My 72 Comet Build.....

I did not make it out to tnt last Wed nite, but I did go down to Bradenton on Sat for the season opener for brackets..... First thing that happened when I got down there I found out the Thortons on 64 no longer ha E85, instead they now have non ethanol(big switch)..... So I topped it off with 7 gal of 93 oct, good thing I have a Flex Fuel Veichle(ethanol sensor equipped)..... Checked the fuel when I got to the track and I was on E45, at least it was close to E50..... Surprisingly it still went 6.51 and two 6.52's, not too bad on 12lbs of boost..... I figured out the converter slippage and it's a redicalous 30%, I have to get a converter ordered.....

Then the big scare on the way home, just as I was getting on the Skyway Bridge I noticed my oil pressure drop to zero and bounce back up..... I was screwed at this point so I kept going while watching the pressure bounce between 40 and 0, I made it over the bridge with no abnormal motor noises and it wasn't heating up at all either..... So I stopped at the scenic outlook by the north tool booths and hooked the laptop up(the gauge has it's own sensor, but the ecu reads the factory sensor)..... Oil pressure looked good idling so I hit the road again and it maintained 57-59 lbs on the lap top(the gauge was all over the place)..... I'll have to get a new sensor.....

I also weighed the car on Sunday, this is one heavy bitch for what it is..... It weighs 3405 with me in it, balance is really good though(49% front and 51% rear)..... Problem is it's heavy on the right rear by 80lbs, I am going to have to do something about that.....​

 

Glad it wasn't a real oil pressure issue.

Are they running brackets 1/8th mile at Bradenton now? Years ago, I competed there and it was 1/4 mile.

Weight .... for reference, my car was 2870 lbs after subtracting my weight and the toolbox. This was weighed at a recycling center, so the scale may have been calibrated for heavy trucks, and may be off for lighter vehicles. (... and no .... I wasn't trying to recycle the car ..... LOL). 351, iron heads, aluminum intake, headers, C4. All of the A/C equipment inside and out (no heater box) stripped out. Power steering pump and assist unit stripped off of it. Half tank of gas. No rollbar, etc. Full interior.

3400 does sound heavy. Having the weight bias on the right rear, I would think would help traction by fighting the tendency for forces trying to lift that tire. Does the car handle OK?

 

Everything except sportsman is running 1/8..... It where things have headed with the speed some of these cars go..... Some events still run 1/4, and I believe all t-n-t and Runday Sunday's are still quarter.....

My old Mav was 2920 with a all steel 351W/c4 and full of gas..... This car weighs 3130 with out me in it, that's full (20 gal) - spare - small tool kit and elec tire inflator.....

 

It was great seeing you and your dad again. The car is looking great,and it was fun watching the reaction of the people after you took the hood off...

 

It was good to see you and some of the other members..... There were a lot of nice cars out there.....

 

Exceptional Showing Frank !! Your Comet was like a huge ' magnet ' .. The detail is amazing and attests to your patience and planning. I took a bunch of photos of your Comet and then tried to find a warm spot somewhere !
Car sounded awesome when you pulled out also !
Chip

 

Wish I would have got a chance to talk to you, I think we just kept missing you..... you car was looking good as always.....

 

I didn't wander around the grounds too much .. Was getting over a cold and spent a good deal of time sitting in one of the cars 'hibernating' .. Great Show .. Kinda Cool but it was neat being able to attend the Last ALL FORD show from the NPD Folks ! .. Been going to that venue since they Started !! Never missed it ! Sorry to see it end but the Mavericks and Comets had a pretty good ' turn-out' despite the cool weather ! Glad I went !

Chip

 

So you went to ALL 24 of them? That is cool.

 

No Craig :
I didn't make ALL 24 of them .. I've been attending since I discovered the NPD show venue .. Didn't mean to cause
you any concern . I attended the NPD All Ford Show when I first discovered the venue years ago. I was attending when NPD lumped the Mavericks and Comets in with the 32 Ford Coupes, Hot Rods and Misc. Fords. I wrote a letter to Mr. Schmidt of NPD pointing out that there were SEVERAL catagories for the Mustangs .. and None for OUR type vehicles and asked if WE could have a spot on the program. Ron was very gracious and called me at my office the next week and advised that he would DESIGNATE a catagory for the Mavericks & Comets since there was an apparent opening due to the ' absence ' of the Cougars that year. Some sort of disagreement . Anyway ... We have had a Listing in the NPD show from that day . A squeeky wheel sometimes gets the grease !
Cometized
(Chip)

 

I figured it was time for a little update, I didn't do much to it for a couple weeks but I was wanting to change the seat so that project has started..... I was sitting higher then I wanted in the car and technically have no usable head rest on the seat that were in it, and I really liked the 41 series Kirkey Pro Drag Seat that were in my 85 Coupe..... Since my car weighs in like a tank i should be able to kill some weight too..... So I am in the process of putting a set of the new Kirkey 55 series Pro Drag Seats in the Comet, bad part is it opened a whole can of worms I wasn't thinking about..... No I have to move the lap belt mounts because of the new seat positioning, big pita because I had to take the rear carpet all up(which was glued down)..... I am also going the rear seat delete direction so I removed all the rear seat retaining brackets and rear seat belt mounts....... Everything in the rear is already firewalled off so I will be able to just carpet the rear area..... I removed the old lap belt mounts..... The seat are currently at work to get some brackets welded on, then I will have to add new lap belt mounts at the correct angle and position.....

Here's what it looks like after today.....






Oh yeah, I also received this little trinket at the end of last week, hopefully this helps solve the slippage problem.....

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Been lazy lately but I did make some progress over the weekend..... Pretty much all the seat mounting and seat belt attaching point debacle is done..... Got about 75% of the carpet in.....

Progress pic's if you call them that.....


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Looks really ' Sturdy ' ..and neat ! Nice work Frank !
Chip

 

Frank,
I would never call you "lazy". Maybe "resting up"

 

I did finally get the seat fiasco finished..... I tried to take it to the track on feb 24th for a race but the fuel pump overheated..... It didn't seem to be running right when I was approaching the track, then when I got in and was driving through the pits it shut off..... Pump heated up and lost pressure, the pump body was hot..... After it cooled for a while the car would start..... I let it cool for a couple hours, hooked up the lap top so I could monitor pressure and drove it home..... I only hat to stop once after I got off the highway..... I pissed me off and I just let it sit for a couple weeks.....

Here's what the interior looks like.....



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