it is the Comet tail light design extended across the width of the back that trips my trigger.
Carb and seats refurb will be coming up soon.

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Drained the oil from the 289 and pulled the oil filter. It had almost no oil in the filter? I would have thought it would have had at least a cup. Didn't seem like much to me, maybe a couple table spoons?? It was a blue oil filter, AC brand, which had been put on at the local Chebby dealer. Oil was black with not many miles on since the oil change by previous owner. Will put on a motorcraft filter and motorcraft 10w-30 oil. May try to change the fuel filter which is the canister type on the bottom of the fuel pump. Need to get a wrench to fit that fuel filter about 2-1/4 inch??
Will try to look at the carb rebuild and maybe remove the front seats next week.
Hope things are good in Comet land!

[Sugarmaker]

Comet folks,
So Friend John and I worked on the oil change and the fuel filter change today.
This is what the Chevy dealer put on the Comet!


We had to be creative on getting the fuel filter off. A set of big pliers and a big screw driver to twist the canister did the job. It was not very dirty but had not been changed in a long time. John had a original type outer canister that he let me use!

[Jims65cyclone]

We had to be creative on getting the fuel filter off. It was not very dirty but had not been changed in a long time.

You're fortunate to not apparently have too much, if any rust in your tank. My car has a 302 out of 68 Fairlane, so uses a separate in-line fuel filter rather than an integral one like yours. I changed the filter a couple of months ago, and it looked like it had mud in it. After the filter dried out, I performed an autopsy to see how bad it really was since the clear plastic was so dirty I really couldn't see inside it.


Needless to say, the tank is a mess. As bad as the filter was, the carb only had a film coating in the bottom of the bowls, so it was doing a pretty good job. I'm going to try cleaning the tank first before spending nearly $500 for a new one. I'll strap it to my cement mixer, throw a box of sheetrock screws in it and let it run for a couple of hours. I'll change the angle every 20 minutes or so to make sure it gets all the crooks and crannies. After a good rinse, I'll scope it to be sure its clean and there aren't any pin holes. There shouldn't be since there are no leaks in it now. If its clean and sound, I'll epoxy coat the inside and reinstall.

Jim

[A/FX]

Wow, that filter does not look good. Cleaning the tank is a must, I would purge the lines also. If you seal the tank I would recommend this company’s products:
https://www.kbs-coatings.com/kbs-tank-s ... ystem.html
I have used it a number of times on different sizes of tanks with excellent results. ( I have used some of their other products as well and was pleased with them)
As with any product the preparation is important, I spend extra time on the prep to ensure the process is successful. If you can rig up a fixture to hold and rotate the tank for the cleaning and sealing process it makes the job much easier. I used an engine stand and a clamp system I fabricated to allow the tank to “spin” so the sealer would be distributed evenly inside the tank. Good luck!
Jim

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
I had no idea what I would find in the fuel filter canister. But it was really in much better shape than expected. Now I have a base line for the carb refurb. Tank must be in good shape inside too.
Man is that old 2 post lift making this stuff easier!
Oil level shows about 3/8 inch over the full dots on the stick. I was thinking of adding a couple of rings to hold the dip stick up a little for a more correct indication??
The seat removal should be next. Then to the carb review.
I still have maple tubing systems to clean and take down at 30 locations. Bring it all home and get it hung up in the sugar house.

[Jims65cyclone]

Thanks for the tip on the KBS tank sealer, Jim. I was aware of KBS, but only for use in painting iron railings, etc. I didn't know they made a tank sealer. I was planning on using Caswell tank sealer https://caswellplating.com/caswell-epox ... quart.html . It seems like a simpler system, but it's apparently a completely different chemistry than KBS. I also don't know anyone who's used it, so you testimonial for KBS carries a lot of weight. Thanks.

Jim

[Sugarmaker]

Comet folks,
Pulled the seats from "lil red". Not many surprises.






Humm? Passengers side spring was broken at one point and hog ringed together. Extra green foam was stuck in there! Hope the upholstery shop can get a new spring?


Some test fitting and trials with the seat moved back about 2.5 inches.


New foam for seat bottom and back:


Noodling out the options for setting the seats in a new more rearward position. To hopefully fit me better? Well the plan is to add a flat plate strip on each side of the seat base where the adjuster mechanism was attached. Maybe .090 thick x 1-3/8 wide x 17 ish inches long with four holes to move the actual sliding seat frame forward 2.5 inches. This will allow the original seat adjusters to be installed back onto those plate strips with no modifications. More to come on that as I clean things up and make the 4 offset plate strips to set the seats back. I think this will work and allow the seats to be returned to original in the future if desired. Also I plan to take out the vertical spacer blocks and put the seat back on the floor.

I would like to find a good used chrome plastic drivers side seat back hinge bar cover. This is cracked. May be able to glue it? Same with the white cover below too.
One of these:


Also the white plastic piece on the passengers side is cracked

[poboyjo65]

That's a good idea on the seat tracks!

[Jims65cyclone]

Chris, where did you get your seat foam?

Jim

[Sugarmaker]

Jim, Johno,
I took the seats to the upholstery shop and reviewed the plan to rework the Comet seat bases and backs. We found a screwdriver made in USA in the passengers side seat back. Forgotten when the back was installed years ago! Dave felt he should be able to pack the new foam under the old covers. He thinks he can find a new spring for the broken one in the passenger side. He is going to tie the seat springs together for some added support.


All the old burlap will be gone. its falling apart.


I purchased these foam cushions from a friend. The bottoms are from the same place that makes them for AutoKrafters. Distinctive I believe is the name. Not sure but both base and back foam may have come from that company and my friend had some extras that he sold me.

Just a shot of the moving rail assembly. While at the upholstery shop I told him about moving the seat back on the rails. Dave the owner reminded me that when I move the seat back the handle was going to be 2.5 inches in front of the seat. Guess we will burn that bridge when we get there?


I cleaned the rails systems with brake clean and it removed a lot of the paint. Which made them look really poopy droopy! So after mulling it for a while I decided to just fire up the sandblaster and clean them up. What's the worst that could happen?


Blasted


A fresh coat of black, kind of makes them look better!




I super glued the two broken plastic parts. Looks like that should save those two parts. The new loctite bottles with the locking lid and the squeeze sides are pretty cool!
I did adjust my oil dipstick too. Minor thing, but with 5 quarts in the engine and it ran till warm then cooled down it showed about a half quart high. I took a small rubber grommet and stuffed it around the dip stick in the cap area. that raised the dipstick about 1/4 inch. Oil is right above the "full" dots. Perfect! Having fun playing with the "lil red" Comet.
Hope things are good in Comet land!

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
So I have prototyped the seat extensions. I don't know if they will work? If not I will rework them. Just bolt on items so no problem going back to original.

















I was happy just to get these under seat assemblies cleaned/ freshened up.

I want to get to the upholstery shop and try these on the seat and see what may or may not work? The objective is to move the seat back. (I made these for 3 inch move back) We will see.

[Sugarmaker]

Comet folks,
I got a call from the upholstery shop not good news. The old vinyl seat covers are glued to the foam. Humm, have to go see what the options are on that portion of the seat improvement project. Does it surprise me? Not really. Crap happens all the time on these old cars. Not sure what the options are. he did not sound happy about it!
I did try the reworked seat brackets and they are good except for the handle sticking out about 3 inches in front of the seat!