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My 1965 Mercury Comet C/FX Build
Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 8:59 pm
by gearhasher
In 2013 I got the itch to build a 65 Mercury Comet. In the late 1960's and 70's I was an amateur drag racer. I wanted a car that would bring me back to the days when my weekends were spent at the drag strip.
The hunt was on and finding a nice '65 Comet would prove to be a challenge. Through a friend, I heard of one that was tucked away in a garage with 45,000 original miles. He explained to me that it would be difficult to convince the owner to part with the car. After several phone calls I was finally able to convince the owner to let me view the car. Upon seeing it two facts were immediate 1, my friend was correct, the car was in remarkable condition and 2, this was the one! The question now was, how difficult will it be to convince the owner to sell. Some time passed and after several more conversations a deal was struck.
Here are some photos from 2014, the day I arrived to purchase the car. The car was a time capsule of sorts and in remarkable condition.
The body panels were straight and rust free. The paint was perfect for the direction I was going with this project. However, it was going to need a professional buff.
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The front and rear bumpers were in pretty nice shape.
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The interior was quite remarkable and the dash was perfect.
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Re: My 1965 Mercury Comet C/FX Build
Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:10 pm
by gearhasher
The original 45,000 mile in-line 6. It ran perfect.
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There was a minor stain on the back seat, but nothing that couldn't be fixed.
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This was going to make a great build as the car was begging to be awakened.
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The car was loaded on a flatbed and transported to my place where it would be transformed into a CFX drag car. My plan was to remove the body panels, pull the drive train and remove the interior so I could get a good look at everything. Although the car was in incredible condition, I still wanted to restore everything.
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Re: My 1965 Mercury Comet C/FX Build
Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:11 pm
by lavron
Wow nice one
See Ya,
Mike
Re: My 1965 Mercury Comet C/FX Build
Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:24 pm
by gearhasher
With the body panels removed the restoration and cleaning could begin. I knew I was in it for the long haul and I wanted it to be done right!
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I addressed some very minor issues around the rear window, but it was the right thing to do.
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Lots of black paint to apply...
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Another day of work on the front end.
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The bottom of the car was incredibly solid as well so it was cleaned and prepped. More black paint..
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A new 9" Ford rearend from John's Industries with a posi traction center carrier.
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Re: My 1965 Mercury Comet C/FX Build
Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:35 pm
by gearhasher
Making progress on setting up the rearend and springs.
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Sent the rear bumper out for re-chroming. It came out perfect!
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Work continues on the drive train.
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Purchased a new Kevlar clutch and a new Tremec 5 Speed Transmission.
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New disk brakes up front for what's going to be some much needed stopping power
Re: My 1965 Mercury Comet C/FX Build
Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:40 pm
by gearhasher
New drum brakes in the rear.
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New master cylinder and brake components/plumbing.....ok...and a line lock
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More work under the hood. Setting up the engine compartment in a nice orderly fashion.
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Re: My 1965 Mercury Comet C/FX Build
Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:47 pm
by gearhasher
Re: My 1965 Mercury Comet C/FX Build
Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:55 pm
by gearhasher
Re: My 1965 Mercury Comet C/FX Build
Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 10:02 pm
by gearhasher
With the car together I sent it to the shop where the engine was built. There were a few loose ends to tie up and I wanted the engine builder to tune the car. Within 2 weeks he had finished setting the car up.
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I purchased some new wheels are tires. The front will have Torque Thrusts and the rear will have black steelies...
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We painted the hood Hot Rod Black.
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Re: My 1965 Mercury Comet C/FX Build
Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 10:10 pm
by gearhasher
The interior is just about finished.
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It's turning out nice!
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Gauges work awesome.
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45,609 miles on the body. About 20 miles on the drive train at this point.
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My son was adamant about having an original 1964 Rotunda Tachometer in the car
It was a great decision!
Here it is idling.
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Dash is lookin' good.
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Re: My 1965 Mercury Comet C/FX Build
Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 10:18 pm
by gearhasher
So, it has taken about 3 years to get to this point. I look back at those photos from 2014 on that day I purchased the car and it doesn't seem like that long ago. It's taken a lot of work and time to get where I am now and I'm excited to wrap up a few loose ends over the Winter. Of course now that it's drivable it must hibernate for the Winter. I did drive it on Thanksgiving day as we took the car for it's first drive up the road. With the engine broke in and it sounding like it was going to tear someone's head off, I put my foot in it. It laid about 300 feet of posi rubber with the rev limiter pegged at 6,000 RPM's. It is insanely fast and has incredible torque!
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Here it is WITH the exhaust hooked up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdBBHdvohLQ
It has 2 1/2" exhaust with an H Pipe with Heartthrob Velocity chambered mufflers. I am very happy with how they dump out the rear of the car.
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Re: My 1965 Mercury Comet C/FX Build
Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 10:30 pm
by gearhasher
We put the car on my lift and uncorked the headers. Wow, it sounds great and it definitely got the neighbors attention!
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Re: My 1965 Mercury Comet C/FX Build
Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 10:33 pm
by tomb22
Nice job. Awesome looking car. I bet its fun to drive.
Re: My 1965 Mercury Comet C/FX Build
Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 11:13 pm
by gearhasher
Thank you tomb22!!
Re: My 1965 Mercury Comet C/FX Build
Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 11:32 pm
by Rocket989