(taken from my FB page) starting a build section for the 1973 Mercury Comet i got mid October of 2014. I have always wanted to build a old style car with modern tech in it, once i laid eyes on the "GT" i knew it was the car. I really wanted to document the build with basic pictures and a little description so show exactly what is involved in doing such a one of a kind build. At this point from a little bit of research this is going to be the first of its kind and only of its kind (so far) so i feel thats a pretty awesome I hauled the car home and got it on a set of wheels i had laying around the shop. First thing you do as a body guy is look at what sheet metal needs to be replaced, in the case of the GT it was alot, so i started cutting and forming patch panels. About a week into the body work a true gear head friend of mine came across a picture i had posted and we started talking engines, next thing you knew i was on my way to the city to pick up the donor car that was going to bring life to this barren rotting Mercury.. The Donor car is a 1997 Mustang GT with a 4.6 liter v8 5 speed standard transmission, a slight setp up from the weak inline six the 73 came with. I am not going to go into much about what has been done to the engine or what i am doing to the engine because i have a "bet" with another person who can build a faster vehicle. This is my Project and i hope everyone enjoys what i am doing thru the power of facebook and the pictures that i post. All the details of the project will be in the description of the pictures the day that I got the Comet on the trailer
The Comet was pretty rotten, this was pretty much the norm on every panel Starting to weld in new panels to repair the rust, also putting a converter on the inside to prevent any future rust Removing the old inline 6 Now that the engine is out starting to take apart the suspension Pulling the engine from the Donor stang Removing from end from the mustang to get it ready to weld onto the comet Getting the comet ready for the new suspension power plant
mocking up the new front end on the Comet Now that its in the place it needs to be starting to do a tube chassis design removed the old unibody support to prepare to build a new one to attach the unibody structure to the comet new section made and welded into place
removing the 1/4 panel off the car... I dedided to go with 1/4 from a 41 mustang. They needed to be "tweeked" in order to fit, however the wheel arch allows more tire. After welding the 1/4 on I wanted to incorporate the side vents from the 1997. so having to reshape the pillars and reshape the door to accommodate the deep dish and vent design.
this is how much deeper the door dishes in compared to the factory 1/4 the new profile of the bottom of the door getting the fuel system in place from the donor car getting the 8.8 out of the mustang in place starting to do the wiring
when doing the car I wanted to have a nice profile from the rear so all the guys driving Camaros had something to look at : ) so I tucked and cut the bumpers now I am getting the body work done on the front of the car Time For primer!!
shot of the back of the car with the bumper in place... it fits nice since the only thing factory on the rear end are the tail lights So now to start on the front end.. getting the hood ready to accept the cowl induction from the donor stang
Time to paint.. I can only do so much body work... Need a bit of a break. Staring on the front again... Need a bumper so I got one from a 78.. Its huge, I hate it.. since the grill was broken I decided that I would build my own.. car is a bit over the top so it should work... I hope
I decided that I wanted a split bumper design, so I cut the bumper down and built brackets to mount it flush to the grill Now its time for a lower air splitter.. got some sheet metal and started forming.
Looking forward to seeing more of this build! Whereabouts in Canada are you from? I'm holding down the fort here in New Brunswick.
I just saw the pictures you posted. What a lot of work!! You really grabbed the bull by the horns on this one! Nice job on the fabrication!!
Thanks a lot Paul... It was a undertaking that's for sure.. Still not done, have the interior I am doing this winter. along with some more upgrades.
