poboyjos ride

[popscomet]

WAY to go JOHN ! you did good...way to go .......pop

[poboyjo65]

Thanks Joe & Pop!!

[comethead]

Rumor has it that Johnnies gonna drive that machine out west in October and join the west coast crew for the Merc show!!

[CALIFORNIA CALIENTE]

That would be GREAT!!!! ROY.

[Jims65cyclone]

Thanks Pugs & JH! Well I knew it would have more power,because I had this motor in a truck & it was too fast for it's own good,if you know what I mean. so I wanted an old ford car to put it in so I found the comet. I wanted this car to handle & steer more like a newer car . My first plans were to get a mustang II frontend ,then a fatman. Roy & others on the forum advised against doing that ,that 65s had good handling already. I did the shelby drop, shelby quick steer kit, & borgeson 16-1 box,I did all this to have less turns of the steering wheel ,only 3 turns vs 5 1/2 before & to drive easy without white knuckles.
The most rewarding thing & my favorite thing is I accomplished just that. I have built a fun car to drive & can turn one handed on any turn while grabbin gears with the other. next to that is the 4sp & rear gear. It seems like a close ratio trans though it shouldn't be, what ever it is- it is FUN !!

On my second ride today in the country I had to stop for a pic at this old school house.

John....your car looks great! You've done a super job on it. I'm wondering about the ease of steering you've achieved with the changes you've made, though. I went to http://www.stangerssite.com/quicksteeringkit.html to learn about the quick steer kit, and they state the following:

"Keep in mind, on a 16:1 ratio steering box like the Shelby Mustangs used, the turning effort will be very hard and make parking and slow maneuvering an unpleasant task. It was designed for use at speed where small movements of the steering wheel were all that was needed to negotiate a road course. It was never intended for everyday use and parking lot trolling."

Reading that without your testimonial, I would never make that modification on mine. It's hard enough to steer now! What did you do different? Was the Shelby drop the charm?

By the way, you need to make that picture in front of the school house your signature picture. It looks like something out of a magazine.

[poboyjo65]

Thanks Jim ! the charm was the 16;1 power steering box by borgeson. it isn't a stock box ,it is like a more modern box,integrated,not the ram & stuff like 65s had. So I was able to do the quick steer kit with it, which you can't do the qsteer kit with stock ps. But it drives great so far, I'm sure after the excitement wears off I will find some faults with it but compared to before.....well there is no comparison! with the smaller steering wheel it all feels more like a modern car.
I will probably use that pic as a sigpic later. I just noticed the outhouse,dang ! I needed to go while I was there too!

[CALIFORNIA CALIENTE]

Never had power steering in my COMET,48 years of ownership,NEVER missed it even with 8" wheels and big Goodyears.The wife even enjoyed driving it!!! ROY.

[caseville cyclone]

Wow John your car looks fabulous,I bet you are enjoying being able to drive it instead of welding on it!!! Tonight I started from the very beginning of your build and enjoyed every page. That car has come a long way since the start of your build. Andy

[Jims65cyclone]

Thanks Jim ! the charm was the 16;1 power steering box by borgeson. it isn't a stock box ,it is like a more modern box,integrated,not the ram & stuff like 65s had. So I was able to do the quick steer kit with it, which you can't do the qsteer kit with stock ps. But it drives great so far, I'm sure after the excitement wears off I will find some faults with it but compared to before.....well there is no comparison! with the smaller steering wheel it all feels more like a modern car.
I will probably use that pic as a sigpic later. I just noticed the outhouse,dang ! I needed to go while I was there too!

Oohhh! You used the PS Borgeson box. I didn't realize you had PS, and the website I visited referenced the original Shelbys with 16:1, but without PS. It said that was good for racing, but not everyday driving. Did you have to modify your steering column or anything else to install the PS Borgeson box? Did you buy the pump and hoses from them, too, or did you already have an original pump? I'm thinking of doing the same, and wondered what you ran into on the conversion.
Yeah, I noticed the little building, but it's still a good picture. Maybe you can photoshop it out. I hope that other thing in the background is a wire spool and not a well. That outhouse could add a little taste to the water, being that close.
Jim

[poboyjo65]

Thanks Andy! It's like some of my old girlfriends, looks good from a distance but RUFF up close. Yea I did some things twice,like the trunk floor. & now I'll have to get or make another tank . after redoing & spending money having the stock tank vated & fixed , I cut it up. that felt stupid .but it wouldn't fit between the frame rails any more. I'm using a 6 gal. plastic boat tank right now until I can have one made to fit .

I think I had a dead mouse in my motor it stunk really bad when it would heat up , I think I finally blowed his stinkin arse out tonight it's not so bad.

Yes Jim I got the borgeson ,hoses & also their ragjoint, because it's different than a ford rag joint on the sector side ,,shaft size is different .I had to do some things to make a stock column work, or it looks like a stock column. it is from a 77 truck -3 on the tree. It had every thing you need to work except the shifterless collar & use your old wiring. I had to cut the bearing race from the bottom & weld it back in where I wanted it. it had a shaft collar lock under the lower bearing that came in handy too. Then I had to make a floor mount with a cover because the rag joint lands half in & half out of the firewall. lots of guys buy a aftermarket column but I'm a tight wad & these stocks guys around here kinda rub off on me! I cant remember if I put any pics on here but I have some I'll get up soon on the steering column & stuff. The z bar stomped my butt but I'll do the stomping now! it needed a chop,cut & rebuild. but it all works & with dougs headers too.

[Jims65cyclone]

Wow! Not exactly an out-of-the-box bolt-on, huh.......
Jim

[poboyjo65]

Yea Jim You gotta work for it,but it's worth it in the end. I would take the seat out unless your really young & double jointed , to work under the dash. one thing you will have to do is fab up a floor mount with a cover for the rag, no matter which column you use. a column shift might could be done with lots of work but floor shift is best & easiest. here are some pics of the floor mount, I cut the top of it off & making a separate cover for the top & clutch rod, actually 2 covers stacked on top of each other that are kinda like the stock one in that it is split so it will come off with the clutch rod in place. so it is a 3 piece cover.
In these first 2 pics ,before I made it a 3 pc cover, I had the upper part of the rag joint from the truck still on the column but later cut the column to length & used the borgeson rag joint top & bottom. also you can see the lock collar under the bottom of the column. it holds the lower bearing in its race.






Also I made a bracket,like a chain guard on a bike, keeps the zbar from rubbing the steering box's hydraulic lines. also put a little ''porch roof'' bracket over the rag joint ,but under the chain guard to keep out FOD.





with out the brackets the oil lines are a little too close to z bar. notice how you can see the rag joint in this pic with out the guard brackets, but in the pic above you dont see the ragjoint, you see the porch roof under the clutch rod & the chain guard.


I think the easy way out ,to use the borgeson, would be after market column , hydraulic or cable clutch or auto trans with floor shift. & to make it easier you could get the coupler instead of the rag joint. that would be smaller diameter &would probably fit inside of the column tube & maybe not need a different floor mount. But I heard it had more vibration than a rag. I guess I just dont like easy.

[Comechero65]

Rumor has it that Johnnies gonna drive that machine out west in October and join the west coast crew for the Merc show!!

Joe, I hope you are right. would love to meet him and a few others at the Mercury if I can make it myself. and if they let me in.
Ron

[poboyjo65]

Probably wont make it to that show guys .

I finished my adjustable strut rods. I welded the brackets from jegs to a pc of 3/16ths plate & another for a washer that will hold it all in place, kinda rounded off like the mount of the car & also put on the cupped washer . I used 3 flat 1/2'' washers in between the big square black plates/washers ,had to drill out the hole to 5/8'' but their diameter was perfect & the thickness of 3 of them was just right to lock it in place.





I needed to get the front end up some .it was just too low, like down there where Fred hangs out, & rubbing too. anyway so instead of trying to guess what size spacers to get or get new coils & hope it sits where I want it, I bought these adjustable spacers for the coil springs.


I also made 1'' thick rubber spacers.so I'm coming up 1 1/2'' from the get-go with the spacers' minimum 1/2'' height. I welded a piece of pipe to the top of the adjusters to keep it centered in the tower . also I cut notches in the adjuster rings, actually went back after this pic & cut more notches doubling the amount. To adjust it I'll compress the spring with an outside type compressor & turn the rings thru holes in the shock tower with a screw driver. at least I wont have to tear it all apart to adjust them.



I haven't set the car back down off the jacktands yet to see it because I'm putting on tail pipes.

[Comechero65]

That's a pretty clever setup. should make adjusting the height much easier. Nice!
What are you installing for mufflers? I used the Cherry Bomb glasspacks on mine and i really like the sound. Neighbors may not but i don't care. sounds awsome to me.
Ron