I found a 73 Comet in a wrecking yard with this Vin. 3K526595. I tried to decode but to no avail. 2 dr, 5 lug car with disc brakes. It's pretty well striped. I'm assuming it's a 302 car. Beyond that I know nothing. Thanks
That is only the "partial" VIN, likely stamped on the fender aprons?? If it was a 2dr, add "31" to the complete VIN. If it was a factory 302 car, the 5th character would have been an "F". The complete VIN in this case would be 3K31F526595. The complete VIN should also be found on the dash and inside the driver's side door jamb. Do you have any more pictures of the car (engine bay, shock towers, etc). I believe 73 was the year the V8 cars started to receive the reinforced shock towers. I will add the VIN to our VIN Resource: http://www.mmb.maverick.to/resources/categories/maverick-comet-vin-list.12/
BTW, if that is the condition of the fender apron, I would have to say the rest of the car must have been completely rust-free??? I had cars 20 years ago here that were MISSING their fender aprons...
Here are a few pictures. The car has been robbed of most of it valuable parts. The front suspension and rear end are still there as are the passenger door (with good glass) and the truck lid. I live in northern New Mexico pretty dry climate (except for the 2 inches of snow this morning) so the cars tend to be in decent shape. I was out to this yard yesterday, the owner passed away 3 weeks ago and the kids are selling everything off. Most of the yard is 50's, 60's and 70's. I estimate 200+ cars. I'm going to try and buy the Comet and use the manual front steering on my 77, including the box, then sell the rest. The local street rod guys like the narrow Maverick/Comet 8 inch rear ends on their projects. Spent an hour yesterday with my Grandson looking at cars in this yard, fun time.
That car does not look like it was a rust bucket, from the pix seems like mostly surface rust. I've seen cars on this forum in worse shape in the process of being saved. Sorry to see it was plucked clean.
Definitely a V8 car. The belly bar, V8 frame mounts and V8 power steering hose bracket would be good things to grab. From the pictures, it appears the data sticker is still on the door jamb. Whether it's legible or not, is another thing. You can also see the reinforcement layer around the bottom of the shock towers. Looks like it had a disc brake swap done at some point, possibly Mustang??
I cannot tell for sure from the picture, but does it have the secondary/rear power steering hose bracket? I would love to have that if you go out there again. Micah
I know I said I saw a power steering hose bracket, but the car appears to have manual steering. Maybe the power steering was swapped-out when the Mustang disc brakes were added??
It's a manual steering car for sure. My plan is to buy the whole car, take what I need, sell what I can and junk the rest. The car is not rusty from what I can see. We typically have dry or minimal rusty cars in my area. I removed the power steering from my 77 Mav. What bracket are you looking for? I may still have mine (V-8 car).
Shady, It looks like this car was originally power and someone converted it. You can see the rectangular front hose bracket hanging off the left front engine mount. On the back side of the mount would be where the second hose mount is located. Some cars got them, some didn't. I cannot tell for sure from the picture if this car has one. If it does and you dont need it, please let me know if it is not too much trouble. Thanks, Micah
Update, went back to the yard to see if I could buy this Comet and found it in the crush pile. Told the guy that if he pulled it out I would like to buy it. Gave him my phone number and he said he would call me when he uncovered it. Waited two weeks no call. Stopped by a few days ago and found it laying on it's side. Bought the car for really cheap, threw some tires on it, put it in the trailer and drug it to our shop. As you can see it's pretty rough. I'm going to remove the front manual steering linkage and box plus the rear axle. Anyone need any parts let me know. I think the Pass door may be salvageable. Has V-8 engine brackets, an ok deck lid. This is a dry New Mexico car. Here is the full VIN and info off of the data sticker. 3K31F526595 Body 62B Color 6F Trim JF Trans W Axle 6 DSO 22 Build date 1-73
Shady, Too bad they beat it up even more. If it has the power steering clamp that is on the rear of the left engine mount, I would be interested in that. Thanks, Micah
