Newbie looking for help and guidance lol

Obviously you've never lived in the rust belt... Unless you live within 500 yards of the coast, there is no comparison...

Of course compared to modern vehicles anything through the '70s was mostly junk, it all rusted out within 6-8 years...

 

Yes.

(You asked. )

 

Thank you so much, this is what I needed to hear.

 

if you want to keep it...at least get someone that is knowledgeable about rust to give you an idea of what you have....frame, cowl, floorpans and battery tray area to start with...this is the first issue at hand...
...anything can be fixed...
if you want to learn, get one of these cars that is running and keep it running... ...

 

Here are some good links:
http://www.melvinsclassicfordparts.com/catalogs.html
http://www.classicinlines.com/
http://www.cliffordperformance.net/
http://www.jegs.com
http://www.summitracing.com/

There is also a Ford Maverick public group on Facebook where people buy and sell Maverick/Comet cars and parts all the time.
Always keep an eye on your local craigslist for Ford Maverick, Mercury Comet, Ford Granada, Lincoln Versailles parts and whole cars you can buy for parts for under $500 you can always sell the parts you don't need and make some money back, reducing project cost.

Buying a parts car can be worth its weight in gold. I recently bought a 1975 Maverick that hadn't run in a long time and had a leaking transmission for $350.

I took about $800 to $1000 worth of parts ( estimate based on shopping craigslist, junkyards, and ebay, Melvins, Summitt, Jegs) off the car to use on my 70 2 door, and have already sold more than $500 in parts on craigslist.

I cut up the carcass with a sawzall and took it to the scrapyard and also got $25 for the metal.
I'm not done selling parts from the donor car either. I still have $400-$500 of stuff to sell.


U-pull-it or DIY junkyards are usually 1/2 to 1/4 of the price of regular full service junkyards.
Lots of Mustang parts can bolt right on a Maverick like Seats, consoles, wheels, etc. Do your research before you purchase.

Don't be in a hurry.
If you are in a hurry, get a different car.
If you want to build your own custom car and are willing to learn what you need to learn along the way and have a budget, only motivation and money are issues.

 

Lived in Indianapolis, IN
And living 1.1 miles from a giant saltwater lagoon now, 2.5 miles from Atlantic ocean.

And I have driven a lot in Penn, NJ, and NY.

 

This is a nice upgrade that will dramatically improve the safety of your car and is not expensive or too complicated.
It is a kit to replace the drum brakes on the front of your car with disc brakes.
This kit uses off the shelf components available at parts stores everywhere: Nissan Stanza brake rotors, Chevy Cavalier calipers, Cadillac Eldorado brake hoses, and so on...
https://scarebird.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=65&product_id=188

We installed this kit on my son's 65 Falcon and loved the improvement.
You start like this...

take it down to this...


then the Scarebird adapter goes on the drum spindle:

Then the other components bolt right on and they fit 14" factory steel wheels.

This is a picture of my son putting the rotors on his car. He is a guitar player and never worked on a car before this.
His previous car was a 96 Astro van. He knew what a ratchet was, but didn't know it had forward and reverse.
He did 90% of the work while his grandpa and I drank beer and gave instructions and helped when he needed it.

Old Ford sixes are the best to learn on! Alan's final results:

 

I was in your shoes a few years ago. To get the car to the place that you have pictured in your head I bet you are looking at 15-20 grand spread over many years. Now if you want this to be your hobby that may be worth it to you. My advice would be to save up 8-12 grand and buy a maverick that is already done.

 

I thought I got into mine fairly cheap at $500. It was missing a lot of parts, and after $800 in parts I am close to it possibly running. At this point, I dont know if it will run because I have not heard it run. I thought it was fairly rust free, but after learning where these rust, and upon closer examination, I have issues. By the time I can drive this car, I will be into it well over 2K and will have to park it somewhere dry until the real work begins. Between needed research and parts hunting, and wrenching, maybe 100 hours? It will not be a whole lot better than what I see advertised for $2,800 ? It is a hobby and not an investment for sure. All this is to say that there are advantages to buying something that runs IF you can. If you cant, then carry on.

 

Including the $1400 purchase price of the car, $1000 to the machine shop for the block machining and assembly into a rotating short block assembly and first small log head job, plus $400 for the big log performance head job, and $1000 for the trans rebuild, my son Alan's 65 Falcon project only had $5500 in it from finding it on craigslist, not running in over 8 years to driving it every day for a year when he was hit.
No exaggeration, my dad kept meticulous receipts and organized them in the shop manual he made for the car as we built it.

It cost less than I anticipated from find to drive.
Information is your friend.

 

Welcome from Northern California!

 

Well being new here myself I have limited information compared to these long time members. However as a former Ford mechanic I have to agree with it being a simple car. I'm the second owner of mine and I'm already into it for 6k. Mine is also a 200 straight 6 ( for now ). Once it fires............pertronix flame thrower coil and module are so nice. When my carb was beyond rebuilding anymore........I went to Carb X. My old blue beastie takes me to and from work every day.

Have fun with it, be prepared to hate it/love it, and spend a bit, but also love it dearly.

 

Welcome from Salem, Oregon.
Elbow grease + patience. Mine's a 200 six