COMET CENTRAL

Ok, guys, here goes. Bear with me as I figure out posting pics and slowly update work done vs. work in progress. It'll take a while I'm sure.

Backstory first - I've had this car since February 2011 if memory serves. I found it on CL on a Sunday morning, called the guy at 7 a.m., and it was home with me by lunch. Little did I know, until I got to digging later, that this was three same exact car I pestered a local guy to sell back in '93-'94, and he wouldn't sell. Initial plans varied from a 408/MII setup, gassed, you name it, I thought of it. Eventually I settled on a 351C/TKO/4 link/stock front kind of plan and pursued that for a few years, even building my own long tube 351c headers/ etc. In the end, the 351C proved way too aggravating for my sanity, and I decided a full roller 331 would better suit me. That brings me almost to the present, with huge parts left out, of course, which ill try to catch up as I go. More to follow -

Dan
Here's the day it came home -

Majority of rust repair/ body repair complete -

Stripping -

Current state.

So the first question I always get is the fit of the TKO500. I'm sure there are easier ways, but I like room to work, and the floor needed replacing anyway, and that let me tie the front and rear sub frames together with 2x2x3/16 box tubing, which let me flatten the floor for more leg room . . . You get the idea . I tend to overdo things.

Dan

Of course it won't fit. Wouldn't that be too easy?

Measure twice . . .

Ah screw it. Let's cut the floor out and start from scratch.

Final "subframe." 2x2x3/16 box tube from the from frame rails to the rear torque boxes with out riggers to the rockers. 2 1/2 × 1/4 flat bar for tunnel support and crossmember.

Nice flat floor pans. Cause I'm a glutton for punishment I guess.

I can see you are building yourself one bad a$$ car
I'll be watching this thread. We can all learn something from a guy that is building a car with this much fabrication involved.
Thanks for posting.

Matt

Loner wrote:I can see you are building yourself one bad a$$ car
I'll be watching this thread. We can all learn something from a guy that is building a car with this much fabrication involved.
Thanks for posting.

Matt

Right!
Dan if you use the ''hotlink for forums'' code it will make the pics bigger,& we wont have to click on them for a big pic. the thumbnail pics are tiny on a computer screen.

I think most will be interested in this build, there is so much great info to be had on Comet Central involving the Comet/Falcon platform it seems Google brings me back here all the time, sometimes it is posts I missed somehow.

Great to see this

See Ya,
Mike

Thanks for the interest guys. Ill keep trying to get this right. Today's item to tackle was the master cylinder for my clutch setup. I'm using the Hydramax deal from American Powertrain. There's really not enough room between the brake master and the apron to fit anything at all, plus it had been hacked up by a PO, so surgery was in order. Figured out my location, notched the apron, smoothed everything out, cut/drilled a piece of 1/8" plate to fit, made a little box patch panel, welded up, quick spritz of paint. Decent Saturday.

Dan









Johnny, I clicked the hot link button on the last pic, and it worked. The others got cut in half when I previewed so I left them thumb nail sized. Any ideas?

bigdan wrote:The others got cut in half when I previewed so I left them thumb nail sized. Any ideas?

They look that way but a person can click them and they will show the whole thing without taking you to the external site.

See Ya,
Mike

Dan I thought it resized them automatically but I guess you have to set it.but after you set it it will do all of them automatically as you upload, I think.

when you hit the ''upload'' button,then where it says ''choose images'' in a box, above that in the top box has the size & click on that for size choices. I believe it should stay on that size unless you change it.

But if it dont work it's no biggie , we can click the pics.


I like the way you made room for the MC ! This all might have been a bit mo tighter with the cleveland ,right?

Yep, it would've been tighter with the Cleveland for sure! I've still got my good never - been - bored block and headers, so maybe one day, another car LOL. I'll keep trying to figure these pics out.

Dan

So more backstory. Wanted a 4 link, but I like to go my own way and build it myself, so a pre - engineered kit wouldn't do. I started with a Welder Series triangulated 4 link, then went from there. I lined the rear frame rails with 1/8" plate then welded the plates in completely. Next I built a stand for the 9", then the fun began. Per my research, the upper arms need to be level at ride height, slight down angle on the upper arms. That meant going through the floor to get the math right, so I built a crossmember that would hide under the rear seat. More to follow.

Dan

4 link continued.

Installed the crossmember through the floor, welded to the frame rails I plated first. If I recall correctly, the upper arms were set 60 degrees from the lowers. Lower arms forward mounting point is the frame rail that attaches the front and rear sub frames. Finished off the 4 link with a Welder Series rear sway bar. Once everything was complete, I boxed in the front end of the top bars, tying the crossmember to the trunk floor. Continued . . .

Dan

Like how you had stuff tied temporary with hose clamps I will remember that for sure.

See Ya,
Mike

Super work! No doubting you're a millwright.
Jim

Continuing on with getting up to date. I wanted smooth floors, so I kept everything in the same plane with a slight downhill rake to the rear torque boxes. Did one side at a time, then the tunnel. Tubs were interesting, as the previous owners seemed to love side impacts right at the wheel well. I reused the outer half, even though they were dented . . . A little porta-power work and all was well.

And thanks, Jim.

Dan

lavron wrote:Like how you had stuff tied temporary with hose clamps I will remember that for sure.

See Ya,
Mike

It was near impossible to get everything to sit still long enough to nail it down ! Big hose clamps worked perfect though. I would still be fighting it if I didn't build that stand.

Dan