I decided I wanted a project car and realized what my dad had sitting in his back yard. His 1972 Comet, only 63K miles. I've never restored a car before, so I am going to have a ton of questions. What are the gimmie things that I should be looking for so I am not surprised down the road? Here are some photos:
It's amazing that a car can sink into the dirt like that, and still look so good!! Looks like a pretty good car. First thing to do, is run a hose into the cowl (the vent by the windshield) and see if any water runs inside the car. If it stays dry, your doing good. Then have a real good look for any rust, on the bottom of the car, then ask all the questions you need to.
Be prepared to pay alot for a grill. Looks like your front bumper,(also a potentially high $$ item) and tail lights are in pretty good shape. You might have to hunt awhile for a hood(that one looks rusty). The reason I say all of this is because these are all Comet only items that can be hard to locate in good shape. There were ALOT FEWER Comets produced than Mavericks. Other than that, everything else is pretty much easy to find/ fairly cheap. Looks like a good start.
Water leaks through the cowl I didn't need to do much to determine if there was water leakage through the cowl, it was raining. A small amount of water leaks into the front passenger side. The Comet is in my garage now.
If it was raining, then you won't know if it was the cowl. They can also leak from the windshield gasket. Dave's right - pour some water into the cowl when it's dry to see if the cowl leaks by itself. That's a ginger interior - I love that color! I've seen aftermarket gloveboxes before, but nothing like this.
