We decided to take the old beater on another road trip to Florida over the extended 4th of July weekend. This is it's second trip to Florida, last time was in Dec. 2012. Also drove it to Indianapolis and Detroit in 2011. Before leaving I had a quick alignment done on the car and the tires balanced. Next morning we got up early and hit the road. Took I-75 south to I-10. Wasn't too hot most of the trip down until we got into Florida. Went for a ride on my buddy's boat up the intracoastal waterway in Jacksonville, my first time on a boat. Pretty cool. Mav on the floaty road.. July 4th fireworks on Jacksonville beach, another first for me. This was really cool, the big professional fireworks were set off from the pier, while people all up and down the beach were setting of their own fireworks. We were surrounded by fireworks on the beach, it was awesome. We then hit I-95 and headed up to Savannah. Made it up to Brunswick, GA, crusin' along 70 mph when I heard something smack the bottom of the car. Thought I ran over something at first, but then the car started shaking and I knew it wasn't good. Thankfully I was able to limp it about 12 miles further up the interstate to the nearest tire store that was open on a Sunday. Had two brand new rear tires put on to replace the used ones I had put on a while back. I've been running used tires on this car for years and it finally caught up to me, this is the first blow out I've ever had on the road in this car. After the new tires were installed, we headed on into Savannah, and of course took US-80 out to Tybee Island. Walked to the top of the Light House and got the mandatory Maverick picture from the top... After spending Sunday and most of Monday in Savannah, we hit I-16 and headed back to Atlanta. 5 days and 950 miles on the road with no A/C, but we had a great time. The car ran flawlessly aside from the blowout. Can't ask for much more out of a 42 year old car. I've been threatening to permanently retire this car for a few years, but it never seems to materialize. I've been too damn busy driving it to scrap it... So we talked about it over the course of the trip and I've decided what the hell, I've driven it this long. Why not just fix the issues it has and keep rollin'. I'm almost done with another car that's going to be a temporary replacement daily driver so I have time to dig into this car and get it back right. Currently working out when I'll be able to get it on a frame rack and squared back up, and will go from there...
One thing about it,you will never have another car as easy to work on yourself as this one.Newer cars are ok but you can`t do many things to them yourself,& they cost a fortune to put them in a shop for repairs.
looking forward to seeing pictures of future road trips. really cool to see that you're enjoying the car that much
Nice road trip! The longest and my first road trip in my Maverick was 1 year ago, 2 hours trip...It's just about driving and feeling your car. Once a friend of mine told me - you should get rid of the maverick and buy a mustang or camaro? I was like...REALLY???? It's not about having a camaro and show off, its about driving, feel the road and have fun with your car.
Thanks for the story and pics.. Nice to see the road warrior still putting out and making memories for you.. and us.
Jamie, It is impressive with how much you have been able to squeeze out of that car. You know you will never be able yo sell that car. You got way to many memories with it. It is part of your family now. Good luck with getting the issues you have with it addressed. Keep it going. Allen Small.
Well, it was an interstate road trip in a 42 year old car that I've rebuilt a couple times over and keep running with mostly used junkyard parts, so the used tires aren't a huge stretch.. Got 38k trouble free miles out of the last set of used tires I had on the car. Hard to believe later this year that I'll be driving it for 9 years. Doesn't seem that long ago that you, Terry and I met up at Clint's house when I went to look at the car. Car was hit hard in the rear long before I got it, been tapped in the rear and a decent hit in the front since I've been driving it. Plan to have it put on a frame rack and squared up, then quarter panels and tail panel from a parts car installed, patch the cowl and a couple of small holes in the floor. Then a basic, driver quality paint job. I've got everything in storage for the next drivetrain, which will be a 2.3 EFI/T5 from a '93 Mustang.
It had a 200 I6 and SROD 4 speed out of a 1980 Mercury Capri in it since 2011. Motor is getting pretty tired and the 2nd gear synchro is about gone in the trans. Next drivetrain will be a '93 2.3/T5. I've had a '74 250/C4 and '71 200/C4 in it previously.
Nice story. Since it's no longer going to be your daily driver, why not drop a 302 in there and have some fun?
Love stories like this... A blow out is just par for the course. You could hit something in the road with a brand new tire with the same result.