76 Maverick budget build.

Hey guys, Just figured I would chronicle my 76 Maverick build. So here go's. I bought this old Maverick a couple months ago. It looked pretty good from a distance, but up close it was a real dog. Lots of rust in the rear quarters, and floorboards. The car had been painted recently, but they did a terrible job of it. You could see allot of sanding marks under the paint, and all the spots in the doors where they used bondo where visible. The car has a 250 inline 6 with a c4 automatic transmission. when I got the car the engine would start, but would not keep running. When I got her home and fixed the problem with the motor I then discovered that the trans had no third gear. While I was waiting for my tranny to be rebuilt I found a fairly complete 1971 Maverick parts car. It was just the ticket as I had been planning a small bumper swap, and I needed a few other parts as well. I finally got my tranny back from the shop on Friday, and I've spent the better part of the weekend installing it and the exhaust system. I've also made a good start on the bumper swap. I am just waiting for a front bumper bracket that I ordered from Craig S to show up so that I can finish mocking up. I hope to have her in the paint shop in early April. until then I'll continue to post as things progress.

 

Looks like you're making a lot of progress.

 

76 Maverick budget build (more progress)

Since My last post I have finished the Transmission install, I swapped the steering system from the broken, and incomplete power steering setup that was in my 76 to the Manual system out of my 71 parts car. It's now a lot easier to steer especially when going slow. I'm still waiting for a bumper bracket that I ordered to arrive, so that I can put my front end back together. I've put everything back on that I can, Head lights, and trim, grill. I noticed that the battery tray was pretty far gone, so Ive taken it out, and I'm trying to fabricate a replacement. In the mean time I need to do something about the rust underneath where the tray was. It's not to bad. I think I'll just grind it out and glass it. The good news is that I took her out for a real good test run. It was the first time since I bought the car that I've had her over 30 mph. I drove around the block, and then headed up the highway for about 5 miles. I was really surprised at how well it ran. The transmission shifted just fine, and the little 250 has more power than I thought it would. I've ordered a new single outlet header, and I've got a later model head in the shop being milled, and drilled for a 2v conversion. Between the 2 barrel and the header There should be a very noticeable increase in power ( I can't wait).
More next weekend.

 

I really like that, keep up the good work. Jimmy

 

Sounds like your making good progress with it.....

 

Thanks Frank, I think it is going to turn out to be a pretty nice car one day. I only wish I had the time and funds available to do it up right like you are doing with your 71 Grabber. I'd be happy if I can get my car looking as good as your car started out looking.

 

Delivered

My new header arrived today, as well as the spacers I ordered to raise the new 2 barrel weber up high enough to clear the valve cover. I cant wait till my machinist get done with the head. I'm still not sure which engine to build. The engine thats currently in the car is the stock 76 250. It runs really well as is, but it could always have more power. The engine thats in my 71 parts car is a later model 200 out of an 81 ford Granada or Merc. It's what they call a big bell 200, as it apparently uses the same bell housing as a SB v8. The head I've got in the machine shop is off of the 200. It is supposed to have bigger valves, and hardened valve seats to better handle unleaded gas. I'm leaning towards building the 200 so that I can keep driving My Maverick while i'm building a smokin little inline 6, but the 250 already has a 50 ci head start over the 200. What do you guys think? Which is the best candidate for a performance build?

 

Stroke the 200 out to 250. The bore should be the same.

 

Scored some nice Maverick parts!

I had to drive down to central Fl on business and while I was down there I drove over to the gulf coast to look at a hood that I found on Craigslist. The guy(Rich) with the parts pulled up in a really nice 72 Grabber that he apparently had just finished building. It was kind of a medium blue, with a Grabber hood, and white stripes. Man did it sound good! He did a great job on the car, (not a show stopper, but a helluva nice driver) I should have snapped a pic or 2 to show you guys. He turned out to be a super nice guy, and he has a crap load of spare parts. He gave me a killer deal on the hood I needed, a really nice 70 valance, and a 76 grill with the lights and center divider. I think the 76 turn lights will look better on My 76 than the older style lights that are on there now. I cant wait for the weekend to start installing all the parts I've picked up lately.

 

Baby Steps

It was such a nice day that I took off early from work and came home to tinker around with the Maverick. I decided that since I didn't have allot of time that I'd tackle a little project. I had already taken out the rusted out battery tray last weekend, but I hadn't done anything about the rust that I found underneath. The ledge thats under the battery tray had rusted through in a couple spots, but the extra plate thats under the ledge was still in pretty good shape. After grinding and wire wheeling the rust out of there, I cleaned it up and laid down a couple layers of fiberglass. I normally wouldn't use fiberglass but I don't have a MIG welder yet, and I figure it's gonna be covered up by the new Battery tray anyway. That being said, It looked great after a little sanding and some paint. I'm still waiting for my new tray to be delivered, and then I can move on to bigger and better things.

This coming weekends project: Small bumpers install, and swapping rusty passenger door.

 

front bumper swap done.

I was only able to get the front bumper swap done before it started raining again. Maybe I'll be able to get a start on the rear bumper later this afternoon. I have one question concerning the 71 front valance. I've got it bolted up to the fenders, and the two struts that connect the bottom on either side to the frame rails. But I think there must be a bracket to connect the middle of the valance to the vertical support below the hood latch. The donor car was missing that support piece. Here's a pic of what I'm talking about. I know the outer two holes are for the licence plate bracket, but the center hole must be for some sort of valance stabilizer bracket.

 

Yes, that piece is different on the earlier cars, it has a part that extends out that the valance bolts to.. I've got several of them kicking around, PM me your address and I'll ship one to you.

 

Thanks allot Jamie, I would have never found one of those around where I live. The only Maverick parts cars that I've seen around here are the later big bumper models. I lucked out when I found my 71 parts car, but as I said it was missing a few things. I'll PM you with my address.

 

Rainy dayz!

Well it turned out to be a pretty ugly weekend weather wise, but I was able to get a little work done on Saturday. The bumper bracket that I had been waiting for arrived on Fri (Thanks Craig), so I spent some time knocking the rust off, and painting the brackets. I then made up a template out of cardboard so that I could locate, and drill the holes for the small bumper install. I was able to get the front end all put back together, and all my tools put away just in time to keep from getting soaked. I cant wait to build a garage so that I don't have to quit working every time it gets cloudy.
I'll post any new progress next weekend, weather permitting.

 

Engine compartment cleanup.

I didn't get allot done today, but I did spend a couple hours under the hood. I've been wanting to get the engine bay cleaned up since I got the car, and today seemed like as good a time as any. I was digging around under the sink looking for some simple grean or something like that when I came upon a bottle of Greasestrip Plus by Ecolab. Man this stuff really did the trick. I had already used at leased 3 cans of Gunk engine cleaner, and the engine compartment still looked terrible. After spraying about a half bottle of this Greasestrip, waiting 10 minutes and pressure spraying it off, I was pleasantly surprised at how much better it looked. Check out the before, and after pics.