Hello from a new Maverick owner in Vancouver, WA

Last weekend my wife and I purchased a 1972 Ford Maverick for my son for his first car.

He loved the idea of having an older car that he could actually learn to work on and we debated at length about this decision considering the lack of standard safety features the newer cars have compared to the benefit of all steel construction.

We decided we'd just go take a look at some old cars while we still hadn't made up our minds... low & behold he found a Maverick and totally fell in love.

The car is an automatic with a straight 6 - 200 and it runs and drives great and the body is in really good shape with very little to no rust anywhere. He's only 15 years old so his plan is to fix it up for the next year so he's got a really nice car by the time he's actually driving. Hopefully, with the blood, sweat, MONEY and likely some tears, he will take better care of this car than most teenagers do.

As his Dad, I'm excited to get the chance to help him learn and to spend countless hours working with him on this car but to be honest, I'm no mechanic. I could really use as much advise as I can get to make this project as painless as possible.

Although this is not a Grabber, he wants to add as many Grabber features as he can afford during this restoration. We're still working on a list of items to take care of but I could really use some tips on the following:
1. The best source of used parts or aftermarket parts, preferable somewhere here in the Northwest (Washington State or Oregon). I'm sure we're going to need an assortment of items but for sure at this point, it looks like he might need to replace the Power Steering Assist as it leaks power steering fluid. We also need to figure out how to replace the lights in the gauges as they don't work (which made an interesting ride home at night with no way to see the speedometer).

2. The most reasonable way to cover or restore the front split bench and back seats (I'm a bit concerned that most seat covers won't work on a split bench well or won't quite fit right making it look ridiculous).

3. Sourcing for items to make this car look like a Grabber such as the hood elements & duck tail.

4. Everyone's recommendation for the best Maverick Service Manual so he and I can actually start to do some mechanical stuff.

I'm really excited I found this site and any and all recommendations or advise would be EXTREMELY appreciated.

 

Welcome to the site from northeast Ohio!!

 

I hit the post button too quick. I suggest you have your son sign onto the site and assist in the pursuit of information and parts. That requires him to do some of the diagnosis, learn the names of parts and systems.

Also enroll him in the Maverick and Comet Club International (MCCI) which you can find elsewhere on this site.

 

Thanks Hotrock, we talked about that this morning so I think he's planning to sign in to this site this afternoon. I'll check out the MCCI, I've never heard about this club before. Quick question for you... which service manual do you think is the best? We need to get one ASAP before he tears into something that he shouldn't

 

Welcome from Oregon, car looks like he has a great start to begin with. You and he can spend many hours on this site researching all the options for making the car the way he wants it to be. The Grabber hood and duck tail spoiler can be a task to find in good condition at a reasonable price. A good place to start looking for parts would be at the huge swap meet in Portland at expo and the race track next week 8 through the 12th.

You can also find a lot of parts from different sellers on this site or just ask and maybe someone can help you out

 

Hello Yellow75. We were originally going to wait to buy him something until we went to the swap meet, but this car (with the amount of engine work) seemed like too good of a buy to pass up. We are definitely still going though and we're hoping we can find that elusive gem in the mass of over priced items... either way, I'm sure it will be a heck of a good time. Can I assume you're going to be there?

 

Yes I will be there, not sure how much time I will spend there this year as I dont need anything and have pretty much sold everything I had. In past years there has not been very much for Mavericks at the swap meet but you never know. Weather is going to be yucky but that has never stopped me before. Seems like at the track the bargains are better.

Good luck and have fun

 

Auto Krafters at the following site has a lot of Maverick/Comet parts. Generic parts can be purchased from Summit Racing and your local parts store. I believe there are persons on this site and in the MCCI Shorthorns newsletter that sell original Maverick/Comet service manuals. Personally, I use Chilton's manuals that I purchased when I was pulling wrenches for a living.

 

welcome from oregon! about an hour from vancouver. I have parts on craigslist so if you need anything ask me and ill check if i have it.

 

Welcome from sunny Arizona. In addition to AutoKrafters there is also Melvin's that sells a lot of Maverick parts.

http://www.melvinsclassicfordparts.com/

Good luck with the car and post some pics!

 

Maverick93, are your parts in portland.craigslist or somewhere else?

 

Nevermind Maverick93, i found it! Thanks!

 

from Atlantic Canada! That car looks great!! Use the search function and with a little bit of reading, you'll find the answers to most (if not all) of your questions. There is a lot of support on here, as well as a great network of people in the MCCI, with a National Round-Up in Washington, PA this July!!

Once you start reading posts and finding your way around the forums, you'll find there are quite a few members from the Northwest.

The Chilton's manual was one of the first "repair manuals" that I ever got when I had MY first Maverick, but it's pretty basic stuff. They usually go cheap on e-Bay. I've used Auto Krafters and RockAuto for a lot of my parts, but other people seem to like Melvin's, too. Don't forget to thumb through the Classified section at the bottom of the main forum page, as well as placing "Wanted" ads too!! Several people on the board here sell parts on a regular basis and are extremely helpful. Good Luck to both you and your son on the wrenching.

 

Find out all one needs to know on our website (below....just click on our logo).

 

Welcome from the east side!

Here's a hood in Cashmere....

http://kpr.craigslist.org/pts/4951824442.html

I think there is another in Twin Falls if Mel still has it.

http://mmb.maverick.to/threads/71-74-maverick-parts-for-sale.103319/

Crites makes a fiberglass hood and I hear it's one of the better hoods if you can't find a decent factory unit.

http://critesperformanceparts.com/