The Green Monster

I am finally getting started on my Maverick build.
I have purchased a 75 4 door Maverick with a 250 and C4 to use as a parts car.
The 75 has all the options: A/C, power steering, power disc brakes, 5 lug wheels, 8" 3.00:1 rear end, and more.

The 75 has a running 250 with good compression that I will clean up and use until I purchase and build my 302.
I will be taking all of these goodies from the 75 and then scrap the chassis if no one buys it. (it does have a clear title)
This will be a father-son build in no particular hurry.
The main goal: A grand touring Maverick that is comfortable for 2 people and a chihuahua on long highway trips. Reliable enough to drive 1 lap of America.
Here are some of my specific goals:

1. keep it simple as possible.
   
2. Use as many junkyard upgrades as possible.
   
3. 250+ HP at the brakes
4. Automatic overdrive transmission
5. 20+mpg on highway with A/C on.
   
6. Super comfy seats.
7. quiet inside
8. Good stereo

Junkyard or used items I still need:

• 87-up 302
• 87-91 AOD transmission
• Lincoln Mark VII or Mark VIII power seats
  
• Console and floor shifter

Both Mavericks are at my dad's shop and we will start the project officially tomorrow at 9am.
I hope to have everything removed from the 75 4 door and the car sold or hauled off to scrap by Halloween.
Many more pics to come...
Doing rear end swap tomorrow, any Maverick specific problems to watch out for?
Leaf spring shackle bolts are a pain in Falcons, Mavericks too?

 

good luck with the build.
rear suspension is the same design as the falcon, so expect the shackle bolts to be a little stubborn, too.

 

If you want a good roller cam 302 look to the 94 and newer trucks and Bonco's. You should be able to get one of those with low miles for less that a Mustang HO or Explorer engine. These engines us the HO firing order and were very close in horse power to the HO. I pulled mine from a rolled 94 Bronco I bought for $300 with 96,000 miles. Once I parted and scrapped the rest I had a couple hundred in my pocket over what I paid for it. It was like I was paid to take the engine!

 

After the great experience we had with the DUI dizzy in our 65 Falcon, I want one in my Maverick.
1 wire and 1 vacuum hose and you are in the road. No ecm, no ignition box.
I need a block with a distributor hole, so I want a windsor, not a modular.
I don't have the skill/money to swap to a Mustang II front suspension, so the shock towers have to stay, which means 351 or bigger motors will not fit.
So I am kind of left with a 302 or a 289
the last years of the 302 were great motors (roller block versions 87-up)
Someone please correct me if I am wrong:
I thought the 302 was only available in Explorers and Mountaineers after 93 til 02
My 04 Explorer had a 4.6
My 97 F-150 had a 4.6
Mustangs were 4.6 after 93
Crown Vic's and Grand Marquis/Lincoln were 4.6 after 91

 

You may want to consider a Stroker 347 ? I've installed two in two different cars and the horsepower gain is
considerable over a stocker . The plus side is that it takes up no additional room .. no need to remove the shock
towers either. There are more than a few people on this forum that can comment on their own strokers. Just my
input .. Either way .. enjoy your Maverick !
Cometized
(Chip)

 

I just did some research and found out 302's were in F150's until 97.

 

Great parts-car.

 

Yes. I thought the same thing the minute I saw the 5 lug wheels in the craigs list ad.
I wasn't even thinking about a motor. I was only interested in the A/C, P/S, P/B, disc brakes, and 5 lug.
The running 116K mile 250 motor with good compression was kind of a free bonus.
So I will make the 250 as good as I can with out spending much and drive it sooner.

 

Even the Explorer/Mountaineer have a distributor hole, it just has the cam position sensor in it instead of the distributor.

 

I was referring to the Modular engines that have no dizzy.
Any 5.0 would be just fine with me...as long as I can bolt in a DUI dizzy, Edelbrock intake, and a kinda small-ish 4 barrel like 450-550 cfm.
I also understand that the later versions had significantly better heads. (GT40P)
I just want a newer 302 because of the roller cam, and better heads

 

Take the brake pedal assembly from the donor as well...The whole thing, pedal ratio is different and needed for proper operation. Measure/make a template from the donor car, of the location of the holes for mounting components...The power brake stuff mounts in a different location on the fire wall from the stock manual stuff.

 

Dont use P heads unless you want to fight with spark plugs. Plug angle is different from all other stock heads. This can make header fitment a nightmare (Header tubes in the way of the plugs electrode) as well as plug wire routing. They are good heads, just a pain in a mav. Std GT40s' work just as well in a mild street application.
A 96 V-8 Explorer will have all you need. Roller/std gt 40s' etc...

 

Excellent tip! thanks!

 

Also great info for me.

 

Yeah, the GT40 (no "P" suffix)motors were available in 96 and early 97 and still had an OK plug angle. There is a trick to IDing them by the number of bars cast into the end of the head. Look at the discussion here ... http://www.fiveohinfo.com/performance/gt40-gt40p.html