The boys first car, but not first build (BFC Grabber)

So now that the boy has made it back from fishing (and knows I got him a car while he was gone) he has dug in already.

Over the weekend, he removed 90% of the interior, and pulled the drivers door apart to see why the window would not go up.

We have reconfirmed that nothing short of full length pans will do, so I need to pick up the closest fit and get them massaged into place. It also has some door bottom and rear well rust, should be easy fixes for both of those.

The drivers window has an issue that I am sure someone here will be able to clear up for me. The front rivet is in the glass, but the rear hole is not even close to lining up. The rear rivet hole seems to be at the back of the bottom slider channel, but the hole in the glass is about 1/3rd of the way in from that location? Either the glass or the channel is wrong.

The floor shifter that has been installed needs to go, it is a giant piece of junk, and every time the boy gets in it to make his vroom vrooom noises, I am afraid its going to jump into reverse and take out the T-Bird.. A nice B&M is in order I think.

Also, given that the shifter is now floor mounted, would be good to find a column that does not have the auto collar. The tiny wheel that is on it needs to be replaced with something respectable.

It has an interesting aftermarket glove box feature, either that or a guy who was rather good with metal built it for the thing. Can't imagine that is the case, as none of the other work ever done to this car seems to have been done by anyone who had a true clue.

Needs door hinge pin rebuilds, along with hood hinge rebuilds.

The small rear bumper is bent, not sure that I can find anyone to repair it.

Deck lid is bent and deck lid spoiler is hammered. Gonna have to find replacements for both of those.

It has a monster 4 row rad in it but it hits the underside of the hood ever so slightly. Seems to have left some small outward dents in it. Gonna have to see if we can get it to sit a touch lower.

Loads of random wiring fixes need to be done, not sure what electrical idiot worked on this thing before, but he needs to be tied to the back of a cross country truck.

It has a GT flip open gas cap, gonna have to figure out what it came off of, and find someone who wants it, then replace it with the correct cap.


Aside from that, she's cherry!































I will have him get some pictures of the inside with the interior out tonight.

 

A few years back, I spent a week in Tacoma and was amazed seeing the vast amount of old cars that still had great body panels left. My cousin told me that they didn't use road salt because if it snowed, it would be gone the next day. Driving from Sea-Tac to Tacoma I was passed on I-5 by a 60 Impala convertible, and a 71 Plymouth Valient.

Just amazed me

In PA, they must salt the roads in July, so they can get their full salt allotment the next year

 

Yeah, born and raised here in Washington, so I am pretty spoiled by all the old sheet metal that is still around. At my place I have a few examples of that. Honestly, the toughest thing on cars around here is interior mold, it can trash an otherwise good interior.

 

Overall it looks like the car is in pretty good condition. The Grabber hoods are pretty expensive and the rear spoilers are getting harder to find.

 

I can likely repair the rear spoiler, but the deck lid has enough of a bend in the frame work that I think replacement would be the best long term fix. Looks like someone dropped a sack of potato's on it.

 

You dont have to have a Grabber deck lid as any 2 door trunk lid can be drilled for the spoiler, if you need a good one with no rust either Grabber or regular I have several, dont know what shipping charges would be but trying to find a good one, time and gas it might be cheaper to get mine.

Also have a good spoiler if you dont feel like messen with yours but it aint going to be cheap.

As for the window problem, Canadian Mavericks had different windows than the Americans and the difference being the space on the holes that hold the window in, sounds like you might have a mix and match combo.

I have glass and regulators as well, clear and tinted. Also have some decent doors

If interested in any of this stuff shoot me a pm.

 

The non-Grabber trunk lids are far easier to find than the Grabber ones. I turned my stock 70 rear deck lid into one that would accept a Grabber spoiler. Just measure your Grabber hole spacings and transfer them to the rear tip of the stock lid. I would have to measure again but I believe it was a 1 inch hole saw that I used to drill straight into the tip of the rear lip. I leaned the trunk lid up against a saw horse until the tip of the rear lip was pointing straight up to the sky and then it was easy to drill straight down through the lip of the lid. There are also inside rectangular access holes that I duplicated with a saw.

 

I grew up in Vancouver/Portland area, and still get down to see family pretty regularly, I am gonna have to make a plan to come and see you when I get down that way again.

 

You beat me to it, Mike. I was composing while you were answering

 

Yellow75 (Mike) has good solid parts. I just got a small front bumper stone guard from him shipped across the country.

 

Thanks Bob, there are a few on this forum that can state the same thing And many more that have purchased parts from me off of ebay and probably didnt even know it was me

 

I seem to find myself up in the Washington area more and more as the Oregon people dont want to play and show their Mavericks I may not have the nicest Maverick by far but I am proud of and love to talk with other owners and the general public about it and theirs.

Give me a shout when you are heading down this way

 

Ok, so here is the glove box. I figure it's home made, but could have been a produced piece many years ago. Either way, done in a perfectly matching color, I think it will look good in the car.

 

I am surprised the gauges didn't fall through the floor.....
Gotta love the craptacular wiring mess too...





Oh yeah, I need a heater core too, along with the cover for the box???

 

By the look of the rust trail, I am guessing I will be doing a cowlendectomy..