I am sure there are plenty of times in a girls life when she hears a her car making a funny noise so she pulls it into a garage for repairs.  Sure, that is what I did last weekend, but unlike most gals I was actually the one doing the diagnosis and repairs in the garage myself!  I am Becky Sue and this a story of another day in the life of a hot rod pinup such as myself.

So I was cruising down the road on my way to work last week and I heard my baby making a different sound.  Something was definitely not right.  She was trying to tell me something, but what was it?  This was a new noise for me.  She began to speak up around 30-40 miles an hour.  I listened closely and I was able to determine that it was coming from the passenger rear wheel.  I pulled off did a visual inspection and checked the tire pressure.  All was well.   

Now I have replaced the bearings in the front end of the Comet when it had it’s original drums.  As I recalled the noise of a bearing going out is kind of like rolling a metal ball in sand.  This didn’t sound like that so I wasn’t quite sure what it was but at least I knew where my problem was coming from.

As I drove home from work I was now hearing a little bit of a screechy squeal and my rear end began locking up on me as if I were depressing the brakes while driving down the road!  Very bizarre!  Luckily I had the next day off, so I knew I would be able to repair her.

That night I reviewed my owner’s manual focusing on the rear suspension, drive-line, axle section.  I wanted to familiarize myself with what I would be working with before I just started taking things apart.  This is a crucial step to automotive success!  Always read the repair manual.

The next afternoon I took a tire iron to the to the problem wheel.  After I loosed the lug nuts I jacked up the car from the pumpkin and placed her on jack stands (making sure to chalk the front tires) and wedged out the massive rear tire.  I had to dig a little deeper to see my problem.  After removing four bolts and yanking the axle free, I was able to pull the axle out and take a good look at the bearings. Right away I could see how mangled they were. I knew they would need to be replaced so I took my axle down to the friendly fellas at Tops Auto, in Anaheim, CA and they were able to press me a new set of bearings within the hour.

After that it was just a matter of reassembling my rear end.  Plenty of jokes were made as I lubed the tip, inserted the axle shaft, and began pushing deeper and deeper! Once it was in place I bolted everything back together and was burning out into the sunset!
Girls, you can do it!  Don’t be afraid to get in the garage and get greasy!  With a little bit of education and a lot of determination you too can be like Becky Sue! ;)

(To see the full album of photos from this wrench day visit my Facebook page!) 

    I love the fact that my 1961 Comet was all original.  I have the original window sticker and bill of sale for the car with all of the options picked out in 1960!  The in-line six 170 cc Thrift Power motor that was in the car was a $35.00 upgrade.  It may have been an upgrade in power in 1961 but that 170 was not cutting it for me in today’s day and age! Don't get me wrong, the car would get up to freeway speeds but it just wasn't so quick to merge into traffic.  My theory is, "life is too short to drive slow".  My boyfriend, Matt at the Department of Customz,  shares this mentality and had had told me that I could put the 302 from his model T into my Comet if and when my motor died.
 
     Well as fate would have it, my Gita's 170 ceased to exist about a week after the Huffarama event in December 2010.  For about three weeks prior the car had seemed to just “not be running well”.  While trying to pinpoint the problem I did a tune up, changing the oil and the spark plugs.  It kept loading up at red lights so I changed my carburetor.  It still had issues.  After I changed my points the car seemed to have a dramatic improvement but then on that early December morning I went to start my car up to go to work and...THUNK... I threw a rod!!!

     That year Santa brought me just what I wanted!  On Christmas I had not only a 302 with Mega 270 Isky Racing Cams but also a TransDapt C4 transmission with a manual valve body under the Christmas tree! (Thank you Santa Baby! aka Matt!)  I will admit part of me was sad to see the 6 go just because I had gotten to know the motor over the past two years, but then I reminded myself about how I hated that motor when trying to merge into freeway traffic! Out with the old! In with the new!

The photo above is of me hooking the in-line 6 onto the engine hoist. Shortly after this I nervously hooked the 302 with the C4 attached to it and guided her across the shop and over the top of the gaping hole where my engine used to be!

  Next I had to climb up on top of the car and do the splits on the cowl carefully making sure not to put too much pressure on my windshield. As Matt Means and an apprentice at the Department of Customz lowered the motor in I began walking up the transmission using my body weight to push it down and under. For a minute there I thought I was going to get sucked in! I hear that motor swaps take a while, but with Dept. of Customz professional help we were able to do it in just one day
    
    This car is my daily driver so I had to make quick work of this motor swap and upgrade things like suspension as I went along. These performance parts may have fit right into my little Comet but she wasn’t built for such power so there are MANY items that need to be modified or replaced along the way.

Since the motor swap in December of last year I have installed a new Ford 8 inch rear end with posi traction, converting to five lug and installing new wheels and tires.  I swamped the old water pump for an aluminum Edelbrock one. In March I finally beefed up the front suspension, with a 65 Mustang front end and Grenada disk brakes. There will be plenty more performance upgrades and minor repairs to read about down the road so stay tuned and watch this Comet get better and better than ever before!