Ok, so I have recently acquired a maverick, the frame and everything is in pretty good shape, besides some rust on the hood and paint fading. Anyway, it didn’t come with a manual of any kind, I know this is a 1973 year maverick because it has drum brakes on all of the tires (I believe they didn’t put disk brakes on the front end til 74). I’m not sure if this is the 3.3L I6 or the 4.1L I6. I’d appreciate if anyone knowledgeable with what it looks like would be able to tell me which engine size it is. Thank you guys so much
There’s a error in your thinking as my 75 has drum brakes. Do a search here on the forum for vin decoder, this will give you all the pertinent information about your car.
I will admit, I'm not as knowledgeable about cars as I'd like to be. But I love learning, so this actually so helpful already. I think I am confused about the drum brakes being only from before 74. Was there a particular model that had disk brakes on the front rotors? Maybe it wasn't a particular year, but just a model that they made.
70-73 the cars were all drum brakes. 74-75 Disk brakes were a upgraded option. 76+ All mavericks and comets had disk brakes.
Also I am going to guess and say that is a 250 inline six. You can confirm this by showing a picture of the carburetor or of the starter.
This is carburetor as far as I'm aware. I couldn't get a good picture of the starter because its mounted in the back behind everything and can't get under the car at the moment. I learned things about the car today. According the vin decoder, it's a 1974 model, and it does have a 250 in it. Again, I can't express how helpful this has been, thank you guys.
Check your VIN - to see what the car was born with. After 45 years or so, there is no telling what has been swapped around. With these cars as cheap as they were for drivers of modest means, there is no telling what has all happened in the cars life.
Is there a particular oil weight that it takes? I keep getting different types with 10w-30 or 5w-30 or 5w-20. What do you guys use?
In hot climate use a 10W-40. In the owners manual probably five different weights were listed, dependent on ambient temp.
Don't put 5w-20 in an older engine. That stuff is for the newer overhead cam engines. Adding a zinc additive or using a racing oil high in zinc is a must in my book for older flat tappet engines.