1971 Maverick Grabber

1971 Maverick Grabber
Built on October 7, 1970

Purchased new from Moorhead Ford in Mansfield, OH by Cecilia Kozak (age 60) in October, 1970. Sold to the grandson of the original salesman in 1997 after original owner's husband passed away. Car had 18,000 original miles on it at this time.

Second owner, John Niznik put the car up for sale in the summer of 2012 to help finance his son's college enrollment. By now the car had 19,345 miles on it. @Green70 had gone and looked at the car and posted a thread on it HERE, before I purchased it.

After losing my father to cancer in June, 2012, I set out searching for another Maverick, as it had been almost 10 years since I sold my first Maverick that he and I had worked on over the years. I bought this car in August 2012 for $4500 and had it shipped the 1,200 miles from Mansfield, Ohio to my home in Saint John, NB, Canada. After receiving the car on September 9, 2012, it was noticed that the master cylinder was leaking. I replaced all the rubber hoses, wheel cylinders and the master cylinder, rebuilt the carburetor and drove the car for the remainder of that fall. The mileage was 20,800 when I parked it.

After driving the car for 1,500 miles that fall, I noticed there was leaves and debris falling onto the floor from under the dash. I later discovered that the cowl had rusted through. The car had lots of 'smell' issues, form the mice that had made it their home over the years. This was also the cause of the cowl rot--two mouse nests inside the cowl, blocking the drains at the ends.

In January 2013, I decided to remove the windshield and possibly the dash to address the cowl repair. As most regulars here know, it would take another four years to finish the repairs after I started digging! I replaced the cowl with a rust-free piece I purchased from @Craig Selvey via this very forum. I also decided to restore the engine and engine compartment, swap to 5-lug wheels and put disc brakes at all four corners. I replaced the carpet, did my own headliner, had a new vinyl top put on and finally put the car back on the road in late June of 2016.

I have since put around 3,000 miles on the car. I am very pleased with the end result. The car still wears its original Grabber Yellow paint on the exterior, it is deadly-reliable and gets positive comments and feedback wherever it goes.

You can follow the detailed step-by-step progress of the build in my Project Thread HERE.