Hey everyone. I have been a member here for a while but never did a build on here. I've given advice on falcon/comet stuff but never posted any pictures. After talking to McNally351 he said I should maybe give it a shot and post my 62 comet build. There are some things that won't be accepted on here but we'll see how it goes. I have many projects so forgive me if I stray off topic at times. My dad and I have a collection of car in various stages of fixing up. Money is always an issue at times for me being a single widowed father of 3 since I've been 34 years old. Here are some of my cars and then I'll move on to the comet only build. Thanks for reading. BART.
Well....after removing the upper cowl to look for a leak I found this. Luckily it had a tractor and trailer mud flap screwed to it and a rain poncho stuffed above it. I had a donor cowl so off to work I went. I did both sides and then treated them with rust encapsulator and seam sealer and then attached the upper cowl which was treated underneath before plug welding.
My dad and I thought this car was more solid than what it was. While removing paint from the bubbles of rust around the quarter I ran into some interesting body work. The PO dented the areas of rust and then filled it in with bondo. So out with the old and in with the new. I only have a shrinker/stretcher, a welder, and sheets of metal. I've never made panels to this degree and this is my first attempt at body work that I truly care about the outcome. So, bear with me. Thanks for viewing.
Thanks Caddy-O. It started life as an 82,000 mile six cylinder 2 speed automatic. It now has a FORD GT40P roller engine, TFS stage II cam, Edelbrock high rise, 670 Holley street avenger mechanical secondary carb, T5 with front shift conversion and a cut and narrowed 8.8 ford explorer traction loc with disc brakes. Soon to have a Powerdyne BD11a supercharger also. Just a grocery getter for my dad. I have a gazillion falcon parts in storage sheds so this car made sense to convert to a V-8. My high school car was a 64 falcon sprint hardtop and I still have that but is torn apart since 1989. Trying to fight my way through the body work and do it the best I can. My son is in his third year at Vo-Tech for auto collision and auto body so he will help me finish the car with blocking and spraying. This is a budget, one car garage build. I also put 69 cougar sequential tail lights in the back. I like it but some may not. I have the cut out panels so if I ever want to go back to original I can just weld them back in. More updated coming soon. I'm in the process of marrying a 63 falcon hood buldge to the factory 62 comet hood. Thanks for looking. BART.
Here are some more pictures of the car. I know some people on here will frown on the interior but it was budget and is really comfortable for my dad.
Actually they are 2000 Chrysler Sebring seats. I even adapted the rear seat to fold down into the trunk as it was in the Chrysler. And yes.....the are very comfortable and...........power.
I know it's been a while but here are some updates. Got the quarter panels patched up and built the bottom of both doors and then had my son shoot some primer on the shell. Getting ready to block and align panels for final fit and then blow it apart to jamb and then paint. Seems like a forever job seeing how this is my first attempt at bodywork. Hopefully it will turn out to be a respectable driver quality job. Thanks for looking.
Thanks loudbang. Excuse the tires being cruddy. Bodywork is really messy. We've ran those wheels for the past couple summers but not sure we are sticking with them now. My dad...and myself love those wheels as we have them on our falcons and fairlanes also. I have a set of Weld rodlites and a set of Weld Streetlites I may try. 14" tires are getting expensive and hard to come by in white letters so may step up to 15'''s in the other choices. Plus, with the supercharger and nitrous oxide it is quite the handful on those 225/60/14 tires. Hopefully it will turn out good no matter what the wheel choice is. I took the supercharger and NO2 off for the time being but with the warmed up GT40p roller motor, t5 and 3.73 cut explorer rear it still is a tire smoker . Thanks for the comment.
I haven't updated lately but here is some more progress. I fixed the door instead of trying to find one, painted some interior panels, installed a thunderbolt hood scoop with 3m panelbond and then some finish work, and also made a "custom" opening on the under side of the hood with my shrinker/stretcher. Please be kind. It is my first attempt at any form of bodywork to this degree. Thanks for looking.
Great Post! Falcon looks cool. Love the '63 Fairlane. Of course, I'm partial because of my latest Build...
I'm doing the electric power steering right now and then it's back to finishing up the bodywork. Thanks McNally, hopefully I will be able to post pictures of a painted car on here before I die.
Got some more done on the comet over the weekend. Taking some of the sin out of the engine compartment from the previous owner. He loved his rubberized undercoating and self tapping sheet metal screws.
Looks like somebody did a Shelby/Arning drop and also cut open the towers for clearance. Perhaps you should close those open tower braces before reassembly.
I did the Shelby/Arning drop. They had the shock towers so beaten up for headers(or whatever they were doing since it was a 6cyl car) that I cut them out and going to replate them with 1/4 steel. I'm going to keep them moved back seeing how I have headers and it leaves a little extra room. It doesn't take long to fill the engine bay up with the shock tower braces, V8, headers and a Ford Motorsports BD11a supercharger. Thanks for looking.
Not telling you what to do, because it seems you have some experience, but I think 1/4" is a but thicker than necessary to close those up.
Thanks Mike. I'll root around in my metal pile and see if I have anything thinner. I guess I could always cut the metal out of the "junk" shock towers that I have laying around. Once again, thanks for your interest and looking.
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