Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum and bought my 74 comet on ebay a few weeks back. The car turned out to be in much worse shape than the description on ebay and since the car is more than 10 years old ebay is washing their hands of the situation. There are a number of issues but the most pressing one is my brakes. When I hit them hard there is a loud squeal so I'm guessing they're worn down. What is more of a mystery to me (and I did a little research on the boards so it sounds like this might not be unheard of) is why the car pulls right when I hit the brakes. It's great for making right turns, but utterly terrifying when I've got to stop quickly. Any ideas? Thanks
If it was me...I'd go through the whole brake system with all new parts including the brake lines and rubber hoses. When I bough my Maverick the PO said he replace everything on the rear brakes…this is what I found.
Drum brakes on old cars will tend to do that. They should probably be replaced and drums turned also. When I bought mine it was making a loud squeal from the back. turned out to be the adjuster had fallen apart and was bouncing around in the drum.
Thanks for the advice guys. Im in a couple mechanic courses right now so I'm hoping to be getting ideas on how to bring everything up to a reasonable standard. The link is posted here. As the description reads I wasn't surprised to find that there are a few problems with it, however, the biggest issue is the massive rusting under the car which was a lovely little surprise. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...item=&sspagename=STRK:MEBIDX:IT#ht_500wt_1182
Did u buy the car site-unseen? I live in Chicago area. I went through my brake system changing all but hard steel lines. My car has very little rust underbody or anywhere else - It came from Georgia. The car looks like it's worth the winning bid of $800.00 esp. if it has a workable drivetrain. I paid quite-a-bit more than $800.00 for mine, but don't have a lot of rust to repair. Bodywork/repair can cost a lot of money unless ur in that business or have had some techinal training in that field.. And lastly, what area of Chicago do u live?
Yeah, i did buy the car site unseen (ebay had said that it would be insured by their "buyer protection program", but weren't too keen on helping me out after I told them the car didn't come as described...yeah, not to happy with them these days) I'm pretty good with sheet metal, Ive been stuff with it since I was a kid, so I can do some of the repairs myself. As for Chicago I'm on the Northwest side close to Western and Armitage, how about you?
Dude, not to be harsh, but you bought an $800 car that's 35 years old and then you tried to get Ebay involved when you found out it needs a little brake work? And you were surprised by rust? A Chicago man ought to know better. Roll up your sleeves and prepare to get dirty, my friend. If you intend to drive this car, this is your new hobby. This will not be the last nor likely the worst of your problems. Whether this becomes a rewarding experience or a hell ride is up to you. If you like working on cars, (you said you're enrolled in a couple of classes, so I assume you're interested in that sort of thing) then you picked a good car to learn on. It's mechanically simple and everything is relatively easy to work with. (Except the wiper linkage. If the wipers don't work, drive to the nearest body of water, strike a match and give it a Viking funeral.) And you're in the right place. We can help you fix anything. Now, do you have drums or discs in the front?
I live on the opposite end of town; to be specific, I live in Calumet Park, just across the southern Chicago city limits. I live abt 3/4 mile east of Interstate 57 at the "357exit"/ 127 Street, exit abt 25miles from u. I am familiar w/ that part of the city, I worked in the Wicker Park community for 22 years - 1635 W. Division until Feb. 1991. I wish u success; the first thing to do is fix the brakes B4 if ur going to drive the car. Do the whole thing - Ur car seems to be a candidate for even the steel line replace since u say, u have a lot of rust.
