all of mine have always been the body color, and ive had both Kansas City cars and Canadian built cars. the only thing black on any of mine has been the radiator support, and if memory serves me correctly, all of my radiator support have been black.
I have seen in 2 articles Comet Gt's that were built by Hot Cars mag and Super Stock back in the day and they both had black engine compartments. They recieved them directly from Ford.
All but one of my cars was built in Kansas City=K. X = St. Thomas Ontario Canada and my 72 Grabber has that code. Once again, all engine bay colors match body color with the Stallions using the Satin black color under the hood. Dan
I could see it being possible that some 71's might have had black engine compartments based on Dan's assembly manual, but I don't see how it could be based on manufacturing plant. If that were the case, there'd be thousands of 71-up Mavericks and Comets with black engine compartments versus only the handful mentioned. Ford wasn't consistent about a whole lot back then though, so certainly anomalies could have occured in certain situations.
I agree Chuck,, but I wonder if we can somehow figure if one plant did use black under the hood for a short time? Or, did it happen at all plants for some unknown reason for whatever manufactuing situation? Dan
There was a 72 comet on Ebay that is a Dearborn car and the compartment is black http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merc...007QQitemZ170176481882QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
IMO that one has been painted. I have owned several Mavs from 72 up, and none has had a black bay. The one in this auction has obvious paint and mods done, and the quality of the hood and bay paint, along with overspray and fuzzy edges, clearly points to cover paint some time during the last 35 years. I believe the discussion is only open to 70 and 71 models. After that, it is pretty clear that body color is correct. If a 72 up could be proven to have a black bay with other color body, then it would certainly have been done later in the assembly line to cover up some mistake or damage.
The few Deborn cars that I have come across had Black compartments, so the question would be does anybody here have a (F) Dearborn car Maverick and Comet that does not have a black factory engine compartment and if so what year? Awhile back I think it was Acornridgeman mentioned he had a 72 Grabber Dearborn car with a black compartment.
I disagree the body was definitely painted but under the hook looks untouched. I own a 73 that has never been re-painted and the compartment is factory black.
I have to agree. I don't think any 72-up Maverick or Comet has a factory black engine compartment. I've had original owners claim their cars were factory 4-speeds, had 9" rears, and even 351W's. I can't even see the factory painting an engine compartment black due to some paint defect. Back then alot of suspension pieces and some brackets left the factory with no paint at all. The Maverick and Comet were inexpensive cars. I don't see Ford worrying about a scratch or thin paint in the engine bay. It would have been entirely too costly for them to remove a car from the line and paint an engine compartment black, and they would gain almost nothing. We all know Ford was notorious for making mid-year changes and there are inconsistences with lots of little things, so it is possible that a handful somehow escaped the factory with black engine compartments for varying reasons, but I certainly feel safe concluding that all 72-up Mavericks and Comets have body colored engine compartments, and from my experience, it really isn't likely a 71 model has a factory black engine compartment. On a side note, body colored engine compartments are one of the advantages of Mavericks and Comets over early Mustangs. Restored Mustangs are stuck with that dull black engine compartment. 71-up Mavericks and Comets have a decided advantage over Mustanges by having body colored engine compartments.
Well I've had close to 100 Fords over the years and if there is one thing I've learned about them is they are always consistent and do it the same exact way..until they do it different...or not! My '71 Black factory Grabber I bought almost new (less than a year old)was GLOSS black under the hood with factory decals,and I remember waxing under the hood...go figure!
Both my 71 grabbers have factory black paint in the engine compartment, and both are kansas built cars
What are your build dates? EDIT ... I see one them is built November, 1970 from you Marti Report ... so it's beginning to look like 1970 built cars are black ... 1971 Built cars are Body Color. Mine was built in Jan, 1971 in KS and it's red inside.
There is enough members here we should be able to prove or disprove this mystery, doing some searching I found a couple of things that need further looking into. 1. 1970 mavericks have black engine compartment, I have seen ones that were made in Kansas (K) but were they produced any where else? 2. 1971 some Mavericks have a black engine compartment, I wonder if this was done on early 71's that were built in 70 at the (K) plant, serial #'s should make light on this. 3. 1972 some Mavericks and Comets have Black compartments and so far it points to cars from (F) Dearborn. According to River Rouge Ford's Industrial Colossus book Dearborn produced Mavericks and Comets 1972 & 73, so I wonder how many were actually produced at this plant since most Mavs you see are made at (k) and (x), also being the home of the black compartment Mustang they might have painted the Mav's and Comets the same way or they were carless some times? 4. 1973 I have a early 73 Maverick (F) Dearborn that was built in 72 and its Engine compartment is factory Black (and for those who don't believe at the next Roundup you can check it out in Person) Also another strange thing is awhile back I think it was Maverick73? was getting info together from all the 73 owners and if I remember correctly I was the only one that had a (F) Maverick on the list which is very strange? Majority were (K) The Mystery continues...........
Of all 3 71 grabbers .......Ok 2 of my grabbers were built on 11-1970 both have black engine bays, 1 of them was built on 10-1970 also a black engine bay, so i think you guys are correct on the earlier built cars....i find it weird ive never had a body color engine bay, even on my 71 gt's i figured black was common...and paint color was rare....but by the way your talking not many seem to see black engine bays
