Barry, Thanks for sharing this with the community. Len this looks like it's gonna be a a Great project and it already has a great story with a dog and a road trip. What more could a car guy ask for? Keep us in the loop with your progress!

I like what you are doing. It's a challenge, but a labor of love. I myself am in the midst of a similar project on a 65 Mustang Coupe. I have rust at the drip edge that I have to repair. It's going to be a challenge. Keep at it. You're doing an amazing job.

Makes me happy to see people take the opportunity to learn a new skill on their own through their projects rather than immediately look to have someone else do it for them. Keep up the great work!

We think that you have a great looking 65 Mercury Comet Cyclone! It must be difficult to find parts for a project like that! Along with Barry's videos that have helped us all out, you might want to check out Fitzee's Fabrications and the metalwork he does to replace rust and damage to sheet metal. Keep all of us updated on your progress! Big Thumps Up to you for taking up a project like this!!

Looks like a fun project. I have a 65 Cyclone too. There were 12,000 Cyclones manufactured and the Comet registry estimates a little over 300 still exist so they are rare. There were factory AF-X (427) and BF-X (289) dag versions but probably only a dozen or so of those. Also you could have the dealer install the K code Mustang 289 in it however the data plate on the Cyclone still showed it had the A code 225HP 289. Only documentation for the Hi-Po would have been the dealer invoice.

that comment is so true , thats how we roll , thats what real car guys do

I had a car back in the day that is very close to this one. A 1966 Mercury Comet Capri. I know who owns it now, but he's busy restoring it, so it's unfortunately not for sale... I will always regret selling it many years ago...

Great project car looks like you'll be fabricating some patch panels just go slow and take your time 👍.

Hey Len very cool car. It seems like you will have no choice because of how rare the car is to fabricate patches for your repairs. Like you I started out with no real skills when it came to welding and metal work but over the last 12 years or so I have listened and learned so much. My project (66 mustang coupe) was a bondo machine as well. I got so discouraged over the years thinking I got the last of the damage uncovered only to turn the next corner and finding even more damage. Finally after all those years I am going back together so keep at it. As for your sail panel although I am no pro I think you should remove at least the back section of drip rail to uncover all that is behind it and give you the room you will need to make a positive repair. Enjoy the ride!

Cool car bro

Try using patch panels from a 65 ford falcon because the comet was mercury's version of the falcon.

Hey Len, regarding your sail panels... There is a possibility the roof was swapped on the car from a roll over, or the back end of the car was swapped from being rear ended. Quite common back in the day. If it was my car, I would pull the headliner to get a good look inside for clues. Then I would strip the body down to metal to see the whole picture. If you don't and only focus on one section at a time, you may be making more work for yourself. Once you have the whole picture, you can come up with a solid plan of attack.

You are absolutely correct, what a cool car to be restoring 👍 Len, if I could suggest, on your quarters, make some cardboard templates so you can get a good reference as to where the metal needs to be when using a hammer and dolly. There's definitely a lot of design and contours from front to back. You say you have another door, it may be worth removing the outer skin on both to make one good door, and not to mention that you will have extra metal with the same body lines that might be usable on the rear quarter panel too. Good luck, you have a great start already. 👍

Looking good, you are ahead of me, I wonder if you could run the door patch right to the edge to save a bit of heat, so only a c shapped weld, if that makes sense

Nice project,very unique car. I had drip rails with rot underneath on my 68 fastback and the best way to fix is like you said and cut them off, repair and weld back on. Worked great for me. As far as your rust free door, can you replace the skin from the body line down with fresh sheet metal? Looks like its basically flat with just a slight curve. If you weld near the door edge and body line you may not get too much distortion.

Cool car!! I learned how to weld doing my car by watching the welding videos on jo daddy’s garage!! Thanks Barry!!

Super awesome bro🔥

The welds look great!

As far as your door work, nice job! One other way people attach this is to grind down the edges of the door to pull the skin off and then put a new skin on. I am guessing you have no option for a REPRO skin, and so your approach makes sense to me. If you haven't thought of this yet, research how to do heat shrinking on the panel. Basically you heat up the dents and then quick quench them to shrink the metal. This can be done from the outside of the door skin. Typically this would be done before welding on the door (filled dent puller holes) so it may affect how the heat shrinking works. But it could get the den'ts shallower than you have them now which would reduce your filler thickness, which is a good thing.

Great video Len. That’s a sharp car. I love the fact you grabbed some cash, loaded up the dog and hit the open road to nab this project. Keep us updated. 👍

My dad found one of these last year 200 cash with parts it's getting rebuild now I can't wait to enjoy the 4 speed let er rip tater chip

What a beautiful car! loved the video as always! Recently I've been inspired to make videos on my 69 Mustang because of your videos, and they have been a big help when I didn't know how to do something. Keep up the good work everybody!

Barry the 65 Cyclone 289 Hipo 4 speed 9" was the Daytona Package I had one back in the early 80s. I also had a 65 Comet Catalina convt 289 Hipo 4 speed Daytona Package car one of 6 made bought it off a Ford used car lot in 1967 used as a trade-in in 1970 on my new 70 Mach1.

Very Cool car project! I also like his shop. My shop, as you know is great, but as always I need more room.

Barry, Lee Is doing great job. I might suggest he look up Fitzee fabrication on utube on addressing the areas of sheet metal that need to be replaced. He is a wizard at that type of work and can take a lot of the guess work out of how to approach some problem areas. Hang in there Len, you'll have a great ride when you're done.

I might suggest that you find someone who can sandblast the car. this will expose all the rust and will give you a good foundation to spray epoxy on. grinding filler is a messy and tedious job. Plus old filler from 60's and 70's still had some asbestos in it so wear a respirator. I wish you all the best, I can tell you from experience that every journey begins with a first step and you are well on your way .

Patching quarters is very similar to patching other areas. Since you are a newbie to welding, I would suggest practicing making the patch and welding in before you cut the damage out of the panel. Also I suggest you watch Barry's videos on repairs. Jade may be a good one to reference.

Very nice. Big job and he's heading at it the way I would. 👍 thanks for sharing.

Great car!! I love it! Not many Comets around anymore. And a Cyclone too! Pretty sweet.

I like when people restore cars that aren't the common cars. That dissection of the door is downright odd. I will check around locally and see if I can find anyone with a parts car.

I think the 64-65 Falcon doors are the same & also most of the quarter panel lines except at the rear area. Lower patch panels may be available for a Falcon, Len may want to do some research.

Hey Barry! a 65 comet cyclone? One of my favorites!!! I grew up in Kalamazoo too. Len says, we may not have the best tools and shops........... I would trade my wife off for his garage. lol Before I bought my 67 S-code, I passed up on one of these for like 2,000 and solid. What the hell was I thinking? Damm, If I could go back in time. Thanks as always for all you do for us DIY car community. Cheers from Michigan!

Len, check out Fitzee on youtube for doing sheetmetal. Dont get overwhemled. One piece at a time..

12K Cyclones made in '65. Not rare but not common compared to the Mustang that year. I owned one from '88-'98 and knew of three others near me during that time.

hi barry he got a lot of work to due

Show us all the tools you use on your project.

That door is very bad, needs a lot of work. The rusty one might be easier to fix.