SuperGrabber

Some people have been asking me for more info on the SuperGrabber project, so I thought a separate thread might be good. I will start the thread and let Jack at ActionRPM chime in about the fabrication work he's doing for me on the project. I have more photos he has sent me, and I'll post those within the next few days. Because of the confines of his shop, and just the disassembled state of the car, you can't yet get a really good idea of what the finished parts will look like, or the quality of Jack's work, but it's approaching the state where you will soon. I'll post more photos as the project continues.

I chose Jack to do the work after seeing the work he did on the Maverick pickup. I could tell he was the man for the job and he's been great to work with so far. He's a long-time hot rodder and street rod builder with alot of fabrication skills and equipment. Plus, Jack's in PA, so he's only a few hours from me. His labor has been reasonably priced and so far there's been nothing he couldn't accomplish.

As for the Supergrabber, as soon as I first saw pictures of the Drag N Fly Mavericks years ago, I knew those parts had potential. It's the addition of the 5-mph bumpers tacked onto the front that take away from the styling of the front end, and the monstrous rear spoiler really isn't as outrageous in person as it appears at first glance. For many years, the Drag N Fly that Doug Bauer in TX eventually bought was the only one I had ever seen or knew about. At first, the owner of it wanted something like $5000 for it even though it was VERY rough, so I never purchased it. Now there are two Drag N Flys known to exist and both are restored.

About two years ago or so, Craig Selvey tipped me off about the NOS nose and rear spoiler the guy from MI had listed here in the Forum. I had heard about these parts for many years, but had figured it was just BS. turns out it wasn't. The seller wanted $1500 for the two pieces, which was pretty out there. I was able to talk him down to $750, which is still pretty high, especially given the very poor quality of 70's fiberglass parts. To say they are poor is really an understatement, but they're the only ones that have ever surfaced, so I bought them. After getting those, I kicked my thoughts into high gear.

I had already bought a 1971 Maverick body off eBay that had been professionally tubbed and caged in 1978, and had just sat since then, unfinished. I picked it up outside Philadelphia, PA about a year or so before for only $550; well worth that due to the quality of the work and the unrusted body. It was just a shell, though - no doors, no front frame rails, no firewall; nothing but the body shell, bare dash, and a trunk lid.

I figured I could combine this caged and tubbed body with the Drag N Fly pieces to create a "SuperGrabber." Obviously, I took the "Super" part from the Plymouth Superbirds, since I felt this project would have a superspeedway look. I had seen photos of the Ford King Cobras and figured that with some modifications, the Drag N Fly pieces would yeild a result at least as good as those.

With the ideas in my head, I consulted with JR Lacerdo from Brazil. I sent him photos of the Drag N Flys and the King Cobras as a base. Then I scoured the net for pictures of some Datsun 240Z front fascias to come up with what I felt needed to be added to the Drag N Fly nose to make it look "right." I gave all that info to JR and after a few versions, he came up with the one I am posting here. He did an awesome job taking my visions and making them "real." He's a VERY capable guy, and he's become a good friend. He's done alot of different graphic work for me over the past few years, and I would recommend him highly to anyone that wants to do something like this. JR came up with the graphic treatment on his own. All I specified was orange with black stripes.

After I got the artwork finished, then it was just a matter of getting the ball rolling. By then I had decided that I was going to go the Pro Touring route rather than my original plan which was to make it look like it could have been an ex-NASCAR superspeedway car. I wanted the huge wheel and tire combo and some modern touches, so I started scouting for the right wheels and tires.

I knew with the huge rear wheel tubs and 6 inch elongated wheel openings, it would have to have monster rear tires. When searching for tires, I came across the General Grabber UHP's which are really meant for SUVs, but since they said "Grabber" on them, I knew I had to have them. The only sizes I could match up were 315/45/22 and 275/45/20, so that limited my wheel sizes. I knew 22's on the rear wouldn't be a problem, but I would have actually preferred something smaller on the front; like maybe 18" or 19". But I was stuck with 20's. So then my attention turned to wheels.

You'd be surprised how slim the selection of those sizes are if you want to stay with something that looks traditional and not like it should only be on an SUV or something modern. The American Racing Torque Thrust M's had just come out and low and behold they actually had 22's and 20's! And in widths that fit the tire sizes just right too. 22x9.5 and 20x8.5 I've noticed that wheel and tire availability change alot based on demand, so I was afraid they would be discontinued before I was really ready to start on the project, so I went ahead and bought them ahead of time. Over $2000 just for wheels and tires! But I knew I'd need them first in order to build the suspension around them.

My ex-fiancee had never been all that supportive of my projects like this, so as soon as I left her in October 2008, I decided to get the ball rolling full steam. Jack had done the Maverick pickup by then and had posted photos of his work, so I contacted him and got some base estimates. He was intrigued by the wheel and tire sizes, and he was impressed by the artwork, and agreed to do the fabrication work for the front suspension and the rear end.

I took the body shell, wheels and tires, a pair of front fenders, and one of the seats I'm going to use (out of a 93 Thunderbird Super Coupe) to Jack before Christmas 2008. So far he's installed front frame rails, a Mustang II-style narrowed independent tubular front suspension with airbags, and tied the front bars to the existing roll cage. He's also installed motor and trans mounts to set the motor back about 6 inches. He's done part of the firewall as well.

I had originally envisioned using a 460 big block, hence the graphics in the artwork, but have since decided based on clearance issues and wanting to use a set of the Maverick finned aluminum valve covers, to just go with a small block 302. I just picked up an 8.8 inch 3.55 rear with disc brakes from an 89 Explorer. Jack will narrow it to fit, fabricate 4-bar for the rear, and set up the mounts for the rear air bags. Right now he's mounting the steering column, brake pedal assm, radiator, and fabbing up the fender mounts. He's also completing the firewall and trans tunnel.

So that's the SuperGrabber project so far. Jack will chime in soon and let you know some of the nuts and bolts of his fabrication work. We'll both keep you posted on the progress! Wish us luck! And send us whatever donations you can spare. We need it!! Ha, ha, ha!

Happy Mavericking!

 

should be interesting.....
Cant wait to line up against you on a super speedway....

 

Awesome!!!!

 

Looks like a neat project Chuck.

 

Looks like it's going to be a screamer. Would be sweet with a small block stroker and twin turbos. Can't wait to see the update posts. - Matt

 

looks like a really cool project. i bet you could contact some magazines and get them to come out and do some stories on it. if youve done some good photos of the progress they usually are very interested it stuff like this because is a very one of a kind type of project.
im really looking forward to seeing the final project.

 

Nice project!

 

Pretty cool I like the look

 

Very nice. I like it. Chuck, where did you find the quarter window louvers?

 

Jack does awesome fabrication.

He has helped me greatly with any questions that I threw at him.

That car will certainly be a winner when completed

 

Gonna be awesome! Can't wait to see it finished.

 

That is awesome Keep the pictures coming.

 

This should be a real cool setup when your done, take a lot of pictures as you progress and post them if possible.

 

What a project! Looks great Chuck, keep posting pics! I look forward to seeing it in person.