What's Next?
With the car safely back in the shop, our plan is to turn it into a Stock Car replica without cutting up anything. That means careful removal of the parts from the stock interior that don't fit the look and using vinyl decals instead of paint. Since the drivetrain isn't stock anyway, plan to see a cam and intake swap and to hear some thundering Stock Car exhaust. If you have some ideas, join us at CarCraft.com in the forum area and speak your mind. We'll listen.
Tech Notes
What: '67 Mercury Comet
Engine: 390-inch FE
Transmission: Four-speed Top Loader with a Hurst shifter
Carb: Edelbrock 600-cfm AFB
Rearend: Ford 9-inch with 3.25 gears
Body: Comet 202 with a factory Cyclone fiberglass hood
Wheels/Tires:
14x5.5 and 14x8
steel wheels with 195/75R-14 and 245/60R-14 tires
Interior: Stock
 The duct tape we placed over...  The duct tape we placed over the valve-cover hole just wasn't holding, so we added a breather and hooked a 11/42-inch piece of hose from it to the back of the air cleaner to draw some of the oil vapor from the crankcase. After that, it was a lot easier to breathe inside the car. |  They're cool with burnouts....  They're cool with burnouts. Right? |  When we hit Tucson for the...  When we hit Tucson for the night, we were high from the burnt oil fumes that were being pumped through the firewall. A late-night run to AutoZone helped out.
'Did you know that Llegue (say "yay-gay") al Zone means "get in the zone" in Spanish? |
 For about a million miles...  For about a million miles in Texas and New Mexico, there are signs that ask, "What is the thing?" It's a mummy. It cost us a dollar to see it. |  Uh oh! Rings. The engine wasn't...  Uh oh! Rings. The engine wasn't smoking out of the tailpipe (yet) but it was blowing oil from the valve covers at an increasingly alarming rate. Combustion gases passing by the rings were pressurizing the crankcase. |  The next stop was the Salton...  The next stop was the Salton Sea between El Centro and Indio, California. The biggest "town" is called Bombay Beach, which has a population of about 300 people; it was built in the '50s. The sea is actually a saline lake that barely supports wildlife. |
 In Bombay Beach, we were invited...  In Bombay Beach, we were invited by this local to attend the $4.95 spaghetti dinner that night at the American Legion headquarters at the end of the street. We had to be moving on. |  The last leg of our trip was...  The last leg of our trip was blasted by driving rain and fog but we managed to make it back home with Wal-Mart oil and some shortcut help to the interstate. Next stop, the engine hoist. |  You could win this car or...  You could win this car or one of five other classics at the Timber Wolf Speed Shop. Go to twspeedshop.com or read the Timber Wolf ad in this issue for details. |