Well, one day I was building up a '64 Ranchero, suddenly the next day I'm building up a '70 Maverick. Yep, gonna swipe all the goodies (rebuilt and balanced 10:1 306 with shorty headers, 600 Edlebrock, Performer 289 intake, electric water pump, iron GT40 heads, H.O. cam, Petronics dizzy, front disc brakes, alum. radiator with dual fans, rebuilt AOD /trans kit) intended for the Ranchero and transplant them to my new Maverick. Now I love my '64 Ranchero (I had a '64 Falcon Futura 2DHT in '66, my second car) but the more we got into her guts, the more Bondo and work we found. Then came Friday's Craig's List, and on Saturday I drove a Maverick home. Good glass, good doors, pretty good bumpers (lightweight too), very straight body, no side trim, flat black paint, 2 14"x7" Centerlines with 235/65/14s on the rear (5 bolt), in front some smaller chrome cheapies. 289, 600 Holly, Performer 289 RPM intake, stock 289 manifolds (better than most), leading to two brand new Flowmasters. C-4 trans/B&M shifter, and a 2" tach. Interior is functional, but needs seat work, headliner, dash pad, dash tray, and maybe some seat belts. So this all looks pretty good, clear title, current registration, plus a nice guy. Then my buddy Kelly drops down to check for rust, stuff falling off, none of which he finds. But he does spot a 9" rear (narrowed), which the guy says is about a 3.90 and that it has a locker. Well, here's a hunk of metal worth maybe a grand, so, of course, I bought my Maverick for $1200 and drove it home. P.S. Let it be known to all: I am not mechanically inclined in the least. Kelly, my good buddy, supplies all the blood, sweat, and tears! On the way home we did figure out that 65 MPH was 4300 RPM. It was only 50 miles home so only one gas station and one traffic stop. Gotta be really easy with the gas on tight turns around cops with a locker rear. Nice cop, no ticket. So we get home and do some calculations and come up with 4.88. Now a AOD with .67 OD drops that down to about 3.25, which I can live with. Third gear will top out about 90, I guess. In OD it will be plenty fast for me. Got it up in the air, changed the oil, wondered at the lack of rust, scoped out all the new suspension parts (the car rides and steers great), and thanked our lucky stars. I'm glad this community is here to share. I'm gonna have some questions, and I'm sure you guys have some answers.
welcome to the best board around! sounds like you have a nice little ride, cheak out our gallery for some insperation!
Glad to see all your "welcome" posts and some Mavericks with Anson Sprint style wheels, which I understand were a factory option at some point. I bought four of them for the swiss cheese '64 Ranchero which I gave up on when I found my rust-free '70 Maverick last week. Wheels are 15x7 5 lug with 225/50/15 rubber. Sure hope the fit all right. Anybody with experience with that size combination? Are people having trouble with sagging rear springs? Thanks again for the welcome. Alan
