New Member, need guidance/help

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Sam Wooten
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Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2019 1:23 pm

New Member, need guidance/help

Post by Sam Wooten »

Hey y'all I'm an 18 year old kid, senior year of high school. One of my close friends let me know of his possession of an 66' Comet Cyclone. It was his grandfather's. The grandfather is still alive and might possibly come one day eventually to load the car up and take it back to where he lives an hour and a half away. But we are not certain of that. My friend pitched the idea to me a few weeks ago of beginning to restore the car, just as a bored weekend past-time and I was ecstatic when he asked me this. I've been researching almost non-stop for the last 2 weeks about the car, and honestly still haven't really gotten that far. I have no pictures to share of the car because it is in a garage that is full of random junk that has just piled up over the years. I've been trying specifically to find cheap replacement parts. And just parts to kinda fill the gaps. I am almost positive that the car has the 390 big block. But I do not know and I guess I'm just looking for some help and or someone to discuss with on where to source parts for this car. Our budget is not very big at all because as I said we are still in high-school and neither of us are working at the moment. I honestly have never taken apart or worked on a car and agreed to help with this because I thought that it's a good opportunity to get hands on being an old muscle/family car.

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SASSY
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Re: New Member, need guidance/help

Post by SASSY »

Honestly,,,, leave the car alone till you find someone with some experience to give you a little guidance.
Fred
I'd rather do it myself if it's done right or not,,,isn't that what hotrodding is all about

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tomb22
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Re: New Member, need guidance/help

Post by tomb22 »

Glade to hear the 2 of you are interested in that 66. I had no buddy to teach me, but it didn't stop me from taken my first car apart and fixing things. You guys need to get a close look at the car and find whats wrong with it first. When you have some specific questions, there are people here that can help you out.
tom
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tomb's 65

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Jims65cyclone
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Re: New Member, need guidance/help

Post by Jims65cyclone »

Welcome aboard, Sam! :D Let's see if I understand this....
1. The car belongs to your friend's grandfather?
2. The car is in your friend's "possession" in his family's garage?
3. The grandfather hasn't given the car to your friend? No title transferred? Apparently not since he may reclaim it one day. Sounds like he doesn't intend to give the car to your friend. Or, has that even been discussed?
4. Has he given your friend permission to work on the car? Given the lack of knowledge and experience of both of you with auto mechanics, it sounds like an opportunity to turn a good project car into a pile of parts without someone knowledgeable to mentor you. What would be the repercussions with grandpaw of doing that?

My recommendation is to first clarify the situation with the grandfather. Is he still interested in keeping the car? Will he give/sell the car to your friend, including transferring the title to him, if of-age, or his parents? You certainly don't want to work on the car without his permission just because it's been in your friend's garage for years. I wouldn't want to invest my money in a car that doesn't belong to me, and may be subject to being taken away by the rightful owner at any time. Resolve the permission/ownership questions before you do anything. Then address the knowledge gap.

Good luck! And keep us posted.

Jim
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lavron
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Re: New Member, need guidance/help

Post by lavron »

I am in agreement about getting it all cleared by Grandpa, he may be ok with you guys working on it but I would make sure first. Also make sure it is not some super rare equipped car before touching it.

In the mean time, '66 Comets share the same platform as Ford Fairlane's so mechanically they are the same, a few body parts and glass will interchange.

See Ya,
Mike
Mike's build thread
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=13058
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Sam Wooten
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Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2019 1:23 pm

Re: New Member, need guidance/help

Post by Sam Wooten »

Thanks y'all I'll keep you guys posted.

Sam Wooten
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Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2019 1:23 pm

Re: New Member, need guidance/help

Post by Sam Wooten »

To respond to your questions Jim
1. Yes the car's title is currently in the grandfathers hands.
2. While the title is with the grandfather the car in physicality is at my friends house in the garage.
3. The title has not been transferred between the two parties but I'm trying to work that out with my friend and get that to us. I do not think that the ownership of the car has been discussed within the family in very much depth, but my friends dad is the one who pitched the idea to us to possibly start this project. So I guess we felt that it was implied that we were allowed to work on/we own the car but I am now figuring out that is in fact not the case.
4. He has not given permission to my friend that I know of to work on the car yet but I told my friend to call him this afternoon and ask him. But I will say what I have done was jumped on the issue of our lack of experience with working on the cars. I went to the local auto-zone and by the grace of god found the cashier that checked me out happened to be a Ford/Mercury fanatic. So I gave him my number and he said he was gonna text me a list of guys he knows that collect the parts for 66-67 Comet's and whenever we get started he wanted to know so he could possibly help. So I've been researching more and more over the last 2 weeks about the FE engine and the 66-67 Comet's and I know most of the basics. Or at least I think I know enough to do this. But one question for y'all, were all 66 comet cyclone's the 390 FE? Because I thought I remembered originally reading that there was also a 3.3 L V6? And honestly me and my friend are not sure which motor is in our car.

lavron
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Re: New Member, need guidance/help

Post by lavron »

Sam Wooten wrote:But one question for y'all, were all 66 comet cyclone's the 390 FE?
Was no V-6 BTW, I think in '66 you could put any motor you wanted in the car when you ordered it (?) the 6 would have been a 200 inline (the small block 6, not the 240-300 big block 6), there would have been a small block V-8 289 I am guessing. if it is a Cyclone the 390 was the base engine I think.

Some the '66 guys will chime in here and correct me if I am wrong :roll:

I guess it all depends on what the car is for sure. If you guys can look at the data plate on the car you can decode it and find out for sure what the car is.

See Ya,
Mike
Mike's build thread
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=13058
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Jims65cyclone
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Re: New Member, need guidance/help

Post by Jims65cyclone »

lavron wrote:If you guys can look at the data plate on the car you can decode it and find out for sure what the car is
Here are a couple of sites you can use to decode the VIN numbers:

https://www.oldride.com/library/1966_mercury_comet.html
https://www.decodethis.com/vin/6H27Y621096

Good luck
Jim
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Sam Wooten
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Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2019 1:23 pm

Re: New Member, need guidance/help

Post by Sam Wooten »

Hey y'all I just wanted to let the thread know that sadly the grandfather denied us the title and the action of working on the comet but another friend came to me and he has a 79 trans/am with a 301 which is actually a partially rare option just because people opted more for the muscle package of either the 400 or the 455 Ci. So I'm gonna stay in this forum and check up occasionally but thank y'all for your help so far. Hope to be back with more questions on the Comet or late 60's early 70's Ford motor company, produced cars. I'll see y'all around.

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Jims65cyclone
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Re: New Member, need guidance/help

Post by Jims65cyclone »

Sorry to hear the Comet deal fell through. Just glad you found out your friend didn't have permission from the owner before you tore into it. You sound like you've got a good head on your shoulders, and a desire to learn how to become a gear-head. Keep an eye out on Craigslist and other such publications for a good Comet or other Ford product you can make your own. If you find one and want some pre-purchase advice on what to check out, we're here to help you. All you've got to do is ask. Good luck! :wink:

Jim
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Lige66
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Re: New Member, need guidance/help

Post by Lige66 »

I own both a cyclone and a caliente, both are 66s.
The 390 wasn't a base engine.it was an option mainly found in the gt. Mine both have 289.
.
No one should plunge into dissecting any car without researching them first.
Gerry Goshorn, lige66

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