Oops I did it again - 73 Mav restomod

Five years ago I purchased, on a whim, a 73 Comet that was local to me as my first muscle car. I fixed an overheating problem (new radiator, thermostat and housing) and drove it around for a little while before I got a job elsewhere. It sat for 3 years before I took it out of storage, drove it around a little more, then promptly sold it to get some quick cash.

Biggest. Mistake. EVAR. Regretted it immediately but it was to late.

So when the time came that I needed a new car I of course went looking for a Maverick or Comet. Preferably pre-73 with small bumpers and less smog stuff, but just as long as I didn't have to smog it I'd be fine.


... ... ... ...
I went a little overboard.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

I'd just gotten some money, enough for whatever car (to a certain extent) I wanted. First Mav I bought: a 70 I6 200. Body was perfect, it looked mean, and I couldn't pass on the price.







But it wasn't what I wanted. Sure it looks great, had no visible rust, and sounded mean, but it was an I6. A six. I wanted a V8. :16suspect

So, the search continued. Silly me, wanting it now now now[/i], I jumped at the next opportunity: a car that looked good in pictures.

Well.....sorta.








Stargazing from inside the car. Wonderful. :16suspect

I rented a car and drove down to San Diego with the Dude to pick it up. So excited was I to get a Maverick, even a 73, that I went ahead and paid what the kid and his family were asking for it: I can't even think of the number because it makes me cringe.

We didn't even get it down the street before it died on us. Things, of course, only got better from there.

 

Oh. JOY.

At first we thought it was that the fuel cell had run out of gas so went to get some. Nope. Mess with the timing a bit, figure out that if you wedge it sideways then it revs better. More on the timing and fun stuff later. Mind you, we'd just test drove the car a few minutes prior; it had run like ****, yes, but it had run. The money had been paid and the pink signed, and God bless us, both me and the Dude are stubborn as f***.

Long (oy, very long) story short, between the frequent stops to adjust the timing and get gas (I officially hate fuel cells), as well as the times the car just wouldn't go over 35, we managed to limp to within 110 miles of home before the exhaust fell off on the freeway. So we finally did what I thought we should have done a while back: called AAA and had them give us a tow back.

Let the fun begin!



Yeah, once again I went overboard. I have for this car, in no particular order:

Accel Wire Set
Blaster 2 Coil
MSD Pro-Billet RTR Distributor
New valve covers and gaskets
Timing chain/set
Edelbrock Performance Plus camshaft with lifters (Advertised Duration 270/280, Lift .448/.472)
CSRP Disc brake conversion kit (front)
Edelbrock 600cfm Performer carb
Performer RPM intake
New air cleaner
Champion radiator
(plus a whole bunch of little incidentals, and now with more on the way!)

The car came with a set of Hooker headers which had been put on badly and leaked exhaust, plus hadn't been covered with any wrap or header paint. (We've since fixed that, they're now sprayed a pretty black)



My initial intention was to get a set of Edelbrock E-Street heads for my car; went so far as to order them but returned them as they'd take machining to get the pulleys to stick. Deciding to stick with the heads we have, Dude ported and polished them to the best of his ability, then sprayed them with a nice engine enamel.

That done, we turned our attention to the block. We haggled a bit about whether we needed to open them up; I wanted to see it all, he thought the top end would be enough. Guess who won that argument (to his credit he didn't try too hard, I think he wanted to check too). Boy oh boy, am I glad we checked.








Two pistons/cylinders were shot; we'd figured something was wrong with those two based on the lack of soot and grime on the valves and portions of the pistons, but it was still disappointing to see actual GAUGES in the metal.

This brings us current to day and just coming back from the machine shop. Apparently, this motor has already been bored .040 over. The change wasn't recent (so the kid didn't get to screw this up) but nothing else had been changed; the engine still had the stock intake, cam and carburetor (minus all smog stuff which of course made a vacuum nightmare; between the fuel sending unit in the cell pumping the gas and the 2bbl nature of the stock carb, the car was running a tad rich).

So: I will now (hopefully) only be boring the engine out to .060 over and totally redoing the bottom end too. Yeah, don't I sound like I'm rich doing all this at once?

I'm not.

Oh, God.

 

these cars can be a labor of love. you will pull your hair out sorting these cars out but when your done, and you will get done, those cars will mean the world to you. im looking foward to watching your progress. keep this thread up and keep the gota get it done additude.

 

sweet int tho

 

Some projects get to be bigger projects the more we look. But if you want it to be right, and it is evident that you do, don't stop looking until you are sure there is no more to see. Good luck with the project.

 

where did you get the...orange shop rags...

 

Labor of love indeed! I had thought when I purchased this thing I was getting a running car - in a way I did but that didn't even last a block. Then when I cracked it open... *sigh*

in a way I kind of regret buying this car: for what I've sunk into it already (not including everything now for the bottom end and redressing the heads) I could have bought a finished car. I got so scammed on this deal but i'm too stubborn to quit now. At least this way I know everything about it - no more surprises like it already being bored out (yet with everything else stock, WTF?!) or continuing to find holes in the roof (I can't stop picking *hangs head in shame*).

Right now we're doing a lot of cleaning and painting. My initial pace was pretty speedy: I needed a car (preferably reliable) so I wouldn't put more miles on my leased car. Now, with having to wait for parts and a backed up machine shop my pace is forcibly slowed so we're going to do it all. I have new bushings for the swaybar, an AC/heater core to install, engine bay to clean and paint etc (not necessarily in that order of course). I still need this car up and running yesterday but, hey, what can you do right?

Btw since I finally got my V8, the Dude is taking over the 70 i6. In a way I'm jealous, but I know that in order to get it where I want it I'd have had to sink twice as much for upgraded parts. Of course it only cost initially a third of what I paid for my V8.

I'm still irritated as effing HELL by that.....

 

I would have to think twice on boring out to .060. Anything happens, that block gets tossed or you will sleeve it. May want to look into the newer roller short-blocks. Not sure, I remember the deal an return on heads, but a Jasper reman short-block just (or complete engine) may be what you want.

Looking at your above list, cam an timing set should be the only things you wont use on a reman block. Not bad an maybe returnable! There is some empty floor space for more parts,,,, er my bad, I usually fill the floor! hee hee

At the least, I would find another block and start with a .030 bore at max.

All the above is my thinking and just sharing my dumbness! You have to pay for your habit and take all the praise or aw dung for your great stories! Good Luck and keep sharing!

 

i would just get another block myself

 

X2 on the the .60 overbore.

look around first, hopefully you can find a nice roller shortblock for the same price as it cost to bore it out. which the average price is $80-$100.

Some of us have a rough time when we start out with these cars.

I put 2 full years of work into mine, then in the first 50 feet i got a dent in the door skin(where the reinforcement is at). I haven't even fixed it yet cause i have no clue how to do it with out a spot welder/puller.

The engine block also cracked in the first 50 feet

although that was my fault for accidentally dropping a hex wrench into the engine

 

i agree! i've had three mavs. Each one gets older. 75-74-71. and when they are right. the are a blast to drive.

 

I think one of the biggest mysteries with this car is why on earth someone would bore out the engine complete with new pistons, then put back on the stock heads, intake, and carbs with no modifications. Really has me scratching my head in wtfery.

I'm not really keen on boring over the cylinders to .060 either; the machine shop is too busy at the moment to mic my block so I'm taking a bit of initiative and heading down to a local junkyard to see how much another 302 block would be. This place is a mecca for car parts and they're usually willing to work with you; if I can get a roller block for under $100 then I'm going that route. We'll see though.

Work is over and the Dude is here to take me to the junkyard. Wish us luck!

 

good luck id try and look for a HO short block with low miles.

'82-'86 Capri
'91-'93 Cougar
'83-'86 LTD (mid-size, special service package and LX only)
'87-'92 Mark VII
'82-'95 Mustang
'91-'93 Thunderbird

82-'84 and
'85 w/ CFI Mustang and Capri are a flat-tappet cam



I found one in a 93 Tbird with only 40k miles

then i found another one with 160K miles...this one will eventually go into the mav.

 

,,,,I think one of the biggest mysteries with this car is why on earth someone would bore out the engine complete with new pistons, then put back on the stock heads, intake, and carbs with no modifications. Really has me scratching my head ,,,,,,,,(quote)

Boring in many of our engines is done to "clean-up , square-up" wear or mass machining. Kits are sorta mass produced, well er marketed,,, with .030 pistons, knowing that most engines will clean at that dressing. Always good to deal with company that offers whatever size piston you need.

Core shifting, bad Mondays, and who knows what else gets a cylinder outa whack with the crank shaft. Good machine shops will not only clean up the bore but square it with all the rest.

I'm getting too long winded here. Power performance is rarely the reason for boring,,, very little gain in the .030-060 punch,,, Your engine most likely had problems back then and owner needed it bored to .040 to clean up!

GOOD LUCK in the junkyard!!! Them is always good days!!!!

 

X2 on ho roller. Or any 5.0. They convert to roller easily and e7 heads are a dime a dozen. I got mine as a fresh rebuild .040 over, zero miles, for $200. I slapped on my old heads and intake and I'm outta here!!!