Projects ***DONE*** 1964 Comet Cyclone. "Just a quick project...."

In 1965 there were 271 hp Cycloneshttps://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/1965-mercury-comet-cyclone-2

 

Here is a pic of the 260 I just bought....

 

I love those little cars. My dad's first car was a red on red '64 Cyclone 4-speed. He hopped up the engine, added headers, etc. and it was a quick street car in it's day.

 

Its not an FE but I did know where I could capture a SCJ a couple years back.

I personally think they look best drop top with a bug catcher sticking out of the hood.

@flamedabone I am kind of a cyclone freak too. Can't wait to see this one fly.

 

Are you ready to sell it yet?

 

Interesting.... A stealth engine option. Somehow I doubt that ever appeared on the production option list, it appears to me that Mercury was trying to pull a fast one on the sanctioning bodies by sneaking these out under false pretenses.

The K code 289 was never popular with the serious racers in class drag racing because of how class weight breaks were calculated. NHRA took advertised HP divided by shipping weight. A vanilla 289 with its lower advertised HP would carry less weight in a given class or be bumped 'down' a class or two, not having the 'penalty' of those extra 50+ HP. But given how the rules allowed any camshaft and headers in both stock and super stock classes, the HP difference between them disappeared after a smart racer got done with 'em.

And most of the changes to the K code were durability improvements rather than HP bumps. Important in endurance racing (Cobras and GT350 Mustangs) but much less so in drag racing. Visible differences between them were small also. Exhaust manifolds, dual-point distibutor, and chrome valve covers and air cleaner were the only obvious differences. You had to check casting and part numbers to pinpoint it all, not always done at the local drags. As installed in these Comets, it would have been tough to tell. Built with the standard 289 single exhaust, so no giveaway exhaust manifolds (but with those 'helpful' headers in the trunk! But where's the rest of the needed dual exhaust system?), the Cyclone came with the chrome bits on the 'standard' motor, leaving just the missing vacuum advance can on the distributor as the only easily seen difference. Seeing how many racers locked that out or removed it entirely anyway, that could be missed pretty easily.

The 'why' is the most intriguing question. A bit of history here... The '64 Comets with their 215 HP 289s were doing quite well in class drag racing. They were among the lightest cars in their respective classes based on advertised HP and were generally doing better than the K code Mustangs with their 'handicap' of more HP if a serious racer was running one. Mercury may have been trying to short-cut the process by selling a more race-ready version that didn't need a teardown/rebuild to install the goodies to be competitive without the HP penalty of being a K code. Did it work? While it probably helped generate some showroom traffic with some local successes (Mercury didn't have the Mustang, the Comet was as close as they got at the time), I don't recall any '65 Comets being players in the top tier of NHRA class racers as a teardown would reveal the subterfuge. While the '64 models were national record holders in their classes at different times, the '65s were absent AFAIK.

 

As much as I continue to preach that the 271hp 289 was not available in 1964 Comets I do remember that in 1964+1 it was an option. My father and his family operated a Lincoln/ Mercury dealership, I remember at least two ‘64+1 Cyclones with the HiPo option being sold. One was immediately crashed and totaled, it also burned. Eventually that car became the base for one of the ugliest home built fiberglass vehicles I have ever seen. The other Comet was dark turquoise and was owned by the cousin of a friend of mine. There may have been other HiPo Comets sold from the dealership but I do not remember them. A rare engine option but it was available. ( another note of trivia about the ‘64+1 Comet- it was the first steel bodied production American car to offer a fiberglass hood as an option)

 

It just strikes me as exceedingly weird that Mercury would 'hide' the K code with an 'A' code on the data plate. They were trying to fool someone, if not NHRA then probably Ford corporate. I would have thought that they would have sold more if the option was common knowledge. Or maybe 90 was all they got out the door before they got caught.

 

I dig these cars. My Father in Law has been working on a ground up build of a 65 Falcon Sprint, which is similar. Nothing HAMB friendly in his build, but a neat car that caused me to pay some more attention to them when I see them. This looks like a fun project

 

My buddy had a 64 Fairlane 289, Cruise o Matic.

That car was just plain fast.. It felt like it weighed a couple hundred pounds! LOL.. Too bad the body started falling apart and broken leaf springs became a weekly event lol...

 

Jeff ( @flamedabone) sorry I thought Christman's '64 was a drop top. I was mistaken. LOL

 

Yep, let's put in a four-point roll bar and a blown injected FE on nitro and go racin'! This car was really the genesis for the whole Funny Car concept, just way ahead of its time.

NHRA would have a coronary if you showed up with that today! LOLOL...

 

Super quick update. The old exhaust was teenie weenie and has some constipated glass packs.



New pipes are a little more me.



-Abone.

 

More teeny weenie progress updates. After 3 different idler arms, I found out this idler is Cyclone specific. I was kind of dreading trying to beat the old one off, but it didn’t put up a fight.



Just a bit of tiding up the engine. Pretty much done under the bonnet.



Now, it is on to the interior, which I have never done before. I’ve never owned a car with a headliner, not sure what it even does…. Wish me luck.

-Abone.

 

The idler arm is specific to the ‘64 Comet V8 cars, (and maybe Falcon) in 1965 they changed the steering linkage to the same design as the new “pony car” except for the center link that is narrower on the Comet/Falcon. Now it is popular to convert to the ‘65 style, because of parts availability and better steering. The ‘64 had some bump steer. I converted mine to the newer steering in the early ‘70’s when I installed the Boss engine, and needed clearance for the headers.

 

Jeff, What is the long term goal for this? You just gonna flip it?

 

I likes it

 

Just a quickie Comet update...

The floors had a few tender spots. Not enough for new pans, so she got a couple patches.



I'm not scared of a project, but the OG seats were not happening.



New set of buckets from Summit. I wasn't sure how these were gonna look live and in person, but they are way nicer than I expected. Might not be perfect for a hard line traditional A-V8 highboy, but they suit this little car just fine.



Next is painting the dash and installing the headliner that I am afraid of.

See ya, -Abone.

 

‘64 Comets came with two completely different headliners, one style was the conventional bow/ fabric and the other was “ cardboard” panels that used plastic “bows” to hold the panels in place. If you have the cardboard style you can convert to the conventional style by using the parts from any ‘63-‘65 Falcon or Comet 2dr. Hardtop. I believe there are kits offered by the aftermarket for this.

 

Yep. I have the stupid cardboard one. I have a “conversion headliner kit” , but it doesn’t sound like it is going to be user friendly.

-Abone.

 

I'm not a Ford guy, but these '64 and '65 comets are the sweetest thing Ford ever built! Always liked the lines of these!

 

Especially the 64's, what kid growing up in the 60's doesn't remember the Comet setting all those records?!

 

Those seats look like they belong there.

Are they the Procars?

 

Project is moving along swimmingly!!!!

the seats look right at home !

 

Yep. My upholstery guy wanted a thousand each to do the originals not including the seat covers and I wasn't tough enough to do them myself, so I gave the Procars a shot.

-Abone.

 

Yeah, mine had that headliner too as an option. Mercury screwed up on these, impossible to restore to exact OEM. First, they glued the headliner material to the cardboard but failed to 'wrap' it at the edges. Over time the material shrunk and started peeling up/away from the cardboard. Next were those snap-on faux 'chrome' plastic retaining bows. They also didn't age well, turning brittle with age and prone to splitting. I searched for two years looking for a usable set. I did luck out and find an unbroken set in an obscure wrecking yard near Roseburg Oregon, and carefully laid them in the back of our wagon we drove down. My X went out to the car to get something and closed the tailgate on them, breaking all three... Never saw another set.

Last, the headliner material itself. Mercury did use the same 'moonscape' material that Ford was using everywhere else at the time but ran it through an embossing machine to promote adhesion to the cardboard. This embossed a 'dot' pattern on the material that wasn't seen anywhere else. It appears the material was glued to the cardboard first, then it was cut to size, which explains why it wasn't wrapped at the edges.

But I do believe you could get pretty close to the OEM look. You'll never match the embossed material, but the moonscape can be bought in bulk and glued onto new cardboard cut to size. The catch is the plastic retaining bows. The OEM one's snap onto a metal bow 'rail', that needs to go away and a flat metal restraining strip installed in its place. You may need countersunk hardware to attach it. Then to mimic the bows use some adhesive side trim something like this... Amazon.com: Car Element 25Feet Automotive Chrome Trim Molding - L-Shape Corner Moulding Strip(Self Adhesive) for CarTruck Body Side Window Door Edge Scratch-Proof - 12 inch +516 inch : Automotive Won't be exact, but most won't know the difference. It is a good-looking headliner...

Whichever headliner you go with, I'd highly recommend pulling the rear window as the material is supposed to 'wrap' onto the gasket flange. If your gasket is as hard as mine was, it's going to be really hard to push the material under the existing one without tearing it.

 

My Cyclone was originally equipped with the cardboard panel headliner, I acquired extra plastic retaining bows knowing that they discolor and become brittle. Funny thing was that the headliner and one C pillar piece were the typical moon crater pattern material, the other C pillar piece was a different material all together. (I bought the car when it was just a couple of years old and know it was never “hit”)
So when I rebuilt the car into its current condition I opted for the conventional bow/ fabric type headliner, it looks much better and fits well. (Custom fabricated by my interior guy using perforated vinyl to match the seats)
We installed the new headliner before the glass and hardtop trim.

 

Show me one documented 271 hp Comet....that's not a B/FX race only car.

 

Well Jeff ( @flamedabone ) you are making good progress. I have hit a snag on my current project but you are making good progress. Good on ya man.

 

Mercury built a dozen '64 Caliente hardtops with the 271HP motor (coded with a 'D' for Daytona) for an advertising stunt ('100,000 miles at 100 MPH!', done at Daytona hence the engine code) and a few of those leaked into private party hands. Rumor has it that those were the 'backup' cars as they ran ten of them for 10,00 miles each. But as an option that Joe Blow could order at his local dealer, no, in spite of some dubious claims made by a few guys.