I've been a member since 2008, when I decided I was going to try to find another maverick (my 4th,) but that proved very difficult. I wanted to find something in Canada to avoid the import process that I have been thorough before. Well, this summer (2016) I finally found one. It had been repainted back in 2008, and has been owned by two old ladies, consecutively, with fairly low miles, but with many problems. Since purchasing it about a month ago, I've rebuilt the heater box, instrument cluster and lower dash with fiberglass, replaced a leaking heater core, found the carburetor was loose on top of the engine and sorted that, replacing plugs, wires, and tuned the carb and choke little, cut out any rust I could find in the quarters, welded in new metal and sealed and por15 treated them. Found the leaking cowl location, por15 treated the area in the cowl, and poured a starbucks venti sized cup of fiberglass resin, through a funnel, into the hole under the fender to fill the cowl area around the leak and then sealed it all with seam sealer. Door panels were ruined with moisture, I dried them out, soaked them in fiberglass resin, recovered them in a quilted vinyl and reinstalled them. One day I hope to buy a set of those beautiful repo ones, they're just so expensive. Found a set of sport mirrors locally for $75, which will get painted to match before I put them on. Battery tray was falling out, and the acid had rotted the metal below, that was cut out and I welded in new metal, then por15 treated the area and put in a new metal battery tray, and replaced the voltage regulator while cleaning up the dirty old wiring and solenoid. Stripped the old carpet, rust treated any spots I could find on the floors, new carpet and mats in. Purchased a small bumper setup from a guy wrecking a car in washington state, I've since derusted the parts and sanded down the valences and filler panels for paint. I've been daily driving the car.
Congrats, looks like you are getting it done and not costing a lot of money and there is nothing wrong with that
Yah, you're right about doing stuff on the cheap, blew my racecar engine up in May, and have been suffering from the rebuild costs, but when this car came up for sale, I have been looking for so many years, I had to buy it despite being in no financial position to do so, so everything has been budget building for now.
That old car is looking good. I think your repairs, budget minded and practical as they may be, were done well. The fact it is driven daily makes me jealous....lol, I am building on the cheap and have not drove my car yet! That wont happen until next summer.
Fitted some much larger wheels and tires tonight. The thrift package skinnys were just silly. Didnt rub until I filled the gas tank, going to have to roll the arches in the rear a little.
Congrats on the car!! Looks awesome with the new wheels and rubber! It actually looks very close to the FIRST Maverick I ever saw as a kid!! Even the Weld Pro Stars!!! This pic was taken in 1995 or so. Danny (the owner) for some reason swapped out the Welds for Slots on the front that fall, but it always wore the Pro Stars normally...
Good job! You've already covered a lot of the classic repairs in a short time. There are a lot of Maverick owners from Oregon, Washington state, and BC on this forum. we'll have to link up at some point. MD
That would be awesome. Hopefully, after fixing the rust in my rear window, the new window seal will be in tomorrow, and the car will finally be water tight!
