1974 Mexican Maverick Restoration

the rockers are coming good, both sides have been changed and theyre finishing with the small bits and pieces to close em up.

 

and the rack&pinion power steering is coming good as well.

they built a custom support to put on the custom made R&P steering gear which they build of other R&P gear components.
it will have an integrated bumpsteer correction with the arc of the tie rod turning the same as the suspension and the tie rod adjustable in length.
more details and fotos when i will have it on the car and see how it works...

 

Looking good.

It looks like you have found someone with a very rare understanding - "calidad".

 

haha, in mexico for sure!!!

and the engineering as well!!

i had luck to find this guy, who was a former racer here in mexico and is building his own race cars in the 60ies and then started to build cars for others.
he builds and restorates since more than 30 years and because of his racing background he knows as well what makes a good suspension or engine.

every one says he is very expensive for mexican standards, and he says that might be true, but he is the only one here that finishes his work.
and from my point of view he does it with very good quality for mexican standards... :bananaman

 

I just found your restoration thread and finished catching up on your work. If you look at my own build thread, you can see that I went through a lot of the same rust damage that you car suffers. I, also, would not buy my car again and I fully understand what you mean about not being able to turn back on it after all of the money invested and the work that you have had done already. You are building something that you can be very proud of when it is finished. Your floor damage does look like you might have a cowl problem. Take a gallon of water and pour it into the cowl vent below the windshield. The water should exit the two outlet holes on either side of the cowl. If the water hits your floor, you have a cowl problem. I also had to do that repair. I think your car is coming along great and I will be watching for your progress reports.

PS: You are doing just fine on your ability to tell your car's story in English - very easy to read and understand

 

thanks Bob, good to here there have been more insane guys going through the same stupidity...
i only see a lot of projects on here with impeccable cars that almost have no rust, so i thought i must be stupid making that much work on a rotten car that is not worth it.

on the other hand, since im working on the car and looking around for parts cars, all i find are parted out completely rusty and bumped mavericks.
there might be some nice ones for good price, but not near me.
so this one is what i have and what to go on.
also i love my mav since the day ive seen it, even if i have seen behind his mask now.
but to know there is one more saved and in as new condition after that much work (and too much money spent) will be feeling good!
hopefully its worth the pain...

for sure i will check the cowl, i forgot to do the water test last time ive seen it, but sure i will.

thanks, i hope i can show u guys a bit how i go on and how i do it.
i still have big plans and there is a lot of modification to come, so i hope there is someone out there whos interested...

 

on the shelby drop. their are some threads that discuss this problem. the angle bracket under the cross shaft was added to the u.s. cars either in late 73 or 74. the early 73 and older cars dont have it. im not sure if you can do the shelby drop with that.
on my car i did a 1.5" drop and the stock steel bushings dont clear the shock tower sides that taper in. i got the moog problem solver bushing kit. this replaces the steel bushings with rubber bushings that dont stick out as far.

 

shelby drop with reinforcing plate problem

i was searching a while and the only thread really discussing the problem with the reinforcing plate is this:
http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=29167

but unfortunately nobody gives the answer tho the problem.
but this was 2007 so i hope SOMEONE on here has done the drop on mavs with the reinforcing plate on it by now!
---> ANYONE CAN HELP??

the only thing right now is cut the plate and make a flat part to make space for the drop and close it again.

the bushings i will change anyway, so they will make 2 holes to the sides of the tower if there is not enough clearence.
i had that already now.

 

It is possible that your Toploader 4 spd. is an overdrive unit. If you look at the mounting of the transmission to the bellhousing, if you see only 4 mounting holes, then it is a overdrive unit (3 spd. plus 4th gear being overdrive) which is not the desirable performance 4 speed. The performance version will have 8 bolt holes, if you can post picture of the bottom, I can tell you which version you have too, as there will be bulge in casing to allow for overdrive gearing. Another sure way would be to remove the 10 cover bolts and take a picture, can then tell for sure by the gear clusters. I have rebuilt several Toploader 4 speeds over the years!
Just want to make sure you know what you have, before spending a bunch of money to ship overseas!

 

if been checking out the car last saturday, thats how it goes on.

they have been painting the floors inside and underneath with body, to protect the new floors from oxidating again.
it looks really good, no seams, no marks of welding. gives already a good look how the car will come out...



the rear passenger side quarter and inner fender is completly new made.



to finnish the rear im still missing a nice valance and small bumper with brakets.
anyone selling?

this is the driver side still waiting to be done, check out the bondo it had...


the rockers are finished as well:


and the shock tower needed some fixing too.

 

lookin' mighty fine!

 

the new Rack& Pinion steering gear was fixed in place to look how it fits.
the support looks strong, but the attachment to the car is only one screw each side which i stink is not enough. so they will weld it to the car.
and the blocks to attach the tube of the gear looks a bit cheap, i will produce some nice ones to make it look a bit more professional.

still not ready, but it will be nice looking when painted and completly installed.

 

almost no difference to the beginning...

 

the shelby drop still makes big problems.
they took out the reinforcing plate, this should not be a big problem to make the UCA fit.

but the big nono is the narrow shock tower of the 74 maverick version.
where the dropped uca should go the tower is too narrow with the rubber bushing conversed uca.
that sucks big time.

not sure now if it will clear when i would use a full roller uca of opentracker or still not...

probably i will cut the tower open in the thin line you can see in the pic and close it back, but its a lot of work for a drop that should have been easy and cheap...

 

Considering the norm of the work done previously, the professionalism of the current work is unbelievable!

Where there's a will there is a way with the shock tower. You'll get it.

Thanks for the updates.