Hello from AK

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Sidetracked
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2022 1:55 am
Location: Alaska

Hello from AK

Post by Sidetracked »

Howdy folks,
I'm Jed.
Having just recently found and bought an early Comet, I figured I'd start a handle on this forum, so that I can pick some brains, and show off my new to me ride.
I like to work on all sorts of things, and have been doing so since a very early age. However, I'm not a card carrying member of ASE. Just an average joe, with a little mechanical ability. I enjoy fabrication, welding, forging, as well as machining metals. Sometimes I get a wild hair, and dabble in woodwork.

Blah blah, on to the car dangit.

So, due to having a moment of weakness, I was cruising my local Craigslist, and happened upon an ad for a 1962 Mercury Comet. Upon further inspection of the ad, I see that it is a 2 door hard top. And, look at that, it has fins!!! To say I was immediately sold on the idea of having another classic is an understatement. With a little bit of banter back and forth, I end up trailering it the 60 miles back to the ole Sidetrack compound.

Here is the story on the car, as told to me by the seller.
The car was bought new by a family in Anchorage, and driven for 10 years. Due to some circumstances (he would not say, wait for hypothesis), it was stored in a barn for the next 50 years. The car has just over 53K on the odo.
Feller I bought it from did a few things to the ride to make it roadworthy again, and decided to sell. He changed out the entire fuel system, rebuilt the carburetor, and gave it a tune-up. Brakes were gone through entirely, front to back. He put new shocks on the rear, slapped a floor patch in the drivers side, and installed new carpet. Oh, and he upgraded to a normal alternator.
The little six seems to run pretty good, and everything works. Even the dome light, and vacuum wipers.
Options on this little car are pretty sparce. There is no radio, no power anything. Although, there is a hole in the sheetmetal passenger side cowl for what I think may have been a CB, who knows.
As for the body, there are some dings here and there, and it appears the only rust spots are on the lower fenders near the doors. It is missing one of the targeting crosshairs on the drivers fender, as well as one hubcap.
(hypothesis alert)
The passenger fender has what looks like 3 bullet holes from a large caliber pistol. There is also one in the steel behind the passenger rear wheel. (could this be why it was parked for 50 years? Who knows.
Everything else seems to be in pretty decent shape. I would really like to get the body work all sorted out, re-sprayed, more power, better handling, etc. A good lookin and driving cruiser, that is fast, is what I'm after.
The three trips I have taken in it have induced massive amounts of rubbernecking. Neat.

Anyways, good to be here, and I look forward to sharing more of this car in the future.

**warning** Sharing will be sporadic, as I have my hands in alot of different things and work schedule is pretty funky.
Comet on trailer
Comet on trailer
Comet on trailer.jpg (97.57 KiB) Viewed 1854 times

wgreggking
Posts: 191
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2012 2:10 pm
Location: rural central AZ

Re: Hello from AK

Post by wgreggking »

Great find, Welcome from AZ
Image 64 caliente 302 auto

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poboyjo65
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Posts: 7037
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:40 pm
Location: Camden, Tenn.

Re: Hello from AK

Post by poboyjo65 »

Welcome on! Nice little comet! :D it's actually a 2dr sedan though,,,not a hardtop. no hardtops in 62,they didnt come out till 63,as well as convertibles.
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Johno

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SASSY
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Posts: 5123
Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2006 12:32 am
Location: Wynndel, BC CANADA

Re: Hello from AK

Post by SASSY »

Welcome on!
Have you a plan for the car?
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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Sidetracked
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2022 1:55 am
Location: Alaska

Re: Hello from AK

Post by Sidetracked »

Thanks for the warm welcome. Its appreciated.

Plans for the car are somewhat fluid at the moment, and there are no deadlines.

I do know I want to fix the body, and repaint it. As well as a small block and auto. I want the car to handle the power, and I also want it to hug some corners/handle well. Wheel bolt pattern change for better wheels, new rear end, this may necessitate a four link, etc. I'm unsure. The interior is going to stay mostly stock, minus some seatbelts and perhaps buckets... Maybe. Still debating on color.

I've been reading a lot in the various modification forums, and looking at what others have done to their cars, and there are quite a few I like the looks of.

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Joe Travers
Posts: 2424
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2020 6:23 pm
Location: Louisiana

Re: Hello from AK

Post by Joe Travers »

Cool find, bullet holes included. 8)

Hmmm........doesn't look or sound like a bear. Strike that one. :wink:

Joe
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1963 1/2 Custom Hardtop
342 stroker, solid roller, T-10, 3.55 posi

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Jims65cyclone
Posts: 2754
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2014 10:29 pm
Location: Lexington, SC

Re: Hello from AK

Post by Jims65cyclone »

Welcome aboard! :D Looks to be in good shape (minus the bullet holes :lol: ). Looking forward to following your progress.

Jim
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SASSY
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Posts: 5123
Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2006 12:32 am
Location: Wynndel, BC CANADA

Re: Hello from AK

Post by SASSY »

Sidetracked wrote:
Thu Sep 01, 2022 4:32 pm
Thanks for the warm welcome. Its appreciated.

Plans for the car are somewhat fluid at the moment, and there are no deadlines.

I do know I want to fix the body, and repaint it. As well as a small block and auto. I want the car to handle the power, and I also want it to hug some corners/handle well. Wheel bolt pattern change for better wheels, new rear end, this may necessitate a four link, etc. I'm unsure. The interior is going to stay mostly stock, minus some seatbelts and perhaps buckets... Maybe. Still debating on color.

I've been reading a lot in the various modification forums, and looking at what others have done to their cars, and there are quite a few I like the looks of.
Reads like it might end up looking like a GT350,,,,,, from the underside anyway! Lol
Look forward to your build.
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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fryedaddy
Posts: 711
Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2014 12:40 am
Location: east tn

Re: Hello from AK

Post by fryedaddy »

whats up with people shooting our comets,mine had bullet holes in the drivers door,quarter and trunk gas tank area.a total of five.it was rumored to have been won and lost in poker games,which may have led to it being shot up.i had 3 bills of sale for it back in 83 when i bought it for 200 dollars,back then you had to fool with that stuff.i had a little trouble getting it registered.
fryedaddy
Image1966 caliente,428 4 speed,4.11 gears,nitrous,parachute

Sidetracked
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2022 1:55 am
Location: Alaska

Re: Hello from AK

Post by Sidetracked »

Did I mention sporadic?

I did get some stuff done on the car. Found one of those crosshair thingies, and bought some new/old stock tail light lenses. A couple of the originals were a bit cracked. Some of the mounting holes were frozen cockstiff, so a liberal amount of kroil, and some patience got the screws removed. I ran in the correct tap in all the holes (I think it was 8-32), and bought some new stainless hardware for all four lights.

My next job was to investigate the auto trans. I checked the fluid, and it didn't even register on the stick, so I figured I'd do a fluid change, and filter swap. Before I dropped the pan, I went to my local parts store, and started the process of finding the requisite parts. Gasket/fluid/and filter.
Two hours later, we surmised that the filter was unavailable, and no part number for the thing. Somewhere in there I learned that the filter was actually reusable. Neat! No gasket was available, so I just bought a piece of gasket paper big enough to trace the pan.
After I marked the perimeter, I came up on the problem of making holes. Now, I'm a little familiar with leather work, and knew there a hole punch chisel thing is what I wanted to use for cutting the holes. (my exacto knife skills are not great) Chucked up a piece of bar stock in the old Mori lathe, and proceeded to bring the od to tolerance, and did a steep chamfer on the id. Boom, punch made, gasket produced.
The next order of business was the passenger window. Any time you slammed the door, the glass would fall out of its track. Investigation revealed that the little plastic window regulator had broken on the backside, and allowed the clip to come off. Amazingly, the clip was sitting in the bottom of the door. Amazon had the regulator I needed for cheap, so I ordered that puppy, and installed it when it arrived. The package came with ten of the little buggers, so I guess all of the windows will get new parts. Maybe even put some grease in there to lube things a bit.

Anyways, I suppose I should start a build thread, so I can chronicle my painfully slow progress.

Cheers, and good winter to all,

Sidetracked

tomb22
Posts: 683
Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2016 8:11 pm

Re: Hello from AK

Post by tomb22 »

Good to see you fixing things up. I have used spent rifle shells to cut holes in gaskets. Works like a charm :D
Tom
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tomb's 65

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Joe Travers
Posts: 2424
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2020 6:23 pm
Location: Louisiana

Re: Hello from AK

Post by Joe Travers »

Sidetracked wrote:
Sat Oct 22, 2022 10:24 am
Anyways, I suppose I should start a build thread, so I can chronicle my painfully slow progress.
Yeah, put up a thread cause you never know. Someone might see something that pertains to their car.
I don't post much on that 'cause I'm VERY sporadic. :lol:
Have a good one-

Joe
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1963 1/2 Custom Hardtop
342 stroker, solid roller, T-10, 3.55 posi

bluestang67
Posts: 41
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2022 7:05 am

Re: Hello from AK

Post by bluestang67 »

Yep build threads and pics beat tv ,,
Starting from ground zero

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1948F1
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2022 4:53 pm
Location: Griffin, GA

Re: Hello from AK

Post by 1948F1 »

Bullet holes add character.

1948F1
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2022 4:53 pm
Location: Griffin, GA

Re: Hello from AK

Post by 1948F1 »

Bullet holes add character.

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