Hello, I bought a 72 Maverick 302, 2dr as a project and well here goes the details. I bought it with the ac compressor missing, failed power steering pump, interior looking terrible, and body looking just as bad. It fired right up and got through LA rush hour so the important part was there as Ive gotten into projects that are a burden not having anything working. My first mistake was putting a new battery in backwards and frying the wiring. Hey, mistakes are made. Then I replaced the power steering pump and hoses to still have a profound leak from the pitman arm. I paid a guy to paint it and he caused more damage than fixing and that leads me to now. I just took all the interior out and started stripping the paint. Found some rusty spots in the floorboard where someone screwed steel plates over them. The amount of bondo on this car shows that someone was indeed a sculptor but a jerk at the same time. The picture where it looks painted is where the guy left off and disappeared. So, the nasty stripped look is it now and yes, Im going to rattlecan the car because the great state of CA makes it near impossible to paint anything. I dont have a garage just the local hobby shop so 20 cans of primer, color, clear with lots of love with a tack cloth is my best option. I did get 2k solid lacquer tho.
I will add a few things I discovered here that may be of use as well. Epoxy stripper from home depot removes bondo as the picture above shows. Comes off like butter. Also, a cragger ss 15x8" wheel fits perfectly with 255s on the rear. Im in the process of rolling the fenders and can easily see a 275 mounted unless your suspension is as bad as mine. BF goodrichs or mickeys are wider than others so Ill have to check in the future. Leaving the drivetrain alone as it runs now and Ill do that all at once soon enough. Im on the fence about so much. Id like the mustang 2 conversion as my steerin is peeing fluid and its totally shot, the shocks are warn, drums scare me when it rains. But its not cheap The bench seat is all there minus a huge hole from a dog munch through it(supposedly) but I like floor shifters. Fiberglass looked like a great idea until i saw the cost vs weight reduction. I will list it once its painted, interior good, stereo system installed, and gremlins fixed. If nobod bites, then itll be one thing at a time until it does. Too many projects at once. Any advice or comments would be helpful.
from Northeast Pennsylvania I hated to remove the bondo I found in my one of my replacement doors but my painter said "remove all of it" and I'm really glad I did. Now I know what I have. He repaired some prior side swipe damage, with his hammer/dolly, and put it in epoxy primer using very little new bondo to fix it. I still have a quarter panel to strip and that is the same deal. You will be glad you removed all of that bad paint/bondo in the long run. You may not like what you find but it will only get better.
looks like a promising project. my shop is in el cajon and i have allot of extra parts. feel free to stop by some time. i always like to meet another maverick owner.
A comrick!? That's pretty awesome. I like the comet tail-lights a lot better. The stripper did great, another piece of advice is if you do it that route, use a gallon for the entire car and shrink wrap it with that shipping plastic. An old guy here told me that. I attached a pic of the insane bondo depth. It was just over an inch thich in places.
