Michigan Mick's 71 Comet Project

Installing New Gas Tank

Since we will be adding Hedman Headers and dual exhaust to my car we needed to install a new gas tank so there would be room for dual exhausts. My brother saw where Mustang gas tanks have been retrofitted to Mavs and Comets so that's what we did.

My brother is a perfectionist and very anal (just like me) so this project was probably over engineered. He didn't want to just rely on some tank straps holding the tank in place so he designed an elaborate bracket system

65-68 Mustang gas tank test fitted

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Angle iron tucked under gas tanks bent down flange

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Rear edge of gas tank and angle iron bolted to cross member

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Front edge of gas tank area

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Front edge of gas tank being fitted with bracing

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Angle iron and gas tank bolted to rear cross member

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View looking down fuel filler neck to gas tank. Perfect match

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View inside trunk of gas tank bolt plates

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Gas tank and bracekets are undercoated

 

I wish mine was that clean on the under side..... That thing is gonna be nice when you get it done.....

 

Rear End Install

Painted up the rear end and installed new 4 leaf rear springs









Heater box was cracked so we patched it up

 

Test fitting belts and compressor, Engine Install

Test fitting of the fan belts, alternator and compressor - May 2010







Installing the engine







Installing the belts

 

Starting the Engine and a Test Run!!

One more post on the project before I hit the hay. We are now in May/June 2010 and we tested out the engine. It started on the first try - AMAZING I GUESS I PUT IT TOGETHER CORRECTLY

It Runs ! Monday, May 24, 2010 7:14PM engine is started for the first time since rebuild.

I took the first test drive around my brother's circular drive on June 2, 2010. What a rush!! It never got out of first gear and sounds great with the Hedman Headers











Notice the burn out marks are still in my brother's driveway.

 

i love that green color.

 

Yeah so do I. The outside will (actually is by now) be the same as my original car Medium Green Metallic. We are restoring the outside of the car to look exactly like the picture in my gallery from 1973.

The interior will be custom done in a light green vinyl with fabric inserts. We just had PPG match the paint to a vinyl swatch I got from the interior guy. Here's a sneak peel of the interior color.

 

Second Test Drive

Well it is now July and after starting the engine and driving it around the driveway for about three loops back in June, we noticed it wasn't running right. The engine would fire first click every time and idle forever but as soon as you revved it up it would die. After several days and switching out carburetors we discovered two things the distributor wires were reversed and the carburetor would need to be replaced or rebuilt - better than what my brother did.

Turns out the husband of one of the women I work with is a Holley expert that just got certified in Classic Car Carburetor repair (didn't even know there was such a thing). Several months ago when she found out I was restoring a classic car she said if you ever need a good carburetor guy she knows one. Well I sent her home with my carburetor and he did his magic. Carburetor works perfectly.

Sitting on a milk crate took it out for another test drive.







Here's a picture of the first color the interior was painted. We got a little confused trying to remember what color my original interior was and the interior color of the car I bought. Anyhow we painted it Gray Gold. Well when we put the color next to the exterior color it didn't match at all. So the interior will get repainted. I love throwing away money on all of this cheap paint. Instead of trying to paint it the original color (which my wife said didn't go with the exterior color anyhow), I have a change of plans and we're going to do a custom interior. More on the new paint scheme later.

 

I would probably recommend putting the straps under the gas tank. With a full tank of gas, it will be pretty heavy and I wouldn't want to trust just the outside flanges of the tank to hold it all.

 

i love this build keep up the good work.

 

Interior POR 15

It is now July of this year. Since the car was primed over a year ago my brother decided to re-prime the outside of the car in preparation for painting.

I decided to clean up the interior and paint it with POR 15. Also cleaned up the instrument panel.

 

Painting Started

It's about the end of July and my brother has started to paint the car. First things to be painted are the inside edges, under the trunk, under the hood etc. Paint color is PPG Medium Green Poly

Picture through the green fog

 

Painting Continues

Car is put back together and the outside of the car is prepped for the paint.









IT'S GREEN !!!! My brother stayed up all night on Friday August 13th to paint the car. Finished about 8 in the morning on Saturday. Three coats of polyurethane and three coats of clear. Not a bad job for a garage paint job. Only found a couple of small gnats and mosquitoes that are forever immortalized in the clear coat. Next will be all of the wet sanding!

 

Absolutly beautiful!!

 

I like green