“SINister EDition”1966 Mercury Comet

The story

After waiting for nearly 30 years to replace the 1966 Fairlane 500 that I'd had in high school I stumbled upon this 1966 Mercury Comet Caliente.
I am the fourth owner of this slightly upscale cousin to the Ford Fairlane having purchased the car in June 2010 with just 47,000 original miles on its original 390 (2V) engine and C6 Merc-O-Matic transmission. The interior was also all original except for the headliner and the body was believed to retain most of it's factory applied Raven Black paint.

There have been many phases to get the build to where it is today. Modifications began in October of 2010 and progressed through 2014 when the engine was pulled to upgrade the heads and modify the front suspension. Life happened and 11 years would pass before reassembly in 2025.
My goal for the car would progress from the original plan for keeping it stock, to a couple mild performance upgrades, to a period correct hot rod and finally to creating a 427 R-code (clone) with improved performance and drivability that you see here. While Ford did produce 57 R-code Fairlanes in 1966 Mercury would not offer an R-code Comet until 1967. This is my tribute to what could have been with a few extra ponies added for good measure. Ford claimed 425 horsepower and 480 torque for the original 427 R-code engines while this 445 clone dynoed at 539 hp at 5800 and 530 tq at 4200.

Engine: With the exception of the FPA tri-y headers the engine compartment has the appearance of a factory 427 R-code as equipped from FOMOCO.

Chassis: Modifications include mini tubbing the rear wheel wells to the frame rails. Relocating the springs inward 3 inches per side making room for more tire. And adding sub-frame connectors to stiffen the unibody structure.

Suspension: Front suspension upgrades include a Shelby drop relocating the rebuilt OE upper control arms, Open Tracker Racing rollerized spring perches, Open Tracker Racing lower control arms, Street or Track adjustable strut rods and Kelsey Hayes disc brakes. Custom fabricated coil spring spacers set the final ride height while Calverts 90/10 drag shocks smooth the bumps
The rear suspension includes Calvert Racing split mono-leafs, Calvert Racing CalTracs traction bars and Calvert Racing 9 way adjustable rear shocks.

The interior is original but for the headliner installed under prior ownership and carpeting installed in 2014. A retro look tachometer and gauge set were added to monitor the engines vitals and an NOS Craig under dash FM/8-Track player was installed for playing those classic tunes. — SE2839