[justincampbell]

I have owned a number of Fords, but have never really been a "Ford guy". Consequently, my knowledge is pretty much limited to the specific Ford products I have owned.

I went and looked at a 1966 Comet Cyclone GT today. It was a pretty nice car. But, it needed enough little stuff here and there I decided I didn't want to make a deal until I knew a little more.

I have no idea if it is a genuine GT or not... if someone can enlighten me how to tell, I'm all ears.
Car was originally silvery blue with a black interior. It has been painted black now with the exception of a few minor scratches and 2 or 3 small bubbles, it looks very good. The bubbles are very small(BB size) and don't appear to be rust... yet anyway. They look more like moisture has gotten in between the paint and the primer. Body is not 100% perfect but looks pretty straight... especially for a black car. 95% of people would say the body looks great. It has had the bottom of one quarter behind the wheel replaced and a couple patches on the inner rockers/trunk floor extensions.
The floor has a couple of dents in it. They're not deep(maybe only pushed in 1/4" to 3/8" of an inch. The worst thing bodywise is that the car appears to have sat in a damp environment at some point since it was redone and there is rust starting here and there on the floor/trunk pans. It is not bad at this point. I'm sure it could all be cleaned up with one of the Roloc scotchbrite wheels.
One tail light lens has a crack. and the tail light bezels are pretty hazy, but not broken or bumpy. The rest of the chrome is pretty good.
The interior appears to be original(with the possible exception of the headliner and carpet. It has buckets and a console. The console is broke on the drivers side below the chrome trim. The driver's seat is slightly broken down. But, not bad. Upholstery is all good. All dash lights work except one signal indicator. Aftermarket stereo in the glove box.
Glass looks good.
As I said, I am not sure if it was originally a Cyclone GT. It is currently a non-numbers matching 390 with a 4 speed. Motor had a ton of work when they restored the car years ago. I can't recall all the specs, but I'll relay what I can. It's got a not huge but decent aftermarket cam. Can't remember the code on the heads, but according to the builder they were factory performance/desireable heads, Pertonix guts in a Ford 428(?) distributor, Ford aluminum intake(also from a 428 I believe), aftermarket 4bbl carb. Dual exhaust. 3.89 open rear end. Radiator didn't leak when I looked at the car, but has a small area with that green corrosion that would indicate it has leaked at some point.

Also, as a point of reference, this guy will work with me some on price, but he doesn't really care much if he sells it or not... he was actually responded to a wanted ad I had placed for a 50s to 70s car with a 4 speed.

So, what do you guys think is a fair price?

[b-man]

Sharing the sellers asking price would be helpful.

[Stuart]

A Marti report would be a great way to tell, but unfortunately they only go back to 1967.

[Sirrotica]

Hemmings article, came with a 390 CID OEM:

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/art...met-cyclone-gt

I worked on a Fairlane GT, (same car, different emblems) probably 50 years ago, seems they had some modification to the spring towers to fit the FE engine in these cars, if I recall correctly. I know changing plugs wasn't any fun in them.

Other than that, I don't have any answers for your questions...

[HoovDaddy]

Bubbles are almost always rust coming through. From my experience working on Fords, Comets are unibody, so the floorpan condition is everything. Check the condition of:

1. Front shock towers and inner fenders.
2. Look underneath where the inner fenders/frame rails weld to the front floor pan.
3. Inner rocker panels.
4. Entire floor pan for previous repairs. Push on it to see how much it deflects.
5. Rear torque boxes.
6. Rear stamped frame rails.
7. Inner and outer rear wheels housings.
8. Feel inside the wheel opening lip, smooth or crusty.
9. Feel inside the rear quarters from inside the trunk for welded seams (from people that like to replace partial quarters).
10. Gas tank is the trunk floor, check both sides of the trunk reinforcements.
11. Medium size cracks in the paint, indicate bad body work underneath.

If the guy responded to your ad, he does want to sell. He just might not be motivated on price. Some people say they don't really want to sell thinking that they can keep the price higher.

Ford repop parts are much cheaper than GM, but Comet parts are scarce.

I'm building a '65 Mustang right now that was at a shop and the owner pulled it out. The owner is older than me and I don't think he could bend over to look at the horrible work that the shop did. I have to cut out everything they replaced. Everything is edge welded, the partial quarters are cracking at the seams, needs the entire floor pan. Hardware store steel holding the front frame rails to the body, the wheelbase is 1.5" longer on the LH side. Has sentimental value to the owner. Been waiting 11 months for the floor.

[HoovDaddy]

Hard to tell value without pics. Real Cyclones are quite rare and valuable. I would put average driver quality at $25k.

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by b-man

Sharing the sellers asking price would be helpful.

He's asking 20k

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by HoovDaddy

Bubbles are almost always rust coming through. From my experience working on Fords, Comets are unibody, so the floorpan condition is everything. Check the condition of:

1. Front shock towers and inner fenders.
2. Look underneath where the inner fenders/frame rails weld to the front floor pan.
3. Inner rocker panels.
4. Entire floor pan for previous repairs. Push on it to see how much it deflects.
5. Rear torque boxes.
6. Rear stamped frame rails.
7. Inner and outer rear wheels housings.
8. Feel inside the wheel opening lip, smooth or crusty.
9. Feel inside the rear quarters from inside the trunk for welded seams (from people that like to replace partial quarters).
10. Gas tank is the trunk floor, check both sides of the trunk reinforcements.
11. Medium size cracks in the paint, indicate bad body work underneath.

Inner rockers have a patch about the size of an index card in each side as does one of the trunk floor extensions. They are welded well and made of the same qauge material as original. It was just done more like a production shop in that they didn't go to the effort to make the joint disappear since it is underneath. Same with the the patch done to the bottom of one quarter(it was flanged and welded instead of butted together.
Rest of the floor looked good.
Shock towers were excellent.
There was what appeared to be a heavier gauge piece where the rear of the leaf spring fastens on each side. I'm sure I've seen some vehicles that were built this was. But, since I am not familiar with these, I don't know if this is original or a patched area.
The one spot that kind of threw me off was one of the braces up front that goes from the passenger front frame rail to the core support was clearly not a factory weld... but the brace looked nice, the frame rails/inner fenders looked nice and clean, the core support looked great. Trying to figure what that was about.

[justincampbell]

I couldn't get any good pics when I looked at it because it is packed in pretty tight. These are a couple the owner sent when we first corresponded.

[justincampbell]

How much price difference does it make if this car was born a regular Comet as opposed to a Cyclone? 30%? More?

I ask because the current owner says that he was told this is a real Cyclone but that it had a 289 in it. To my knowledge those things can't both be accurate. Makes me wonder if this was a plain Comet originally? Or if the 390 had been puked and replaced with a 289 when the previous owner got it?

[TAKerry]

Is there a way to tell by the s/n what the motor originally was? I know there are Marti reports for mustangs but do they exist for other fords as well?
My brothers bought a lightweight comet when they were in HS. It was a 64 or 65 something. After they got it they realized it wasnt set up to be a street cruiser so it sat in the field next to our house for a few years. One day it disappeared, I have no idea what happened to it.

[justincampbell]

I found some info about decoding the VIN. But, I'm not sure if it is accurate. For instance, the VIN code for engine on this car is "S". I know S would be the correct code for a 390 in a '67-up Mustang. But, the code listings I have found for a Comet doesn't even show an S. Weird.

[mgarblik]

Those Comets are cool, especially stick cars. Good friend has a 1964 Comet Caliente with a 427 FE. Tight fit for sure. Sorry I can't help with value. I assume there are Mercury/Ford message boards that could help with value?

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

Those Comets are cool, especially stick cars. Good friend has a 1964 Comet Caliente with a 427 FE. Tight fit for sure. Sorry I can't help with value. I assume there are Mercury/Ford message boards that could help with value?

I posted the same question on the Ford Barn. Surprisingly, about the same amount of response as here. But, I don't think they have as much traffic over there as the Pontiac board gets.

[carbking]

In 1966, the Comet Cyclone was available with a 289; but the Cyclone GT was available only with the 390.

There are major differences in a GT 390 engine and the regular passenger 390 engine.

Just a guess, but I would think a Cyclone GT with a regular 390 would have a SIGNIFICANT cut in value; kind of like a RAIV Judge with a Bonneville 400.

As far as the modifications, while modifications are strictly up to the owner; on a car with value determined by the rarity of the car, each modification DETRACTS from the value of the car.

I special-ordered a 1967 Mustang 390 GTA in 1967, and traded it for a new Mustang 390 GT in 1968. From personal experience, I can tell you I would have replaced the cylinder heads AND the intake with aluminum, except in 1968 the smog-folks took a dim view of such. The reduction in weight off of the front end would have REALLY helped the car. The factory wide ovals thankfully wore out quite quickly, and after 2 sets within 15k miles, I opted for radials, which really changed the driveability of the car.

I have no current idea on value, only to suggest looking at deducts for non-original engine, and modifications.

Oh, and in the FWIW category, both the 1967 and 1968 Holleys got replaced with Carters after engine fires from leaky Holleys (sure glad we have some snow in Missouri during the winters); the 1967 in 3k miles, the 1968 in about 5k miles. I understand the bowl gaskets today are better.

Jon

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by carbking

Oh, and in the FWIW category, both the 1967 and 1968 Holleys got replaced with Carters after engine fires from leaky Holleys (sure glad we have some snow in Missouri during the winters); the 1967 in 3k miles, the 1968 in about 5k miles. I understand the bowl gaskets today are better.

Jon

Funny that you mention that. While there were no leaks when we ran the car, it has definitely leaked at some point since the engine was put together. It has some of those ugly brown spots in the low areas of the intake from fuel leaking at some point.

[poncho-mike]

In my youth, I owned a number of Ford products. Among them was a 66 Cyclone GT convertible with a 390 4-spd. I can't help much on value, but it was not an enjoyable car to drive.

[HoovDaddy]

The 6th digit in Ford VIN's is the engine code. Below are all of the '66 Mercury codes. Some are shared with Mustang, such as A & C. Just go to a VIN decoder site.

2 6-200
3 8-289
8 8-428
A 8-289
C 8-289
G 8-462
H 8-390
M 8-410
P 8-428
Q 8-428
R 8-427
T 6-200
Y 8-390
Z 8-390

The 3rd & 4th digits describe the model. Cyclone hardtop is 27. A Caliente hardtop is 23. If you can get a pic of the data plate on the LH door, you can get trans, rear end codes along with color and trim.



For car values I use Hagerty and the site below. For a real nice driver quality car I average #2 & #3 values then average the 2 sources. This will get you into the ballpark for almost any car. I find that Hagerty values are usually higher, probably because they want customers to insure to that value (more money in Hagerty's pocket).

https://www.collectorcarmarket.com/v...met-value.html

I looked at a Cyclone convertible last year, nice car but baby blue, Couldn't do it.

[carbking]

We weighed the 1968 Mustang GT 390 with me in the car.

While memory is not good enough to quote the exact weight, I do remember front:rear distribution was 59:41.

I calculated at the time; a set of Ford Motorsport aluminum heads, and a Ford Motorsport aluminum intake would change that to 56:44.

One of the cars I have owned that I wish I could have afforded to keep.

Jon.

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by HoovDaddy

The 6th digit in Ford VIN's is the engine code. Below are all of the '66 Mercury codes. Some are shared with Mustang, such as A & C. Just go to a VIN decoder site.

2 6-200
3 8-289
8 8-428
A 8-289
C 8-289
G 8-462
H 8-390
M 8-410
P 8-428
Q 8-428
R 8-427
T 6-200
Y 8-390
Z 8-390

The 3rd & 4th digits describe the model. Cyclone hardtop is 27. A Caliente hardtop is 23. If you can get a pic of the data plate on the LH door, you can get trans, rear end codes along with color and trim.

I sure wish Ford data were as easy to find as GM... this is a whole new struggle for me. Lol!

I found 2 different webpages so far with decoding data. Neither of them lists S for an engine code. Also, one lists 27 and 29 as the Cylcone GT codes for hardtop and convertible. The other shows 26 and 28 for convertible and hardtop GT.
This complicates things further as I just confirmed with the owner that the data plate and the title do match... But, those numbers are 26 for the model(which the oldride website says should be a convert GT, this is a hardtop) and S for the engine.