My 72 Comet Build.....

Thanks.....

Thank you.....

Thanks.....

Thanks..... I bought the mylar shields off ebay, they are nice because they keep the panels from getting wet and weren't very expensive..... The black on the seat and door are a black tweed material just for the reason you stated..... The power windows are nice and a necessaty because the window cranks would not clear the cage.....

 

Haven't been doing much to the car other then washing and driving it..... I am very happy with it so far.....

I did start working on the motor a little this week, I figured since I have all the parts to get the short block complete the way I want it I would get going on it..... I got it torn down to the short block, last thing is to get the piston/rods out so I can check and set the ring gaps for boost..... Then I can put the rest of the short block together with the LS2 timing chain, new camshaft and oil pan.....

I was a little disappointed with the motor once I got it down to the short block because I found it to be a true GEN III motor, so it has the smaller early rods and timing chain(I am very happy with the pistons it has though).....

Here it is through the tear down process.....











Here you can see the connecting rods and in the second pic I am holding the stouter LS2 chain in front of the wimpy GEN III chain.....

 

Friday after work I finally made a little progress on the new motor..... Got the pistons/rods out and rings off to check the gaps, everything is layed out on the bench in an orderly fashion..... I will get some more done on this next week after work..... The engine is currently at work in the engine room, it's just a much cleaner place to keep it then my shop, plus it's one less thing in my shop.....

Here's what the motors looking like right now.....






I also worked on the car a little today..... I fixed a little problem with the speedo cable..... I also changed the brake block arrangement on the rear end for more clearance for the left rear shock(the Calvert Racing rear shock I am getting are much larger diameter then the stock ones)..... and I drained the fluid from the rear end(I had break in fluid in it and it's got enough miles on it now and it's time to change it).....

 

I really like the white board for engine parts organization. It would take me all day to clear off that much horizontal space in my shop though...
Looking good, Frank. Motivating, to say the least.

 

Thanks..... That isn't a board, it's just a piece of heavy masking paper taped down to the bench and marked up.....

 

I got the brakes bleed this morning and refilled the rear with new fluid..... Since the rear were off anyways I cleaned and polished the rear wheels, removed the fronts to do the same..... I checked and the speedo is working great again.....

I have had a couple sets of Billet Specialties Street Lites, this is the first set I have used the center caps on and I must say the suck..... They are cast out of some crap aluminum, I drove the car for a little over 4 weeks/roughly 650 miles and the center caps are corroding badly..... Luckily I have an extra set of caps, I think I will clear coat those and change them later..... Hopefully they will hold up much better then.....

Here is what the center cap looks like after that short time in pretty nice weather.....

 

Got a little done during the week, it's a good thing I decided to check the ring gaps..... The top rings were all .013-.014, that would have definitely been a problem..... The second rings were all right at .024 which probably bee OK..... Now the tops are .024-.025 and the seconds are .027-.028, I should have no problems with that..... I got the rings all back on the pistons but have not put them back in the block yet..... I did was wipe all the oil off the outside of the block, I think I am going to try and debur around some of the machined surfaces on the block before I put thing back together(the are really ragged and sharp).....

I also ordered and received both of the ARP thread cleaning tools for the head bolt holes(even in this crate motor the bolt holes had some kind of glue or Loctite in them which doesn't allow the studs to screw in freely)..... I also got a Kent Moore lower timing gear removal tool.....

 

Got the block all cleaned up and put the pistons/rods back in the motor this week.....

Today I removed the windshield trim so I could get a look at the sealer, last couple times I washed it I found a little water between the seal and headliner..... Not a lot but more then I care to see..... The sealer had settled a little and worked out a couple air bubbles, so I repacked it and added some more sealer around the top..... Then put the trim back on, unfortunately I somehow got a little ripple in the upper right hand piece of window trim..... I really pissed me off when I cleaned everything up and noticed it, I am very carefull when installing(I use a rounded block of wood and rub along the top of the trim to catch the clips)..... They are not real bad but bad enough(I tried to take a pic but the ripples didn't show up in the pic's), I will have to find a new piece of trim since I don't think I can get it straight again.....

Tomorrow I am going to try and start restoring the old single stage paint a little better, it looks pretty good now but still has some dull spots in a few places.....

 

Today I clay barred the entire car, then touched up all the small nick's in the paint..... Now it's ready to start with the Meguire's #7 to try and get some of the oils restored in this old single stage paint.....

 

Looks great!

 

Man I got to tell ya, you built one beautiful machine!

 

That thing looks amazing!!!

 

Thanks to all of you.....

 

I get to see it on the 10th of Jan, at the silver springs npd show...

 

Yes sir, you will.....