My 72 Comet Build.....

No problem.....

I planned to put something back in there..... But I can't add anything up there until the motor/trans, radiator and turbo stuff is all in place so I don't get in my own way.....

 

It really wasn't in my plans for today but is a nuisance the need to be addressed, so I took the time to strip at least most of the paint off the entire front section..... I intentionally stayed away from the firewall a few inches because I already painted it..... Just need to get the loose stuff off later and blend the areas close to the firewall..... Tomorrow I will have to strip the towers, then I can get on the reinstall them.....

Here's what it's looking like.....

 

Found some interesting marking on the left front of the core support after stripping(these were under the paint).....




Also for this on the left front outer frame(must be the sheet metal supplier - says SofTite and MADE IN U.S.A.).....

 

Nice work! In the last photo the sheet metal almost looks galvanized.

 

Rails and rockers were galvanized on these cars...
Nice and clean Frank...Dont you just love having virgin steel to play with...

 

Thanks..... The outer is galvanized, most of the time they are so nasty you can hardly tell.....

Thanks..... Exactly why I bought this car..... I got a lot of criticism when I bailed on my 71 Grabber build, but having such a clean unmolested canvas to work with is exactly why I made the change.....

 

Today's progress got cut short..... Now I can say I have blood, sweat and beers in the project..... I have gotten little nicks and cut working on it previously, but now I actually did some damage.... I did still manage to get the top of the towers disassembled..... I also did strip them, but it was a little ackward doing that while only using one hand.....

First here is the damage to the palm of my left hand(I tried to slot it using a spot weld drill).....




Here is the disassemble process for the towers and one of the towers stripped.....

 

Back at it today..... Got the driver side tower and area around it on the aprons cleaned up the rest of the way..... Clamped the tower in the position I want it, then drill it and put 4 sheet metal screws in it to hold it in a repeatable position..... I marked it up inside and out and cut the top out of it, then removed it and cut it to size..... I also filled all the unnecessary holes in, made and installed filler pieces in the upper outside corners.....After that I reinstalled it with the screws and stuck the piece 4" wide 1/8" thick material I am going to use for a filler between the frame and tower..... I bent and fitted the 4" filler piece to fit properly under the tower and tacked it in place, just need to make the a piece to fit from the filler to the pocket in the tower at 45 degrees.....

Here's the tower cleaned up, clamped in place and screws installed.....






Here's the tower removed and cut down with holes filled, filler pieces made and tacked in at the upper outside corners.....





Here it is with the notch in the bottom of the pocket.....




Here the tower is screwed back in with the 4" stock in place underneath it.....






Here it is with the 4" filler piece bent and tacked in place.....

 

Nice! Your filler pieces look so factory. I admire your metal working skills!

 

Thank you sir.....

 

Nice job, looks like how Mercury/Ford should have done it.

 

Thanks.....

 

Welded the 4" filler band to the chassis this morning..... I also made the angled filler piece and tacked it in place..... After that I cleaned up around the tower opening on the pass side..... I got most of the holes filled in the pass side tower and cleaned it up so it will be ready to install nest week.....

Here is what the driver side is looking like right now.....







and here the pass side apron and tower area cleaned up and ready to be mocked up.....

 

This week I decided I needed to get started on the engine wiring harness, I am using the Holley valve covers which mount the coils directly to the cover which make the stock coil harnesses look like sh!t..... In the evenings I brake down the factory coil harnesses so I could save the coil connectors(I already have the proper terminals to rewire these)..... Last night I got the coil connectors rewired with 24" of wire on them(need to get them on motor so I can figure out how I want to route them).....

This morning I went to the shop and got the passenger side tower caught up to the driver side.....

Here are coil connectors.....




Here is the progress today.....








Here is an earlier pic of the engine compartment along with one from today to give an idea of how much room is being gained.....

 

Today I made the blanks for the top plates in the towers..... After that I had to clean up some, had way too much crap everywhere to even work..... Next I put the k-member and control arms back in..... Then I assembled the struts and spindles, I also put the brake caliper mounting brackets on and mounted the assemblies on the lower control arms.....

That's it for today, next week I will get the front rotors/hubs assembled and put on the spindles..... Then I will be able establish the correct front geometry and finish the top plates for the towers.....

Here are the top plates with a stepped edge to mount in the top of the towers from the underside.....







Here the k-member/control arms and strut/spindle assemblies are in all mounted.....