1965 Comet Caliente (little red)

[poboyjo65]

I did try the reworked seat brackets and they are good except for the handle sticking out about 3 inches in front of the seat!

will the angle adapters also stick out from under the seat when you have it slid all way back? My flat ones do but they're down just about flush in the rug.

[Sugarmaker]

Johno, folks,
No the brackets match the seat frame and are right at the front edge of the seat.
So went to upholstery shop to view the problem. Who ever did the seat covers did not put in the "pulls" on three of the covers. These pulls., or wires, bring the seat covers down into the foam and are attached to the springs. Dave is going to try to add new pulls , but has very little material to sew the pull fabric to.
I brought all the seat springs home to clean up and also try to repair that one spring assembly that has two broken areas.
Will try to get some pictures up.
Worse case I have to have new covers made. I don't think any one is making covers?? I don't really want to have new seat covers made these have the center plastic rib and emblem in place.

[Jims65cyclone]

Click on the Pricing tab to see what he's got. Several guys on here have used him.
https://www.falconcometinteriors.com/

Jim

[poboyjo65]

Yeah Jake at falconcomet interiors makes new seat covers & he is highly rated but I heard it takes a while to get them.

I had mine back 5'' at first, that might be when I remembered seeing the adapters stick out . Had about 1'' between front seat and back seat . I moved them up to 3'' back, still not a lot of leg room back there,but the only guy to ride back there was Groover at the comet gathering for a couple blocks, not long enough to cramp his legs.

[Sugarmaker]

Jim, Johno, Folks,
Thanks for checking in on me. I will try to contact Jake on the seat covers just in case we cant get these old covers corrected. Some pictures:
The adjusting handle is 3 inches out compared to what it was. Other than that I think this will work?? I can modify the length of the adjuster handel if necessary?








The old foam:


The vinyl needs attention with the "Pull" wire features to be added.


The "pull" was still on one panel. The other three were cut off and the vinyl had been glued in place.




The broken spring I am going to try to replace:

[poboyjo65]

The adjusting handle is 3 inches out compared to what it was. Other than that I think this will work?? I can modify the length of the adjuster handel if necessary?

You could bend it straight up,right at the bend that would put it back 2-3 inches, I think that would make it look more normal . & could easily be bent back if ever wanted to. You might like it sticking out there! put a drink holder on it !

[Sugarmaker]

Johno, folks,
Yes bending the seat control lever almost straight up may be the right thing to do. I will try to keep you folks up to date.
I did look over the northwest classic interior web site. Pretty impressive! His work looks very good.
Off to work on the spring assemblies for the comet seats.

[Sugarmaker]

Comet Folks,
I removed the broken spring on the passengers side:


What it is supposed to look like:


similar replacement spring


Some cleaning a little welding, wire brushing, and a coat of primer:




The seat backs, strip the padding, clean and a coat of paint:




A plug for Jake at Northwest Classic interiors, I left him a message and within a hour he called me back, Had a very good discussion about seats.
He said his pricing is about 4 years old and has increased in most areas. So you need to call him with questions. He said he could build the covers for a white Caliente hardtop if I desired. We are going to try to save the old covers first.


So the plot thickens on the Comet seat up grades! stay tuned!;)

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Pulled the 2 barrel carb off the 289:


Do I pull the spacer off too? Seems like that's where the other similar gasket would go?


This is pretty crusty and dirty. Any suggestions on good cleaner/s?


A 2100 kit


The float that was in it. My friend John gave me an NOS all steel needle valve vs the rubber one. Not sure which might be better?

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Well a couple updates:
The carb on the 289 really needed a rebuild. Old gaskets were brittle and falling apart. The depression under the drivers side of the carb was full of fuel and oily liquid. I don't think that was supposed to be there! Cleaned up all the surfaces. Replaced the needle and seat. Reset the float to 7/8 ....
Yea its not perfectly clean but better than it was for sure.




Reset the carb on the manifold.


The engine fired up pretty quickly being empty of fuel. Had gas coming out of the front side of the carb at the gasket of the accelerator pump. I gently tightened the (4) screws, and the leak stopped. The Comet sounded better and idled well till I thumped the throttle to kick down the high idle and it stalled. I had forgot to adjust the screws at the front of the carb base. I turned them out about a half turn and tried it again. It went to fast idle, for a minute kicked it down to a slightly slower idle and it ran good.


Today I fired it up and it ran fine, High idle but did not stall when I put it in gear, as I moved it over to the living room/wash bay. (Check out the drivers door.) I was having to really shut it harder than I wanted. Here its open again.




Adam and I looked at the drivers door minor issue. It was closing hard, where it needed slammed to make sure it closed. I could see it was rising up as it latched. I found the upper front door hinge pivot pin to be worn some. We slightly adjusted the rear door jam latch pin down about 1/8 inch and the door is shutting better than a new one. This was a little bit of a compromise as the hinge pin or hinges are worn a little for sure. But the car is 60 years old and some of this is just normal wear. Gaps around the door is acceptable. I think its going to be happy in its new slightly modified position.

I also saw the first seat back covered with the old vinyl and new foam. These covers had been modified (cut) and the shop had one heck of a time getting the "pulls" or "lister" material sewn on to the back, to bring the vinyl down into the foam. I think these are going to be just fine. The next guy can have the car upholstery re done. I am going to try to clean the vinyl as best I can and drive this car! Like the rest of the car not perfect, but as desired the "lil" red Comet should be a great driver!

[Sugarmaker]

Comet folks,
Like a dog on a bone I cant leave this Comet alone. Just little stuff. Worked on both door panels to clean the black paint off the center of the trim. 90% of the paint had flaked off. Now they are bare and could be painted if I get ambitious.




Took the gas filler door off to clean under it.




Also pulled the drivers arm rest off again, stripped the paint off as it. The paint was cracking with pressure. I did not prep and or primer with SEM products. So will start over and try to get a better bond.

Took the center console off to try to super glue the broken chrome race track trim ends again. Not sure it will work. Also the back of the console near the hinge area is cracked and looks bad. Not sure there is anything I can do to improve that area??

Did some cleaning on there rear seat vinyl. It's better, cleaner, found there was some red spray paint over spray dust on them too.

We ordered red floor mats with Comet logo in white. Also ordered the passengers side rear view mirror. That should be a nice addition to the car too.

[poboyjo65]

The front of the accelerator pump could possibly be warped. the eyes of the screw holes on the corners are weaker & can get bowed in & cause a leak. you can lay it on a flat hard surface & tap it back flat & /or lay sandpaper on that flat hard surface & rub the pump cover on it to true it up. also a good idea to run a phenolic wood spacer if you have room.

[Sugarmaker]

johno,
That was where the problem was, but after just snugging the hex head screws it seems fine. Started it today and it is running much better.
The seat bases are being slightly reworked on the foam. this guy is pretty fussy and he is working with 20 year old vinyl.
Planning to put the seat frames back on the floor rather than the 1.5 inch spacer blocks. Hoping the new foam brings us up to a more normal ride height.
I am going to attempt to make an improvement to the back of the console lid. The vinyl is cracked all across the back. My plan is to clean it up the edges and use some tan JB weld product, to fill the crack, then sand and finish. Will try to get some pictures.

[poboyjo65]

Keep in mind the inner back seat mounts had a spacer from the factory. I think they were somewhere around an inch thick maybe a little more.

[Sugarmaker]

johno, folks,
Yes those black hard spacer blocks are in place in the inside rear corners of the Comet seat frames. Thanks for the reminder.
We have rain today so may get some time to noodle out the fix/ repair for the console.