This is going to a a long term project, updates will not be as frequent as other's here. Since I'm building Factory Five cars for customers more frequently, the time I have for my own projects as taken a "back seat" so to say. The Maverick is going to be a true "Unicorn". That is a car that is rumored to have existed but never really turned into a production car. Shelby de Mexico supposedly was to produce these vehicles. This was just after a falling out between Carroll Shelby and the Ford Motor Company. ShelbyMaverick by i.e.427, on Flickr I'm going to take this one step further, turning this car into a Eleanor Maverick. It will have the Eleanor hood & front fascia. Tear down has already started as I am selling off suspension parts, seats and drive-train parts to clear the way for new parts. I already have a AJE front K-Member for early Mustangs and will be using this with later model Mustang spindles and coil-overs in the front. The front will also get Wilwood brakes. The rear is a little more complicated in that it will all be fabricated in house here in the i.e.427 shop. I plan to use a late model mustang 3-link rear end, shorten it and then use a Watts-link to center the rear. Coil-overs again in the back along with Wilwood brakes. The interior will be mostly business with a full cage and door bars. But I will be adding some creature comforts. I picked the car up for what I consider dirt cheap ($2K). There is minimal rust on the passenger side floor pan and a little behind the drivers side tire in the wheel well. I may find a bit more around the glass but I kind of expect that. The car has been repainted twice from what I can tell and I'm going to hold off blasting it for a while while I mock up all of the suspension. Here is what I started with. 2017-07-16_10-09-13 by i.e.427, on Flickr 2017-07-16_10-09-00 by , on Flickr
Welcome to the forum -- Seems like a very nice build; You might consider putting the build in the garage section..
If this isn't where a "build thread" belongs, perhaps a moderator can move it. My interpretation of Garage forum was Completed cars.
I've been selling off parts on this forum over the past few months. I managed to sell off the front seat and seat sliders plus all of the front brakes and spindles. This has made moving the car around a bit more difficult though. So I had to come up with a way to move it without breaking the bank or my back. Here is how the car sits with no front suspension on it. 20170710_185632 by i.e.427, on Flickr 20170710_185611 by i.e.427, on Flickr
Needing to move the Maverick project this past week got me thinking about how to actually do it. I went about welding a set of jack-stands to a pair of wheel dollies. 20171008_133724 by i.e.427, on Flickr Then placed them under the front end of the car and said a little prayer. 20171008_142258 by i.e.427, on Flickr SUCCESS! 20171008_142219 by i.e.427, on Flickr
You might want to racket strap the car to the stands just for a little extra insurance that it dooesnt slide off...just my 2 cents
I can appreciate that, those dollies were just to get the car turned 90* to make engine and trans removal easier. The car has since been placed on 4 stationary jack stands. I completely expected a call from the safety police. It's all good.
This past Saturday was the big push. Waiting on parts for a customer car gave me the entire weekend to play in the shop on my own stuff. Knowing this last week, I placed several adds on Craigslist and got numerous hits. I finally worked a deal with a guy in the next town over for the engine, trans and rear end. He kept calling all week, wanting more stuff so I ended up just giving him the engine harness, fuel tank and the entire exhaust system. Less to throw away, YEA!!! This is what it looked like at the end of the day on Saturday. 20171014_164836 by i.e.427, on Flickr 20171014_164825 by i.e.427, on Flickr 20171014_164810 by i.e.427, on Flickr
The bumpers are gone. Tear down is always fun, I still have to remove the 70's interior, the front fenders and some other odds & ends but the big stuff is all gone. 20171022_165526 by i.e.427, on Flickr I'm going to have to adjust the openings on the rear valance to accept the T-bird tail lights but I'll wait till I have those in hand before cutting. 20171022_165540 by i.e.427, on Flickr Bumpers and other crap headed for the scrap yard. 20171022_165608 by i.e.427, on Flickr
Not much progress to show but I did manage to find and pick up a 2013 Ford Mustang GT rear end assembly. $200 as you see it and since I'll be going with Wilwood brakes I didn't need the brakes that the previous owner kept. The primary reason for going with this rear end was the fact that it has the upper 3rd link mount already cast into the housing. This should make fabbing up the 3 link much easier. I've got to take close the 5" off each side of the housing to narrow it, but I would have to narrow even a Fox width housing. rearend by i.e.427, on Flickr Here's a closer look at the upper 3rd link mount. rearend2 by i.e.427, on Flickr On the reconstruction front, I've ordered all of the glass body parts and should be seeing them sometime next week. Hood, Eleanor scoop, fenders & headlight buckets, front 65 Shelby R type valance and rear trunk deck lid with rear spoiler. I'll get you all some pictures once I get them all back to the shop. Lucky for me, Unlimited Fiberglass is only 30 or so miles from the shop so I'll be picking all of this stuff up and hopefully have time to get a tour of their operation. Here's a link to their page if anyone is interested. http://www.up22.com/Maverick.htm
Pictures as promised. Picked these up the week of Christmas, got a tour of the facility. Unlimited Fiberglass has been around for a long time but from some of the reviews you'd think otherwise. After seeing the condition my MK3 came, with gelcoat build up at the parting lines & other fiberglass parts I've done from other places for my Super Snake hood, fender flares and hardtop, I really can't see these parts being bad at all. Granted they are all going to need fitting and body work but starting with them at least being smooth is a step ahead of where I've started on many other fiberglass related parts. New hood and Eleanor hood scoop. Some major fitting required to make these two play nice together. 20180114_121407 by i.e.427, on Flickr Front drivers side fender. 20180114_121333 by i.e.427, on Flickr Fender pair. 20180114_121308 by i.e.427, on Flickr Shelby GT350R front fascia. I am a gluten for punishment. This one isn't even close to being an easy mod. 20180114_121439 by i.e.427, on Flickr
Fiberglass rear bumper. I also got the rear Maverick spoiler, side trunk pieces and lower rear valance for the trunk. 20180114_121521 by i.e.427, on Flickr Trunk deck lid. 20180114_121551 by i.e.427, on Flickr Inside trunk deck lid liner and reinforcement. 20180114_121609 by i.e.427, on Flickr
