1972 Maverick Grabber Resto/Mod for my Dad

veeeerrrrrryyyyy nice...

 

Fantastic........

 

We are almost to the stage were we will start tearing the car down for paint. I want to make sure that I replace all the bushings in all four hinges. I also want to make sure that if the bushing ever needed to be changed in the future that you can do it without having to cut the hinge pin out like it was stock.

I looked hard to find a hinge pin that had an E-clip to secure it in the hinge. I had no luck to find one that had the retaining groove cut at the correct length from the flange.

I originally purchased a set of stock hinge pins from AutoKrafters and had the groove cut into them and shortened. The one thing the machinist and I noticed was how soft the material was for the stock hinge pins. I figure they were soft because they were designed to have the end mushroomed over.

So I went looking for another type of hinge pin. After seeing the post by 71gold on a hinge pin that Advanced Auto carried I decided that I would pick up four of them.

I had the groove cut to were I could place a washer under the E-clip so it would not scratch the paint on the hinge.

The material on the harden pins cut easier and they came out much better than the softer stock type hinge pins.







The hardened pins next to a finished softer stock type pin

 

NIce job. Can't wait to see it finished.

 

Prepped the engine compartment for some additional paint work. We try fo fill all the holes that will not be needed when we go back together. We are going to move the battery to the trunk and remove the fuel canister.

 

I came home to a large box sitting on the porch from Australia. It was the rack and pinion set up from RRS.

 

Today we got maverick off the rotisserie to fit the rear valance and the front valance.

They both fit well. After a little fine tuning they are going to work. We are actually fitting two front valances do to the higher possiblity that one may get dinged sometime in the future of the car and I want to have a back up.

 

Great idea on the valance, I just cringe at the thought of one getting crushed into a bumper block, or something coming up off the road to hit it...
How did they fit compared to each other? I find Maverick sheet metal kinda weird, fits one car really good, but not another...but then again I'm not a body guy.

 

They both fairly decent. The hardest part about the front valances was finding two that were nice enough to be able to salvage them.

I do agree with Maverick sheetmetal being a little different. It is nice to know we are getting each piece massaged to fit the way it should.

 

agreed....I am finding out first hand how different the sheetmetal is on my build..........yours looks great.........

 

Not much progress today except for blocking the car and getting the support brackets installed to sure up the center of the front valance.

I went through my parts and I have 3 front valances that are worth working them for this Maverick.

 

Subscribed for updates. This is amazing and def. the inspiration i need to get going on mine. Thanks

 

Nice work. Waiting for the TCP install.

 

any updates

 

I am sorry for not posting up any updates recently. A few things have happened. First I have been out of town on business, secondly I admit that I have never painted a car before so I was wanting the bodyshop to do the final blocking, preping and paint the Maverick for me. After being paid in full the shop stopped working on the Maverick and no progress was made. After zero progress I moved the Maverick to another restoration painter to make sure what was done was straight and prepped correctly for paint. The Maverick should be finished in 4 weeks at the latest. I can not wait to get it home.

I always have hated to depend on others on projects like these, but sometimes I would rather have someone else that is more qualified than I do the work so it turns out like I expect it should.

For the good news i found a Grabber Hood locally and it seems to be straight with no rust. I will have it media blasted tomorrow and post up some pictures. If it turns out ok I will use the metal hood and probably put the carbon fiber hood aside.