"lil red" 1965 Mercury Comet Caliente

[65Comet521]

Comet 5.jpg

c18.jpg

[65Comet521]

521 BBF cu.in, C6 tranny, 9 inch rear.

[sugarmaker]

65Comet521,
Wow awesome white Comet! You have some serious high performance items added to your car. I have trouble getting the old automatic choke to work on the 289!

Our neighbor getting some pictures with our car


Regards,
Chris and Cheryl

[sugarmaker]

Folks,
We have had a local shop work on aligning the Comet front steering. The steering is improved. Maybe my expectations are to high for a 60 year old steering system. It does not drive like our newer 2016 Edge for sure. You have to kind of "drive" the Comet. I have not driven at more than 70 MPH.
We traveled into Erie yesterday and toured Presque Isle State Park. A beautiful 17 mile drive around the peninsula. The Comet got a lot of looks!
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl

[sugarmaker]

Folks,
We have had a local shop work on aligning the Comet front steering. The steering is improved. Maybe my expectations are to high for a 60 year old steering system. It does not drive like our newer 2016 Edge for sure. You have to kind of "drive" the Comet. I have not driven at more than 70 MPH.
We traveled into Erie yesterday and toured Presque Isle State Park. A beautiful 17 mile drive around the peninsula. The Comet got a lot of looks!
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl

[dmsfrr]

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Did they add extra caster to the alignment?
When I had the front end of my '55 rebuilt the shop recommended more positive caster than the factory setting. It helps the front tires self-center and track straight ahead more easily.
.

[sugarmaker]

dmsfrr, folks,
The alignment shop was able to remove shims and get about 2 degrees of Caster. Set at almost 0 degrees of Camber. Also the toe in was set at 3/16.
Would have liked to have more Caster but they said they could not get any more on the drivers side?
It drives better. Since I am not a good judge of how these actually should drive I think it is better and will do for a while.
Having some missing in the engine. Maybe carb, maybe points? We have driven the Comet about 7000 miles in a year and a half. Might need a tune up?
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl

[sugarmaker]

Guys,
We have attended lots of car cruise in's this summer with the Comet. I am going to do some additional investigation on the control valve and the front tire pressure.
Weather has been great in our area. We went out to dinner with John and his wife last night. He drove their very nice 55 Ford. We did stop for ice cream after also.
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl

[sugarmaker]

Folks,
Not much new here. Have most of the toys running for spring. Including Lil red!




Hope things are good in Mercury land!
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl

[Jim.UT]

Thanks for all the pics! I had a 65 Ranchero with the same design console. I like your homemade emblem replacement.

As for brakes, mine had broken springs in the front and the MC went bad so I converted to disk in front with a dual MC. Much improved braking. I used a bracket made by Scarebird and off the shelf parts for the calipers, pads, hoses and rotors. Scarebird gives you a complete list of what to get to go with their bracket. Scarebird.com

[sugarmaker]

Jim,
I agree on the improved braking and potential safety upgrades on the brakes! Our weather has not been great and Friend John and I have been working on my 66 F100 project truck.
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl

[Ford56]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I love the look of your Comet Caliente.

[sugarmaker]

Ford 56 and folks,
Had to go get some tools for the body work on the 66 floor pan. So I drove the Comet. I did not want to run good until completely warmed up. Driving on the road, well it still trys to weave a little. But I got several waves and thumbs up and a women at the gas station wanted to trade me her Honda.

Regards,
Chris and Cheryl

[Ford56]

Originally Posted by sugarmaker

Ford 56 and folks,
Had to go get some tools for the body work on the 66 floor pan. So I drove the Comet. I did not want to run good until completely warmed up. Driving on the road, well it still trys to weave a little. But I got several waves and thumbs up and a women at the gas station wanted to trade me her Honda.

Regards,
Chris and Cheryl

luv it!

[sugarmaker]

56 and Ford folks,
We had guys pizza day at the shop. Weather still was not great. We tried to start the Comet, very hard to fire! Put in new points gaped them at .017 inch. No difference. Finally started with gas pedal to the floor. Ran rough. Friend Jim tried a smidge of ether and it loved it. So we siphoned the 6 gallons of gas from the tank. Added 2-1/2 of new fresh fuel. After a couple minutes it ran pretty smooth and started good!
Nice to have friends that help solve issues!
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl

[atch]

It's too bad there's no "like" button.