First, I would like to commend you on the site … very well done. I’ll start with some background. I’ve owned, since new, a ’72 Maverick Grabber that started life with a 302 and a C4 automatic. It’s yellow and originally had the orange strips. The car went through several changes mainly between the years 1972 and 1976. And it was always my daily driver. The first changes, based on memory (this was more than 30 years ago), was the following: 1972-73 · Weiand dual plane hi-rise intake · Holley 735cfm 4-barrel w/vacuum secondary’s · Headers (Doug Thorley I think) · Dual exhaust · Ford Hi-Perf cam (hydraulic with anti-pump up lifters) · Shift kit and cooler for the C4 automatic · Ford Torino/Mustang “GT” wheels w/chrome rings · Sears under dash aftermarket A/C I had to relay quite a bit on what info Ford released and what other Maverick owners knew then, which was little much compared to now. 1973-74 · Cobra 2-4 barrel aluminum intake · 2 – 625cfm Carter AFBs · Electric fuel pump · Crane cam (still hyd but more lift and duration… can’t remember specs) · Accel dual point distributor and wires and large yellow coil · 351 W heads ported and polished and milled .030… screw-in studs installed w/ guides and hardened pushrods · 9” rear end from 57 Ford wagon (3.89 gears I think) · 4.86:1 gears most of the time though I did run 5.67s at the strip once… what a mistake even with tall slicks · Ford 2.78 Toploader from a 64 ½ Mustang after destroying a few C4s · Performance clutch setup · Hurst shifter · American Racing wheels… I think 14” front and 15” rear with BF Goodrich T/A Radials as the last set of tire mounted about 20 years ago and still on the car until a couple years ago 1974-83 (basically as it remains presently…) · Edelbrook “Torquer” single plane hi-rise aluminum intake manifold · Various Holley carbs from 500cfm 2-barrel to 750cfm double pumper and even a 950cfm 3-barrel… it has a 650cfm double pumper on it now · 3.25 gears · Isky cam (milder) · Heavy duty (not hi-performance) pressure plate & clutch… · Painted bright yellow, no strips In 1984 I left the Maverick in the capable hands of a good friend, telling him it would only be for a year or two while I went overseas… 22 years later I’m still overseas and up until a couple years ago it was still in my friend’s garage just as I left it. Two years ago I bought a house north of Seattle and finally returned my friend his garage space and moved the car to my garage. During my vacations back to WA over the last two years I have found time to completely rebuild the front suspension including the power steering. Also lower it about an inch and added ’76 Maverick disc brakes. I rebuilt the old Toploader, Hurst shifter and rear end, adding a 4 pinion traction lock. I replaced the original ’57 rear brakes with modern 11” self-adjusting drums. Also replaced the intake with a RPM Air Gap and replaced carb with a Holley Street Avenger 570cfm. Finally, I replaced the old wheels with 16” Centerlines. Still lots to do. What did I miss? Hopefully didn’t go overboard. I’ve got plenty of questions… there may be a 5 speed in the future and addressing sloppy power steering. Thanks...
