Hello everyone, I recently got a 72 Maverick from my uncle that has been sitting in his yard out here in lovely California desert for 22 years. As a kid growing up I always saw the car on his property and really like the way the car looked. He is going to retire soon and he told the family what ever someone didn’t want was going to the scrap yard and I couldn’tet this thing go out that way so. Now here I am three weeks later starting the process of getting it back on the road. While I was doing some reading and research on the car I found this place and all the great info. So here I am learning tricks and tips from you all here and I figured I would bring you all along on my journey. The photos below are of the car when I went and picked it up and brought it home to start working on it. I did go up a few days before the pictures were taken and pulled the wheels off to put new tires on the rims so I could move it easier. The picture of the bunny was living inside the engine bay and hung out there until we started to move the car to the trailer. As you can also see the rodents did not do me any favors. The car currently has a 250 in it that I am currently working on getting running. Thankfully my local orileya auto parts had all the parts on hand that I needed to replace just to fire it up including points. I also got a set of torque thrust wheels and a five lug rear 8 inch from my uncle that he had laying around as well and I already purchased a front five lug disc brake conversion for the front and I might be looking into a conversion for the rear if I ever decide what motor swap I want to go with.
Here are a few pictures from the cleaning process I been doing this week the few hours I have after work before it gets dark. Sadly the rodents did a number on the upholstery and thankfully we have a good shop near my house that we have had a lot of good luck with in the past that is going to redo all the seats for me and I will be getting all new carpet and a headliner for it as well.
From the frozen north in Wisconsin! Certainly an ambitious project. Good luck with it and thanks for posting the great pictures. We like pictures here! Will be interesting to see it progress and see what is under all the debris. Looks like the passenger door is from a later car.
Thank you Acornridgeman I will be doing lots of photos along the way. I got the idea to fully document the project from my dad he did the same thing with his 66 mustang he restored back in the early 2000s. Try and stay worm up there.
Welcome to the site from northeast Ohio!!! "I would clearcoat it and ride... " Frank great thought, I agree. Small bumper car, priceless!!!
Agree with the clear coat its got some great patina on it that cant be duplicated easily . Maybe thats the Energizer bunny
Great Save !!! Definitely a fan of no painting.....ride with the Patina an spend your money other way's !!Clear coat n Ride !!! I luv the Patina(old paint) here's my 74 Comet I got 10 years ago and my buck's went to part's. Good luck with it
Maybe not. I have seen desert cars with the surface rust like that, but they are actually solid cars yet. No rot. The best evidence to me of its real condition is the picture with the bunny. Even on the best northern car, that spot of the inner fender where the bunny is sitting is almost always rotten, full of bubbled up rust holes and needs some welding work. In the bunny pic it shows just some dirt and dust - no sign of rot. Even all the door jam shots look really good. Interior is of course toast but the rest seems like a good place to start.
I would be interested in seeing the underside of car B4 casting an opinion on how to proceed w/ the car's future. I can't see anything w/ all the garbage all over the interior. Seeing as the car was in the desert, a lot of what I'm seeing is surface rust; in it's present colors, make a nice Rat Rod.
Normally I'd say paint, but this is no doubt a rather unique case. Be wary of rust in floorboards and cowl, may be OK since it was in desert. BTW, welcome.
