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A friend had a 65 Cyclone in high school about a million moons ago, which is when I learned the appreciation and hot rod history of the 65 Comet. Yours looks awesome. Enjoy!
You made me look for the pic I had of my 50 F1 and my friend Bob's Cyclone, c1979/80.
Tom, Wayne, Folks,
Yes my grandfather had a 1965 Falcon base model 4 door six cylinder. Cheryl and I dated in that car for a while until I got my 1969 Rambler American. My friend also had a 1965 Comet 404 with a 289 and C4. We traveled in that a lot too.
Tonight Cheryl and I drove the Comet about 30 miles. Several things to work out with it too. Carb or timing?? Just not running as well as I think it should.
So we now have a choice on the antique vehicles to drive.
Just got a new BOSE speaker (portable) for the car to connect with my cell phone. Would have been great to have those music systems back in 1965.
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl
In '69 I bought a '65 Falcon 2 dr. wagon. I was a senior in HS. It had a 289 with a C-4 auto. Later that year a co-worker wrecked his '64 Comet with a 289 and 3 speed full syncro trans. I bought the wreck for $185.00 and proceeded to convert the wagon to a stick. The Comet parts were a direct bolt in except for the trans yoke. All was good once this thinking he knew it all finally figured that out. It later got a T-10, headers, and a high rise manifold. Had to sell it when I got drafted. Your Comet brings back good memories.
51504BAT, Folks,
So far so good on the Comet. Little things on a 60 year old car like carb and distributor issues.
Will get it running better at some point. It has not had anything done to it except oil changes in the last 12 years. Looking to have a driver this spring for the wife and I.
Glad it brings back some memories. For me too.
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl
Chris, if it still has points in the distributor, convert to pertronix unit and advance the timing about 5-6 degrees.
you will be amazed at how well it runs after.
Tom,
Weather just turned to winter so no road tests in the near future. Yes it still has points. Not sure about the petronix? I have never used that system. Yea pretty old school here! But the timing may need adjusted?
It does run better than it did.
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl
pertronix is old school magnetic ignition module that replaces points.
uses stock distributor. you remove points and condenser, and move the condenser than put the pertronix module in.
uses stock cap and rotor. only difference once the install is done is you will have two wires coming out of the distributor going to coil instead of one.
i increase plug gap to 44 thousands, and advance the timing because it is a much more efficient system.
after the first few units i put in the owners were complaining of lack of power. so i put one in my falcon and started playing with it. found by trial and error that advancing timing till slight ping on full throttle than back off a hair was around 5-6 degrees advanced from stock, or around 10-12 at idle.
once i figured that out i brought the others in and did the same. they then ran so much better.
i have installed over 100 units, and only had two bad, one rite out of the box, and one died within 5 minutes of install.
and those were both within one year of starting converting back in the early 80's.
Tom,
Thanks for some insight on the petronix ignition system. I have heard of them. You would think they would tell you how to dial in a new ignition system?
Going to take the Comet for a ride if the roads are clear today. Carb adjustments on these is a work of art. Ford engineers must have stayed up nights thinking of the tuning process on these 2 barrel carbs!
regards,
Chris and Cheryl
Wayne, Folks,
Thanks! Your 52 Merc truck and I are the same age! Take good care of it! Since our weather has changed and We may not be driving much more I really need to get a cover for both the 32 and the Comet. I have several projects in the shop that will make some dust and also paint over spray. We had a maple confections work shop at pur place and had to 'nest' the cars and the truck, The 46 is a friends who is going to start rewiring it tomorrow.
Regards,
Chris
Also covered the Comet with a more permeate inside cover:
Not cheap cover for the Comet but will allow me to do some dirty work in the shop. The thin plastic cover on the truck was about $13 each plus shipping. They are thin but should really help with dust and dirt.
I did have a flat on the inside rear dual. That is being repaired.
Thanks for checking in. Hopefully you won't get too much lake effect snow with the coming storm. As a kid growing up outside of Philadelphia I loved the snow. But now being a true SoCal transplant I don't miss it at all but a little rain would be welcome.
Guys,
Yes this truck is for sure a real barn find. A lot of us may never find something like this and fewer will bring them home. This was not my first choice in a truck project. But It has grown on me and the family. The back story of the truck helps me talk about the truck at shows. Setting in two garages for 70 years and not being touched ,other than jacking it up to keep the weight off the old tires. The tires were not saved when I got the truck. This truck was used but not abused. It has rust and rust holes in the fenders. It has dents and dings. The running board on the drivers side has the diamonds worn through from folks getting in and out of the truck during its 20 years of being in service. One of the owners added several safety items such as many reflectors, sealed beam different headlights, additional rear brake lights, and turn signals (with the plastic arrows) on the front fenders. None of these add-ons were Ford factory items. I liked some of the safety items and kept some and removed and or relocated some. I wanted a driver truck so the turn signals and additional brake lights were important for me to keep. The truck max speed is about 35-40 mph so being on the road and visible is very important.
( By the way the story of my time with the 32 truck is in a thread on the Ford Barn Forum ) Warning Danger!
