1971 Maverick - Finally Making a Build Thread

Nice progress on the car. Love the shaker! Nice score on the taillights, too. On top of all that, it looks like you do really nice work, and at a young age.

A note on the tires.... while those Coopers have a section width of 275mm, (sidewall to sidewall), the tread width is pinched in a bit. If switching brands to BFG, another common choice for our older cars, the tread on those are a bit more "square" and the actual tread width is closer to the section width. Just a FYI, you might run into new clearance issues you hadn't expected in that case, so be sure to always really scrutinize if making a change. My Cooper 265/50/15s only have a tread width that is a 1/4 inch more than BFG 245/60/15s. If they were really the same profile, the tread would be more than 3/4 wider. Really stuffing a car full of tire can get tricky.

 

Very nice work. Love the Shaker hood!

Don't forget to post your car with pictures and detail in the Garage. It will be there and visible long after this thread is lost to the archives.

 

Hey Michael, nice job on the shaker scoop, I almost like the Torino scoop better than my Mustang one. I'm sure you agree, it is a hard thing to do, cutting a hole in a perfectly good hood! You mention orange as a possible color, I used "Viper Orange" on my car, 2 stage paint that is amazingly close to the original color, "thanks vermillion red".
Keep up the good work, I can't wait to see it done!

 

Thanks! I had some family friends sort of show me the ropes, and now I learn as I go, seeking guidance from someone more experienced than me any time I get stuck haha. The scoop plays into my obsession with 69 Mustang Mach 1s, that's what I wanted before I discovered Mavericks. The more I researched Mavericks the more I fell for these little cars. My end vision for this car is inspired by quite a few influences. And on tires I picked the coopers because of what the read about the bfg's being more square than the coopers, I researched quite a bit before I bought tires because I was worried about fitment, I think I'll be staying Cooper for the foreseeable future, the Mickey Thompson sportsman sts(another one I considered) are kinda pricey compared to what I can get coopers for. I'm thinking about running a 235/60r15 front. From what I've seen so far a few people run that size up front here on the forum

 

I've been meaning to do that, I planned on making a showcase thread when it's mostly finished? Are they calling the showcase section the "garage" now?

 

Definitely the hardest and most nerve racking thing I've done to the car! And I'm looking for a more in your face ornage, with less red. I originally thought about Calypso Coral, but in some lighting that color looks more red than I like. I'm trying to find something close to dodges old "GoManGo" orange, I may just us go with the paint code for that. "Mack Truck Orange" is another color that is close to go mango should I need a back up. I need to compare the two and see which I like better

 

Totally different. Click on the Garage tab at the top of this page.

 

So, it's been awhile, I've had some progress in the works for a little while now. This has been happening over the last few months.


I'm super stoked with how it turned out. I ended up going with "Go Mango" Orange and I'm glad I did. I can't wait to start re assembling this thing, It's been a long time coming, but my vision for this car is finally coming together. I'll be sure to get some more pictures up after I get my cragars, the mirrors, bumpers and other parts back on the car. As soon as this semester of classes is over after the next few weeks I will have a lot more time to devote to my car. I plan on making a post in the Garage section as soon as classes are out as well. Hopefully Ill be cruising this thing sometime this summer! *knock on wood*

 

Nice color choise looks Awesome

 

Love the Torino shaker!.. always liked it more than the snub nosed Mustang version.

Years ago, not too long after I sold my '71 SCJ Torino GT, I had envisioned a Grabber or Comet running a 460 stroker motor with that same scoop popping through the hood. Then I saw a Boss 302 Maverick sketch in a magazine and wanted one even more! Of course it's always easy to dream and drool over drawings and finally learned just how space limited and nose heavy it would be in the corners. Thought maybe an aluminum blocked 460 would be the ticket.. till I priced it all out. Funny thing is my finalized aluminum blocked 342" bullet won't end up being a hell of a lot cheaper once it's all said and done. Just need to rev it about 2,000 rpm higher with much shorter gear to help compensate for the lack of torque compared to the bigger motor.

 

I Agree, I personally prefer the Torino Shaker to the Mustang one. One day I plan to stuff a bigger motor in this one, these DART block 363 stroker builds I've seen look pretty sweet and tempting. But that will have to wait until after college when I have the larger pocket book to build a motor like that. My mild 5.0 HO will have to suffice for now haha

 

Thanks! I stressed over choosing the shade of orange for quite a while. I originally planned on Calypso Coral, but the more I looked into it, it appeared as though that Calypso Coral could come out with too much red in it. Since I'm a big fan of Mopar's "High Impact Colors"and Go Mango comes out looking very much orange, It became the natural choice for me.

 

I will be doing the Brazilian taillight swap on my car did you have to cut any material out to install the tail lights?

 

More importantly regarding the Brazilian taillights ... was there a lot of waxing and screaming involved?