Opinions on parting out Mavericks

I agree with Jean.....

I agree with this statement 100%. Without parts cars, there could be little or no restoration of the ones that are salvageable. Though I would hope that GOOD cars are more often salvaged than stripped. I HOPE I can find a parts car when it comes time to do body work on my Ethel. The lack of support from parts manufacturers leads me to wonder what you all think about fiberglass replacement panels... doors, hoods, etc. Would you use them? When is it ok to use them and when is it not?

Just wondering....

Jean
My 72mav

 

Most of the parts that I got to finish up on my mav came from donor cars. Good or bad those cars were well appreciated for the parts that came off them. Some good cars will have to fall victom to parting out so our cars can have them good parts. Good parts are coming harder to come by for the mavco. thanks stefan for giving me a place to come to get them good parts. P.S. crushing sucks

 

Well whats left to be said. Corbin Johnson is parting out a 73 2 door that looks better than what alot of people start a project with, and I pleaded that someone buy the whole thing. Now that being said I don't blame Corbin, I have limited room and could not house all the mav/coms I come across until they could be sold. And look at the response he is getting from his add. You can't get $300 for a complete car yet you can get hundreds of dollars for parts that come out of the same car, it is a hard decision for some to make and easy one for others. For me it really depends on my situtation at the time. I would like to think I help preserve the car but if I need parts I need parts.

 

Yes, Ward is correct in that I am parting out a 73. I got it for free because I saved the owner the hassle of hauling it to the crusher himself. I jumped at the opportunity to save it for the parts I needed and the good parts left to help other Mavericks/Comets get back on the road. Most all the metal will be saved for possible repairs in the future or future mods on my Mavs, with a few pieces going towards my 70 Grabber. The 73 I'm parting has no paperwork, no DMV records, no plates, no engine, no trans, and no steering. It was at a Community College who used it to take apart and put back together and sit around and collect dust. I feel somewhat guilty for parting it out, but for me the bonus of having the parts I needed (without scouring the countryside for months to find anything) and helping keep actual roadworthy (not to mention titled, and registered) Mavcoms on the road convinced me to part it out. Also here in the Bay Area there is not much demand for Mavs. No one is interested in a shell - except for crushers. Sure demand is slowly rising, but they are not popular enough for this car to get any attention over here. I know that I'll probably get some heat for parting it out, but it was what I had to do. The DMV situation would be extreamly difficult, if not impossible, to get it back on the road. With no papers, it would be very hard to get plates and such for it, especially with no engine/trans or operable lights, brakes, etc. Huge amounts of money, which I don't have, would have been put into it to get it through DMV, if at all (come on, all of you have worked with the DMV. It's a PITA even with papers for the car! I talked with them about the situation and they pretty much told me I was screwed - I could never get it on the road), and if someone wanted to buy it after getting it running and driving, it would still only be worth around $500. To get my Grabber registered and a title for it again, (it was junked because of carb problems - stupid person) I had to go through many hoops (and a couple hundred dollars) and inspections to get it ok'd to be on the road again. This 73 would cost much more than that - in the thousands (if I could pull strings and get it through DMV), which I don't have. It is nice to know that it will help my Grabber and other's Mavcoms stay on the road, which is an honorable sacrifice in my opinion.

Humbly,
Corbin

 

If I had kept all the cars that, in my opinion could have been restored, I would have to have a football field to keep them in. Plus due to the following facts I dont have a problem junking a good car; up until 5 years ago I thought I was the only CoMav lover on earth, even though there are a bunch of us around we are very widespread, in actual numbers we are comparably a small group, and these cars just do not sell well. Of the really nice ones I scrapped, I've posted messages about finding new homes for them first, but never received a reply from an interested party. Unfortunately, you just cant keep them all even if you did, unless you have a nice dry indoor place to keep them, they will end up as rust buckets anyway. Unless of course, we suddenly become as collectable as the Mustangs.

 

...I would have to have a football field to keep them in...

I guess that's what Doug is shootin' for.

 

Well,
I think it's pretty ridiculous. Who decides if a car is "restorable" or not? And restorable by whom? One person's restoration capabilities will certainly be different from another's. Sounds like that 4-eye site is run by a bunch of fanatics. Those cars are pretty much junk. The reasons for their lack of popularity are completely different from those for the Maverick's lack of popularity. Those crazy rules also hinder the restoration efforts of others. They may be desperately looking for parts for their cars that they could buy from someone who's parting-out a worthless heap, but instead is not allowed. I'm not knocking anyone who likes those cars and wants to restore one, but it's fanatical and ridiculous to act as if those are "great" cars that should never be parted-out. In fact, they were made during the lowest quality (and performance) period of American automotive production.

I feel the same way about many Mavericks; and I love Mavericks--I'll never sell mine, but some are simply NOT worth attempting to restore, and especially 4-door models. If someone has a clean or low-mileage 4-door, then by all means keep it, but most should be parted-out and crushed. They just don't have a sporty or muscular appeal. I mean, I feel pretty good when I pull up next to a Camaro or Mustang in my 2-door Maverick, because it looks every bit as sporty as those cars, but seriously, how cool is a 4-door Maverick/Comet gonna look sitting next to one of those cars at a stop-light??

My point? If it's in good shape, keep it and restore it, if not, crush the P.O.S. Treating these things like they're sacred is just plain silly...

 

Basically, since I've had my Maverick 31+ years, I'll do whatever I need to do to keep MY Maverick in good shape.

 

I don't personally have a problem with parting stuff out, if one vehicle can be used to help another survive, that's how it's gotta be. My problem is with wrecking yards crushing all the older stuff like crazy. And as for selling parts for profit, if someone needs the parts and the money's going to be put right back into my project car anyway, I don't really consider that profit, just survival. "Don't hate the player, hate the game".

 

I agree; it's sad when junkyards crush cars that still have a lot of usable parts left on them...It's just wrong...

 

I like to see the results of one parts car helping to repair/restore several others.
Example: I bought a 1972 4 door V-8 auto Ac car in fair condition with a rod knock.

The engine,trans,radiator,rearend,front wireing harness,power steering pump and shroud ended up in one car (71golds). The engine mounts,cross member and trans crossmember I sold on ebay for someone elses project . I removed EVERY thing I could think of to save from the crusher to be used on other projects of my own ,or to pass on to other Mavcom Owners :
Windshield (now in my car)
Grill (sold)
Front and rear Valances (going on my `71)
Front kick panels ,arm rests (sold)
Complete AC dash with all wiring ,
lower rear quarter panels,
Complete rust free cowl assembly with outer vent attatched ,
tail lights,bumper brackets,and semi rust free battery box area
also a very good steering column and set of pedals and a ton of other stuff I have in storage . When the junk yard came to get it the guy laughed and said "Son theres not a single part left on this I can sell to anyone ! Its only good for the crusher." I told him I thought It was "READY" "now for the crusher! The guy I bought it from had been thinking of just having it crushed instead of trying to sell it (to me) instead.