Project "Therapy Sessions" 1972 Maverick

Here you go: http://ringbrothers.com/1965-1970-mustang-door-handle-pair.html Expensive, but NICE!!!

The Drake handles are actually for Mustangs, but fit and look exactly like Maverick handles.

I have a pair of the Drake top of the line chrome handles if anyone wants them. Still in the unopened package. Willing to cut a nice deal, clearly I don't need them anymore.

 

I may be interested in the Drake handles. How good is the chrome? How much do they run new and what kind of deal are you talking?

 

pm sent to you.....

 

sent one back

 

If you don't mind me asking, how much did the cap set you back? PM if you like - thanks

 

That cap with shipping was $275. I know it is a lot of money, but this an all polished, cast stainless steel piece. It is gorgeous in person and is exactly what I was looking for to go on the back of the car instead of the typical gas cap.

 

Finally, back on my project. And it feels good!

So after clearing the shop of all the old projects for everyone else I am back on track working on the Maverick. In my last post I showed some of the parts I have been ordering. Well today it was time to actually get dirty. Yay!!

I bought a set of mirrors from Vision Hot Rods. They are a molded plastic/composite. I like the looks as they are a little bit more modern than the Maverick mirrors without looking too out of place. Today I got both side mounted. These are nice because they give you plenty of material on the stem to cut, trim and shape to your desired needs.






Here I have mounted the new gas cap/filler that I got from Alan Johnson Hot Rods. Investment cast Stainless Steel with a full polish. I just used a couple regular screws to mount it here, but I will use polished stainless for the screws when final mounting takes place.




I bought new inside door handles as well. Today I got the passenger door mounted. Had to do some fab work, but it was worth it in the end. They look nice. Obviously the old door handle will be removed, just had not done it yet.




I am also changing out the arm rests. I used these same ones in the interior of my 47 Ford a few years ago. I really like them. These are brand new reproduction 1957 Chevy arm rests from Danchuk.





This is the end result of the arm rests and door handles installed. I am also going to be installing power windows, so the window crank will disappear soon as well.

 

I like the position of the door handles, I had a 79 Capri, and they were in the same area.

 

So did I. Loved that car. Mine was a turbo 4cyl. That is what gave the idea to put the handles there.

 

Very cool! I am not sure about the mirrors... maybe it is just the pics, but they look like they are sticking out a mile. But, I have seen your other handy work, so I bet they are gonna look awesome!

 

'Sorry, but those side-view mirrors simply do not go with that car.

 

Definitely looks awesome.

 

I like the mirrors, the stock racing mirrors suck!
My Capri was 2.8 v6 Ghia, It was an awesome car.

 

Everyone has an opinion. And I am cool with that. For me, they work. The factory mirrors are in a horrible position and aren't very stylish. In my eyes of course. I am sure there are things about this car that some may not like, and that is cool. It is my vision, I am the only one that has to truly like it.

That being said, look at the first picture of the mirrors and you will see they are not standing way off the car as they appear in some of the other pictures. But, they are not crouched down the way the factory mirrors were either, To me it is a happy balance.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

With Thanksgiving in the rear view mirror I was able to get some good shop time in working on the Maverick project.

Now that I have both NOS quarters in my possession I was able to get going with that repair. I started by stripping the oem primer off of the insides to get them ready for a fresh couple coats of PPG DP90LF Epoxy. I also spent time rough cutting the driver side quarter off the car. Then I started to drill out all the spot welds. I ran into a problem when my Blair Cutter broke. I thought I had a spar, but didn't. So that is as far as I could get with that part of the project.



Before I started to melt out the factory lead I removed the factory headliner. Smart huh?! I don't need any fires. The seams looked really good.




Once that was done I went on and did a custom touch to the inside of the drivers door. I have already done the passenger door some time ago. I took the Ford script logo off of a pair of old Ford steel valve covers. Marked and cut out the top of the inside door frame. Then butt welded in the panel followed by a grinder to smooth the welds. When done and painted I was the script logo to show up, but be subtle. No hi lighting or anything. Just simple. I am actually hoping most people don't notice the change. Sometimes it's the subtle changes that are most fun. But the true "Ford guy" will know that it never came that way.






The last thing I did was shave the drip rails. Mine had a bit of rust that I wasn't sure how I wanted to fix. And I mean fix in as permanent way as possible. So in the end I decided to just shave them off completely. I did this by cutting out roughly 8" sections at a time, tack weld every inch or so, then cut another 8" section etc, etc. Once all welded I ground it all down carefully. It looks good. I then welded the shaped the base of the A pillar so it flows better. I didn't like the way it just stopped before.






Glenn