Hey all, just joined, first post. Thinking about restoring my maverick this summer. A background first: My dad was a mechanic for all his life, a good one at that, but you know how mechanics are. Fix cars all day at work, neglect their own at home. Well back when I was in elementary school, around '94, the 1970 maverick my mom drove needed had some problems with the brakes. My dad put it on jacks, took off the drums, wheel cylinders, shoes springs, EVERYTHING related to brakes but the lines and master cylinder. This was only on the front end BTW. I'm 24 now and 14 years later the maverick still sits. I became interested in cars a couple of years ago, and was learning everything from videos, books, advice from experienced friends and neighbors. Then my dad passed away. He was working for Penske at the time as the highest tech, not sure what, and so they were kind enough to bring his tool chest home on a flatbed. Boy is it large. It has almost everything i'll ever need for the rest of my life. So what i'm asking here is for help compiling a list of every part that either needs to be replaced for sure and a list of parts that might be salvagavle and how to check if they are. From A-Z, suspension, steering. Every little bit helps, even obvious stuff (hoses, belts...) My main concern is what is going to be the final cost of restoring this car? I don't know if I can justify investing $7,000 into this car when i'm a struggling college student about to take on $100,000 in debt for loans already. Is the transmission still good if I change the fluid? Even then how would I get the fluid in the torque converter? There should be no physical damage to it from just sitting, but I suspect now the valve body would need rebuilding. I don't have the kind of experience to say which things will go bad after 14 years, so any wisdom imparted is MUCH appreciated. Thanks in advance all -Steven
My advice is dont change the tranny fluid and filter,, depending on how many miles is on it. It could be the beginning to the end of the transmision,,, Change the engine oil and filter and fire it up,,,, Have the front drums turned,,, and the brake shoes and hardware kits are available from Advanced auto parts,, Put it together and take it for a drive,,
If you plan to drive this car as your daily ride, I strongly recommend going to disc brakes up front and convert to electronic ignition. But that will also involve going to a 5 lug rearend and may be a little too involved for you just starting out. I got a '74 Grabber going that had been sitting for the same amount of time. To get it going as is, take the drums and have them turned. Get all 4 new wheel cylinders, new brake shoes and new hardware kit (new springs, adjusters, etc.) for the drums. Take a good look at all your rubber brake lines for any signs of dry rot. You may want to replace the master cylinder for good measure since it's probably going to start leaking fluid into the floor board in short order since the car has sat for so long (mine did). As far as the engine, get new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, change the oil, fuel filter, stuff like that. New PCV valve. New air filter. New fan belt and rubber fuel line is always a good idea. Replace the battery cables if they are corroded or otherwise in bad shape. My car had been sitting since '92 and I revived it in '05. The master cylinder and fuel pump quit in the first 2,000 miles. The transmission died at 4,500. I had to put new valve seals in. I'm not going to tell you it's going to be a great, trouble free car. When a car sits that long, seals dry up and all kinds of stuff happens. If you are lucky, you may get by with dumping a few gallons of fresh gas in the tank to dilute whatever is in there. If you try to run it on just straight up old gas, you run the risk gumming up the carb (if it isn't already) and sticking the valves. The car is probably going to stink to high hell and probably smoke a little the first time you start it. I'm not trying to turn you off of it, just trying to be dead honest since I have done the same thing. Does this car have the ignition switch on the steering column or dash?
Steven. You will find that posting pictures will really help in getting some of your questions answered. Rust is going to be your biggest problem as far as costs go. Fortunately, there are repop parts coming onto the market now (thanks Joe) that did not exist a few months ago. You will save a ton doing the mechanical work yourself - I suggest getting a set of the factory repair manuals specific for your car and year. They can be found on ebay for about $50 and are light years ahead of a basic Chiltons manual.
The drums can't just be turned. Like I said the whole brake system was taken off, minus the master cylinder, and was not properly stored. After the brakes and wheels were taken off, they were just left there on the ground for the whole 14 years. It's been on jackstands that long. Here are a few pictures to show you all the condition of things: For the record, just for kicks and before I really had any commen sense regarding cars, my friend and I go the engine to turn over and run using a bit of starter fluid, fresh oil, no coolant and a couple of gallons of gas. The carburetor is now off and as you can see inside the valve cover the there is crust everywhere. On the plus side, everything in the engine compartment was so covered with oil that rust didn't really find it's way in there. If valve train is all crusty, what would the bottom of the engine look like? How to cylinders hold up to this kind of storage? Like I said, the engine DID end up running under it's own power, bar the hard start which was probably the choke circuit. What does everyone think re: the suspension, transmission, brakes(nonexistent)? I opened up the door today and saw in the jam what the original paint looked like, and the ford blue logo. My heart fluttered. I <3 this car.
You've got your work cut out for you. Man that thing must have had a hellacious oil leak for everything to get so gooed up under the hood. It looks to me like your spindles are junk also, all rusted up. My suggestion would be to go to the parts wanted section and find someone with a front disc brake setup and 5 lug rearend since you are going to have to change those spindles anyway. When you get that far along, we can walk you through the process of swapping the stuff out. As for the engine bay, I think the first thing I would do is degrease and pressure wash everything. At the very least you need to pull that head off and throughly clean it and replace the valve seals. You can also inspect the cylinder walls then. I don't know if I would worry too much about the bottom end. Just change the oil 2 or 3 times in the first 2,000 miles after you get the car going, should flush most of the crap out. If you want to rebuild the front suspension, get a rebuild kit for a '68-'73 Mustang. Check on ebay, or most of the major Mustang shops should be able to get it for you.
Welcome aboard! :Handshake Looks like you got a really good car to restore. Jamie is giving you some good advice.
Welcome to the board. Make sure you get all the safety stuff up to par before trying to drive it on the street.
Welcome! You've definitely got enough to keep you busy throughout college! I got mine while in college as well, and although it was in much better shape, I tore down the front end to where you are now. I managed to get by with a small toolbox and a basic toolset from Craftsman so you're much better off in that respect. I purchased a PST suspension kit that included almost everything to replace on the front end, everything from springs, shocks, ball joints, bushings, and on and on. I upgraded to disc at the same time and I don't think it really cost me any more than buying all new drum stuff would. If you order their super front end kit http://www.p-s-t.com/pc-2273-95-ford-maverick-1970-77.aspx and replacement disc parts from Autozone it'll cost you around $1000 for a brand new front suspension. (This includes all incidentals that are never mentioned until you don't have them.) This doesn't include any engine stuff but I think its well worth replacing, if nothing else than for peace of mind. And don't worry, it was my first foray into the auto repair world too and as long as you are willing to put in the effort its all worth it. Good Luck!
