Hello All, I stumbled on to this site while researching information on a 1977 Comet we own and have a soft spot for. This car is in need of restoration and neither my husband or myself have ANY car restoration experience. The Comet has been tarped on jacks for the past 8 years. It was last started at that time but the engine wouldn't catch and it was cranked until the battery died. Have had an offer to buy it for $300 from a person who wants to part it out. He said the car is really pretty clean except that the rear frame rails are rotted which in his opinion makes it only fit for parting out. I did get under the rear and yeap, those rails are bad! Originally my son bought the car second hand 11 years ago to drive and he had started work on it as a learning project until another car caught his fancy. Sorry for the long first post but wanted to give a little background information. Is this project way too much for two novices? We will need to have any body/frame work farmed out and don't know if the expense is worth it. Thanks for any "expert" advice or thoughts.
to the board and good luck with your restoration...i'm sure that you'll find a lot of help and advice here...
If you are going to have to farm all the body work out it is probably going to be pretty expensive. The body looks pretty good and so do the interior panels. If you decide to get rid of it, I think I'd hold out for a little more than $300. I believe the disc brake setup alone is worth almost that much. Not sure how much work would be involved in changing out the frame rails. Good luck. BTW, The 2012 Roundup is in Michigan in July. You can look at a lot of Comets and Mavercks there and talk to people and see if it's something you really want to tackle.
If the frame rails are bad and you have no real experience restoring cars, I would part out the car or sell it. It will be very expensive to get that car fixed, and rust free cars are plentiful and easy to find. As don mentioned above, the Maverick Comet Club International, Inc. (MCCI) will be holding their 19th Annual Roundup Nationals in Dearborn, Michigan this July 24-29. You will see lots and lots of Mavericks and Comets. You will have to plan and attend. More details can be found at www.MaverickCometClub.org
And while there are people on here fixing such cars, I would add that they have the tools and experience to do so, as well as a desire to restore a CERTAIN car. If this is just some car you found cheap and you have no expereince or tools...then I vote to "move on" to something else. This thread will shed some light on the subject as well (my famous "Fix THIS....not THAT" thread): http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=86787&highlight=fix
Thanks to all who took the time to respond. Craig, I did read your "Fix THIS....not THAT" thread ... along with others.It helped shine a huge spotlight on the reality of two complete novices fixing this car who don't have the necessary tools for a job of this magnitude.Had a feeling the frame rail issue would be over our heads. Oh well , time to reclaim my cement slab. Thanks again!
