Comets, and early Mustangs for more than 20 years. I am also an active member of the TFFN,
which is The Ford Falcon News Internet forum run by David Smith in Plano, TX. It was in the
TFFN that I first heard of this '61 Comet and contacted the owners, a nice couple named
Rodney and Andrea. They were one town over from me in Tempe, and had recently
purchased this time capsule 55K original mile unrestored '61 Comet 2dr sedan. The car was
owned by one family, had always been garaged and covered, sported the original paint and
interior in near mint condition, had all perfect chrome, stainless, and brite-dip trim, and had the
original 170 six and three speed manual transmission on the column. The car was a
sweetheart, no doubt about it. Rodney and Andrea had originally been looking for a '60-'63
Falcon when this car came along, and they both liked the styling, the cat-eye taillights, and the
proud retro fins that were so dominant on cars of their favorite classic American car era, 1959-
1961. Rodney performed some minor fuel system repairs to make the car reliable, they had
the windows tinted, and they ordered a set of custom leopard-look faux fur seat covers to
protect the original upholstery and make it a little more comfortable in the desert heat. They
both liked the car very much, but it had two problems that kept mainly Andrea from driving it
regularly. The car was difficult to drive with the balky original three speed, which had a non-
synchro first gear, and it just didn't have enough power to keep up with modern traffic or pass
slower cars on the freeway. A new '61 Comet with a 170 and three speed did 0-60 in about 14
seconds, slower than the slowest cars sold today by quite a margin and dangerously
underpowered by modern standards. Rodney posted a message on the TFFN asking about
the feasibility of swapping the 2.77 three speed for a C4, a simple swap. I responded to him
telling him what it involved and gave him a list of the needed parts to perform the swap
correctly. He contacted me by phone to talk it over, he asked me if I could do it for them, and
one thing just sort of led to another.
As it turned out, I had a complete V8 changeover that I had been saving from various other
cars, including all suspension and rear end. I had been planning on buying a clean 6cyl Falcon
or Comet in a desirable body style, like a 2dr or a wagon, to put this drive train into and sell the
car. Much of it had been purchased from my favorite self-service junkyard, Ecology Auto Parts
in Phoenix. I hadn't been looking for very long when Rodney called. After talking to him and
hearing about how the couple wanted their Comet to be easier to drive, have better power,
and better handling and braking, I offered to do a full V8 swap in the Comet using a good 289
from my '65 Ranchero (which was featured in the May 2002 issue of Car Craft magazine) a '66
Mustang C4 with a mild shift kit from my wrecked (not my fault) '64 Sprint HT, a complete V8
front suspension consisting of new '65-'66 Mustang upper and lower control arms and spring
saddles, The now famous Granada disc brake swap, '65 V8 Falcon/Comet steering linkage,
and a Maverick rear end with larger Granada finned brake drums and shoes. The details were
ironed out, a time frame was calculated, and the project was given the green light. I did the
project in stages to keep the car more or less intact and rollable during the conversion. I
started by removing the six and three speed. I disconnected the tranny from the bell housing
and removed it and the cross member, then I pulled the engine out leaving a dirty, but easy to
clean engine bay. I stripped the 289 engine down to a long block with intake and oil pan left in
place, cleaned it and repainted it in black, and stripped the valve covers and air cleaner to
bare metal to paint them in metallic silver with a clear coat. I chose this black/silver color
combination to copy the colors of the original 170 engine, because we were going for a
completely stock and factory look with this swap. I rebuilt the Autolite 2100 2V carburetor and
put new repro '65 Comet 289-2V stickers on the air cleaner housing for a look that was
different from the common orange 289 flag decal you see on air cleaners on Mustangs and the
like. All factory '65 Falcon hardware and fittings, brackets and ID tags were used on the engine
to give it a factory original look. This included an original air cleaner snorkel and down tube to
the exhaust manifold, and all original choke tubing from the manifold to the carburetor. I knew
from past experience that '60-early '62 Falcons and Comets have a different firewall than later
cars, and that you have to "clearance" the firewall with a hammer to gain enough room for the
V8 bell housing on either a manual or automatic swap. I knew that if done carefully, you can
achieve factory looking results, rather than a hammered looking firewall. I took a 9 pound
sledge hammer and carefully worked the metal upward and rearward to gain room for the C4. I
had to test fit the engine/tranny combo twice before I gained enough room to install them. It's
important to unbolt the heater from the firewall to avoid damaging the defroster plenum since
it's right there where you will be hammering. I removed the 6cyl motor mounts and crossover
tube, and replaced the mounts with '63-'65 V8 Falcon/Comet V8 mounts which consist of the
frame, intermediate, and rubber engine mounts. While the engine mounts are common to both
the left and right sides, the L shaped intermediate mounts are specific left and right, and if you
swap them, the engine will wind up almost an inch further forward - just what you don't want
with the early Falcon/Comet's already tight radiator and fan space. You cannot reuse the
original crossover tube because it won't clear the V8 oil pan, but the Falcon parts vendors sell
an aftermarket one that does fit. Since it is not needed, I didn't use one - factory V8 Falcons
and Comets didn't have one.
I assembled the engine and transmission and installed them with a transmission mount that
was built by a friend back in the mid '80s. It was a '65 Comet mount that was modified to use a
‘66 and later C4 tranny mount, because they are stronger and easier to find. We had to make
these mounts back in the day, but you can buy them now from any of a number of
Falcon/Comet parts vendors. I used a rebuilt V8 radiator that I had from another car, and it
bolted in where the original radiator was. It had staggered inlet/outlet, while the '65 289 had
the inlet and outlet on the right side. Ford changed this arrangement in '66, because when
both hoses are on the same side of a radiator, you are only using about a third of the core
space for cooling, while the coolant on the other side stays stagnant; so it's better to have
them on opposite sides. I didn't want to change the water pump and front accessories to run
the later left side inlet pump, so I used a custom bent piece of exhaust tubing to run the lower
hose from the right side to the left side and used a 90 degree section from another hose to
connect it to the radiator. It clears everything very well, and was a simple solution and quite
easy to do. Just have the exhaust shop lightly flare each end so your hose doesn't come off.
The original sway bar would not clear the built-in filter on the 289's fuel pump, but the bar from
a '65 Falcon did, so it was used. The original '65 Falcon transmission cooler lines were used,
but hooked up to a new external tranny cooler instead of using the in-radiator cooler. Every
little bit helps in hot Arizona. The throttle linkage was changed all the way from the gas pedal
rod to the carburetor, using the factory '65 Falcon/Comet C4 kick down linkage and related
parts. The kick down lever and shift lever on the Mustang-spec C4 had to be changed for '65
Falcon/Comet parts to gain the correct kick down and shift geometry. I removed the original
three speed steering column and replaced it with a '61 Falcon automatic column, which uses a
'64 collar, both painted black to match the interior, and a reproduction '65 C4 Cruis-O-Matic
indicator lens from a parts vendor. The column was originally for a two-speed automatic, but it
worked fine with the C4, the detents were close enough that it shifted like a stocker. A '65
Falcon shift rod was used from the column to the transmission. The same parts vendor also
supplied a new automatic brake pedal pad, which I used with a '64 Falcon automatic brake
pedal and bracket assembly, a direct swap for the manual brake and clutch pedal assembly. I
removed the Z bar bracketry from below the steering box, which effectively erased all
indications that the car was originally a three speed. I did a generator to alternator conversion
using a rebuilt alternator and a new alternator voltage regulator in place of the generator
regulator, an easy swap that reassigns the original wiring and requires the addition of only one
new wire, a heavy ten gauge piece from the alternator to the positive side of the starter
solenoid. The wiring to the coil, temp and oil pressure senders was lengthened to reach the
new locations on the 289. The neutral safety start switch on the C4 was used instead of a
column mount switch that the two speed transmissions used, I ran both wires to the matching
pigtails on the dash harness just inside the firewall bulk plugs. You'll have one male and one
female wire; both will be red with a blue stripe. The fuel line was re-configured to run along the
outside of the frame rail, V8 style, and a new piece of 5/16" steel line was used as an
extension to run the line into a bracket that is held in place by a sway bar frame bushing bolt,
copying the longer V8 fuel line. I used a pair of Maverick V8 manifolds, a long-time favorite
swap in the Falcon club to run dual exhaust in early Falcons and Comets. The passenger side
is pretty much the same as 260-289 Falcon/Comet, but the drivers' side goes down and back
instead of down and forward, which makes dual exhaust harder to do, or straight back like a
Mustang/Fairlane manifold - which runs into the steering box. Some Granadas also used the
Maverick manifold. A new dual exhaust system was made by a local muffler shop using 2-1/4"
tubing and generic turbo mufflers for a quiet but throaty sound. I found a very nice pair of oval
exhaust tips at Pep Boys that I felt went with the oval taillights of the '60-'61 Comet well, and
they also match the oval gas and temp gauge surrounds in the instrument cluster. I think it's
important to keep a theme. The tail pipes were run along the gas tank and through the rear of
the leaf springs close to the frame, so they could be separated as far as possible and
centered under the taillights. I personally don't like the way dual tips look when they are too
close together, which is what you get if you run them just inside the leaf springs. With the
engine/trans installed, I moved to the rear end. My idea was to get the car running and driving
on the stock four lug front end temporarily while I tuned and adjusted the engine and
transmission and worked the
gremlins out. I removed the stock four-lug rear end and replaced it with a five-lug 8" rear end
from a Maverick. It came from a six cylinder Maverick, but all Mavericks had the five lug rear
end from '74-'77 regardless of engine. It's best to get one from a six, because the gears will
almost always be in excellent shape regardless of the miles on the car - so long as it had gear
lube in it. The narrowest 8" rear end that Ford ever used was in the '63 V8 Falcons and
Comets, at 56" drum to drum, measured at the wheel mounting surface at the base of the
studs. The second narrowest 8" rear was the Maverick/Comet from '71-'77, at 56.5". These are
not too difficult to find, but they are popular with the street rod set so you may have to turn
over a few rocks to score one. I removed the 3.00 center section, cleaned and inspected it,
cleaned the rest of the rear end and steel brake lines, and put it together with a coat of new
chassis black paint. I swapped the original Maverick 2" drums and shoes for Granada 2-1/2"
parts to give the car better stopping power. New wheel cylinders and spring kits were also
used, I don't like fixing leaks caused by old cylinders and I don't trust honed-out rebuilds. New
ones are cheap insurance. I used a set of U bolts and shock plates from a Ford Courier mini
truck, which were the exact right size and configuration. You can only use the left side
Maverick parts, because they usually have staggered mounted shocks, while Falcons and
Comets have both shocks ahead of the axle. It's easiest to use Courier parts, or '66-up
Falcon/Comet/Fairlane or '67-'70 Mustang if you can get those easier than Courier. I wanted to
use the original Comet flexible brake line, but the Maverick rear end had an integral block/line
setup that couldn't be used. The solution was to use the block from the original six rear end,
but it had different sized fittings on the steel lines to each wheel cylinder. I had to use the
original fittings on the Maverick lines and make two new double flares to mate them - follow the
directions closely in your double flaring kit or have a shop do it if you cannot. I don't take
chances with brake parts; everything has to be new and perfect. The original Comet parking
brake cables fit the Maverick backing plates and worked perfectly. The new rear end
positioned the brake line block further rearward on the housing, which made it necessary to
extend the hard line down from the body. I used a front brake hard line bracket from another
car, and bolted it to the original welded-on bracket on the Comet. The installation was now
complete. I ground the fender lips in about 1/4" with an angle grinder for a little extra tire
clearance and to make tire changes easier, and Granada 14" steel wheels were used with
195/70/14 BFG radial T/A tires. It was now time to come up with a drive shaft. I determined that
I needed a 58" shaft by installing a front yoke in the C4, pushing it all the way in, pulling it out
about 3/4", and measuring between the centerlines of the front and rear U-joints. Make sure
the car is supported by jack stands under the axle, so the rear suspension is compressed by
the weight of the car, in other words at ride height. I went to Ecology and measured a bunch of
drive shafts under a variety of Ford cars, and found the perfect pole under an '84 Lincoln
Town Car. The Town Car had an AOD tranny, but the yokes were the same as on C4s, the
front yoke was good, and both U-joints were in excellent shape. Score! I love not having to
make up a custom drive shaft. Yes, the U-joints are the same as the earlier parts, and bolted
right up to the Maverick rear yoke. The brakes were bled, and the car was road tested. other
than chasing down a few leaks, everything worked very nicely and the car was very quiet and
solid feeling.
The next step was the front suspension and brakes. A new set of upper and lower control
arms, each supplied with new ball joints and bushings installed, was ordered from a Mustang
parts vendor. Order parts for a '65-'66 V8 Mustang, they bolt right on in place of the six
cylinder arms. I cleaned up and painted a set of Granada spindles and installed them, along
with all new brake parts and good used rotors that I lucked out with at the junkyard. Granada
brakes are very effective, fit just about any '60s Ford with V8 arms and steering, and are
extremely cheap to buy parts for. The calipers are generally around $15 each, the pads are $9
a set, the grease seals are a buck apiece, etc. Good and cheap, you don't often run into that
in the automotive world. I've done at least a dozen disc brake swaps, so this one was very
routine. I found that the original Comet strut rods would not work with the new V8 lower control
arms, so I used the rod assemblies from a '64 Falcon with new rubber bushings. The later cars
had a larger hole for the bushings in the frame brackets, so I enlarged the Comet holes with a
die grinder and a carbide bit to fit the larger bushings. You can use '63.5 Falcon/Comet 6 or
V8 strut rods if you don't want to enlarge the holes, but it's a recommended swap - as the
bigger rubber bushings give better shock absorption over sharp bumps and transmit less NVH
(noise, vibration, harshness) through the car, which is of course why Ford went with them. I
replaced the original steering with a complete setup from a '65 V8 Falcon. '65 Falcon/Comet is
the best way to go by far, as it has better geometry than '63-'64 V8 steering and works better
with the Granada setup. Also, all parts are identical to '65-'66 V8 Mustang (so parts are
affordable) except for the center link, which is the same except 1" shorter on Falcons and
Comets. You must use a Falcon/Comet center link, or you'll have weird ackerman geometry
and problems aligning the car. New '65 Mustang inner tie rods were used along with new
Granada outer tie rods and a new idler arm. The '65 V8 pitman arm bolted right up to the
original '61 steering box. The owners wanted a slight nose-down stance, and since the miles
on the car were low, we decided to use the original 6cyl coil springs rather than new V8
springs. It turned out to be a good idea, the ride height with the V8 was only about a half-inch
lower than with the 6, giving just the right attitude.
I used new Granada rubber brake lines and the Granada soft to hard line frame brackets,
located on the Comet frame rails in the same spot as on the Granada - ahead of the wheels
and turned up at an angle. I used a remanufactured Granada manual brake master cylinder; it
bolts directly in place of the original single reservoir master and uses the original
Falcon/Comet push rod. Specify a manual master cylinder because it has a smaller 7/8" bore
than the power brake master (1" bore) and if you use a power master in a manual application,
you'll have a very high-effort brake pedal. There is not enough room in the Falcon/Comet
engine bay to run power brakes with a dual master cylinder, so I do manual brakes and the
effort is no harder than with the drum brakes, somewhat lighter in fact. The Granada
distribution block (sometimes called a proportioning valve, but it's really just a block) was used
along with the two hard lines from the master cylinder to the block. They had to be re-bent
slightly, but worked fine. You just need to bend the rear axle hard line slightly to allow it to
connect to the new distribution block, it has the same size fitting and goes right in. It gets
easier - believe it or not, you can use the entire Granada hard brake line from the distribution
block to the soft line, through the shock tower and under the upper control arm along the
frame. It fits like it was made for the earlier cars. Not so with the passenger front brake line, but
another elegant solution exists for this side. Find a '75-'77 Maverick or Comet with disc brakes,
and take the hard line from the block to the junction at the right shock tower. It fits the early
Falcon/Comet as well as the Granada line does on the left side, even going around the heater
blower motor in just the right place. You can even install it using the original hold-down clamps
for the old firewall line, and bolt it to the same holes. It screws right into the Granada
distribution block, it just doesn't get any easier. This leaves only the hard line from the shock
tower to the right front soft line, and you can make that from the original firewall line - it already
has one correct bend in it and one correct fitting. Screw it into the Maverick hard line at the
factory male to male junction just inside the shock tower, run it through the factory hole, and
bend it to run along the frame rail just like on the left side. You need to make a couple of
bends in it to mate up to the soft line, be sure to use a Granada fitting on that end - it's a
special size. Double flare it to the line, and that's pretty much that. The only problem left was
installing the pressure switch for the brake lights, originally on the fruit jar master cylinder but
no allocation exists for it on the dual master. I split the Maverick firewall brake line and used a
combination of three fittings purchased from a small auto parts store that had a very good
selection of brake line fittings. These fittings allowed the original pressure switch to be installed
in-line under and to the left of the master cylinder, and the two wires reached it without
lengthening.
Everything was tightened, greased, cotter pins installed, and the brakes were bled again
before the road test. An eyeball alignment was done so the car could be driven to the
alignment shop, and once aligned, we had terrific stopping power and a great feeling of solidity
in the front end. The owners prefer a simple '60s rod look, so the Granada steel wheels were
sent out to the powder coater to be blasted and given a durable coat of hot rod red, and the
BFG T/A tires were mounted white letter in. I supplied a vintage pair of Cal Custom chromed
front grease caps, and the car is slated to receive a set of chrome lug nuts and early style
narrow trim rings to finish it off. They may also buy a set of their favorite period mag wheels,
Astro Supremes, when the budget allows. We are all very happy with the way this car turned
out, attention to detail makes it a hit at the shows, like the Good Guys show that it was recently
entered in, and makes the car a very satisfying vehicle to drive - tight, solid, and absolutely
factory in feel. The Granada front and rear brakes give the lighter Comet some serious hooks,
and the 289/C4/3.00 rear end give great performance - more than enough to effortlessly keep
up with traffic. Any hesitancy on any of our parts to modify an all original and very well
preserved '61 Comet vanished as soon as the V8 found a new home, and Rodney reports that
Andrea just loves the car - drives it whenever she can to work when weather and traffic allows
(they have secure parking and she can keep an eye on it) and enjoys being seen in it in the
sea of generic multi-colored chicklets that passes for modern traffic. This is in stark contrast to
the days when she liked looking at it, but didn't want to drive it because it just wasn't much fun
to work the shifter for such a low payoff in power. Just in case you're wondering, the mileage
went down by about 1MPG. Not bad, not bad at all.
-Mike Schnur
