Diving into a 302 swap project 1970 Grabber

This is my first experience with Mavericks, and the Ford classic community.
I had recently acquired a "Bring 'em Back Olive" 2 door Grabber with a 200/six.

As many people know, the Maverick Grabber was not available as a model until 1971.
But did you know that the Grabber was a trim-only package available before 1970?

The Grabber package included:
Black vinyl interior
Blacked out grille, headlight trim rings and rear tail panel
adjustable "bullet style" sport side mirrors
"Deluxe" gas cap
14" wheels with corporate caps, and trim rings
Bright chrome drip rails and window trim
(Some say that it was also upgraded with heavy-duty suspension, and a larger sway bar)

My Grabber was built in June, and the first 302 Grabber came out of the factory in December.

As you can see on the decal, it was still listed as a regular 2 door Maverick.



I really love this little car, even the cute little engine.

But, I intended on building a Hot Rod.....in rolls the donor.

Needing an insane bath, and a bit of freshening up.

The 302 is out of a 1985 Lincoln Continental....128,000 miles, and dirty.

 

Any input on this project is openly accepted.
I am also hunting down swap parts at the moment if anyone has extra.

 

Welcome to the madness...Lots of info on the swap if you use the search feature...Little heads up. The 70s' trans tunnel is a bit smaller than the 71 and up cars. Not a big deal unless you go to a 5 speed stick trans. You are going to need a set of V 8 mav/comet frame stands to bolt the motor mounts too though as well. Other than that, its not a terribly difficult swap to do. Oh yeah...Important thing here...You will need maverick specific exhaust manifolds or mav specific headers for your swap. Once again...search feature is your friend lots of options here...It will come down to preference/performance level. Good luck with the swap!!!!

 

from south central PA. I did the V8 swap into my '70 Grabber 42 years ago. If you have any questions just ask. As mentioned, there's also a ton of info if you do a search.

 

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from Atlantic Canada! Nice car!!

 

I am keeper of the 1970 Ford Maverick Grabber Registry. Welcome aboard.

 

Welcome to the site..... Looks like a nice little project you have.....

 

from a fellow 1970 owner in Northeast Pennsylvania

 

Welcome from Northern California!

 

Thanks All, for the warm welcome.
Pulled the intake off the lincoln motor yesterday....
And to much of my excitement, there is a spider in the valley.
The lifter valley, that is...and a good kind of spider
Yes, it's a roller motor, at least cam and lifters.

 

'Just now saw this. That's a great looking car.

The Grabber got no suspension upgrades whatsoever. A '70 would have the small 3/4" front sway-bar and same springs, however a 4-leaf heavy-duty real leafspring could be ordered for any Maverick as a "tow package", but I'm not sure if that was available in '70 or at a later time.

 

Here it is, relatively stripped down.(notice the cast-over open fuel pump mount) the engine was early-style EFI.


Have to relocate the oil dipstick to the timing cover, also going with old-style valve covers( Powered By Ford with oval)






Will be changing the the oil pan and pickup to front sump.
This is also a good time to change out the old, tired oil pump.
I will be going with a Melling regular volume pump.(and hardened pump shaft)

I don't want any dust, or dirt in the lifter valley.
Therefore a towel is temporary until I can mask off everything.(in preparation for paint)


Of course, the entire engine will be scrubbed with a toothbrush to be clean for paint.

 

My '70 has the "rare" 8 inch rear with 4 lug hubs.(only made in 1970 supposedly)

 

I've never seen a '70 with a 8-inch from the factory.