what should i expect to pay for a maverick?

from MN. I think $1500 is low for something without serious issues up here. I would say more like $2500 to start will get something you'd want to stick money into.

What part of WI are you from?

 

I grew up in Northern WI and you are 100% right about that.

Living in the rust belt early on in life and then moving to the west coast(WA/CA).. and Texas for a few years.. to eventually end up back in WI and finally MN.. really makes you appreciate all those cars that some think are junk. In Cali.. I often saw cars piled 5 high that many would literally pay thousands for anywhere else due to nearly 0 rust issues. Sadly.. I also watched many of them go into the crushers too.. and some were so nice that I had to walk away out of sheer disgust for such wastefulness.

I can't say that I looked consistently for the last 15 years or so.. but I can tell you that all the potential candidates in my price range that I had looked at through the years(more than 20) were major basket cases when it came to rust. Some sellers even went to great lengths to disguise it under fresh.. and sometimes decent.. paint too. The few that didn't have as much rust were either out of my price range(at least for a car that I was planning on chopping up anyways).. or race cars that had been chopped all to hell and back with sawzall's and welders.

The car I finally ended up with was from Idaho and came without the engine. Due to some rarity(Comet GT).. I had to overpay somewhat just to get it. Even still.. around here.. $2,100 for a nealry rust free shell was what I called a deal and I still can't believe how solid it is when I look at it. Finding it only 15 miles away from my driveway was a bonus.

Unless you find a steal of a deal on a car around there.. which practically requires sleeping with one eye open to catch them as soon as they hit the paper.. or craigslist(where I found mine).. estate sales.. etc.. you're highly underestimating the value of a solid car in your neck of the woods. The ones who don't really see it that way.. are the ones who are spoiled with much greater access to them than we have over here. Good luck on the hunt.

 

well, i have some relatives moving to georgia and tennessee to get away from new york states bad politics, could have them keep an eye open for some decent condition mavericks and go pick one up later from one of those states

and it seems like a lot of people do engine swaps... i'll have to look into some options.. stock was roughly 100-150hp on the I6 and a tad over 200 on the 302?..under 150ft/lbs of torque.. i could get all of this from a pinto 2.3L, or a current generation ford focus engine.. though front wheel drive i bet i could get an adapter to mount a RWD transmission up to this engine.. and as stated before there are some better V6 options too... hmm, ill have to look into drivetrain options and see what i get for ideas

 

ideas in the Maverick/Comet world cost money...

 

so? $1,500 is just my price for the initial purchase.. something clean that can run.. ill have the money later on to rebuild as i go.. so $1,500 isnt my limit for the total price of the end product, for that i dont have a limit that im aware of... but if i end up using a decent street bike for commuting i might just end up getting a torino or charger instead if im not using it for daily commuting..

however, i would like a car i can do some road trips in.. wonder how well i could tour the country in a maverick? (this is one reason id like good fuel economy, the less i spend on fuel the more i can travel ).. im not even opposed to electric car conversions for daily commute with a small diesel generator to keep batteries charged on road trips.. ive done years of research and experimentation in alternative fuels and electric car builds, so its right up my alley to do such a thing

another option if you can find one large enough is a CVT transmission which uses a variable gear system to increase the speed of the tires while maintaining the same RPMs on the engine.. so as the engine stays in its optimum RPM range, without shifting the transmission will gradually change as speed increases (imagine two cones side by side facing opposite directions, and a belt stretched between them, as it moves closer to one end or the other, the gear ratio changes)

so those are some techniques i can use, and at 2800lbs im confident i can easily make a maverick as fuel efficient as any car currently on the road and up with an incredibly stylish, yet inexpensive to operate and practical means of transportation from the muscle car era.. i think a focus engine with a CVT transmission, or a small diesel generator in an otherwise electric car would be the two ways id most consider going with a custom drivetrain in a maverick

i was actually planning to develop such a drivetrain, placed in a custom frame and a fabricated model A tudor body.. so have these benefits in something externally identicle to a ford model A

 

with the mention of all the above mods, you are still worried about "fuel mileage"...

 

what i am worried about though.. is comfort, i had a 92 grand am once that i could NOT fit in.. my knees would get past the steering wheel and i had to crawl out onto the pavement and stand up just to get out of it... mavericks are roughly the same size, weight, wheelbase, so im concerned with whether or not i could comfortably fit into one?.. and im 6'

also, if i was confident i could get suitable gas mileage of 30-35 on the stock I6 engine after converting it to fuel injection, with a newer, better transmission and rear end, id keep the original engine, it would probably have to be converted to throttle body injection though... you know, a throttle body that mounts in place of the carburetor

 

ive had a charger and presently a torino... 1500 is a stretch for a GOOD torino or charger as far as those 2 cars go unless u luck up with a pretty good body.. now ive always complained about how hard good parts for mavs/comets are hard to find, but when u get into torino parts they are very hard to find and very expensive when u do find them and dont get me started on the charger parts..........

 

If fuel economy is that important, you should look to some current model powertrains. That I6 was an economical alternative back then, but converting it to fuel injection without significant head improvements would be wasting your time IMHO.

Front wheel drive platforms present a whole lot of new packaging problems, so unless you are trying to reinvent the car, I would try to stay in the front engine rear drive configuration.

The electric assist idea is intriguing, and if your skills are at that level, I'm sure you'll have a lot of interest as you work that out.

The cost issues for any of this is what keeps most people from doing certain mods and you will probably find that you could buy the Focus and drive it while restoring and/or modifying the Maverick as a project.

 

with all my research into alternative fuels, the engines and requirements to run them... be it ethanol, biodiesel, hydrogen, electric.. ive come to the decision that electric will ultimately be the supreme alternative fuel.. why? because these other sources of fuel can only come from a few sources, but electricity can come from many sources and is ultimately the cheapest and easiest to set up..

but what i would probably do if i was going to put a new driveline into a maverick is take the 2.0L I4 out of a modern era ford focus, couple this via adapter plate with a 5-speed manual transmission and a newer rear end, probably a rear end out of a more updated ford ranger, but with a shorter gear installed

as stated before though.. id get a maverick for fuel economy, if i got a charger, torino, this would obviously be mostly for fun and the luxury of the bigger, more roomier vehicle as the size of the maverick is in fact a concern for me.. and id only go with a full blown v8 muscle car if i had the motorcycle for my daily commute

my concern with the mavericks size was confirmed when i spoke with my father, who used to have a maverick and also drove this 92 grand am i once had... said the fit and size of the interior is pretty similar and i absolutely could not fit in that grand am.. it was very low to the ground, and the seat didnt go far enough back for my legs...

so if i had a maverick id have to mount the seat bracket further back if it didnt go back far enough but it would still be so low to the ground.. so what can i do?.. i have to face the fact the maverick just might not fit

another fuel efficient car im considering is a vw beetle which although smaller, i can lift with a baja bug conversion, and extend the (firewall? theres no engine in front of it though) forward as theres no engine to obstruct me doing so.. so i can make one of these fit and id certainly never have to worry about not finding parts for it... also, a baja bug would allow me to go offroad which would be especially useful on camping/fishing trips... so a baja bug is becoming a pretty big contender in my decision as to what i buy next

 

I would expect to pay 2-3k for a nice 4dr and more for a 2dr. If you want a deal check this out: http://macon.craigslist.org/cto/3812258177.html

I am not going to indulge in subject but I will say you are living in a dream world. It is possible to get great gas mileage from a old car but I dont think its possible with with the small amout of money you are discussing. I would recommend just picking up a 80's/90's Honda or Toyota, good gas mileage and will run forever.

 

mrmalina, if you read my other posts youd understand this $1,500 price is just for the initial car, it doesnt include the price for parts, upgrades, or the restoration.. just the vehicle

 

What is total budget for everything? Why not spend a little more for car to get a better starting point?

 

Unless you fly out to California and buy one .. I don't think you would be happy with the condition of a $1500 2-door Maverick.

 

$1,500 is all i have right now, but the final budget doesnt really have a limit

im kinda curious, anyone ever made a rally car out of a maverick? i wonder what one would look like lifted with all terrain tires.. they do it to vws and pintos all the time, but never seen a maverick like that