Hello everyone, I've been here for a bit just watching and reading threads but finally decided to sign up. My dad bought a 1977 Maverick from a guy who lived near him about a year ago for around $500 and we've just not had time to work on it. That changed recently when I lost my IT job at the hospital and switched to an IT job at a pharmaceutical company. Now I have time and a bit of money to dedicate to getting everything running again. This is the only photo I have of the car right now: She's got a ton of issues: ROUGH idle, refuses to stay running unless you touch the gas for the first few minutes Shifting out of park kills the car If you turn the wheel the power steering pump sprays fluid past the tires(fun!) The brake pedal drops straight to the floor The radiator has a huge leak The water pump is seizing The wheels are warped The seats are coming apart The carpet has been ripped up So far we've grabbed a new power steering pump and radiator to get in and either this weekend or the next we'll be pulling the car into our barn to get to work on evening everything out. Once we get everything running I'll be moving the maverick down to my house along with my dad's old 302 while he works on the 400 for his car. I'll be digging through old posts to find advice on how to get things done from time to time and posting pictures as we make progress. Looking forward to having something to share! Also, if anyone knows where I can get ahold of some decent auto fabric I'd appreciate it. We have buckets to put in but my wife and I really like the bench-style seats.
Welcome! Looks like the body is reasonably solid for a $500 car, and other than that you have pretty much the exact condition expected at the price. Once you deal with the cooling system issues I suspect you'll find a malfunctioning automatic choke which is causing your rough idle when cold. The stock carbs are simple and reliable, easy to rebuild. Here's a place which has been around forever selling auto, aircraft, and marine upholstery fabrics. https://upholsterysupply.com/
There's no telling what's been done to this poor car, the previous owner ended his time with it by driving through a cornfield and getting arrested. The front end was just a frame until we got some new body panels. The VIN on the dash and the door don't match either.
