i was passing through a little town outside or greensboro a month ago for a car show i stopped at this little rink-a-dink service station out in the middle of nowhere just seeing the sights.....and saw a couple of mavs sitting in the field behind it.....me and the owner started talking abit and he brought out a couple of old books and tech. pages/service tech off engineering floor on the 1971-72 maverick grabber from ford. we started flipping through them..and it seemed it hasnt been opened but once in it's life probably in 72 but the one thing that really caught my eye was it mentioning a grabber 302, which was a revised regular 302 but specifically made for a maverick grabber. i was in shock i never knew, still dont know. but the only thing that was different was the heads...they had a little more lift and bigger valve sizes than the regular 302....it also showed a downfall....they have trouble, it seems that the heads had a problem the push in studs had a problem coming up and allowing the pushrods to end up bending into an "S" shape on certain occasions.....it's truly weird because that same thing happened to me, do i have a grabber 302, i dunno but it's seems possible now the man was nice enough and a true ford man to let me have the books and articles, soon as i get my tax check i will buy a scanner and post them for everyone on here, by the way i told him i knew some people that would love to hear about this and see it for themselves...........~Dan~
grabber 302 Ford man, this happened to my 302. Two studs on each head lifted up and the push rods bent like s's. I had the heads redone and screw in studs installed. There is another way to repair this. That is to have the holes drilled o/s and have an o/s stud pressed in. This is a problem with using hevy valve springs & high lift cam and high revs with the stock heads. My problem was solved with the screw in studs. Any good machine shop can do it. Also years ago my friend had a 72 grabber 302 and my none grabber 71 302 would out run it. The earlier ones had a little more zip. This is the first I ever heard of a grabber 302!
I have never heard of a grabber 302. Was it specific to the Maverick grabber, or was it just titled "grabber" engine and offered in the stangs mavericks, and whatever?? Post the article when you get a chance.
hmmmm... you could be right it didnt say it was specific to the maverick although it mentioned it alot....maybe they were offered in some stangs or others as well ...i'll have to check and see 2 weeks before i get my check :fingerscrossed: ~Dan~
need help just got a grabber 302 engine . and need tips on how to make it strong and mean. any advice will be greatly appreciated.
