How to build a FAST 6-banger Maverick (Lotsa Photos)

Pretty much. Lost my job soon after the purchase and lost my workshop about 5 months ago.

Just picked up a C6 transmission the other day and started a new job a few weeks ago, so hopefully in a few months this can become an active project again.

As to the doing it right post, I am referring to the LS head chop&swap, no other constructor bothered to check bore alignment. The only way to get it lined up is to cut it into 6 pieces, not two halves or three sections, which is what I have seen done (and actually seen run).

At this point I have an 8.8 31 spline rear axle awaiting shortening, I have the C6 in the shop, and I have to finish scrubbing the chassis down and strip the rest of the fuel and brake lines off. As soon as I can get some shop space back, I will get back to this project.

 

Cool. Sucks about the job and shop space though. I hate it when that happens. As I said, never did see an actual LS head done. Only heard about two or three of them tried here and there. Interested to see how well it performs once you get everything lined out.

 

You may not need 2 turbos to make the power you are looking for.I saw a Thunderbird last yr racing with the Pro Stick group,guys last name was House.Don`t hold me to it,but I believe he had only 1 Turbo on his 2300cc 4 cyl mtr,I`m sure it is a BIG ONE as he went 7.61 sec. in the qtr. mile(car is called AWESOME FOURSOME).I talked to one of the racers in his class & he laughed & said he has broke many a big blocks heart.You will certainly have something different than anyone else at the trk.

 

That does suck but good to hear that despite some temporary setbacks you haven't completely abandoned the build. Am very interested in seeing how it all goes together and turns out for you when it's all said and done. Also glad to hear that you're still looking out for a steel crank too. Money well spent if you get lucky and find one.

 

A lot of nice hair work. Love the out of the box effort. That being said...........I fully intend to put the V-8 cars back on the trailer before I drive it home at night, so it will be a contender...All I can Say is BRING IT.

 

lol.. I love it!

Just make damned sure you get him off the line and carry him as far as you possibly can.. cause he'll surely be reeling you in on the big end.

 

Bold statement considering that most projects never leave the garage. Just Sayin. See you at the track.

 

I sure hear that! Life's full of good intentions and long lists of to-do's but following through and turning them into reality is the toughest part. Life has a way of suddenly changing your priorities until dreams eventually get buried by the weight of reality.

Still rooting for the OP's project here though.. mainly because I like "different than the rest". And this most definitely qualifies as being "different". In my book he gets bonus points just for attempting something this complicated and demanding.

 

I'm hoping that he finishes the Maverick TOO.

 

Any updates?

 

Not much has happened. I have acquired four steel cranks, changed a door, and found a new storage space for the car. Finished up three cylinder heads, and am in the process of tweaking them to match each other, in port flow and combustion chamber shape and size. The plan is to build three motors and three transmissions. I have three C6 cores too, so nothing major there.

At this point I have started a new job, but the time to finish the car just hasn't been there. It does steer and stop now but the 8.8 is still in the floor.

 

Lot has happened in the 3 years since...just not with the Mav. Opened and operated my own shop for a while, sold it out to my employees when it was starting to cause me health problems from stress. Picked up a good office job in a machine shop, doing CAD/CAM work and project management. It's not too bad, I'm 3 months in and I make a little better money than I did with the workshop. Stress isn't too bad, although I am away from home 10 hours a day.

Been working on the rear axle assembly this weekend, it's an Explorer 8.8 31-spline that will likely wind up with a 35 spline setup in it eventually. For now, leftover parts from other jobs got bought at "used to work here" prices and got stuck together. Is it enough for a "bulletproof" axle? Nah. But for 300$, it's good enough to play with.

8.8" axle, 3.25" diameter tubes, 0.25" thick. 100$
Shortened up to 55.875" long (I didn't check the new bearing housings first, just went with the numbers I already knew)
9" ford axle bearings, Torino-style, shoulda noticed they were a tiny bit shorter than the once I used to order, 35$
4140 1-piece axle forgings, 29" long axles that a customer bought and took home, cut them too short, and brought back. 100$
Inexpensive bulk-buy 31 spline spool, 40$
New carrier and axle bearings, 27$
Shim kit, 9$.

So, I'm in 311$ for an 8.8 axle, with 9" ends, 11" disk brakes, and legal axles. I'm good with this. Brought all the parts home into the too-crowded shop and made with the angle grinder.

Old ends cut off, 2.875" removed from the long side, and the line-up bar fitted:



Here's why the axle is 1/8" too short, these are for a 3" tube, not a 3.25" tube...



Spent a crap load of time scrubbing oil and grease out of the axle tubes, had massive problems with weld porosity. Ground it all back out, scrubbed it down again, still steel foam, did it a third time, still welded like crap in one section. Got pissed, whipped out the ER309L stainless rod, and magically the problems went away.



After welding on the bearing housings, it was time to let everything cool off, and then I came back a few hours later and welded the tubes into the housing, and let those cool. Then, the straightening has to happen. Hot, slow, nasty looking weld beads are run on the side the tube that you need the bearing housing to move toward-they can look gross, because they get ground off later. A good oxyfuel torch will let you just heat the tube up too, but I use what I got. Couple of long stringers, and three short rows, and I'm there-the locating puck slides in and out with almost no drag.



I wasn't kidding when I said ugly-they get ground down anyway so they don't matter. It's just a method of getting the tube to shrink up.

I'll straighten out the other axle tomorrow and then it's time to put some goodies back in it...

Cheap spool!



Maybe not working on hot rods and race cars all day long will keep me motivated to work on my own car for a while. It was fun owning a shop and building cool stuff, but once it became a "Job" it slowly stopped being fun.

 

Looking at buying a much more complete, but potentially more rusty car this week. Can't keep both of them.

One california shell may get chopped to provide panels for the complete kentucky car, considering my cali shell is a little beat up on the passenger side. The kentucky car needs a lower rear quarter panel, but until I can judge the rust situation...

That and I'm still working out getting the dang cali title transferred!