If your proof is in the parts listings, that isn't much proof. I've found first hand how wrong those can be when ordering parts for my car. And when have you had experience with a pre 74 factory disc brake Maverick/Comet? How could you prove that car came with discs from the factory and that someone just didn't throw Mustang components on it? I gotta side with Craig here. He knows his stuff about how these cars came from the factory probably better then anyone else here. The real question is, was it possible to special order a Maverick/Comet from the factory with discs prior to 74?
It would not have been possible to order a Maverick/Comet this way because it was not offered as an option. There would have been no place on the order form for disc brakes....because it was not an option before the 1974 model year.
FORD factory service manual for 1973 shows N/A for anything having to do with disc brakes on a Maverick OR Comet. 1973 Volume #1 page 12-20-01 That says to me that it was not available on 73 cars. Somebody added it later.
Just looked it up myself as well, Chiltons says the same. The Grabber I pulled them from was a 73, maybe it had been swapped previously. It was a straight six from factory, the guy told me it had a V8, but it had motor mount brackets for a 6. Its possible it was a 74, but my 74 with a 6 had drums... beats me. I thought the disc option went back to 72, I guess I was wrong.
My 73 Ford dealer product guide shows N/A for disc brakes on a Maverick/Comet... Probably shoulda looked at the book long ago... I forget I have books from the era sometimes. Don't need to sort through rumor and Auto Zone catalogs that way. Dave
Note about TRE and swapping spindles According to my MOOG master catalog and some research in the specification area. The 70 to 74 Mavericks as well as 70 Falcon, 69 Boss Mustang and all 70 Mustangs use the same outer tie rod end (part # ES387R). The 74-77 Mavericks and 75-80 Granadas use a different tie rod end (part # ES426S). The difference is in the size of the taper on the pin, though they may bolt into the hole but may move the pivot point down. If you run into a bumpsteer (squirly on launch) this may be where the problem stems from. Now its easy to fix just get Granada outer tie rod ends (the length and threads are the same according to the specs by MOOG). Another note most all the cars above use the same lower control arm and ball joint. As for the upper my book does not have specs, just a photo. The 69 has its own upper. The 70-77 Maverick (part # K8142) has a grease fitting. The 75-80 Granada (part # K8242) has no grease fitting but the shape looks the same. Wonder if the pin height might be different. Thought some might find this interesting.
I'm running a '74 drum spindle on the passenger side of my '72 and the drivers side still has the original '72 drum spindle. The tie rod ends looked identical between the 2 cars and the '72 tie rod end fit perfectly into the '74 spindle.
definately interesting there dirt racer. I'll try to do some comparison before we swap the Fairlane to discs. It probably needs tie rod ends anyway.
The differences that focus around the 69 model Stang deal with the swap from 3 bolt upper ball joints to 4 bolt. Other than this, they interchange. You just need to use the correct ball joint for the arm rather than the car if you swap. Also, Boss 429s had different front end geometry, so tie rod ends may swap, but most everything else is unique due to the laid over shock towers. Small differences mark parts from 68 to Granada, but for the most part, they interchange with careful attention to details. I also notice that this can even be expanded to even earlier Fords in the sixties, HOWEVER, the higher tech parts like disc brakes for example, are more complex. Not to mention, much harder to find. IMO, 68 is the first year for reasonably swappable parts. They become much more common, progressively less complex, with fewer parts to break, and are much more widely servicable and reproduced to some extent. Dave
Why are you asking same thing in a different thread??? Already stated they won't fit... A '70s T-Bird weighed in the neighborhood of 4500Lbs, that's roughly 1200-1500Lbs more than a Maverick/Comet... Meaning suspension, brakes etc are HUGE compared to intermediate & compact models... Also suspension is totally different than Maverick, Mustang, Torino, Fairlane, Falcon, Granada etc that all used similar components... As long as one sticks with complete system, components from these vehicles interchange... Fairlane, Falcon,Torino & Mustang use different components than does Maverick & Granada, parts do not interchange between the systems... In addition there are differences in the Torino - Mustang systems between 1969 & 1970 model years...
