(At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

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Joe Travers
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Joe Travers »

Cris4942 wrote:
Fri Dec 11, 2020 7:46 pm
it goes up to 65 without overheating. It goes along the lines of 200f but never past that. I do however simply keep it at 60 just to be safe
That's doing very well, considering the engine was originally designed to run around 190-195F @ slower speeds. The final gear ratio is pretty short in the old sixes, just to get them rolling. They weren't designed to drive @ Interstate speeds. Old cars that can really handle it well were optioned with overdrive transmissions.

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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Cris4942 »

Hey guys, Hope yall are having a happy christmas eve!

Since there hasn't really been much work (until the year starts), I decided to go over some of the electrical wiring of the car. The dome light switches were completely painted shut and cut off so I decided to remove em seeing as to how they couldnt even be salvaged. That wasn't so bad. Out of curiosity, I decided to inspect the light on the dash and that completely led me down a rabbit whole. Noticing that most light bulbs were gone (I also saw what seemed to be rust, however it was simply the ceramics inside the broken light bulbs) I disassembled the whole dash. The whole thing is hacked. I counted a total of 5-6 wires that were just cut with no signs of specific connections. I didn't get too much into it since ill have to really verify each and every cable before putting it all back together. I moved to remove the cassette player that was added in, and it was certainly unpleasant to see that the previous owner had cut part of the original radio display area. Kinda sucks. I havent decided on what ill do in that area, perhaps I could fabricate and weld sections to fix it or use fiberglass to fabricate the designed view. That'll be done much more ahead once I get money, but I might just make a contrasting vinyl overlay that would go overlap the radio area. Continuing- I got told by my parents that I should look into making the license plate bulb work, and while I only needed to change the bulb; I came to find out that my reverse lights were not done at all. The mechanic we had previously hired to do the work ( when I was much younger) was supposed to have done it, but I started to notice that he was quite lazy with the electrical work as I go over it. I mean I can't blame him, electrical work takes time and hes better off making profit out of newer cars faster. He's still a hell of a mechanic when it comes to any mechanical work though, so im not upset- infact it leaves work for me so im quite excited. PLus- I should've had checked so I only blame myself. Literally, all I have is electrical work, and its not bad at all- just brain destroying if I overthink it a little too much. I have it under control though 8)

Only question I have as of right now is if the back up light switch is the one I have taken a photo of at the end of the column shifter? I thought typically they were mounted in the trans but I came across an example of a 60's pickup that is in the same area but looks far different. Perhaps the mechanism is inside instead of the outside? Im not quite sure but I assume thats what is up.

Also, saw a classic car junkyard 20 minutes from my house, so I might take a look and see what I can find. Theres not much I can think about adding. The real work will come once I manage to get my hands on a welder. Have a good christmas!
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lavron
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by lavron »

I think as far as wiring goes there is not much on these old cars and it is not all that difficult to figure out.

Because I am cheap and like the challenge, I just made all new wiring in my Comet, just break it down to individual systems and work that way so it is not overwhelming, I did not trust the original wiring because it is over 50 years old and the last thing I want is to burn it all down after doing all this work and waiting so long to build the car I always envisioned (with a few revisions t as I get older :roll: )

I think the biggest mistake I have made so far on the wiring is not getting enough different colors so I may have 2 or 3 red wires I have to remember where they go ( did buy a big bundle of various colored shrink tubes to mark the ends but haven't gone through and put it on all the wire ends yet). I would guess 99.6% or my wiring is new now, I left a few old wires like the one that runs up to the dome light) and every switch has been replaced, if there was a unique plug on something, if I couldn't get a new one I would reuse the old one, but because I did the different upgrades to headlights and wipers etc I bought new plugs as well. I am not sure how far ahead, if any, I am over buying a premade harness but that is how I roll :P

You learn a lot rewiring a car, how everything works together etc and at this point, there is not a component I have not had my hands on, and hopefully, that will be to my advantage if I have any failures on the road I will know where and how to switch it out or repair it. I have always learned best from getting my hands dirty and making mistakes along the way and hopefully fixing those mistakes and finally being able to help others if I can.

See Ya,
Mike
Mike's build thread
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=13058
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Cris4942
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Cris4942 »

Mike I agree completely.

I got to going over everything today, and we’ll here’s how it went. I got the headlight relay system working flawlessly- I had to switch up one wire and replace a fuse. I’m going to let it run for forty minutes on the next coming days while while alternating the switch to make sure everything is all good. Fixed up the right turn signal ( just wasn’t making good connection. And I got to fixing up the reverse light. I got everything down to how it’s supposed to work for the exception the backup light switch. The switch works properly (I made a bridge out of a screwdriver) , however, it doesn’t seem to make connection off the ridges in the shifting column. I tried extending the tips more but it made no effect. If anyone has a suggestion please let me know, otherwise I’ll probably will end up adding an external switch.

I didn’t get to the dash light but I’ll do them in the next days. Apart from that, the wiring for the tail lights is a mess( previous owners and mechanic hack job). I might redo it.

If anyone can help me with the lack of connection when shifting to reverse, please let me know.

Have a good Christmas!
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Cris4942
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Cris4942 »

Hey guys,
I'm a little busy with homework, and haven't gotten much work in- but I have done a lot of thinking. So I thought I would just plop it down here, and get some feedback from y'all. Do take in mind that I am not knowledgeable, so some of this stuff may not make any sense.
----
Now am I wrong or could I simply take two right axles from a ford explorer, and simply have them machined (assuming that it is probably thicker), narrowed, and re-splined to match the gearing in my current differential to obtain disk brakes? I assume the only necessity would be to fabricate or modify the brake mounting plate.

Wouldn't the best upgrade for a 60's comet with an inline 6 (assuming that you have a fordomatic) would be to switch the transmission to a c4? From what I understand the two speed fordomatic keeps the engine running at high RPM's and really doesnt allow for further speed.

I would assume that the stock diff should hold keep up at higher speeds than 65 with an engine and transmission swap
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Now those were the only things that were stuck in my head all day. They are more like theories or thoughts- I am most probably wrong on them. If so, please let me know.

They dont necessarily pertain to my build, as I am still planning to swap everything out, but its just fun to really think on this sort of things.

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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by lavron »

Cris4942 wrote:
Sat Jan 16, 2021 12:53 am
Wouldn't the best upgrade for a 60's comet with an inline 6 (assuming that you have a fordomatic) would be to switch the transmission to a c4? From what I understand the two speed fordomatic keeps the engine running at high RPM's and really doesnt allow for further speed.

I would assume that the stock diff should hold keep up at higher speeds than 65 with an engine and transmission swap
The stock 7.25' rear that is in the 6 cyl Comets is not that good of rear, a better solution is an 8" and there are kits out there to fit them to adapt lincoln rear discs to them, at least there used to be, I had a kit but sold it to put Caddilac calipers and Lincoln rotors but I sold it, it required the large bearing housing and it made them into 5 bolt wheels.

IMO the best solution would be to leave the drums on the rear and find a 8" out of a 6 cyl maverick (if you want to keep matching 4 lug wheels), it will bolt right in, I had one in my '64 and did not have to do a thing to it the e-brake connection is the same as are the hydraulic brake line hook up, not sure on the older cars but it should work.

You can do a disc brake front conversion and drum rear, lots of cars run that and stop fine (lots of cars run 4 wheel drums and stop fine too).

If it is just a project you want to do you will most likely find that the axle machine work would cost more than it is worth because it is not just resplining then they have to fit the bearings out on the axle ends and Explorer axles are really meaty compared to 7.25 axles and use a bigger bearing so you would have to cut the ends of the housing off and install bigger bearing cups and then an 8.8 is a C-clip rear so it does not have the bearing retainer like the 8" (truthfully I don't know what hold the 7.25" axle in there, I never messed with one)

I guess I have to say it could probably be done but is not worth the effort IMO with what you would end up with.

See Ya,
Mike
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viewtopic.php?f=9&t=13058
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Cris4942
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Cris4942 »

Thanks Mike and whomever deleted their post, I needed some clarification. Really- just thoughts that come to mind out of randomness with no complete reasoning to them. I also didn’t realize that there was more automotive rear diffs apart from the general 8 8.8 and 9. I mean I knew that the ones like the one I have were different, but I didn’t realize how much they differentiate.

But I wanted to ask another question- what do you guys use/do for anti-theft precautions?

Personally I already installed a kill switch and planning to hook it up to horns once I buy some so that it can serve as an alarm. However, my main area of focus is that of the engine bay- since most comet years open from the outside. Have any of you make changes to keep anyone from opening the hood? I was going to look into quick battery disconnect but either you have to have the battery close or have to open the hood every time to disconnect in case they somehow found the kill switch- but it doesn’t help much if the hood is accessible and you have someone with some knowledge

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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by tomb22 »

I installed a remote door system with security features. There is a switch for the hood that turns on the horn, if you try to open the doors the horn goes off, if you move the car at all the horn goes off and the ignition wire goes thru the unit to disable any power to the coil and distributor. The unit itself is pretty cheap but there's a lot of wiring to do.
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by poboyjo65 »

I used a hood pull cable from an earlier mercury ,, similar to the comet hand brake lever but chrome;

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drilled holes thru the latch body assembly & one in the lever ;
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looking down thru the lock at the pin
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made a little metal box so you cant get to the internals so easy,where the cable attaches to a pin that slides thru the latch assembly & with the t handle pushed in the pin goes thru both layers of metal ,the assembly & lever so it cant be moved to open the hood. so it doesn't ''pop'' the hood open like newer cars it is just a lock. I know it's probably all different from yours but might spark an idea. A hidden t handle would be better but I was afraid I would forget about it! :roll:
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Cris4942 »

Honestly- I got some great info- thanks guys.

I have a quick question- can anyone snap a photo of where their back up light switch is mounted and post it here?

It’s snowing here in Houston so there’s no school and I pretty much finished the dash lights today. I knew that the neutral safety switch and the back up light switch is different, but I just can’t find a picture of it mounted up so that I can make a reference- especially since the got rid of the reverse lights completely from the wiring; so I tried to make up work with the neutral safety switch and well I can’t say they’re not working but I’d like to do it right. I’d greatly appreciate it- thanks guys

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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Joe Travers »

Cris4942 wrote:
Wed Feb 17, 2021 3:41 am
I have a quick question- can anyone snap a photo of where their back up light switch is mounted and post it here?
The neutral safety switch/backup light switch is mounted in the steering column. There should be a hole in the column at the top to access them. You're going to have to drop the column by removing the two nuts that hold it to the bottom of the dash to get to them. I have a .pdf file showing the location but I don't know how to post it. Shouldn't be hard to find. Stay warm!

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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Cris4942 »

Am I stupid, or shouldn’t there be ridges to activate the switch? I felt some but it’s just part of the plastic. Please someone enlighten me.
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by poboyjo65 »

maybe a contact has fell off & down in the column.
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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Joe Travers »

Cris4942 wrote:
Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:09 pm
Am I stupid, or shouldn’t there be ridges to activate the switch? I felt some but it’s just part of the plastic.
Your pic of the nylon sleeve is out of focus. Are the copper contacts inserted into the sleeve?
If so, see if the sleeve moves up and down in the tube with a lift of the shifter handle (in reverse). They get sloppy over time.

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Re: (At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

Post by Cris4942 »

Joe Travers wrote:
Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:02 pm

Your pic of the nylon sleeve is out of focus. Are the copper contacts inserted into the sleeve?
If so, see if the sleeve moves up and down in the tube with a lift of the shifter handle (in reverse). They get sloppy over time.

JT
No it doesn’t seem like it, here’s a better picture, and the sleeve does go up. Here’s a video: https://youtu.be/SZibpoLqaTU
Any way I can add em?
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