Dyno Don Scale Build

I’ve only been here a few days and came here because I’ve always liked the Maverick/ Comet Line Up. My brother and I grew up being avid sports car fans and both later became 60’s Mustang fans. I’ve owned three 1967 Mustangs and my brother Steve owned his own 67 as well. At the same time we’ve always admired the Mavericks. Time passed on and we both did what dang near everybody does and we got rid of our cars. I eventually got an 89 LX 5.0 that I did the WORKS to and drove that for 10 years but I got rid of that 10 years ago to get the truck that I have now. Here’s to kicking myself in the butt yet once again. It’d be real nice to have a sports car back in the works again at some point. I mean, I’ve had a little fun with my 94 Silverado by replacing the worn out 350 with a 383 stroker, beefing my 4L60E transmission up and installing a 2200 rpm stall with a 3:90 geared locker out back ……but it just aint the same….ya know? My brother, on the other hand, managed to get his hands ahold of a 1972 Maverick. He drove it for a couple of years and then he made plans for it that were bigger than his wallet and after taking it all apart ….the rebuild stalled out. He sold it later on and it ended up in a wrecking yard some years afterward. If given the opportunity I'd buy one myself as I've always admired these cars.

With that being said, I spend a lot of my time now building in scale. Over the last 39 years I’ve gotten a lot better at it and really try to concentrate on realism and appeal. It does cost a lot less than the real thing and I get to create dream rides somewhat but what I don’t get out of the deal is the opportunity to drive what I create. It does seem to fill somewhat of a void however.

With that being said, I was going to see about doing something a little different here on this forum. Being that I build in scale, I’ve acquired two Jo-Han Ford Maverick kits that I’ve been dying to build. One has never been built and the other one is a glue bomb that someone else tackled and that I need to take apart and re-do. If you all are up to it, I’d like to start a thread on Dyno Don’s 1970 Maverick. I’ll be paying all of the attention to it that I would on an actual car so this won’t be one of those “Naa Naa there I did it” builds. I use a lot of aftermarket items and use a lot of the skills I’ve acquired over the last almost 4 decades. IMO this is just the place to do this because I’ve got all the experts here with first-hand knowledge of the Maverick/ Comet platforms. It usually takes me between 3-6 months to turn each build out so I’ll be taking my time with this.

The kit is a Jo-Han offering and I got mine a few years ago at the decent price of $50. Nowadays these kits are running in the upwards of $300+!!!! Pretty basic kit really as it is just a promo model with an engine. The one piece chassis blows big time so there’ll be some mods there. As a matter of fact there’ll be a lot of mods to this one to get it where I’ll want it.

Let me know if this is something you all would be interested in seeing. If so AND if the mods don’t mind…I’ll continue onwards after I hear from you all.

The kit:



And……the subject.

 

Bring it on, love seeing people create works of art! Being a Maverick is just an added bonus.

 

Please show details because now that I'm retired I have more time to work on the models I've gathered.

Bruce

 

Thanks for the interest Bruce and RMiller.

Bruce: I'll be going into details bud. For sure.

 

I have some model kits lying around and if I ever use them it will only be body, glass, and bumpers. If you need parts, I would be happy to send them your way. I usually just throw away the rest of the kit after I use a body.

 

It's probably the most famous Maverick in existence! Good choice.

 

I have some model kits lying around and if I ever use them it will only be body, glass, and bumpers. If you need parts, I would be happy to send them your way. I usually just throw away the rest of the kit after I use a body.

Thanks for that Stuart. Hopefully, I'll be hearing back from Stefan on the PM I sent him about this thread pretty soon. Just want to make sure I've got all my "I's" and "T's" crossed. lol

 

Maverick Dude: I've got that video too. I've dug up about all the information I can on this car. It's not the original but I really like the stance and over all look of this car. Thanks for posting that.

 

I had the distinct honor to see that Maverick race at Dragway 42 in West Salem, Ohio in the early 70's. It was being driven by Ken Dondero, Dyno's hired driver at the time. His opponent? The man himself, Dyno Don driving his 351C Pinto. Ken had him beat, but lifted at the big end to let the boss advance. I LOVED that Maverick, but who wouldn't?

 

That would've been a sight to see. Looks like I missed out on those days somewhat. In the early 70's I was still playing with Tinker Toys and Lincoln Logs. lol

 

Looks like I've got the "Green Light" to proceed gang. At least I'll feel like I'm contributing somewhat around here. lol

 

First things first. Can't do a Dyno Don build without DD decals. So I picked a set up. I can't remember who it was but it was on Ebay. After doing some research I found that these decals are available from a few vendors. Slixx comes to mind. Looking back.....Slixx might've been the way to go.



The very FIRST thing that needs to change is the chassis on this car. As I've mentioned before....this is a PROMO model with a very basic interior but it does have a GREAT engine. A Boss 429 or 427 SOHC can be built. In the case of DD's car we'll be going with the 427.
N E wayz…..onto the chassis.
This.....is NOT the way I'll be going with this one piece chassis. Notta:


I'll be using the chassis from this kit here that's got all the separate suspension parts:

 

Someone has made mention on another site that the Revell Thunderbolt Fairlane chassis would work a little better for accuracy sake. Seems the fuel tank in the Mavericks are offset a little to the drivers side.



The Thunderbolt Fairlane chassis depicts this detail accurately. I didn't know that detail to start off with but the Mustang chassis fits in there like it was made for it after a few simple adjustments.

 

Welcome Mustang1989. You have my attention! This is going to be an awesome build. I also have this model. Will be keeping up with your mods. Great choice on subject car too. Really cool.

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Where in the world did you get your model and how long have you had it? These things are NOT going for cheap these days. Even the Comet version of the kit is running somewhere between 80-150 bones.

I've got this one here that I got around 3 years ago for $50 and a glue bomb that I got off of ebay for around $35 but those were exceptions to the rule from what I've seen.