I hope someone might give me some advice here. I have a 1970 Maverick with a 6 cyl. 200 CI and c-4 trans. the rear end code is WDV-M with 2.79 ratio and an 8" gear. I am going to be putting in a 302 V-8 (donor car is a 1971 mercury comet gt). The rear end on this car has a code of WDW-U with 3.00 ratio and 8" gear. My question is can I just swap the axles out of the donor car to the maverick to get the five lug rear end? Also can I use the C-4 trany that is in the maverick now or do i need to install the one from the comet? Any help would be greatly appreciated from someone that has already been there. Thanks alot.
The axles won't swap over...different bearings I am told. Just swap the entire axle assembly....less wqork and mess in my opinion. If it was me, I would swap the entire tranny as well if is works good.
the 200 and 302 have different bolt patterns on the bell housing so you need to use the 302 as Craig suggested. Also the 302 trans is supposed to have an extra clutch or something to make it stronger.
a good rearend Take everything from the radiator to the rearend. Trans, crossmember, driveline, linkage, everything.
the 6 cyl c4 also has a slightly different valve body timming it won't hold up to alot of abuse from the v8
Actually, the 4 lug rearend in '69.5 and '70 Mavericks is a 7.5" ring gear--not 8". I think it even has C-clip axels but I'm not sure about that. Swapping the entire rearend & housing shouldn't be too difficult, you might even want to get the drive shaft from the parts car...
Hey just wanted to thank all for the feeback. I will just swap the entire drive train. Thanks again, Dave
My $.02..... You mentioned that the donor car is a '71 Comet GT. If the Comet GT is any decent shape at all, I would restore it. If it's a rust bucket compared to your Maverick then you should stick with the Maverick. The Comet GT's are not as common as the Grabbers and certainly not as common as the basic Mavericks. If there is any way to salvage a true GT, I would do it. Otherwise, I agree with these guys, swap everything from the radiator to the complete rear end. Maybe some of these guys have comments on differences in front springs. I am not sure if there is a difference in 6 and v-8 springs. Good Luck- Seth
Seth, yes that was the plan to restore the GT. Had all the mechanical finished, just needed interior work and paint. Then my boy wrecked it, bent the frame and would take alot to repair. So I found this Maverick with only 44,000 original miles with a six. So this will end up as a hybrid between a Maverick and comet GT. We will have to see how it comes out. Thanks, Dave
Re: Comet GT's I have been around many GT's and some of them came with nice packages. I have heard someone on this board say that the Comet GT's only came wth bucket seats, a plus. I had a friend in high school who had a '71 or '72, I can't remember which, and his had a bench seat. Maybe it was not original, I'm not sure. There were 5 Comet GT's at my high school at one time. All were original V-8 cars with the floor shifted C-4. All were bucket seats with the one exception. I was the only one with A/C and one of only 2 with PS. I have seen pictures in a magazine of a GT with a factory sunroof. I have never seen one, but that would be a neat find. I would swap all of the Comet stuff over, nobody would know but you. If you are missing the hood scoop, Tony Branda is carrying them. They are the same scoop as the Cougar Eliminators of 69-70.
