The Life and Times of My 77 4-Door (1993-2003)

The End of The Road

Now skip to a year later--2003.

I am now finished college, got a job working at the power plant, bought a truck, got engaged and am living with my fiance and mother-in-law. My Dad ended up driving my Maverick for a few months during the winter to get back and forth to work (how could I say "NO"?) and she needed springs, more front frame rail work from the accident a year before and we had no place (that I was allowed) to store it.

Picture 1:
So...up For Sale it went. I had turned my back on the little car that had given me so much. In the lower picture, the new owner is loading it on a flat bed.


Picture 2:
Away she goes! Shortly after this day, I realized the mistake I made and would spend the better part of ten years trying to get back into another Maverick.


Picture 3:
This is the huge lot of parts I included with the sale of the car. So many people wanted to buy my car "just for the disc brakes". I ended up knocking on a fellow Maverick Owner's door and asking if he wanted to buy my car before it got parted out. He gave me the cash right then and there, and the rest is "history".

Note the perfect black dash pad that I now need for my Grabber!!! D'oh!

 

The end

So that's where my last Maverick adventure ended and my new one begins!!

My Dad passed away this June at age 60, and there were a lot of things we were 'going to do' but never got the chance. I owe my Maverick experiences and love of cars all to him. We had so much fun together doing things nobody else understood--like sharing e-bay auctions of Mavericks or Torinos. Driving around for hours down long rural roads peeking into fields and barns searching for that 'big' find. Getting excited over seeing a certain car at a car show.

He is the only reason that I have my Grabber today. The car will never fill the void left by my father, but maybe it will help me share the same kind of fun with my own children. There will definitely never be a For Sale sign in the window of this one.

I wanted to finish this thread with two pictures of Me "driving" my Dad's '76 Maverick back in 1980. I consider these two pictures to be the "Big Bang" of my Maverick obssession. I know that everytime I'm in my Grabber, I'm not alone...

 

Thanks for sharing your great restoration adventure...the journey, the ups and downs. I can relate. And I'm sorry to hear about your Dad..

 

Thanks! I'll try to maybe scan and post some pics of the 70 that I bought with the yellow 77 floor-donor parts car. I had big plans for that, but ended up selling out and going back to school...best decision I ever made.

 

Enjoyed reading your thread so far - thanks for posting

 

Thanks for sharing Paul. Awesome thread!

 

I agree...you did an awesome job on this writeup! It's nice how you honored your late father in it.

 

Thanks guys! I love sharing these stories and I'm glad people like them.

I was going to start another "Flashback" thread, but it's just as fitting to continue on with the saga here. So here are a few pictures of the 70 and the 77 parts-car that I bought in 2000. A little background: I was 21 and still living at home, and desperately wanted a V8 2-door street machine like I remember seeing years earlier roaming the streets (there were a few NICE Mavericks around).

"I bought this 1970 Maverick and 77 Parts Car without my parents knowing, back in 2000. After planning to build a V8 Street Machine, I found out the frame was bent really bad, so I parted it out and crushed the rest so I could go back to school."


TOP: After I had paid for it ($750), here is my best friend and my Dad looking it over.

BOTTOM: Engine compartment. Car was hit on driver's side, so there was no driver's side fender.




TOP: Parked beside a '73 Gran Torino with 351C.

BOTTOM: You can see the yellow car parts used to repair the accident damage, and my 77 4dr in the background.




TOP: 37,000 actual miles. Note the crushed metal dash peeking out from under the instrument cluster. The car was hit HARD! but all I could see was V8's and smoking tires...

BOTTOM: Buck Tag




TOP: Loading up the cars to head home.

BOTTOM: All three of my treasures delivered to Mom and Dad's driveway when Mom was out of town for the weekend. LOL




Plans started early for a Grabber clone. I paid $35 for that spoiler and end caps. The Ford Motorsports Plate would make it go 'faster'.




TOP: Engine compartment.

BOTTOM: Rust-free trunk, quarters and 1970-only drop-in gas tank.




TOP: Yanking the 200 out to put into my 77 4-door, and to make way for a V8. Note the kink in the passenger side fender from the accident (hit on driver's side).

BOTTOM: A fender fitted to the driver's side, but would rub on door. This is how I found out the car was bent BAD!!




TOP: 77 Parts car. It had 5-lug power discs and 8-ich rear. Perfect for swapping into the 70.

BOTTOM: I Had to cut up the car and get rid of it before Mom got back. I saved the floor pan, the rest went in the CTC (Canadian Tire, where I was working at the time) metal bin.

 

Man I remember working out in the snow! I replaced the transmission in my GTO one winter. It was nice because it slid under the car nice and easy on the ice but man was it cold lying under the car.

 

Great thread. Excellent story. Thanks for posting.
Dave

 

I've done this and much more in my younger days - in a driveway - covered with snow

 

That just makes me cold!

 

Excellent thread