Well, I finally got the Maverick home! The trip didn't come without it's issues. First, it was pouring rain in Brunswick Ohio on Saturday, so loading the car and the engine was not a pleasant ordeal. Then, after we got Maverick loaded on the trailer (my best friend borrowed it from a co-worker) and the car secured down (crawling under the trailer in the pouring rain was not fun, lol) we discovered we had a flat tire on the trailer. Turns out we must have picked up a piece of metal (about 1.5" wide) on the trip over. We pulled it out and Rick (the Mav owner) happen to have a couple of those tire repair plugs. It took two because the cut was long. I don't think your "suppose" to use two, but hey, it seemed to hold. Then we wrestled getting the 302 engine loaded in the back of the truck. I brought a tire/rim to set it in, along with heavy duty tie down straps. We do our business transaction, Rick gives me the title and a lot of purchase records on the car, then he also gives me a used Comet hood scoop he had laying around. Very cool, because I wanted one anyway, as in the later years of my "original" Stallion, I installed that same style hood scoop. Anyway, then we are about to leave and discover our trailer lights are screwed up. So, in the rain, we start playing around with the wires. Finally we leave and pull into a car wash for cover and a dry place to work. After a while, we get running lights, but the turn signals are still not right. At around 4 PM, we decide to head for home the way it is (we have a 5 hour drive ahead of us). We get as far as Clarkston where my bud lives and it's dark, so we decide to spend the night and head out in the morning (wife was not happy with me). Anyway, Sunday we managed to get it home (see pics). I will take more photos when I have a chance, and the weather improves. Of course once I have the car home I discover more imperfections than I originally found, but I guess that's normal. I will be looking someday for a lower dash piece, found a couple of cracks in it where it gets thin (just above the glove box). Also, the bumper looked pretty good, but upon closer inspection, I can see where the back bumper was bent in on the corner then pulled out. It's not bad, but it left a ripple in it where the bumper bolts onto the shock, and I see it's scratched pretty bad where someone used a Brillo pad on it at some point. I wonder if it's cheaper to locate another bumper or have this one re-chromed (and how good are these places for repairing small dents in them?). All in all, I'm glad that I found a "solid" body that will require very, very little rust repair, mainly small dents and scratches. The car has a 250 6, and Rick "threw in" a newer 302 engine for me to use in "phase two" of my Stallion creation. It's a "5.0 EFI" engine, I think he said it was an 80 something motor. Not sure if I would want to keep it EFI or take it back down to a carbureted system, but that's down the road anyway! Well, sorry for the long saga, I more than likely lost most of you after a few sentences, lol. Hope everyone is having a great Monday! Art
Congrats, Art. Trailer troubles seem to be plentiful with everyone. That's a nice looking ride. We'll be looking for updated posts from you.
I love road trips.........especially when they are over. Then the insane becomes comical. Good luck with the transformation.
First things first, it needs a new muffler and front shocks (the rubber bushing has rotted away and it's metal on metal banging). Not sure I'll get to it yet before snow flies, we'll see.... Art
Very good looking car...Sounds like your fun has already got started before even starting on the car...lol
