Michigan Mick's 71 Comet Project

Putting it Back Together

My brother and I started to do the final assembly of the doors, fenders and hood. Painting is complete. Next we have to put the doors together (glass, handles, mirrors, etc.) Still need to patch up the grille and give it the GT blackout treatment.

I still have to get the wheels and tires. I'm putting on 15x7 Magnum 500s on the car. Still have to get the exhaust system from the headers back and we have to put on the new front rotors and finish the brakes.

I have to figure out the stereo system - I do have an 8-track that I got from a garage sale for $3. We tested it out and it works great.

 

Grille Work

Well today while I spent the day going to a couple of car shows my brother was slaving away on my car and finished up the front grille.

On a side note I ran into Rick at a car show and he has an un-restored 71 Maverick with only 12,000 miles on it. He got it from New Jersey where it was stored in a barn. It's a beautiful car.

Here's the grille work my brother did today while I'm out having a great time at the car shows.

Fixing broken tab on grille. First the paper template on right was made first, then piece was made from metal to fit perfectly.









Grille after refurbishing and installed. Looks Factory !




I can't believe it! It looks just like my old car.

 

Mick, I really enjoyed talking with you today and look forward to seeing your car when it's done, or sooner. Shoot me your phone number and when I get in to Liv to see my son I will give you a call. Now put some pics of your dash on here so everyone can be amazed. I was still talking about that dash to my buddys at the show a hour later, what a beauty, and keep the build pics coming. Rick in Owosso (formerly Liv)

 

I just posted some pictures of grille work on my car. You might be able to make out some of the connections to the dryer.

 

It was great meeting you today too Rick. I didn't get back until late today. I stopped at two more car shows after I left you. I will take some pictures of the dash tomorrow and post them. I can't believe how well the dash turned out and what a fantastic job Jerry did on rebuilding the padded dash portion. Look for the pics tomorrow.

I'll see you at CAPAC tomorrow, I'm going not sure yet if the wife wants to tag along. If there will truly be 1,800 cars at the show it should be quite a show!!

 

New Dash Pad

On Friday I just got my dash back from Jerry my interior guy and he did a fantastic job. He stripped the original padded dash cap down to the metal frame, re-sculpted it with high density foam and then covered it with the vinyl he will be using for my custom interior.

I had this in the car at a car show I went to yesterday, met Rick and showed him the dash.He said I had to post the pics so here they are.

The dash paint was mixed to match the color of the vinyl. I think the guy at PPG did a wonderful job.

 

Great looking dash upgrade. I like the two-tone paint job. I need to remove mine and repaint it. If I ever remove it I will likely do a two-tone.

 

Looks sorta Importish now..... I like Original ...but then again i love originality

 

Adding more of the black accents was suggested both by my wife and brother. I didn't want to drown in a sea of green. The ashtray, instrument cluster and heater/ac controls will be black. The console will also probably be black.

 

Installing Dash

Now that the padded dash was redone we installed the dash.






The radio is just stuck in the dash to check out the speakers and wiring. New radio will be installed with CD player to compliment the fantastic eight track player. New steering wheel will also be installed so I can see the gauges. Took the advice of someone on a previous post and sprayed the inside of the instrument cluster with white paint to get brighter dash lights - worked well.

 

Adding the GT Stripe

I was a little concerned about adding the stripe to the car. When you got two Polacks working on the car I could just see us installing it upside down or backwards. We followed the instructions and I have to say it came out perfect. My brother and I were the perfect team. :Handshake



Tied a string along the stripe to check the alignment





Used a needle and squeegee to get out the small bubbles

 

Looking Good

Well my brother Dan's work is just about done. On Thursday we are installing the exhaust system and radio (if I can find what I want by then). Then the car will be trailered back to my house and sit for a while while my money tree grows. The only thing left will be the custom interior and windshield. You probably won't see a lot of progress/updates for the next couple of months while I fertilize that money tree.

Here are some great pictures of the car. The wheels are just some spare ones my brother had lying around. I'll be putting on 15x7 Magnum 500's with trim rings - like my original GT back in 1973.

 

I like what I see. I hpe when I get around to having my body/paint work it looks that gud. Im curious as to the black paint on the tail section - is it flat or semi-gloss? I like the way u put the string on the body to get the stripe positioned.
What kind of rear springs on the car now?

 

That's one very nice Comet!!!! The colors match nicely.

 

Thanks Mojo. I am really happy how it turned out looks pretty close to my original car. Check out the stud in this picture.



The black paint is a satin paint. My brother experimented with various additives to make sure I could wax the paint with no problems. On my original Comet back in 1971 when I didn't know any better, I tried to wax the flat black paint. It turned the flat black paint cloudy and I could never get it out. If you check back in the thread he gives a pretty detailed explanation of the additives he used.

Springs are four leaf springs from General Spring in Kansas. Tried to order the springs from the Maverick Connection but they were out of stock.