I may just be blowing steam right now, but I'm wondering if anyone knows how difficult it would be to convert my 73 Comet's front end from the bowed-out Mercury to a straighter Maverick bit? Obviously it'd mean a new grill and hood, no biggies there, but would I really need to modify the front end of the car to get it to go? Any ideas, because as much as I love the car I'm not sure I like the nose on her as much as the Mavs. Any thoughts would be helpful, I'm just spouting off ideas for now since I doubt I'd get to any body work for a while down the road. Thanks!!!
Other than a different hood and grille I think the switch is pretty easy. I'd change that front bumper too....
This is a good question. I never thought about asking it though. Other than the hood and grill are any other changes necessary? Are the fenders the same?
So the front bumpers are different? Thought that would be the same... I absolutely love the rear ends of the Comets which is why I'm still stoked that I got one, but that front bit... :16suspect I'm already going to do that sometime down the road, I'm trying to find a 70-72 small bumper for the front as the rear is already perfect on her. Unfortunately that seems to be one of the more popular items for salvage already. Fortunately right down the way from me in Sacto (or where I'll be soon) there's a HUGE alley of car junkyards separated by different makes (Ford, Chevy, Honda, etc) so I'm going to check there. Oy! So many ideas, so little money!! Will it always be this way?!
Yeah the Comet bumper carries the extended nose forward to follow the hood lines. Ever See Forrest Gump, Remember Bubba. With out the chage of the bumper it would have a severe underbite, and look .. less than attaractive, in my opinion. Personally I like the Mercury look on my Comet, it does in my opinion look best with the big bumper small bumpers give the car an overbite. Just my opinion
On your car in particular...the Maverick and Comet bumpers are the same.....just that the Comet Bumper sticks out farther than a Maverick Bumper. This is done with the bumper brackets.
The bumpers may or may not be farther down the road; I think I could live (I think...) with a project car with a serious underbite. It's just the more that I look at the grill and hood the more I'm realizing that, while I love that car, I don't like that hood or front bit. I may just end up taking off the bumper altogether and trying to just use the lip the chromed bit's bolted to (they don't have bumper regs for 73s anymore do they?), or at least until I find a smaller bumper. I'm seriously considering Mavman's stuff, although I don't think I can afford the hood just yet. Debating on whether to pay $100 for a Mav hood or saving a few months for another... This is so a discussion for another time when I have more $$$!!!
I converted my Comet front end to a Mav back when I restored the car. Now I'm thinking of switching it back to a Comet again. I have an excellent Mav hood (plain not grabber) and grille (without lights) available if you wanna trade. Shipping would be a pain but it's someting to think about.
Sharp car Sam! Im not a fan of vinyl tops, but looks good with the blackout treatment. I wonder how the car would look like if it had a black mat stripe going across the side of the car, like the shelby europa. http://www.ponysite.de/shelbyeuropa_GT250.htm
I really wish I could right now, but unfortunately I just don't have the cash yet to do that. Shoot, I barely have the cash for a tune-up; I'm probably going to have to wait idly by for a few weeks until I can do more than spark plugs/wires, oil, etc. But dude, that is one AWESOME car!! That's what I'm going for, the Mav front end (I'm thinking of modding it a bit more like a Camaro front, but that'd be even farther in the future ) and the Comet rear. I'm with Stefan, that black vinyl top looks GOOD with the blackout!
that's a nice clean car sam. i think that's the first time i've seen it. but then when you get old you forget a lot of things.
Thanks for the kind words guys Stefan I'm not too sure about the matte black stripe, but I have been toying with the idea of making it into a pseudo Stallion clone by deleting the lower Mustang style stripe and painting the Stallion color with the metallic tan that I used for the stripe. It's a natural for this conversion with the chrome already blacked out. I'll probably never do it but a guy's gotta have dreams... Lady, no problem, I'm not in any rush either, it was just an idea seeing as how we both want the opposite look - just makes sense to switch parts. Keep us posted on your progress with it. It's good to see another Comet around here!
