'63 Mercury Comet S22 coming home...

[ChrisV]

I bought this car over 20 years ago off a used car lot in Seattle with all intentions of fixing it up. I had a roundbody Falcon at the time and a Comet convertible parts car. The roundbody got sold and the parts car was sitting at my dad's place. I drove it for a bit then decided to start gathering parts. Well, life took it's usual twists and turns and I got a job here in Baltimore and moved, leaving the Comet behind at my dad's, where it sat in a carport for the last 16 years.





fast forward to this past week. I've finally got room in my garage, so my dad got the car running and brought it out of the carport where it had gotten filthy, though not rusty.







It's being picked up today by a shipper and brought over here to Baltimore this week. I finally will have a chance to put it together, though I still haven't decided what drivetrain I want in it. Probably a typical V8 5 speed combo (it's already a 4 on the floor, but since it is a 6 cyl, the 4 speed is a Dagenham unit, with a broken 3rd gear). Maybe I'll go with a "big" six, but that depends on availability around here. I'll get more pics when it arrives and I get it cleaned up.

[ChrisV]

Oh, and this Pshop is the plan. 15" American Racing Salt Flat wheels with a black cherry pearl paint, but most ly stock bodywork (rolled pans front and rear with trimmed up bumpers, but stock other than that):



Still with the red interior.

[hotrodalex]

Sick.

[FoMoJo]

That's beautiful.

There was a recent episode on PowerBlock, formerly Horsepower TV, where they rebuilt a Ford 6 adding on a few speed parts.  It turned out pretty well.  Ideally, a small-block Windsor with Cleveland heads would be ideal.  Good luck with the project.

[ChrisV]

Since it's originally a 6, I'd like to keep it that way, but it needs to have power to match highway use around here. To that end, it's also getting the disc brake conversion for modern stopping power. The kits are pretty reasonable.

[hotrodalex]

I think it's cooler when guys hop up the 6 cylinders a little bit instead of automatically swapping in a V8.

[Soup DeVille]

I think it's cooler when guys hop up the 6 cylinders a little bit instead of automatically swapping in a V8.

It's nice to see something different, I agree.

[FoMoJo]

Split manifold and a couple of pipes and they sound pretty good.

[Secret Chimp]

I like those wheels, they look good on almost anything.

Out-there suggestion - SVO motor

[Mustangfan2003]

I like those wheels, they look good on almost anything.

Out-there suggestion - SVO motor

That would be cool or go even crazier by putting a Ecoboost 3.5 in there. 

[ChrisV]

I had thought about the turbo 4, as a number of falcon guys have done it, but it takes a lot of fabricating and weighs as much as the 289/302. I'm looking into the Aussie Falcon 4.1 liter (250 cid) crossflow 6 from the '80s, as it's based on the US 200/250 block and would be a literal bolt in. With the aluminum head and crossflow design, it's lighter than the stock Falcon 6 and makes much more power.

[SVT32V]

I know its more expensive but a coyote would be cool in this car. Lighter than the 289/302 and significantly more powerful.

Cool project, nice of your father to keep it for so long.

[Soup DeVille]

I know its more expensive but a coyote would be cool in this car. Lighter than the 289/302 and significantly more powerful.

Cool project, nice of your father to keep it for so long.

Much wider too though.

[SVT32V]

Yes, but at least not as wide as the 4.6 or 5.4. 

Amazingly the height and length of a coyote is less than an LS3.

[Rupert]

Height, maybe, but coyotes have long tails.

Cool car, Chris!

[hotrodalex]

Supercharged 6 cylinder is the obvious answer.

[ChrisV]

Coyote would be nice, but it wouldn't fit between the shock towers, which woudl mean a Mustang II suspension conversion as well, and then we start jacking the budget up. Would also need a narrowed 8.8 rear end and narrowed rear frame with a mini-tub in order to clear enough tire to handle 400+ hp.

Budget allows for a sub $1000 drivetrain upgrade, which means modded 6 or mild 289/302 w 5 speed.

Now if people want to contribute to the "drop a Coyote in the Comet" fund, I'd be more than happy to lean in that direction... lol!

For my other Comet, I originally found a complete T Bird Super Coupe with the supercharged 3.8 liter V6 that would have gone in there quite nice. That would stil be a cool option if I could find a 5 speed one cheap enough. Still pretty heavy, though.

[SVT32V]

With sub $1000 for drivetrain, it isn't going to be a coyote.

I would want efi just for the lack of pollution, perhaps an explorer 5.0 can be found.

[Mustangfan2003]

I wouldn't think that a T5 would be too expensive. 

[ChrisV]

I can get an entire 5.0/t5 combo for about $800 from an older Fox setup. Also, if i can get some one to narrow the rear (one side needs 3" removed from it) I can get a complete Ford Explorer rear end with discs for $100.

Well, I hate car transport companies, at least the brokers.

I put the Comet's tow out to bid online and got back dozens of responses. I had put it out there as an inoperative car, as I didn't know if it would be able to be driven onto the trailer. Accepted the $825 bid of one company, and talked to the owner. Told him that it had been started, but might not run onto the truck, which is why I listed it as inop. that way if the truck arrived and it wouldn't start, there would be no surprises.

He put it out to bid on the transport boards and got back a best offer of $950, which I assumed was the best that anyone woudl do fora non-running car. I accepted the bid and teh car got picked up. My dad actually drove it up to the truk, they hauled it on, then he kept the battery, (which was the deep cycle one out of his motorhome). The truck left the driveway and I ended up getting a call from the transport company. THey wanted to charge me another hundred bucks becaeu the car was no not running (battery removed). I told them I SAID it was inop in the initial requst and on the original quote. They said that no one told them that and that they had bid on a running car transport. Apparently the broker put it out on the boards as a running car.

Of course, I called the broker who said "but you said your dad had got it running." To which I replied, "I still said it was listed as inop as I didn't know how LONG it would run, so treat it as an inop car." He wouldn't take any responsibility for changing the listing from inop to operable and hung up on me. When I called the transport company back, they said, "well, the car is in Tacoma now. You can come get it, or we can deliver it back to your dad's house for a fee."

FUCK! So now I've been taken for another hundred, putting the entire bill up over a grand. But the car is on it's way, so I guess that's a good thing.

[ChrisV]

Funny thing is, I looked into IRS for this car, and thought, wonder of the Miata setup would fit. Turns out, the Miata rear end is 4.5" wider hub to hub than the Falcon/Comet rear... yes, this car is narrower than a Miata....

[ChrisV]

driving out to meet the truck...

[280Z Turbo]

Funny thing is, I looked into IRS for this car, and thought, wonder of the Miata setup would fit. Turns out, the Miata rear end is 4.5" wider hub to hub than the Falcon/Comet rear... yes, this car is narrower than a Miata....

Well, when you consider vintage negative wheel offset vs modern positive wheel offset the difference is probably not as much.

I think a good tri link setup ought to perform adequately for the street.

[280Z Turbo]

I had thought about the turbo 4, as a number of falcon guys have done it, but it takes a lot of fabricating and weighs as much as the 289/302. I'm looking into the Aussie Falcon 4.1 liter (250 cid) crossflow 6 from the '80s, as it's based on the US 200/250 block and would be a literal bolt in. With the aluminum head and crossflow design, it's lighter than the stock Falcon 6 and makes much more power.

Needs a turbo on the side of the block as well.

[ChrisV]

Hahaa. yeah, well then we're talking custom pistons for that, as well. 

[280Z Turbo]

RB25DET?

[ChrisV]

No. I may have been going with the 1UZ for the other project, but I want to stay ford powered for this one.

[FoMoJo]

Is it, currently, numbers matching?  If so, any point in keeping it that way?

[280Z Turbo]

Yuck. Numbers matching...

I don't know what will happen to the collector car market when my generation is in their 60's, but I think the emphasis on numbers matching BS is likely to fade away.

[ChrisV]

Right now, the trans is a Mazda unit that my dad adapted to the 6 due to the broken 4 speed, but the engine is original. I'm going to keep the original around for restoration sake if someone wants it, so what I'd like to do is just bolt in upgrades. The original engine is DAMN slow, however, and not really up to keeping up with modern traffic. So I was looking at the later 200-250 6 cyl, though the Aussie version of the 250 with the crossflow head bolts in and gives over 150 hp in stock form, which should be plenty for the 2300 lb car. I've found the Aussie 250 cid crossflow 6 with trans available in the states for under $600, which makes it quite affordable as an upgrade.

http://www.ausfordparts.com/ebay/250efi/