1964 Merc Comet Caliente front suspension rebuild and modification

Having just recently acquired this car, I set to work on the rehabilitation. Since the engine is already out this is a good time to rebuild the original suspension. I wanted to upgrade the suspension on the whole car with some improved parts and also make some inexpensive but valuable handling modifications. Here's what I did to the front.

 I retracted the coil springs up in the shock towers with a spring compressor and removed the brakes, knuckles and upper control arms as a unit. The rest was simple unbolting.

1978 Honda CB750K

I sold my Harley Davidson down the road and ended up unexpectedly committing some of the cash proceeds to the purchase of a 1964 Mercury Comet. The cash I had left over was what I was left with for my next bike. I didn't know what kind of bike I'd be getting, but I had one concrete criteria- a Kick Start lever must be attached to the motorcycle (and it must be cheaper than the product of Comet purchase money subtracted from Harley Davidson sale money). I shopped craigslist for weeks until this sweet little gem popped up- a 1978 Honda CB750k, the last year of the original SOHC engine and last of the kick start 750 Hondas.

 Pro's: Kick start, 750cc engine, less than 10k miles on odometer, good tires, immaculate original paint and seat, 4 chrome mufflers, chrome fenders, tons of style.

Tribute to a good riding companion 1990 HD Softail

I love motorcycles. Back in 2009 I picked up a neglected Heritage Softail. I limped it home on bad tires, oil soaked brakes and with the choke pulled wide open just to keep it alive. It was in full dress, windshield, tall bars, bags, his and her seat, sissy bar, Conchos and tassels. I loved the bike but hated the look. I took to stripping it down to the essentials and making it my own. I de chromed pieces, changed the bars (several times), changed the seat, stripped the turn signals, speedo and dash and other un needed doo-dads. I wanted a pure machine, the only luxury I was allowing was the full fenders, as I really like the look. I took to repairing any faults over time and wound up with a reliable and awesome Harley Davidson that served me for six years, way beyond my humble original expectations. With mixed feelings, I sold it in tip-top shape a few weeks ago to try something different.

          Here's Black Betty at her peak of fitness, a few days before I found her a new owner.

1964 Mercury Comet Caliente Convertible: the modern gentleman's rocket ship cruiser

A few weeks ago I sold my Harley Davidson motorcycle of 6 years. 20 minutes later I was sweeping up the garage, wad of cash in pocket, and fate brought one of my distant neighbors over for a visit. This would be no ordinary visit though, as he was there on business. He wanted to sell me his project car, a car which had been solely in his family since new- a '64 Comet convertible. He had undertaken a mechanical restoration years ago, but life interfered and the project stalled on him...for 15 years. Now I don't need another car, nor do I need another project, but I am a sucker for a cool 60's FOMOCO product and I can't resist. So we made a deal and pushed the shuttle a few blocks from his garage to mine. Follow along as I perform a sympathetic mechanical and cosmetic restoration of the Comet. It is my ambition to have her back on the road by November(ish)...we'll see about that (as I write this it's August 9, 2015).

 

Here is my first glimpse of the '64 comet. The engine and transmission have long ago been removed

BMW 2002 M10 engine build

Well, the old girl was a smoker, no matter how much I drove her and pushed her and tuned her, she had a nasty habit of expelling a cloud of bluish-grey when taking off from a stop. The longer she idled, the more embarrassing the cloud. I figured (optimistically) that the valve guide seals were deteriorated from sitting, so I embarked upon replacement of the seals. If you know your M10's, you know BMW doesn't make this an afternoon project like, say, a Chevy 350 engine. No, BMW insists you remove the camshaft and rocker shafts, and to do so requires you to remove the cylinder head from the engine. No big deal, that's a chore that takes around 3 hours working at a reasonable clip.

                                                      1975 BMW 2002 losing it's head

1975 BMW 2002 Esty Carpet Install

The 2002 interior door panels, rear seat and dash were all in really good condition. All that was letting the interior down was the front seats, (which were deflated and the drivers was torn) and the well worn original carpet. The 1974 came with a one-piece molded carpet, as opposed to the "cut and sewn" multi-piece rugs of earlier cars. Some say the cut and sewn looks better aesthetically, but I decided to order up a replacement one-piece molded carpet to replace the one that was being removed. I wanted a quick and easy install...

I received the one piece carpet from ACC. I had previously installed a molded ACC carpet in my 1974 Ford truck and it fit like a glove! It went in easily and looked fantastic, hugged all the bumps and curves as good as an original carpet. I hadn't had even a second thought about using them again.

Sadly, the carpet for the 2002 was a completely different story. I guess the floor pan is quite a bit more complicated than the old Ford's, because this carpet was a very poor, sloppy fit. There are a lot of nooks and crannies and little protrusions on the BMW 2002 floor that demand close and custom fitting. Yes, the ACC did lay down on the floor, albeit not at all snug, leaving annoying air voids everywhere, and generally requiring custom modifications that were not possible, given the one-piece design.

I didn't want to put forth the effort to make the ACC fit, because I knew I would end up with a very marginal final product. On the advice of a friend, I switch to Esty, a known custom carpet maker for old BMW's. The Esty carpet was less expensive (had I known that, I would have chosen that one first).

The Esty BMW carpet is a better choice as it is individual pieces, cut and sewn like the earlier cars. You can manipulate each piece as you install to attain the best fit possible. And with the sewn edges and original-looking materials, it really is a nicer looking finished product.

 I stripped the original carpet, the seat belts, brake lever, console and shifter.

1974 Ford F100 Explorer "rehabbing the rig"

I have never owned a truck. I had a Ranchero once, but no trucks. I was never really a truck guy. I have held a job or two where I used various company trucks for heavy-duty industrial purposes, and was always delighted at how well a good strong truck did whatever I needed it to do, within reason. I drove Fords, Chevys, Kenworths, Volvos and International Harvesters. I liked the Fords the best, though, as real "big rigs" go, A new Volvo is pretty sweet!

I am going to do some fixing up around the new house soon and need a good truck to haul stuff. However, I am wired such that I can't spend any real money on a fancy, newer truck,  I don't need or want a luxurious daily-driven modern rig. I want something that is inexpensive, has a little history and is unique. Enter the 1974 F100. It has a proper 8 foot long bed, a 390 cubic inch big block V8 engine, power steering, and disk brakes. It's a classic American Work-Horse of the highest order. Best of all, it's only $1600.

It was probably the "Viking Red" color that drew me to this one. I viewed lots of cheap Fords, but this one spoke to me. Being a 1974, it is exempt from state smog inspections, so as a hot-rodder, that spoke to me also. It wasn't without it's flaws though, principally, the engine was severely down on power, and had a rough idle due to compression loss in multiple cylinders: The valves were toast. The brakes were also toast, as were the U-joints, and the cab heating system. However, the body was rust-free, wearing mostly original paint, the tires are fairly new, and the interior was original, worn, but not abused. There was enough to this truck to make it worth fixing up for the tasks at hand.

                 The previous owners had used it as a camper to follow the blue-grass music scene.

1975 BMW 2002 bumper tuck

Foreign cars sold in the American market place suffered an unfortunate aesthetic set-back for the 1974 and subsequent model years. They were required to be equipped with "5 mile-per-hour" impact bumpers. Most foreign cars already had bumpers, albeit they were typically tasteful little chrome accents to an already well styled car. For 1974 and later, BMW added large, thick aluminum beams supported by hydraulic rams to the front and rear of this delicate little Michelotti-Designed sculpture (for the US market only, Euro-market cars still had attractive slim chrome bumpers). I can only imagine the look of horror on the collective faces of the BMW Dealers in late 1973 when they took delivery of these "things" that they were going to have to convince people to buy. The prior years were equipped with very appropriate, slim chrome bumpers which appear as a thoughtful part of the cars over all visual appeal. The new bumpers were, simply put, nothing like that at all.

Having said that, I actually don't mind the 70's funk on this car. Along with the bumper change, BMW also updated the rear lamps and the front grills. The look of the 1974+ cars appeals to me because I see it as a transitional piece. It clearly is the same classic body as the car that debuted in the 1960's, but possesses modern traits that would be a BMW tradition through to the 1990's. It's not as archaic looking as the earlier roundies, yet not as refined looking at the classic E30 3 series, but evokes nostalgia for both.

Having also said that...I can't really appreciate how far the bumper stick out on my wife's car. The gap at the front and rear is absurd in my eyes, so I set about fixing that. Here's how I shortened our 1975 BMW 2002 by half a foot.

                           Don't stand on the front bumper when it's wet or icy, as you might fall through!

1975 BMW 2002 Project Car- More Than Sensible German Engineering.

I like pretty much all cars. When the wife takes an interest in a particularly cool car, I naturally support and nurture her interest, especially when we may be able to score said car for a low price. Now the cost of 2002's seems to be climbing. I have been watching the scrolls for a while now to find a good deal on a clean and usable 2002. There are no good deals, especially on "roundies." The wife has been noticing these cars for a while, and since I'm jonesing for a new project that I can waste a ton of money on, I got serious about finding one "for her".  I don't want a rust bucket, and I also don't want to pay 5 figures. We found this little "square light" fixer upper in the San Francisco Bay area for sale. It has an automatic transmission (a must for my wife) that is failing. The engine doesn't run so good, the interior is deflated, it needs paint, and the sunroof mechanism is in pieces. Never-the-less, I made a deal with the seller for $3,000. Yikes.

The upshot is that it came with a spare engine, two spare transmissions and a truck-load of extra, probably useless parts. I'm in the 2002 business now. The body is absolutely 100% rust free and accident free. I am going to be restoring a worthy vehicle. There are service records back to 1975. The only body damage is on the drivers door, from where the limit strap broke and the door folded into the front fender. Oh yeah, it has a broken engine mount too.
                                    

Hauling home the next project in December '14 behind my trusty and capable 390-powered 1974 Ford f-100 Explorer

1990 Mazda 323 rag top!

I really like compact hatch backs. I found a good excuse to own one back in 2008 when I was out of work for 6 months waiting for my broken back to fully  heal. I was on state disability, which barely covered the mortgage. My savings were being chiseled away from other monthly necessaries like medical bills, groceries, insurance, house utilities, and such. I was driving a Jeep Cherokee that was good for about 15 MPG. It was killing me in a time when I both had to be super frugal and also wanted to get out of the house as often as possible. I sold the Cherokee for $2200 and bought a beat little fuel sipper for $1200. I was up $1k for expenses, and had a vehicle that would go just as far as the Jeep on half the fuel. Score!

Mind you this was also during one of the times when fuel was selling for nearly $5 per gallon. So I had the 323. I also considered many other little hatch backs, but as fuel prices were rising, so were the prices of economy cars on the second hand market. This was the best I could do. It has a 1.8l ohc engine and a 5 speed manual transmission. The heater worked and it had a radio. It wasn't long before I laid into it to make it a little more personal...I found a set of Miata wheels and bolted them on (I know, there goes the savings). The car looked way better. I added some "futura" badges taken from my Falcon project. The best modification by far, though, was the sliding rag top.

I have always thought it would be really cool to own a Renault Le Car with the full sliding roof, or say, a 2CV, or an original fiat 500. Either way, I decided that there was no reason why Mazda shouldn't and couldn't have fitted a leaky, finicky sliding roof to this 323 back in 1990. Shame on them!

I wonder if I can drive like this?