1965 Comet Caliente (little red)

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
i had gone way overboard on the introduction page with this car. Thanks for putting up with me. I finally realized I probably should have started a thread here to document most of the updates to the 65 Comet. I will try to add some content as things happen to improve the car. I do appreciate the support from this forum as I continue to learn.
here's a link to the introduction pages & previous work : https://www.cometcentral.com/forum/view ... 24&t=17643

Hey little red riding hood.....

[poboyjo65]

I hope you dont mind I edited in a link to your introduction thread above on your first post of this thread so it will be right at the front & easy to find later on for you & others.

[Sugarmaker]

Johno,
Thanks for adding this link. I did not investigate the Comet Central forum well enough when I took off on a thread in the intro section. That will help!

[Sugarmaker]

CC folks,
Cheryl and i took the lil red Comet out for a test drive after I adjusted the control valve lock nut torque. Prior to this when I tightened the lock nut down I tightened it way to tight and when going around a corner the car had to be turned back to straight. The springs were not centering the spool in the control valve. So today it worked very much like it should, and when turning, the car moving forward, brought the wheels almost straight. Much better!
We stopped to see friend John then took a ride out in the country.
The carb seemed to be working much better too. One pump of the foot throttle set the choke. It fired up on high idle. Did not stall. Warmed up and moved out good. Still that little miss in the engine/carb to work on?
Cheryl enjoyed the drive

[Sugarmaker]

CC folks,
Just some random Comet shots in the shop. We got caught in a little rain yesterday and I needed to rinse the car off anyway:










The Comet started right up like it should tonight. Choke worked and was at high idle after one pump to set the choke.
Tomorrow I go to pick up the seat foam and the right rear back up lens. Also to view several 65 Comets too. May get some pictures if allowed.

[poboyjo65]

If I let any of my 3 sbf motors sit for a couple months or more I pump it once to set choke & fast idle & turn it over ...usually takes a couple sessions of about 10-15 seconds of turning over until it hits,then one more pump & it'll bust right off. If I drive it every 2-3 days it'll bust just about right off with the one pump like you do with little red. but after sitting even a couple weeks it'll have to turn over a few seconds. I guess the fuel evaporates out of the carb & if enough time the lines too.

liTTle Red just keeps looking & getting better all the time!

yes get pics ,everybody loves pics!

[Sugarmaker]

Johno, Folks,
Thanks! some of the details are coming together. I did find out that the windshield wipers do work!:) Cheryl said they were small:) So ist it fast to the left and slow to the right on the wiper switch??
I really need to get under the hood and clean, clean and clean! I think it will be fine for what I want to do but has 12 years of light dirt and grease.
Yes I am learning about the starting procedures for the 289 2V. Seemed fine last night. Do you guys set and let them warm up?
John and I are going to get the new seat foam and the right back up lens today. Hope to get some Comet pictures to post also!
We are working on maple products fora big event here March 16 and 17. lots of sugarhouses open that weekend in Northwest PA. Check www.pamaple.org.

Our web page is www.mapleandhoney.com
Hope things are good in Comet land!

[poboyjo65]

they are one speed wipers. if yours will go left too it probably has the little delay knob like mine had. it was intermittent wipers, they didnt last long, poor design. so when they fail you have same speed both ways. when they did work properly to the left was a delay of the same one speed. some of us have upgraded to 70's-80's ford truck wiper 2 speed motor (with a faster speed) ,switch & delay module. there is a thread on here if you are interested I'll find it for you.

yes I like to warm it up for a least 5 min or more,especially if the temp is low.

[Sugarmaker]

CC folks,
Well We did get to Mike's and drooled over his Very nice Comets! I asked about pictures and he requested that I not take any. I understand. Planning to do some cruises with him this summer.
I did bring home the new seat foam for the front bucket seats to be reworked/improved. Also got a great looking rear back up light lens too.
Looking forward to both of these projects. I will try to keep some pictures current on the Comet improvements. Next two weeks will be busy with maple related projects and an open house.




the old lens:










Pulled the lens back out a swaped out one of the chrome bars:




Thats better:


Johno,
Thanks for the carb information and warm up. Watched a couple videos on setting up the carb. Interesting, as we forget how basic these were. and we were the computer to control the starting procedure.

[poboyjo65]

light looks great now!

here is a link to an article by Dick Harrington about the f-150 2 speed w/delay upgrade in case you get tired of the slow one speed factory wiper motor;
https://online.fliphtml5.com/wtdj/qtqr/#p=1

also during this thread...;
https://www.cometcentral.com/forum/view ... 91#p106591
...we figured out the 80's trucks were wired slightly different than the 70's trucks ,(mainly one power wire vs 2, the earlier had a separate pump power wire). we also figured out how to wire in the original footpump swiper into the new wiper system. I loved being able to push that pedal for a swipe to clear the windshield during sporadic rain or spray from other vehicles. another plus for using this system is the truck wiper switch has a built in washer button, so you can easily add an electric pump & not have to worry about the old rubber foot bulb pump leaking in your floor & rusting out the floor board.
the only downfall is the upgrade is so popular among the stangs,trucks & other vintage fords that the remanned motors are hard to find & used ones are getting that way but still pop up.

[Sugarmaker]

Johno,
Wow lots of good information on the wiper upgrades.
Back to winter mode in North west PA. yuk! Cheryl even said we cant drive 'lil red' in this weather!:)
I did do a little cleaning under the hood on the passenger side. starting to get some grease and grime off .
I did get up and read Doug's thread on his comet rebuild! Oh my goodness! Amazing work. But I am kind of happy with the Caliente setting in the shop and about ready to drive!

[Sugarmaker]

Comet folks,
Well I have had several late night episodes of reading several build threads on here. Loman's 390 build thread was amazing. I got tired just reading how many times him and his dad had engines in and out of the car!
I hope things are good in Comet land!
Looking forward to getting 'lil' red out things spring. If the weather is good tomorrow we will take it for a short run.
I did order a carb rebuild kit for the 2 barrel. May need some guidance with carb details. Have done some other carb refurbs, but not one of these yet.

[Jims65cyclone]

Here's a tip that I use whenever I rebuild anything as intricate as a carburetor. Get an old egg carton or two and put all those small parts in the cells as you remove them. Keeps them from getting lost on the benchtop, and if you put them in the cells left to right, top to bottom as you do the disassembly, then you can go in the reverse order when you reassemble. That way you don't reinstall part D, then have to remove it because you should have installed part C first. If you're using solvents to clean the parts as you go, it's best to use the papier-mâché type egg cartons. Styrofoam and solvents don't play well together.

Jim

[Sugarmaker]

Jim, Folks,
Very good suggestion on the small parts in the egg carton! I may just try that too!
Our weather is spring-like and we have heard the peepers several times which indicate the end of our maple syrup production for this season. We had a VERY short 4 week season.
As mentioned I started cleaning under the hood on the 65. It will be an improvement for sure. Just using cleaners and scrubbing.
I started the car and it went to high idle and I let it warm up for 5 minutes just outside the east side of the shop. Blipped the throttle once and it settled down to a normal rpm. John and I took it around the block (4 miles) and it ran ok. Cheryl came out after we got back and was pouting a little that she did not get a ride, I said jump in lets go! We went for about a 30 mile run through Girard and Fairview then home. Had the little Bose speaker cranking out 60's tunes the whole way! Several thumbs up as we tested on the Comet! Cheryl was happy, I was happy Life is good!
some shots:




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




You can see the 32 truck in this picture. Was moving things around to make room for our maple open house this weekend.


The 65 and the 32 seem to be co-existing in the shop, neither are real happy, but they both mumble something about, better than a chebby!


Will my shop ever be clean? Probably not!:)

[Sugarmaker]

Comet folks,
The weather today was a nice sunny 65 degrees near lake Erie. Cheryl and I did our first ice cream run in "lil red". About a 30 mile run to Sagertown PA. On the list of things to do is having the seats updated with new foam. Currently they are very soft. Hoping to get some additional seat support. Also would like to move them back several inches in the car. Plus maybe return them back to the floor instead of on the current 1 inch wood blocks?? I want to get the seats to the upholstery shop soon to get that work done this spring. The seat backs recline, I believe, with the bolts at the lower back. Might tilt them back a tad too?
The 65 ran pretty well, but still has a slight miss at 35 mph under a very slight load. Hoping this is in the carb? As I plan to freshen that soon too.
Anyway I am getting more used to driving the car and it seems to be performing ok.
I didn't get a picture but will begin to document some adventures with the Comet.