1964 Comet wagon parts needed

1964 Comet wagon Restoration Thread

Just started my project, actually just got it Friday. Almost everything is there, but I could use a better grill, an "M" gas cap, and a motor for the tail gate window.

also new to the forum and I am looking for a good source for door panels for the ol 404. Maybe a carpet connection and.......................

I dont know what else for now, but I am sure i will need more.

Oh yeah i need a rear bumper (will a 64 Falcon wagon bumper work?) and i need a driver's side tail lamp.

Thanks Ryan

 

Restoration Thread now

Well I have been posting pics in the intro Thread, so I have decided to move over here, plus i have a few extra parts now.

I have located a rear bumper, rear tail light assembly as well as the ever illusive 64 Wagon gas cap.

I have a few extra parts as well now, if anyone is looking for extra tail light lenses, or tail gate trim, or other let me know.

Well here are some pics of my relationship with "Kathy" as she is affectionately known now. I will start with day one photos and keep them coming.




These are all from the first day we picked her up. We took her right to the shop, she limped into the shop and we got started right away.

She was equipped with a 289 4bbl and a C4. This is the challenger motor with the larger 6100 carb from the 352 V8. 210 HP

The motor is now out and the car is pretty bare, I will post more pics of where she is now, and then I will post more on Monday after I work on her all day.

Oak

 

I like your wagon. I had a '64 Comet 404 about 5 years ago. I miss it. I bought my carpet through ACC (Auto Custom Carpets) as they are the best quality and had used their kits before. I also bought an extra 2 yards and covered the rear compartment floor. It looked really nice. I also repainted all the interior metal trims and interior doors. It really looked nice. I have a couple of left over wagon parts. One is a tail light lens. I'll check monday and see if it is a LH side. If it is, PM me your address and I'll just send it down to you.

Also, I have a friend with the TOTALLY rare "M" comet gas cap. It took him 3 years to find it, but he sold his wagon as well. So I'll ask him what he wants for it, but I guarantee it won't be cheap.

Don

PS: Guard that luggage rack you have with your life! They are rare, and in good condition are worth alot of money. It has been known for these racks to "walk away" if not guarded. So keep your car in a protected area or take if off the car and store it until your car is done.

 

Photos from July 9 2010

We worked on the wagon the week before my son left for Army boot camp, gonna miss him and his help, here is a pic of him stripping the floors of insulation as well as some of our progress. And a picture of his car!
My son Ryan

Me takin out the dash trim


Motor is out, time to clean the firewall

More to come, Oak

 

A couple more

I am not sure how many pics I can put per post but here are some more pics of our work 2 weeks ago. I can only get to the shop (Its about 25 miles from my house) once or twice a week because of work. So work is slow but steady on "Kathy"



This is my sons 62 Fairlane, I have to drive it once a week to keep her warm for him until he gets stationed, her name is "Karen", she was born and raised in Wyoming, we got her almost 2 years ago, we flew to Denver, met the owner who drove her to Denver airport. We got in and drove her all the way to Southern California. she made it all the way to Vegas before the factory pinion seal went out, it was made of rope. We sealed her up and she has been my sons daily driver for 1 1/2 years until he left for Fort Benning.


Goin to work on the COmet this Monday will post more pics then.

Oak

 

Luggage Rack

Don thanks for the comments, as far as the luggage rack, I hate it! I have already removed it, everything is in good shape except for the rails, they are eaten up and have a few small holes. I have seen the racks on ebay for 250 and above, If someone wants the rack, I would like to see it go to a good home, I wont rape you for it, but I do need money for the resto.

Don I will PM you with my info Thanks Very much.
By the way we got the motor out of the tail gate and it is now working, now we have to check the wiring back to the switch and lube the crud outta the mechanisms.
Already have the wind wings out of the drivers and passenger door cuz the rubber is shot. This gives me the opp to lube those mechs as well.

Getting excited about Monday, but goin by myself :-( as the kid is in boot..

Will post more Monday, Oak

 

"kathy" looks real sweet....I thought my '65 falcon 2 dr wagon was rare! Your '64 definetly has a good base to start with...Are you going to modify her or keep stock? I also agree with the luggage rack, not in favor of it but to the right enthusiast they are big $....Is there any rust in the rear quarters or spare tire well? Also how is the roof as that is prone to rust as with the falcon wagons in the rear? If you look at my thread "saving another 65 falcon wagon" you will see the extent of rot I am dealing with....great project and keep it going...if you need anything let me know and I can hook you up

Jeff

 

Good Luck finding Stuff

Hey Oak sound like I'm in a parallel universe in Texas. I need a new rear bumper(and front too) and a motor for my tailgate. A NOS motor came up on Ebay about a month ago(went for $105 missed it by $2, kicked myself) Have looked in every junk yard close by. Let me know if you find 2. I did find a roofrack the same as yours though on a 64 wagon picked it up for $25 so that was good. I also found a manual winder assembly and regulator out of a 65 Fairlane wagon. Haven't installed it yet but pretty sure that will work. So keep that option in mind till you find a motor. Was pulling your seats out a drama. I am about to strip my seat/interior when I get it home. Great photos by the way

 

Thanks guys

Well here is the only real rust i am dealing with.


The drivers quarter has a thin bit of Bondo but no real rust and the pass side tire carrier side is solid as a rock. THe passenger floor in front has some small pin holes, I am deciding now if i wanna put in a patch or just throw some kitty hair on it?

As far as how I am going to go, I am gonna keep the stock color and add a corinthian white top. As far as the motor i am going to take the 1965 289 5 bolt, and C4 trans out of my Mustang fastback. I will then get a Ford Racing long block for the mustang, I cant go wrong for 3295 shipped to my door no tax.
And for the interior I am going to go back to stock, color pattern etc, I am changing the headliner to red because both of my Great Danes will ride inn there so I dont want white LOL

Here is the mustang motor, it is all show and no go. A before and an after for the motor as well. I got the mustang after it sat for 13 years.

Before:


After:


I have actually found and or fixed alot of parts for the car since I have picked her up. I just took apart the tailgate and took the motor out. I took off the shell cleaned her and oiled her. Hooked it to a power source and she fired right up. I have to lube all of the arms in the regulator and check all the connections but the motor WORKS!

I am still looking for a gas cap, I found front and rear bumpers, I am looking for tail lamp pieces and thats about it.

As far as taking out the interior it was really not a big deal. As for the rest of the pieces, well lets just say there was alot more corrosion on all the nuts and bolts, thank Goodness for WD-40.

If anyone is interested I still have the stock motor, I have it listed locally but if anyone wants it let me know. It is the original motor, the car came with a 289 (5 bolt) and a C4. It was Mercury's "K" code motor aka the Challenger motor. It is the same as the Mustang A code with a twist. It has the 6100 Autolite Carb on it. It is really nostalgic and I was going to rebuild it (and still may). But I am impatient and I just wanna put the stang motor into the wagon and then put a 5 speed and the 306 into the stang.
The motor ran when I got her but it did smoke. I checked compression and all were 130- to 150 except 1 it was 80 lbs :-(

I hesitated to rebuild it because I wanted to stroke and bore it and the new cams dont seal that great with the two piece. Maybe i will just bore it and not stroke it ? Maybe I will just sell it who knows, but it is a cool K code motor!

Well I will post again tomorrow when I get home from workinn on Karen.
If I can help you guys at all let me know Oak

 

July 26, 2010 Monday

Well I worked on the wagon all day but you can hardly tell by the pics, here are a couple of pics for you to enjoy. 930 am to about 4 30 pm, 30 minute lunch break!!!
Pretty much all I did was take a wire wheel to the inner fender wells and the engine compartment. The floor pans were pretty good but I knocked off the surface rust and then primed the areas that I accidentally went to bare metal. I will not undercoat until it comes back from painter as last time I did it the painter over sprayed the crap out of my awesome underside job.
I couldnt resist spraying the coating in a sample area as I had never used Duplicolor coating/sound deadener. it turned out pretty good.
Friday I should have enough time to get her ready to send to painter.....Stay tuned, Ryan





This last picture is how I have to leave the car so I can leave room for the guys to work in the shop, I usually spread my crap out everywhere LOL.
I had to stack the fenders on the hood to leave room.

Oak

 

I'm with you. The basics have no bling value, but they sure add to the value of end results. Sure is a clean floorpan.

 

It really is amazing how clean that wagon is....you definetly lucked out with not having to deal with the "rust monster"....the roof rain channels are typical with the mercury/ford wagons rotting out on the sides...it appears you can just cut out the rot and stitch weld in a new piece carefully to disperse the heat so it doesn't warp..Seam sealer in that rain channel will go along way to avoid that mess from happening again ..How is your battery tray area and cowl as those are usually areas that rot out as well?

 

Wow what a great looking Comet. The dash top has seen better days. It's amazing how good the underbody looks. I'm glad you are saving her since she is the ancestor to my Cougar.

 

65,
The battery tray area was OK not perfect but, after taking the wire wheel to all "OK" area they are all good enough to seal up. Al the integrity of the areas is fine. As I was unbolting the tray I was a little worried as the bolts were rusted to the BONE, but all turned out good.

Here is a view of the battery tray area after removing the tray, you can see the surface rust but the integrity is still good


As for the cowl it was a little full of leaves and dirt but no real rust issues. It was kind of funny as we had compressed air pushing the crap from one end and a vacuum on the other end, switching back and forth until no more crap came out.

No pics but when I took the tailgate skin off, there was a ton of leaves in the tailgate, looks like a bit of leaves slipped thru the window felt.
Oak

 

Wash down that battery area with baking soda to get any old acid residue off the steel. Works like magic. I haven't used it, but there's an acid-proof paint/primer that you can use under that area too, to keep it safe from future spills.