My 1972 Grabber a few months after I bought her in 1992, I was 18 years old. Found this pic the other day in the attic. Only thing I had done at this point was scraped off the peeling black vinyl top and painted it with some Krylon flat black. Here she is Summer 94', had bought some rims, changed out the gears to a 4:11 8"TracLok, was building an engine and trans and decided I was going to give her a paint job, started stripping it down. Here is the engine I built, original 302, had the block bored .030, flat top TRW's, 66' 289 Heads home ported, figured 9.5 to 10:1 compression but not 100% sure, Magnum Roller Tip Rockers, CompCams Hyd. 280 Magnum Cam, Holley Street Dominator Intake(it was free from a friend at the time), Edelbrock 600cfm carb, Hedman Headers.... I think thats all. This is the original C4. The first trans I ever rebuilt, got a rebuild kit, B&M shift kit, and BossHog Converter, think it was in the 2200rpm stall range, with a Hurst ratchet shifter(mand I thought those were the coolest things on earth...lol) Pulled out the old Chilton manual my dad had and went to town, lets just say I was nervous the first time I put her in gear, but it turned out great. These are the only pics I can find of the fresh paint my Dad and I put on it, can't find any of the entire finished product at the time either, for the interior I had put in a new dash cover, carpet, headliner and new weather stripping on the front and rear windows and doors. They are probably in my parents house somewhere, will dig around for them someday. Remember this was 1994 when 5.0 Mustangs were at every corner and stoplight, with that engine, trans and rearend combo I was giving them all the hell they wanted. The only ones who could beat me were spraying, and the ones who couldn't thought I was spraying. Man, I sure had fun with it back then. Present day, this is where I get depressed. A couple of years later, marriage, career, kids & bills sort of took over and began my neglect of the Maverick. The good news is I kept her, but I should have my ass kicked for letting it sit out in the weather for 6 years and not even having the common courtesy of rolling it up and down the driveway every now and then and giving her a regular bath. I just finished my little garage in the back yard and pushed her around back to her new home.... her paint is fading and chipping after 15 years, sold the centerline wheels years ago to pay a bill or two put the original caps back on(I do like those though), front seat is rotten, engine is all rusty, fuel tank is full of water, needs heavy duty brake work. Notice the black bumpers, started running low on funds at the time and just painted them with some black spray paint instead of the re-chrome, believe it or not at the time they looked pretty good. Here she is today with some future plans after...... The good news, I have become newly motivated and have a little garage to get some stuff done in. Don't have a ton of money, but plan on getting her back in shape and plan to start sometime this summer. Here is a list of the main things I have been researching and would like to do over the next couple of years... Front Disc Brakes Rebuild the engine possibly a stroker 331/347 with other goodies Rebuild Trans New paint with the proper Grabber stripes(paint or decal kit) Get the interior back in shape, especially the front seat, may go with buckets, not sure yet Get the bumpers re-chromed Those are the main things I would like to accomplish over the next couple of years, I am sure once I get started there will be much more added to the list, but those are my main goals. Wish me luck in getting my Maverick back on the road. Love the forum, don't post much but you guys are great motivators, when I look at your cars, it gives me that old Maverick fever I used to have.
join the crowd i just stated on mine after it sat in storage for 35 years got to go thru everything but it will be worth it in the end.
I think most of us have neglected our cars for a certain time just with other things getting in the way. I didn't touch mine for almost 2years before I started again. Looks like you have a good base and take some progress pics
Like you said, "I kept her." Well now is the time to pay the old girl back and fix her. I'm sure she will treat you fine after that. Cool pictures by the way!!!!
It's cool that you kept the car through the years. This forum dose get the maverick blood flowing. Ken
MEMPHIS.... Olive Branch here, PM me your your number.I like cruz over in my mav check out your mav.Those pixs look like that is in the Summer ave area.
Just be so thankful you did keep it! You can always fix it back up a little bit at a time and they don't "eat" much just sitting there.I"m in my mid 50s and have been telling young guys for years,if you have a done car you put all your time and money in as a young guy and are now "growing up" (kids ,house,wife ect.)don't sell it if at all possible,shove it in your uncles barn,cover it in an old building(dads)anything ,just keep it...someday you"ll wish you had it back,and if you kept it you can start fixing it up again ( and not have to pay Barett/Jackson $98,000 for one! )Good Luck
atleast you don't have to say: "I used to have a maverick" "I wish I would have kept it" Congrats and good luck.
"I used to have a maverick" "I wish I would have kept it" Been there, said that but now it's behind me too! It's taken me 30 years to get another.
