My '73 Comet GT Restoration Thread

Thanks, Frank!

 

Today I worked on the intake. I cut down the bungs to the correct height to account for maximum atomization based on spray cone and installed depth. Then I roughed up another jig that held all the bungs in place but did not use any rubber fuel line within the bungs. This way the welder could tack them in place with the jig in place, then remove the jig to finish up the welds.
Then it was off to the welder. The aluminum welder had left for the day, but he is gonna call tomorrow morning with a quote for the job.

Once the bungs are welded in, I can place the injectors and start working on the injector rails. These are -6AN extruded rails from RMR that I am going to use.

 

Throttle body showed up today. I think it will do nicely. It's an Edelbrock #3978, 1000 cfm with GM style IAC and TPS.

 

I worked on the HVAC box today. My new Mustang evaporator came in. It almost fits perfectly! I am going to have to clearance the box a little bit, but I don't think it is going to take much for it to work. Stay tuned on that.



I also got my new heater core in with all new seals, along with the temp door and new vacuum switch.






Then we went and picked my intake up from the welder. He did a pretty good job for what he charged me. I may dress the welds up a little bit.



Two of the bungs needed a little clean up work since the weld creeped over the top of the bungs a little bit. No big deal. Then I set all the injectors and started working on the rails. I cut them to length and marked them up for drilling.



Here is almost everything mocked up to check for clearance. Tomorrow I will start drilling the rails.

 

Looking great there Rusty!!

 

Thanks, Dennis! You learning all the hot spots for car shows down there?

 

This is a small town and the only one in town is once a month with usually about 20 cars or so show up. But its at a barbeque place and the food is excellent. I hear of a fairly large group that meets every Friday evening in Lake City which is about 25 miles away. My car is just not set up for highway travel so I haven't been there yet. I'm close to getting my 57 wagon done so as soon as I do I will check it out.

 

I picked up today where I left over yesterday on the fuel rails. I whipped up a quick jig to drill for the tops of the injectors. There is a fancy drill bit available that will drill the two hole sizes and chamfer the outer edge all in one motion, but I could not justify the price. So, I drilled all the holes individually and then added a chamfer. I then touched up the holes with 400 grit sand paper and then a polish with 1200 grit paper. They came out perfect!




Both sides went together without any problems.



Plenty of room for the throttle body linkages. This is why I chose the short style injectors.


Then I drilled and tapped all four ends of the rails for 3/8" npt. Both rear ends get -6AN fittings. The drivers side front gets a plug and the passenger side gets a 3/8" npt to 1/8" npt reducer and with a fuel pressure test port. I will have a permanent fuel pressure gauge installed in the car, but I figured another test port could not hurt.


I am waiting on some hardware before mocking up the fuel rail brackets. Overall a pretty productive day! I'm just glad the injectors are all in line and have the same installed height.

 

Today I worked on the Mustang evaporator. As far as the evaporator core and side brackets go, it is a dead on match to my original 1973 evaporator. The trouble comes in with the connection lines. Left to right, the lines are in the same position as the Mav/Comet lines. But, the Mustang lines are about 1 1/4" lower than my original lines. You can see it in the pictures (keep in mind that my HVAC box is upside down on the work bench).



Evaporator comparisons:





So, the first step is to notch the housing so that the lines clear. I made a few cuts and ended up getting them to clear.






Since the opening is different, my original rubber seal, which was rock hard and cracked anyway, no longer fits. I found some 1/16" rubber in the shop and whipped up a new seal.




The seal came out OK, but I think I will make another one out of a solid peice of rubber, instead of layers. But, now that I know it will work, I'm happy! I also need to modify the large foam seal that goes around the heater core and evaporator lines, but after holding it up to the lines today, it should be a piece of cake.

Some people may ask, why in the world are you trying to get a Mustang evaporator to fit? Well, even though the original evaporator will work with 134a, I like the fact that the Mustang evaporator is redesigned for 134a. Also, I just wanted to see if I could get it to work. I originally thought that it would directly interchange, and since it was so close, I wanted to figure out how to make it work.

 

Will it exit out the same firewall hole...or will you need to modify?

 

Just doing a quick look today it should clear. Worst case is a little clearancing at the bottom of the fire wall hole.

 

why not cut a patch to match the box and do it like you did when you repaired the grille...

 

Interesting...

 

will this be a problem where the holes are in the car?

 

nevermind just saw your answer slow computer lol