72 Mercury Comet GT in Germany

Discussion in 'Maverick/Comet Projects' started by tody, May 9, 2009.

  1. Rando76

    Rando76 Member

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2002
    Messages:
    2,659
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    147
    Location:
    Claremore, OK
    Vehicle:
    Collection of Mavericks and Comets
    Ouch - I hate to see that cowl vent. But it sounds like you will fix it!
     
  2. scooper77515

    scooper77515 No current projects.

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2004
    Messages:
    14,672
    Likes Received:
    73
    Trophy Points:
    233
    Location:
    Issaquah/Grand Coulee, WA
    Vehicle:
    Fresh out of Mavericks
    I like that opel GT in the background. I always wanted one of those with a smallblock in it.

    Your comet really isn't in that bad a shape. Yeah, a lot of the same issues we are all having to deal with, but salvageable.
     
  3. CaptainComet

    CaptainComet Large Member

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2007
    Messages:
    4,981
    Likes Received:
    433
    Trophy Points:
    413
    Location:
    Clearwater, FL
    Vehicle:
    72 Comet
    That looks like a 70s Camaro shifter if I am remembering them correctly.
     
  4. tody

    tody Member

    Joined:
    Apr 12, 2008
    Messages:
    1,828
    Likes Received:
    212
    Trophy Points:
    178
    Garage:
    1
    Location:
    cologne, germany
    Vehicle:
    72 comet gt, 67 club wagon, 65 mustang
  5. Dave B

    Dave B I like Mavericks!

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2002
    Messages:
    16,931
    Likes Received:
    214
    Trophy Points:
    347
    Location:
    Parts Unknown......
    Vehicle:
    3 Grabbers
    Looks like it was a factory floor shift car (it has the hump) but for whatever reason, they swapped the shifter??? Nice work!!
     
  6. tody

    tody Member

    Joined:
    Apr 12, 2008
    Messages:
    1,828
    Likes Received:
    212
    Trophy Points:
    178
    Garage:
    1
    Location:
    cologne, germany
    Vehicle:
    72 comet gt, 67 club wagon, 65 mustang
    it might have been the fact that they swapped transmissions and couldn't get the old linkage to work - the current trans doesn't have the correct lever.

    but i'm slowly getting all parts together. i made some decent scores on ebay, at least i think i made a bargain.
    i got a consolette (without clock) for 50 and a pair of racing mirrors (with a working remote knob) for 75 :cool:

    i think i'll take friday off from work so i can work on the car. i'll start to remove the old paint completely so the rust repairs and the welding can finally begin!
     
  7. CaptainComet

    CaptainComet Large Member

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2007
    Messages:
    4,981
    Likes Received:
    433
    Trophy Points:
    413
    Location:
    Clearwater, FL
    Vehicle:
    72 Comet
    Nice scores on the eBay parts.

    If they swapped trannys and the donor car was column shift, the rod with the shift arm would be reversed. I believe that a floor shift rod and arm are a different piece. The tranny needs to be taken apart a bit internally to change it.

    edit ... I just reviewed a PM that I had with Paul S here on the board ... resident transmission guru. :thumbs2:

    He stated in that message that column shift rods and floor shift rods were different pieces from the factory, but a column shift rod can be used if flipped. He also advised me to make a shift rod out of threaded rod, since my combo is binding going into Park. Start with the trans and shifter in Drive and base your dimensions off of that. Since it is threaded rod, some adjustments can be made to zero it in.
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2009
  8. tody

    tody Member

    Joined:
    Apr 12, 2008
    Messages:
    1,828
    Likes Received:
    212
    Trophy Points:
    178
    Garage:
    1
    Location:
    cologne, germany
    Vehicle:
    72 comet gt, 67 club wagon, 65 mustang
    here's a pic of the tranny:
    [​IMG]
    the shift lever seems to be one sided only. from what i've seen on the board, i need a two sided one. but the tranny will be taken apart completely as well - so i'll address this issue later!
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2009
  9. PaulS

    PaulS Member extrordiare

    Joined:
    May 3, 2004
    Messages:
    4,858
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Seattle area
    Vehicle:
    1966 Mustang, 1972, 73, 73 and 73 Mavericks
    Flipping the lever only works with some of the shifters. With others the lever is too close to a direct push through the centerline to get it to move out of Park. The angles are all wrong to make the shifter detents line up with the transmission detents. You can almost always make a cable shifter work but the manual shifters are not as flexible.
     
  10. tody

    tody Member

    Joined:
    Apr 12, 2008
    Messages:
    1,828
    Likes Received:
    212
    Trophy Points:
    178
    Garage:
    1
    Location:
    cologne, germany
    Vehicle:
    72 comet gt, 67 club wagon, 65 mustang
    Paul, you wouldn't have an extra lever you could sell to me? I'll try to take a better picture of what i have on friday.
     
  11. PaulS

    PaulS Member extrordiare

    Joined:
    May 3, 2004
    Messages:
    4,858
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Seattle area
    Vehicle:
    1966 Mustang, 1972, 73, 73 and 73 Mavericks
    No, I don't have any extra levers but I am always looking for them.
     
  12. tody

    tody Member

    Joined:
    Apr 12, 2008
    Messages:
    1,828
    Likes Received:
    212
    Trophy Points:
    178
    Garage:
    1
    Location:
    cologne, germany
    Vehicle:
    72 comet gt, 67 club wagon, 65 mustang
    progress, progress, progress...
    started removing paint today. i discovered it's only four layers! :hmmm:
    first i started scraping it off manually in the corners. but for tomorrow i try to remove the big areas chemically.
    i also found a bad spot on the driver's side. looks like the car has been severly hit - and badly repaired. removed bondo about an inch thick.
    quarter panel skin is already ordered - are the rocker panels from autokrafters any good?

    here's the pics:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    more pics here:
    http://www.72comet.de/gt/index.php?id=25

    tomorrow i'll try to get rid of more paint and maybe open the cowl vent panel!
     
  13. Rando76

    Rando76 Member

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2002
    Messages:
    2,659
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    147
    Location:
    Claremore, OK
    Vehicle:
    Collection of Mavericks and Comets
    Wow, not only was it four colors, but four COMPLETELY DIFFERENT colors! I'm looking forward to watching this project.
     
  14. tody

    tody Member

    Joined:
    Apr 12, 2008
    Messages:
    1,828
    Likes Received:
    212
    Trophy Points:
    178
    Garage:
    1
    Location:
    cologne, germany
    Vehicle:
    72 comet gt, 67 club wagon, 65 mustang
    i attacked the cowl vent panel today. during the process of drilling out the spot welds - a work i'm terrible at - i was cursing myself quite a lot. turned out that the thing can be done in two hours time - even by a first-timer like me.

    after grinding the whole area down with a wire wheel, it doesn't seem terribly bad:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    http://www.72comet.de/gt/index.php?id=26
     
  15. Columbus Comet

    Columbus Comet Member

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2006
    Messages:
    1,132
    Likes Received:
    37
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Columbus, OH
    Vehicle:
    72 Comet GT,03 Cobra,06 Wide Glide
    wow, you are not wasting anytime. that's some fine work.
     

Share This Page