76 Maverick budget build.

The before pic didn't load

I'll try again.

 

Engine is looking good! I would go with the 250. You should be able to easily make 250lb of TQ at 1,600. Which is more than what a stock 76 302 had..... And with that built head it should make power where the TQ drops out. It's going to be a FUN street car. I would much rather have a built six than one of the later emission V8s

 

It's cleaning up good. What's that round looking thing on the drivers side of the valve cover? Can't say I remember seeing anything like it.

 

Vacuum reservoir.

It's some sort of a vacuum reservoir, but I don't think its been hooked up for a long time. There's supposed to be a whole bunch of other stuff that all interconnects the vacuum to the emission control system. 1976 was pre catalytic converter, so they used all sorts of junk to try and clean up the exhaust. Here's a link to a diagram of all the stuff that came on my engine. It was all pretty much gone when I acquired the car.
http://1bad6t.com/Maverick/repair/76Vac.html

 

Todays Progress.

I only worked on the Maverick for a few hours this morning, but I was able to finally get the small rear bumper installed. I'll have to take it right back off in a few days when I attempt to fix my rusty quarter panel, but I wanted to see how it was going to look. I also took the time to check out my steering system. I had previously replaced the incomplete power steering system with the manual system out of my 71 parts car. While it was allot easier to steer while going slow, it was scary as hell at highway speeds. The car was all over the road, and would lurch really hard when taking a curve. I checked out the wheel bearings, ball joints, tie rod ends, and the drag link. Everything was good and solid except for just a tiny bit of movement in the drag link to pitman arm joint. I finally found my problem when I did what I call a shade tree front end alignment. Using some string. and a few tomato stakes I was able to determine that instead of having a 16th of an inch of toe in (like the manual calls for), I had about 2 inches of toe out. It only took about 30 minutes to adjust the tie rods to the right measurement, and man what a difference. She handles 100% better now. I still need to take her in for a professional alignment, but until then I can at leased take her out for the odd test run with confidence. Oh and I did go ahead and order a new drag link. I found one brand new on ebay for $65 bucks shipping included. Thats a damn site cheaper than Auto crafter's $200+.
Plans for next weekend include, Drag link install, rear brakes, and more body work.

 

stock 250

Thanks to day lite savings time I had an extra hour of day left when I got home from work yesterday. I used that time to pull the stock steering wheel and install an old Grant Classic I had lying around. The stock wheel was in real rough shape, and just felt to darn big around for my taste, and believe it or not the smaller diameter wheel actually seems to be easier to steer than the old stock wheel. After I got the steering wheel installed I took her out for a nice long test run. The more I drive the little car the better I like it. The little stock 250 is pretty darn lively as it is. I cant wait to see what she'll do once I get the new engine in her.

 

The latest poop on the "budget build"

Things have been really hopping at work so I've slowed down a bit on the Maverick. I have however found a little time to tinker, and have made some progress on the car.
Since my last post (in this thread anyway) I've replaced all the rear brake components, and had the drums turned. While I had the drums off I went ahead and pulled the axles, and replaced the bearings and seals. Now that I've got her stopping good I have started replacing allot of the steering system. I have the drag link and inner tie rod ends mostly installed, but i'm a little worried about the steering gear box. I've noticed some grease leaking down on to the pitman arm. I guess after sitting for so many years the seal has gone bad. What do you guys think? There isn't any play in the steering and the gear turns smoothly. It's just leaking a bit. Can I get by with just a seal, or do I need to rebuild the box?

 

Bodywork on a budget

I've been concentrating on the mechanical aspect of my 76 Maverick project, and I've just about got everything working like it's supposed to. While I'm waiting for my other engine to get put together I figured I'd start doing some bodywork. I bought myself a little Mig welder last week, and I've been practicing my welding for the last couple evenings. It was a bit of a struggle at first, but I'm starting to get the hang of it now. This morning I decided to tackle the rust in the right rear quarter. I cut out the bottom 8 inches of the quarter, the whole trunk drop, and fashioned myself a new trunk drop out of a piece of an old LTD hood. I wish I had a way to roll in a couple strengthening ribs into the drop, but I think it'll be strong enough as it is. I've got the fit just right, and just have to weld it in, then it'll be time to begin the fab work on the new lower quarter.
Wish me luck. I'll post updates later.

 

Reproductions ARE available for the trunk floor extension (drop). Around $45 I believe. You can use the Mustang outer lower wheelhouse repair panel to fix that area. That just leaves you the lower outside quarter panel to fix/find.

 

Quarter Drop

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford...ories&fits=Model:Maverick&hash=item3a61f3512c

 

Getting Closer!

I finally got finished with the right side quarter. It's not perfect, but it looks 100% better than when I started. I'm almost done with the left side. It wasn't nearly as bad as the right side, but there was still some cutting and welding involved. I've only got it primed to protect it till I get a chance to finish it up. I should have both quarters complete by this weekend.

My next little project is to fix a bad spot in the sheet metal on the drivers side at the back end of the drip rail and partly under the boomerang. I think it's going to be a real pain in the rump to fix. Luckily thats one spot that's not rusted on my parts car. I should be able to cut it off the 71 and weld it on the 76.

I'm getting better with the mig welder. It's allot easier welding sheet metal using the argon gas than trying to do it with the flux wire.

 

Man it's hot down here!

I've been slacking up a bit on my Budget build 76 Maverick. It's been just to darn hot to get much done the last couple of weeks. I am getting a little closer to having all the rust cut out and new metal welded back in.I'm down to just 2 little spots( 1 on each front fender), and I'll have her ready to prime and paint. I also just bought a grabber spoiler from Mike in Washington, and I have been building up my tool chest with the addition of a new air compressor, and some new air tools. I cant wait for the spoiler to get here, and the air tools should make it allot easier to get the Maverick sanded, painted, and put back together.
I'll post some new pics later on this weekend.

 

More new Maverick parts.

I lucked out today and found a set of 17X8 Mustang bullit wheels on Craigslist. I've been looking for these exact wheels ever since I saw a set on someones car here on the forum. The seller was asking $200 for all 4, which I thought was a fair price so I gave him a call and drove on over to pick them up. They turned out to be in absolutely perfect condition, not one scratch or chip in any of them.
The guy I bought them from was super nice, and had 3 of the cleanest mustangs I've ever seen. I wish I had snapped a few pics while I was there.
More later.

 

The car is looking great........

 

For 200 that was a steal. I still prefer the looks of some welds on the mav though