Hello All,
I just purchased a 1964 Comet Caliente that needs, well.. pretty much everything. I am new to not only Comets, but the Ford family of cars in general. Until this purchase I was strictly classic Pontiac, but I got bored with it and tired of paying the Pontiac tax on the extremely limited selection of aftermarket parts.
So, after selling my last car (1963 Pontiac Tempest,) I started the hunt for a Comet. Found one a couple of weeks ago, got it into my small two-car garage and now the real fun begins.
My plans for the car are to build a mild (semi-budget friendly) road race car that sees some street time. My first area of business is the suspension system. OpenTracker seems to be the perfect match for what I am looking to do and the price is much more reasonable than some of the more extreme suspension upgrades.
If anyone has any suggestions, I am more than happy to listen!
-Cullen
New Guy in Dallas, TX
Re: New Guy in Dallas, TX
Welcome Cullen, sounds like you have some plans and when you can post some pictures for us to see.
You can find a lot of information on suspensions on the forum the first thing to consider is converting it to '65 steering component, most of the stuff is Mustang interchange except the center link and you have to have a Comet/Falcon part for that but is available. Most likely you will want to do the "Shelby" drop on the upper control arm for better handling.
I did a Mustang2 front on mine but that may be further than you want to take it and it also is not necessarily better than the stock steering but it is a major modification.
You will find many many Mustang parts interchange which is a bonus because there is a large aftermarket for those parts.
I Will be interested to hear about plans in detail and watch progress on your build, a lot of advice is here for the asking and you will find some of the most knowledgeable guys here (and some pretty stand-up guys as well)
See Ya,
Mike
You can find a lot of information on suspensions on the forum the first thing to consider is converting it to '65 steering component, most of the stuff is Mustang interchange except the center link and you have to have a Comet/Falcon part for that but is available. Most likely you will want to do the "Shelby" drop on the upper control arm for better handling.
I did a Mustang2 front on mine but that may be further than you want to take it and it also is not necessarily better than the stock steering but it is a major modification.
You will find many many Mustang parts interchange which is a bonus because there is a large aftermarket for those parts.
I Will be interested to hear about plans in detail and watch progress on your build, a lot of advice is here for the asking and you will find some of the most knowledgeable guys here (and some pretty stand-up guys as well)
See Ya,
Mike
- Jims65cyclone
- Posts: 2764
- Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2014 10:29 pm
- Location: Lexington, SC
Re: New Guy in Dallas, TX
Welcome aboard, Cullen! Like Mike said, plenty of help here free for the asking.
First, we've got to see your new baby. Here's a link on how to post pics on the forum:
https://www.cometcentral.com/forum/view ... =1&t=16011
Second, Joe has built a 64 road racing Falcon, and he has a thread on the forum chronicling that build. Falcons and Comets are basically twins under the skin. Should be good for some ideas. I'm sure he'll chime in soon. Check it out.
https://www.cometcentral.com/forum/view ... 32&t=13000
Jim
First, we've got to see your new baby. Here's a link on how to post pics on the forum:
https://www.cometcentral.com/forum/view ... =1&t=16011
Second, Joe has built a 64 road racing Falcon, and he has a thread on the forum chronicling that build. Falcons and Comets are basically twins under the skin. Should be good for some ideas. I'm sure he'll chime in soon. Check it out.
https://www.cometcentral.com/forum/view ... 32&t=13000
Jim
- Joe Travers
- Posts: 2437
- Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2020 6:23 pm
- Location: Louisiana
Re: New Guy in Dallas, TX
Howdy Dudey!
I'm 4 hours southeast of you. Have a son & friends living in Dallas.
I have a friend nearby with a 8 inch rear differential that will fit your car but it's a major pain to access. Hurricane Laura dropped trees all around her parked in the woods. I may have dibs on another parts car. I'll call tomorrow and see if it's still around.
Welcome to team FoMoCo!
JT
I'm 4 hours southeast of you. Have a son & friends living in Dallas.
I have a friend nearby with a 8 inch rear differential that will fit your car but it's a major pain to access. Hurricane Laura dropped trees all around her parked in the woods. I may have dibs on another parts car. I'll call tomorrow and see if it's still around.
Welcome to team FoMoCo!
JT
Re: New Guy in Dallas, TX
Wecome on!
Very interested in what you end with on your Comet.
Are you thinking of doing track attacks with it?
Read through the stuff in the Driveline topic on this forum and
check out the links there is a lot of info in there.
Fred
Very interested in what you end with on your Comet.
Are you thinking of doing track attacks with it?
Read through the stuff in the Driveline topic on this forum and
check out the links there is a lot of info in there.
Fred
-
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Tue Dec 29, 2020 1:22 am
Re: New Guy in Dallas, TX
Thank you for the warm welcomes and it is nice to meet you all! I'm sure I will be a nuisance to you all with every question I can muster.
Jim, thank you for the links. The information about Joe's road race 64 Falcon will be invaluable to me during this process I am sure. I know my way around a dragstrip, but I am new to the world of road racing. It was something that always intrigued me, so I wanted to try my hand in it with this build. If I end up hating it, I still come out with a great handling street car.
Joe, I sent you a PM about the 8" rears.
I will try to snag a few photos of my car and post them up tonight or tomorrow.
Jim, thank you for the links. The information about Joe's road race 64 Falcon will be invaluable to me during this process I am sure. I know my way around a dragstrip, but I am new to the world of road racing. It was something that always intrigued me, so I wanted to try my hand in it with this build. If I end up hating it, I still come out with a great handling street car.
Joe, I sent you a PM about the 8" rears.
I will try to snag a few photos of my car and post them up tonight or tomorrow.