Someday, I will work on being a much more social sort of guy...I really love being around old cars, and car folks, I'm just not the most talkative. But if picture are worth 1,000 words, let me make up for that via visuals. To begin with, my project is a 1974 Maverick, with 302/C4. Thanks to the super powers of Marti, this car was originally Pearl White, with a white vinyl roof. Hard to tell when it was painted, and the vinyl roof removed...but whoever did it, did a fair job. It's only by removing the carpet, or some of the trim that you can find any hint of white. Paid a bit more than I should have for it, considering the brakes have more texture than a 45, the power steering is useless, and a number of other factors.... "runs and drives great, he says...needs basically nothing he says..." But, that said, it made the 100 mile trip back home, with only about 80 miles of white knuckle driving. Engine fires up every time, and that's more than I can say about most of my previous projects. On that note, this is my 38th car. Ranging from a 4-door 1966 Bonneville, to a 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe. I like to tinker. That is to say, I'm just a few steps ahead of being an idiot with a wrench, but many steps from being an expert. I had wanted to get back into a Mustang (lost my 1971 Mustang Fastback, in 2009), but with the ever rising prices...and some helpful nudging from some friends, I looked into other platforms. So, long story long...here we are now. Many of the things I want to do with the car are not original, and I give full credit and props to all the members who have forged the path before me. Some of the vehicles on this forum are just absolutely mind boggling, in terms of creativity and effort. So, my short list of things to do, not in order of priority or anything really: Body: - Install either the RC-106 or RC-107 suspension conversion. After lots of consideration, and reading the hundreds of different opinions of manual vs power steering...then looking at the sad shape of my entire front end...I decided to just start over. - Conversion to Shelby tail lights. It's entirely unlikely that I'll ever own the Brittney Blue '67 GT500 that I want....and having seen how great the conversion looks on other's cars....yeah....definitely doing this. - Conversion to smaller bumpers, as well. I like chrome on cars. I just don't think I need Jay Leno's chin on mine. - Address surface rust on inner roof, floors, etc.... - Modify hood to more permanent solution. Hood scoop is just bonded to hood, and it's cracking badly. Engine/trans: - Deletion of A/C. I live in Georgia. It doesn't get hot here, so I don't need it. Plus, it makes it a lot easier to get at things on the engine. Some marginal weight savings/less horsepower loss, too. - Refresh of engine overall. Nothing exotic. Looking at the Weiand stealth intake, Holley Avenger 570, GT40 heads, upgrade alternator... Keep it simple. When I get the heads off, I'll check the condition of the cylinders as well, and may have to adjust the plan.... - Probably swap to AOD at some point, make it a little more rpm friendly on the highways... Interior: - Rear seat delete. - Redo the makeshift stereo.. - Upgrade the dash to have more useful gauges. Currently, my speedo works. My fuel gauge seems to be on a voluntary basis. - Probable upgrade of seats. I dunno. These bucket seats are actually pretty comfortable.... - Switch to Vintage Air heat....as it's more compact, and replaces all the old/worn out stuff. Misc: -Repair/replace as needed....side mirrors, some trim, etc and so forths. Pretty straight forward. Make it fun to drive, look cool (to me) and enjoy it. And document all the parts I use, so that others can possibly benefit from it. Here we go!
So, step one, is yoink (technical term) the rear seats, and see what I'm working with under the mildew and musk. Which got me here: Not terrible. Surface rust, nothing penetrating. Lot less than I expected from a California car. Rear seats are now sitting on my porch, and make a pretty nice patio seat. Won't ever have passengers in the back, so might as well pull out the seatbelts too. And maybe take a dremel to the seat brackets...otherwise I see me losing a lot of skin on those...
Today, decided to address some of the the awesome A/C/power steering/emissions nightmare. The AC had been "modernized" at some point, but a quick test of the fitting proved that the lines were completely empty. So, while I do worry about the environment...someone before me did all the damage that was going to be done. :/ Anyway, the removal of the AC/PS was going to necessitate a new belt, so I did some looking around. Found a new water pump pulley, Ford part CODE-8509 on Ebay, got it for $20. Measured out what I thought was going to be the belt length, and bought a belt from Oreilly, part number 7430, 43-3/4" length. After a small mishap with starting the engine while the fan shroud was disconnected (idiot with wrench, don't forget ), and losing the washers that I needed to bring the pulley forward about 1/8th inch... the actual fan and pulley came apart just fine... I finally had success. Power steering pump is still in car, until I can drain the lines properly. But it's nicely out of the way. Alternator had to be swung outwards maybe an inch or so, otherwise no problems at all. No squealing, everything seems good so far. Really happy with this.
The engine seems to have a lot of emission equipment compared to other 74's I've seen, was it a California car?
One can't (and shouldn't) drive a car with the power steering disconnected. You will need to switch over to manual steering parts.
Yep, California car. The emissions equipment is....elaborate. That seems like a polite word to use. Don't worry, I won't be driving her. Just doing busy work until more parts arrive. Beside the steering, the condition of the brakes would not be safe for road use as well.
Alright, so the weather got colder, which just put me in front of the internet to buy things. Redirected my intent from the RC-107 kit, on the basis that I want to get this on the road faster, and find out how much I really want to go into the car. Sure, that opens the likelihood of doing things twice, but better twice to get right, than once and regret. Or some such. Anyway. Parts ordered: Manual steering parts from Craig. (Thanks! ) 1971-73 Mustang front suspension rebuild kit from Mustangs Unlimited. KYB shocks, Global West front springs from Summit. And a new rear view mirror, as mine was AWOL. Rear springs, shackles from General Springs. But, after crawling around under the car for fun, found a few other things that may need my attention. Seems the backspacing of my wheels might be off a bit. Or at least, cutting it very close. Couldn't get a good picture, but it's less than 1/4th inch. Quite a bit of wear around the tire on the inside. Tires are Kumho Ecsta ASXs, 235/50R17s. On the outside, there's a lot of cuts into the tread, and about a 1/4 inch groove sliced into the sidewall of the driver rear. Awesome. That's okay, wasn't sure I wanted to stay with the wheels on the car anyway. They look alright, but I'm more of a classic car kind of guy...looking to go back to 15s. Reading through a lot of posts about the sizes you guys run... It's a pity so many tire makers are dropping the 275/60r15 maybe 255s.... Guess there's such a huge move to running larger wheels, for brake upgrades, etc...that there's not as much demand? As a side note.... had a moment of concern when I got home and saw 1 leaf spring sitting in front of my door. Instant panic, then wondered why someone would steal only 1 leaf spring. Until I read the invoice, and noticed that someone with my name only ordered ONE leaf spring... On it goes.
Put some spacers on there and problem solved. If you like the wheels, there's no reason you can't use them.
Whoooops, haha. Very true, and it wouldn't take much of a spacer, either.... I'm not settled one way or the other, just yet. Need to get all the new suspension stuff in, so I can really see how everything looks. Front's too high, driver side rear end is sagging....not a good look. And it may just be nostalgia...I had 275/60r15 Indy 500s on my '74 Nova. And '69 Skylark. May be time to convert to something newer.
If you do run spacers I'd suggest getting long studs on the rear axles. I run a 17x8 with 4.5 in BS and a 255-40-17 out back fits great with plenty of room on both sides. With an aluminum wheel the center portion will take up about 1/2 in worth of threads. Also don't be surprised if your new 4 leaf leaf springs results in a good sized gap in the rear.
Where wud the gap be w/ the 4 leaf springs? I have 4 leafs and don't see anymore gap than w/ the originals.
