Ok, I have a feeling this is prolly insain, but, some mechanic friend's of my father sugested I get a junked out early 90s mustang and take its V8, transmistion, rear axle, air conditioning, power steering and power breaks and put them all on my Maverick. I am not doing a classic restoration, I want to modernize several elements of my Mav but find such a solution far fetched. Can I really do this? is it a good idea? Is there a better idea? Like I said in my other thread, Im new to this and all the help has been invaluble.
Anything can be done with Mavericks!! Have a look around at some of the cars in the gallery. Swapping a 90's Mustang engine and transmission is easy, the rest will be a bit of work.
IF you have the talent or at least the desire to learn, it can be done. It would also, in my opinion, be a pretty cool thing to do. I am doing that with my 57 Ranchwagon and a 93 Lincoln Towncar. The whole drive train, interior and accessorys will be incorporated in to my 57.
I have the roller 302, 5 speed and the driveshaft in mine from a '93. I did some fitment for the evaporator box under the dash and am confident i can get the stangs a/c system fitted with little mods at all.
The engine and trans can be done without much problem at all. The engine will bolt in with stock Maverick frame and motor mounts. The trans may require a little massaging on the trans tunnel and a modified transmission crossmember. I don't really see the point in swapping the rearend, just seems like extra work that could be avoided. I would just get a better gear for the 8 inch, and if you want rear disc brakes, there are kits on ebay from Mustang Steve to swap the SN95 Mustang style rear discs right onto the original Maverick rear.
Swap My reply is pretty much like Jamie's ... Swap the motor and tranny. You can use the rear axle and get an easy 5 bolt conversion by getting two Ranger driver side axles and brakes. Passenger side axles are the wrong length. If what I have read is correct, that axle ought to be 57" which is very close to what came in a Mav. As far as adapting the Mustang front suspension ... there are far better choices that are an equal amount of fabrication. Strut suspensions aren't really that much better than what is in there, they just take up less room and were easy for mass production. Look into some of the Mustang II style kits. That will allow you to remove the shock towers and give you a ton of room. A/C ... you can probably keep the compressor from the Mustang and adapt it to a Maverick or a street rod-style system. Our underdash area is tiny on these cars.
