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Not really a "build" thread...my current distraction (away from my 'Stangs)

DeadStang

Member
So I've pretty much sworn off the "earliest" Mustangs; I sold my '65 and my '68 fastbacks earlier this year.

But.

There is this old lady who is a "neighbor" in the sense that you have neighbors out in the country. She's about a mile as the crow flies from me, 3 miles around on the roads. In a round about way, I went to look at her old 1964 Comet Cyclone to help her come up with a selling price and I ended up buying it. I seem to have some OCD-like, hoarding disease when it involves old, dead, truly pathetic cars.

The old lady bought the car when it was about 9 months old in Santa Barbara, where they lived until 1979. It was her daily driver and she told me stories about the dents--where the butcher at Von's was coming back from his lunch break and lightly side swiped her, how the radio got stolen in the parking lot, etc. (she worked at Von's, which was a grocery store chain in California). When they moved up to Oregon, her husband built a little tow bar to put in place of the front bumper for the Comet and they drug it up behind their old Ford truck (I got to see her pictures). And for the next 30+ years, it sat in a pole barn.

So. I paid way too much for it and drug it home in February. The motor still turned and the oil didn't look too bad.

It came with a 289-4v, PS, PB (drum), AT (bummer), buckets, console, and a dash-mounted tach. Apparently they are all "K code" 289s, but they aren't like the K-code Mustangs.


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those are really cool, my dad had a set of those chrome wheel hubcaps on his falcon back in the day.
 
Cool. I had 2 '64 Caliente's. A 260 V8 3 speed Coupe h/t and a custom ordered Vert with the hipo 289, 4 speed A/C. Talked to a salesman that was at the dealership in Az. when it was ordered. Then I got stupid and sold it.......
 
I think you got a :10 Those are pretty cool. You can change out the AT for a manual. Maybe a TKO. I think with paint and decent interior and some mechanical work that will be a cool ride!

I had a neighbor in Brawley that had a Caliente. He added AC to it. It was an awesome ride. Used to be a sleeper type car, but now is a cool rod!

What part of Oregon are you in? My Dad is in Roseburg.

Mel
 
I am north of Roseburg, up by Corvallis/Albany...the armpit of the Willamette Valley, lol.

Progress on the Comet so far--and I will never bitch about crappy repro Mustang parts ever again!!! Crappy repro is better than "it doesn't exist!"

I pulled the gas tank and the radiator and took them to my local Mac's Radiator shop. Even tho the rad is not a Ford piece, it fits so I had it re-cored (it was 100% blocked). I have had issues w/repros not fitting correctly on my Mustangs after having gone to all the work of replacing, so I elected to go with the "known" fit. They do not repro the gas tanks, so I paid a mint to have it repaired and then they coated it with some stuff. It's not silver anymore, but I suppose I could paint it to look more correct, but at least it won't leak again in my lifetime. They do make fuel senders for the Comets, but they are $115!!! Holy $hit. Also did the soft gas lines and added a second filter in the engine compartment expecting the hard lines to contain some debris when gas starts flowing again. And while I was at it under the rear of the car, I managed to siphon roofing tar, aka gear oil, out of the differential and replace it with fresh 90wt.

I got paranoid about the aluminum timing cover as it is the back of the water pump in these early 289s, so I pulled the waterpump and replaced it (the timing cover was fine). I also found a new, old, correct thermostat housing that was in was better shape than the original and put in a new t-stat. Rebuilt the little 4-barrel carburetor, replaced spark plugs (total nightmare on cylinder #4 with the choke tube for the carb and the heat shield virtually welded to the exhaust manifold, but I didn't break either one) and plug wires. Squirted Mystery Oil in each cylinder when the plugs came out. Changed the oil and filter. Replaced the canister-style fuel filter. Did the distributor cap, rotor, points, and condenser. New coil and solenoid (I have a solenoid paranoia issue). And spend many hours cleaning threads, replacing hoses and belts, and redoing my work over and over again as I figured out that I did something in the wrong order or whatever.

So Sunday was the big day. Turns out that, even tho there is a little suction, the fuel pump needs to be replaced. But, with gas dumped in the carburetor, it started right up and IT RUNS--pretty damned well!!! I did pick up a new fuel pump after it started, but ran out of time to get it on Sunday night, so I need to get to that before I can actually have it idle and run to warm up. But after 30 years, it is not dead...and I got plenty of discouraging horror stories from Ray, my local Mustang shop guy on what could happen in all of this time. :)

I will post more as it progresses...
 
Good deal.


Now wait until you try to put any size rubber under the rear. In the old days, a 70 series was a tough fit......

You are making me miss the two I had...... :sad
 
"AzPete" said:
Good deal.


Now wait until you try to put any size rubber under the rear. In the old days, a 70 series was a tough fit......

You are making me miss the two I had...... :sad

One of the brake drums in the rear had fused in storage when we went to drag it home. Talk about a bitch--you cannot jack the car up by the differential and remove the rear wheels! Kind of has fake fender skirts. You have to jack each side up by the rear torque box to remove each wheel separately. PITA.
 
Now if the trans is ok, you're in! If you need a C4 I have the one I pulled from the 65. I think it is newer than 65 though...I will be going to Roseburg in October to see Dad.

Mel
 
Nice find. I am just north of you in Vancouver and I have the c-4 that came out of my 65 if you are in need. I used to live in albany. Its not too bad as long as the wind is blowing right.
 
wow we could almost consider it a barn find in a essence...comets and falcons also hold a soft part in my heart. I would love to have 64 sprint
 
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