Hello all, Hopefully soon I'll be the new owner of a 1976 Ford Maverick 4-Door (via trading an ATV). The current owner seems to know limited information about the car, but it does seem to be in very good condition and a good price. What I am being told of the car soo far is that it is a inline 6 cylinder 250 ci engine. The owner believes the car to only have roughly 28,000 miles. I was skeptical at first, but after seeing some of the pictures, it may be true. At this point, I know the factory AC does not work, but the vent, fan, and defrosters all do. I also know it has working factory cruise control. He believes the brakes need some work, and states they are not power brakes. Could anyone here tell me the exact model this is? The reason I ask, it doesn't exactly look like the '76 models I've seen online (hood decal, rubber trim along sides, etc). Any tips for a new owner? Thanks in advance Dustin
Welcome to the forum! Your Maverick has the LDO option, which includes the wide side trim. Looks like the hood decal was something a previous owner added. The car came with power brakes but the booster has been removed at some point. It still has the funky shock tower brace that provided clearance for the booster.
Thank you for the quick response. What was the LDO option? Would it be hard to reinstall the power brake booster?
Welcome, your car does appear to be low mileage. LDO = Luxury Decor Option. Included upgraded seats, carpet, probably door panels, as well as body moldings & maybe vinyl roof. Adding power brakes means acquiring the under dash pedal assembly, plus at least the special mounting bracket for booster and of course the booster. Usually P/B is added, not removed. Spring tower bracket is different for non power but maybe by '76 they were using one bracket on all? I dunno. BTW bracket for passenger side is missing.
That's a clean car. It's still just a 4-door with a 6-cylinder. It does not have factory cruise control. If it did, the control buttons would be on the steering wheel. I don't think it ever had power brakes, because the brake pedal is a non-power brake pedal. I don't know why anyone would convert to manual brakes. It would take a lot of work, and brake lines would have to be changed. Your passenger side spring tower brace is missing but someone put a power brake brace on the driver side. It has a manual master cylinder.
I haven't got the car in my hands yet, and Im already making plans for it, lol. How hard would it be to change out my rear bumper to this type? Would it also be possible to mount a grabber type spoiler? I have done a search on the site, but unfortunately alot of the pics wont load for me. My car; The type I want; I also would like to change the front bumper to this smaller style; Future plans would also be to remove the vinyl top, & LDO exterior trim. Thanks in advance
The bumpers just need a few things, like the bumpers, brackets and I believe valance. I think you have to notch the front fenders for the bumpers to slide in. The spoiler, you need the spoiler and the 4 side fender extension pieces, and spoiler mounts. You can buy the whole thing after market carbon fiber, not sure about the mounts.
Welcome from Portland, OR. The front bumper brackets are a little work to get bolted in depending on the strategy you use. There is detailed info around here somewhere. That is a very decent 4 door. I wouldnt do bumper swaps unless you like 4 doors as much as 2, but I suppose you need to actually get the car before getting in very deep.
4-doors actually look better with the big bumpers. You can streamline the appearance a little bit by removing the bumper guards.
Is it possible the hood emblem is part of the LDO package for that year? There's a 76 LDO two door with low mileage here that had the same thing. As for the spoiler, won't fit without a ton of modifications.
