1974 Mexican Maverick Restoration

wow, that is great news!!
i didnt think it would be worth that much! ill have to buy a few the and bring them back home to europe!

im here since 1.5 years and have contract for another year.
then i will see if i will stay or go home.
maybe i have the chance to take over the restoration shop where my car is now, that would be a great opportunity to make my hobby my profecion.
ill see and calculate a bit if i want to take that risk and work with the mexicans, which is not that easy.
but i would love to restore classic cars to earn my living...

 

what i know is that you cant´ install a hurst shifter on those fake toploaders. if you want more info on this check this page:

http://www.davidkeetoploaders.com/imposters.htm

 

Engine update:

so ive been to the shop to see hows going with the engine.
i will sell my original engine, because he will use a later block of a 90ies 302 and all the interior parts will be new.

he is still waiting for the pistons so he started with the heads.
i wont be using aluminium heads although id like to get the big performance gain and weight loss, but in europe to go through the technical tests the engine should look like original, even if it has more power than the original had. (the power can be hidden with a plate under the carburator...)

i tried to finde some GT40 heads of the 96 explorers, but these werent used in the mexican explorers, only in the us. (youre so lucky in the states for these things...)

so i have to stay with the original cast iron heads.
but my engine guy has a great solution to get the power i want out of the original heads.
he made a valve job and opened up the valve seats to fit in some big ch**y valves (2.02/1.6) and will completely port the heads to make them flow big.
and with the forged pistons and the 289 rods i will get around 9.5:1 and a better rod angle to gain good power.

here is what the look with the big valves before porting


and to make the engine rev quick we will use a lunati voodoo 268 cam with hydraulic flat tapped lifters, 1.6 roller rockers and 351 firing order.
http://www.lunatipower.com/Product.aspx?id=1644&gid=287

on top a RPM performer intake, holley 650 double pumper carburator, mallory distributor with coil and hookers headers 6901 and 2x 2.5" tubes with magnaflow tru-x and 2x 50series flowmasters mufflers out the back

that should be a good setup to get 300-350HP.

what do u think? does this setup work together?

 

so here we go with the rust repair at the shop:

when they were working at the floors a big piece of paste fell of the passenger side rocker.
it looked like the car got banged and not repaired properly.
but after a close inspection, we had to see that the rockers are completely rosted on both sides of the car...
that was bad news and another big point on the bill but we already started so i decided to go on...



this is how it looks on the driver side:


the passenger side is already cut out and looks now like this:

they are building up the rockers with new sheet metal and replace it completely.

does anyone has experience with this and can give me some tips on what to look especially?
also somebody know how is best to repair the frame where the door hinges bolt on on the driver side? just cut and replace as much as needed?

 

the back frame of the car where the leafsprings attach was also rusted through and we had to change it. it was a miracle that the car didnt collapse before...

this is how it looked before (frame and inner fender panel):



so the shop cut everything out and produced new ones (both sides) and replaced them:


because the trunk floor was also with holes and the tank had to be changed, i wanted to go for a bigger mustang tank to get more volume.
so they cut out the floor and put in the gas tank from above.


as what ive seen on the forum from others who put in a tank from above ill have to check if they have put in some square tubes to take the weight or if it is just lying on the sheetmetal...

also they changed the metal of the battery tray.
but ill put the battery to the back so we will make something to hold it in place in the trunk.

 

wow, that's a lot of work...
here's a thread with good ideas for the tank and battery:
http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=91278&page=19

while you have the car apart, don't forget to do the shelby drop on the front.

 

I am sorry to see your pics, had the chance to see that car twice and from distance looks ok, but needs a lot of work, some people do this kind of stuff here in mexico, my first maverick i send it to the crusher due bad body work.

Send me a PM i can see you the contact from a friend in guadalajara, he has a personal maverick junkyard he can help you with original parts, his work is very good restoring parts.

 

Here are some pics, he is restoring my car, am in Mexico City 5 hrs from here.


https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-7INr9U-KpJo/UhPGsx75xMI/AAAAAAAAAsI/K3jBXy8l0rI/s720/1004621_684791101538070_728940_n.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-K7V2BdQcGAc/UhPGtIuGBfI/AAAAAAAAAsQ/dKxB3gC217I/s912/164946_684791871537993_963665320_n.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-WV0v4UziOyU/UhPGtdGoqqI/AAAAAAAAAsY/2w1vJjrzk-I/s640/36145_169517663065419_5068225_n.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DW41lMLZRDQ/UhPGtzk8ChI/AAAAAAAAAsc/IHz_1A81G58/s640/67697_169515863065599_3172956_n.jpg

 

Sorry to hear and see your struggles.

When I first came to Mexico I had great plans of buying older cars but soon found out that that was a pipe dream.

Do you plan to take the rest of the car down to metal? If so, you may want to do so before putting any more time and effort into it. You may find the use of Bondo to be prolific throughout the car.

 

thanks, your thread is what i am referring to.
mine is not made with square tubes and im not sure if its sturdy enough just with the bent metal?
anyone experience in a drop in tank without square tubes??

do you have some pics or even better the geometry of the new bolt on points for the shelby drop? or a thread where its made?
i wanted to do it while we change the upper arm pin to needle bearings.

 

yeah, thats what i hate about this car now. from far it looked nice and as a bit of work which i liked to have. but that it would be that much is incredible.
I WOULDNT BUY THIS CAR AGAIN!!!

that would be great as im still looking for a few things...

 

yeah it's is a shame, maybe what you need to do is evaluate if you continue with that car or maybe pick another one.

Sending you PM, with contact information.

 

its already too late to turn...
with the price i payed and the money already in the car i will lose alot more when i crush it and search an other one...
and i cant sell this one anymore as it is now.
no one would pay me what i would need...

so i learnt a big lesson and keep burning my money to hopefully have a great car at the end..

 

yeah, i had the same dream... but this car made me learn a big lesson...
there are many old cars here, but all rotten.
so keep on and stay strong...

everything is possible, its just a question of money!
i didnt think to spend that much on body work, but when you calculate the complete project im doing its just a part of it...
it was a dream to have a new restorated car, so i have to do it all...

yeah, well tear it down completely, and i from my sight as well i wanted to get down the paint first and see what comes, but thats how the shop did it and now i cant go back.
maybe they thought that if i would see it in the beginning i wouldnt do it and they would lose a client, who know. mexican way of thinking.
but at least they do good work on what they do, i just cant tell anyone what it cost at the end...

from what ive seen now its just the cowl rear inner fenders and the rear end missing, the rest is already done...

and what ive found out if i want to take the car to europe, i will have to put on the rear bumper on again to be allowed on the road.
so ill have to change the rear anyways...

 

so i was at the shop to see how it goes and the just finished taking the front suspension apart to make the bushing conversion and preparing the R&P steering installation.
so i checked quickly the position of the shelby drop and i got in a clearence problem with the sheetmetal here the dropped suspension will come.
in my mav the metal starts going outwards in an angle which will not allow to go down 1" and put on this spindle thing plane on the metal?

anyone has expierienced the same or is the mexican different? please help!!



-> same pic by mercgt 73:
http://www.maverick.to/mmb/showthread.php?t=90479&page=2