Lou's 65 Comet Build

The Era of The Square Body Racing Comets
Lou's Comet
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Re: Lou's 65 Comet Build

Post by Lou's Comet »

Made some progress on shifter linkage. I ordered a Hurst install kit just to get a head start with small parts and new rods to work with. The 1/2 and 3/4 rods only needed minor modification. The reverse rod needed some work, but got all the rods bent, adjusted, and fitted.

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The shifter shifts nice and smooth with no binding, have all the shift stops adjusted and just need to clean it all up and paint a few parts.

With the shifter and linkage removed got a decent size hole. I will make a shifter hump and access panel for. Going to make those out of 16gauge for some strength and will mount with fender bolts and J-nuts.

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Still wasn't thrilled with the cut brace. Decided to make a partial brace to reinforce it. Made it out of some 1/4" and 1/8" strap. The top 2 holes are tapped to bolt on top, and the bottom of the brace will bolt on with same bolt as trans crossmember.

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Picture of new brace bolted in.

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And a couple pictures of brace with shifter and linkage mounted. Happy with the clearance everything has, and the brace really made it solid again.

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One showing the inside clearance between shifter and brace.

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Also cut the hole in the hood for the air cleaner.

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Didn't really chip the paint much, :) The rubber edge trim covers the couple small chips so I won't have to repaint the underneath of hood. All I needed to do was spray some trim black inside the hole.

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Few more things scratched off the list. :)

Lou
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Boss/Cyclone
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Re: Lou's 65 Comet Build

Post by Boss/Cyclone »

Just had flashbacks. I have the same shifter and same "surgery" to make it fit on my 65. Only difference is my old hurst shifter has the reverse lockout on the left side instead of upfront.
1965 Mercury Cyclone former drag car, 1971 Boss 351 engine, 4 speed, ladder bars, etc. Now returned to a street car.
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Larry

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Re: Lou's 65 Comet Build

Post by Caveman49 »

That bracket should do it! Nice. Do you know what that 57 went for at the Harrisburg auction? I see it sold but can’t find what it sold for….
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Lee

Lou's Comet
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Re: Lou's 65 Comet Build

Post by Lou's Comet »

Caveman49 wrote:
Sun Aug 18, 2024 5:15 pm
That bracket should do it! Nice. Do you know what that 57 went for at the Harrisburg auction? I see it sold but can’t find what it sold for….
Thanks Lee. The 57 went for 28,000. With buyers fee 30,800. Prices were light but my buddy was happy with what he got. And the buyer got a great deal.

Lou
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Re: Lou's 65 Comet Build

Post by Caveman49 »

Thanks Lou. I don’t believe you could build it for that.
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SASSY
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Re: Lou's 65 Comet Build

Post by SASSY »

Boss/Cyclone wrote:
Mon Aug 05, 2024 7:47 pm
Just had flashbacks. I have the same shifter and same "surgery" to make it fit on my 65. Only difference is my old hurst shifter has the reverse lockout on the left side instead of upfront.
Same surgery except mine was Vgate and Ill bet mine job was a lot rougher than yours, lol
I'd rather do it myself if it's done right or not,,,isn't that what hotrodding is all about
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Boss/Cyclone
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Re: Lou's 65 Comet Build

Post by Boss/Cyclone »

SASSY wrote:
Tue Aug 20, 2024 7:26 pm
Boss/Cyclone wrote:
Mon Aug 05, 2024 7:47 pm
Just had flashbacks. I have the same shifter and same "surgery" to make it fit on my 65. Only difference is my old hurst shifter has the reverse lockout on the left side instead of upfront.
Same surgery except mine was Vgate and Ill bet mine job was a lot rougher than yours, lol
I will take that bet. Did mine way back when it was a drag car and didn't really care how it looked. Just make it work!
1965 Mercury Cyclone former drag car, 1971 Boss 351 engine, 4 speed, ladder bars, etc. Now returned to a street car.
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Larry

Lou's Comet
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Re: Lou's 65 Comet Build

Post by Lou's Comet »

Haven't updated for awhile, finished the pieces for the shifter hump.

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Pieces installed on car.

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Ran out of Dyna Mat but had some kilamat left over from another job, so I used it.
Install with shifter.

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Floor is now done with mat and filer panels.

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Carpet fits really nice now with the fillers.

Lou
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poboyjo65
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Re: Lou's 65 Comet Build

Post by poboyjo65 »

I dont know Lou, I see some gaps in those filler panels :twisted: Send me those rejects & make yourself another set to fit better ! :wink:
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Johno

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Re: Lou's 65 Comet Build

Post by Lou's Comet »

Figured it would be easier to make a few smaller updates instead of long ones. Been having a lot of fun with putting my Comet back together, this has always been one of my favorite parts.

I got all new glass this year at Carlisle.

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After taking out old glass I sandblasted and then sanded all the glass frames.

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I was up in the air between getting them rechromed vs getting them powder coated. Since I went with the grey tinted glass I decided to have the frames powder coated black.

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Well the powder coater screwed them up..... badly...... :(

So I resanded them and did the epoxy/black base/clear paint myself. Came out much better. Pretty happy with how they came out and how they look on the car. Couple picts of glass installed. With the black frames and smoke glass it works for me.

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Everything went together pretty nice, when I wash it I will probably need to do some final adjustments for any water leak's. But right now they rol up and down nice and doors close nice.

Lou
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Caveman49
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Re: Lou's 65 Comet Build

Post by Caveman49 »

Lou, that thing is BAD TO DA BONE! Great job on EVERYTHING!!!
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Groover
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Re: Lou's 65 Comet Build

Post by Groover »

Caveman49 wrote:
Thu Jan 02, 2025 9:21 pm
Lou, that thing is BAD TO DA BONE! Great job on EVERYTHING!!!
+1 (which really seems insufficient, but I only get one vote ;)
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1964 Comet Caliente Convertible
30,000 miles on our rebuild

All Comets start out as dreams...

Lou's Comet
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Re: Lou's 65 Comet Build

Post by Lou's Comet »

Groover wrote:
Fri Jan 03, 2025 7:58 am
Caveman49 wrote:
Thu Jan 02, 2025 9:21 pm
Lou, that thing is BAD TO DA BONE! Great job on EVERYTHING!!!
+1 (which really seems insufficient, but I only get one vote ;)
Thanks Guy's .

Lou
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Lou's Comet
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Re: Lou's 65 Comet Build

Post by Lou's Comet »

poboyjo65 wrote:
Thu Jan 02, 2025 6:55 pm
I dont know Lou, I see some gaps in those filler panels :twisted: Send me those rejects & make yourself another set to fit better ! :wink:
LOL, wish I had more of the padding. I need to make some filler panels for trunk. Need to wait till Carlisle to get more.

Lou
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Lou's Comet
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Re: Lou's 65 Comet Build

Post by Lou's Comet »

Some more updates. Since I updated the wiring I needed to do something about the tail light sockets. Replaced the back up light lens with a red lens and going to have all dual filament bulbs. The hole for the corner socket is larger than the hole for the tail light socket. The dual filament universal sockets are easy to find for the larger holes, not so much for the smaller holes. To make things easier I drilled out the smaller holes with a step drill bit, think it is 1.125" hole. But now all the sockets are the same and easy to find.

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The sockets

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The weird screws that hold the lens on are stainless, so the heads polished up nice

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With the new lens on

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I bought new lens but have a few old ones too and found out there are two different styles.
Some have two reflective sections and some have only one. Weird huh?

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Lou
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