Possibly purchasing a Maverick, Need a little advice

With your self accessed skill level and budget....you are much better with a car that needs nothing and is ready to go.

 

I have been trying to sell mine for around that price for awhile now. Mine is not a grabber, but has the 302/AC option. Mine runs perfect with no issues, besides the AC has a leak I'm trying to find and I just replaced the system. But haven't had much time this summer to fix it.
Here is the link to compare with or if you are interested we can make a deal.
http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=93859

 

I paid $4500 for my car last fall. It's a 71 REAL Grabber 6 cylinder that had 19,000 miles on it. I now have a Project thread, as the cowl was rotten. After driving it 1000 miles last fall, I have determined (like you foresee with your blue car) that all the seals, gaskets, etc need to be replaced and detailed, as the car has sat so long without much being done to it.

My Project thread:
http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=92251

If you have little hardcore mechanical skills, buy a car that has already been done IMHO.

 

An update, finally!

Here's the update I promised days ago, been so busy and havin' fun too!
I went up on Thursday to see the '71 Maverick and took it to be thoroughly inspected by an auto mechanic I chose separately. It truly is in amazing condition for it's age- almost completely stock/original, even has what I suspect to be one of the original license plate frame bolts (the other is different, probably replacement from another car) that I took a picture of to see if anyone can verify. It looks distinctive and has a M in the middle and is the same color as the car paint. Anyway, although not a single thing needs replacing urgently, the inspection guy said that he recommended a front suspension rebuild due to the original rubber bushings starting to crack and possible carburetor work although they couldn't actually replicate the very slight cough that I heard driving it when they tested it.

The dealership wanted $8990, down from $9900 or something like that. I told them, after test driving it twice and the inspection that although it was a great car and didn't need major restoration work or anything, being 'almost completely stock' was going to work against it- it wasn't worth almost 9k despite good condition because it was going to start needing replacements/repairs sooner rather than later and that in fact, I was going to be doing the recommended work if I bought it.. so the price was just too high, that a restored or rebuilt Maverick would be worth 9k but not one that had nothing restored or custom or anything yet. It didn't even have FM radio or cassette, just original AM only. Stayed tough, almost left twice, finally got the car for just $5500, only 500 more than my offer earlier that day after the drive and inspection. Thanks for all the price advice and stuff to look for. It does not leak water anywhere! (Yet, it is old after all!)

So I drove it back to a nearby town I have family in that I'm visiting and then the fun began! In preparation to drive it home to Oregon, I took it the next day to a Jiffy Lube for a tiny windshield crack repair, new wiper blades, fluids checked and any belts replaced that were on the list from the inspection. Thing is.. the belts actually didn't quite need replacing yet, worn but not badly, and fluids were still all where they should be like the day before. Awesome! That was Friday, next day I took it to an Auto Mechanic and they looked it over, confirmed the surprisingly good condition of the car and agreed to the work I wanted done, the appointment was made for Monday since they had to get the parts delivered. After I left their shop, I went cruising through downtown to look at car audio prices and see what options I had for taking out the AM radio and replacing it with a simple deck. Ended up talking to an AMAZING Best Buy auto installer who enjoys doing custom work (very uncommon for simple Best Buy) and appreciates classic cars. He worked around my rather short schedule (wanted to leave town Mon night or Tue morning after the auto shop finished) to not only install a Kenwood stereo with front and back speakers BUT to also build a custom back dash so that we didn't have to cut or modify the original back dash at all to put in the back speakers. I took pics of the work during and after, which I can't wait to share, it looks great! He and I conceptualized the work together and he certainly delivered! He worked on the front half of the car for hours that very afternoon until I needed the car, then most the next day too- putting together a back dash and covering it with material I picked out, then doing the install and wiring that didn't require any cutting. I have the original back dash and AM radio so that if I ever sell the Maverick, the next owner can revert to mostly original. The two front speakers are small (4") and very low profile, installed directly into the two ankle-area side panels that are easily replaced. The only reason the installation took so long was we ran into a wiring issue- about three times, we thought we were all done but the ignition killed the stereo and it had to be factory reset to come on again, losing all the settings. There was no cigarette lighter to run a wire to, it had possibly been removed when the entire lower half of the dash inside was taken out and replaced by an aftermarket plastic shelf. (I'd love to yank that out of there and put back in a nice restored lower dash half cause the plastic is silly- one of the only 'new' things on this whole car.) Anyway-- we looked on these very forums for information regarding the ignition killing the stereo and then decided to use the original AM radio's wiring and hey! It worked like a charm! I'll be posting the pictures of the work done and the guy's contact info in case anyone is interested. I already left a shining review for him on Best Buy's website as well.

So, at the moment, the car is at the auto shop previously mentioned, having this stuff done/replaced:

Tie Rod Ends
Adj Sleeve
Sway Bar Kit
Strut Rod Bushings - Front Suspension
Idler Arm Assembly
Alignment
All dash panel lights checked and bulbs replaced (burned out)
Wiring/Electrical checked
Aftermarket novelty "AOOOGAAH" horn removed (stupid to put in a Maverick IMO)
New horn I bought put in and wiring to it redone.
Possible leak/unnecessary venting from brand new radiator cap checked



More info/updates and pics to come! If I should continue this type of information in a different section, please let me know! Hope you guys enjoy the pics and info.


EDIT:
Here's the link to the gallery of my Maverick pics so far.
http://postimg.org/gallery/37cjmtg4/

 

Hey that terrific news about purchasing the car, the price was a good price for the car despite what some people will say. Its good that you are having the suspension work done before you run into problems with it in the future and all work done now so you can enjoy it and not nickle and dime you to death.Stereo was one of the first things I did to mine as well, got to have the tunes.Now all you need is a nice set of wheels for the car as they make a lot of difference on the appearance.

Be ready for lots of thumbs up as I will bet you that you will not be able to drive it anyplace without getting one. Be prepared for people to tell you that their mom or grandma had one as everybody seems to have a story about them.

Most of all be proud of it

Who knows we might see you around one of these days since I take my car in the Portland/Beaverton area quite a bit :Handshake

 

That's great news, and a reasonable price!!! Congratulations. Can I have your permission to add your screen name to the corresponding VIN in the VIN Thread? I knew exactly what car you were looking at, but didn't want to spoil it! It was the blue 2-door at Sabeti in Tacoma?

VIN: 122074?

Again, congrats! Well bought!

 

That plastic dash tray (below the dash) is original to the car.

Welcome to the Maverick world!!

 

Thanks guys!

Sure, Yellow, if you hit the area, be sure to shoot me a msg. My boyfriend and I will drive to meet you somewhere convenient like a Denny's so we can look at eachother's Mavericks. I love me some Denny's.

Paul, I was going to pop over to that thread and try to get it added but I got distracted getting my images of the car sorted and uploaded to a image hosting service since I realized I couldn't upload any more on here! If you'd like to add the VIN (or me to the VIN, I should say!), please do! You certainly have my permission. I'm still getting used to the forum and going to be doing more info/car profile/etc soon as I can!

Craig, wow.. really? My 1974 4dr Mav just had a normal underside to the dash and a glove box, looked nicer than this plastic shelf so I assumed it was some aftermarket thing. Well, I am getting used to it anyhoo. Thanks for the info!


I've removed the pics I attached to the update post and adding a link to the gallery I made for the pics instead of trying to juggle them as uploads here.
--Here it is:
http://postimg.org/gallery/37cjmtg4/

 

Oh and yes, I bought the car at Sabeti Motors in Tacoma, WA. The agent was named Mike Jenkins (british accent Mike, not the other Mike that works there) and he was so polite and, well you know.. british! Very funny and smart, was a pleasure to have as a sales agent.


In case anyone is interested, the contact info for the guy who did my custom audio install:

Dan Moulton
MECP Certified Autotech Lead (Best Buy)
Olympia, WA
(360) 596-9702 ext 2240
Daniel.Moulton@geeksquad.com

 

1970-early 1973 Mavericks and Comets got the dash tray.