Before, and Now Pics of my Mav

The fixed quarter: (The other side wasn't pretty before either.)

 

Here is the back seat now. I put in 3-point retractable seat belts. They work very well. The only hard thing about doing this swap was ordering them! I recommend these to anyone who wants to do the same.

 

Dash before, and now:

 

Roof

Your roof looked pretty bad , what process did you go through to take care of all that surface rust? One of my car's roof looks similar and I have to make some hard decisions on what to do with it.

 

Well, we talked to our body man, and he told us to use a product called "Rust Mort." This is some sort of acid, that kills the rust. After you apply it, and it kills the rust, the big, loose (if any) chunks turn a little white, and you wipe, or gently scrape these off. You keep doing this until nothing turns white (it's not solid white, but rather looks like white rust), any more. The treated metal turns sort of a black, and that's it. I had a few pin holes, so he had to fill those in. All in all the said the top was a B*$!h to make straight again, but it looks great now. I was considering curing the rust, and putting a vinyl top back on, but I really didn't want to. It was a pretty hard decision, but after reasurrance that the top would be fine from the body man, I went for it. Another thing would be a doner top, but that is another ordeal in itself. I hope this helps.
-Corbin

 

Wow! Thanks for information!!! At times I have considered selling it, but it reminds too much of my first Maverick (same color etc.) I had years ago that I never finished and then sold. So, I really don't want to sell it, I really enjoy it even though the roof looks rather rough, but not quite as bad as yours. So, you have proven there is always hope for the determined! Thanks for the pictures and the inspiration to keep it and restore it the way I would have if I had kept my first Maverick! Just something special about these cars!

Just wondering, how long of a process was it to do your roof? Do have any pictures of the roof after you treated it, and before you took it to the body shop?

 

"Here is the back seat now. I put in 3-point retractable seat belts. They work very well. The only hard thing about doing this swap was ordering them! I recommend these to anyone who wants to do the same."

Okay, I'll bite. Where did you order them from and what exactly did you specify when you ordered them? I have a '70 that I need better belts but don't know the correct length, etc to order.

Thanks loads!

BTW, the interior looks really nice tan.

 

Thanks for the comments! The belts I got from a company called Andover Automotive. The website is http://www.andoauto.com/retrofit.htm The ones I got are universal fit, but they fit nicely in the Mav. I used all stock locations to bolt them down, but if you chose to use differnt one all the hardware comes with them, except reinforcement plates. I used choice "E" on the website (Retractable lap/shoulder belt with a 2 1/2" offset, which refers to the 3rd point hanger. An 8 1/2" offset is avaliable, but I didn't really like the looks), and ordered them in tan. Since the 3rd point (on the top) is so far back, the only problem it creates is having to reach back for it, but then again, if someone didn't clip the stock ones up, they would have to do the same. Since I didn't use the stock ones, I took out the retaining clips on the side above the door that hold them up, and then had the headliner installed. It cleans it up a bit. As for the pic with the treated roof, I am pretty sure, I have one, but I need to find it. Also before you treat the roof, make sure to scrape off any loose rust with a wire brush. If I can't find the pic, the whole white/black thing will make a lot more sense when you try it yourself. There are also directions on the back of the bottle which were helpful. You should be able to get it at a body shop supply store. The actual process of treating the roof didn't take very long. What I did was, wearing gloves, I poured some onto the roof itself, and then spread it with a rag. I did this to the affected area, and then let it dry a bit. (I forget how long, it specifies on the bottle) Then I wiped off the white residue that appeared, and scraped off any more chunks I missed. Then you keep applying coats, until no more white residue appears. The treated rust is a pretty dark color. After that you are pretty much done. As I recall, it dries pretty fast, and works very well. I was suprised how much more rust came off when I used this on the roof.
-Corbin

 

Here is what the belts look like out of the car. The big metal piece on the end, I didn't like at first, but when bolted on the side (stock location under door opening) behind the retractor you don't really notice, and never really see it.

-Corbin

 

Very cool...and I WANT THOSE WHEELS!

 

Thank you very much for the information. I will be ordering a set in the next few minutes as my girlfriend hates the stock type shoulder harness. (says that she can't reach the dash controls when stratpped in.) Now I can make her happy and eliminate one more source of irritation in my life!

Thank you again!

 

Corbin, I think you can buy silver Grabber stripes, now that would look good on green.

 

Yea yea get the silver stripes! They would look great!

 

Ohhhhh!! I never even thought of Silver! That would look really nice. Thanks for the suggestions guys! Yeah, I never really liked the stock belts either, but it didn't matter because they were all cut up into pieces when I bought the car. The previous owner tried to make non-retractable 3 point harnesses with a bunch of webbing. No steel ends where they attached though, just a slit in the fabric, slipped over the bolt. You could pull them right off, so they didn't really do anything at all.
-Corbin

 

Corbin, very nicely done. As I was reading this whole post I also thought of silver stripes but Ryan already has it done in that color combo, though it does look good and your color of green would be alot darker. What about painting them in lighter shade of green, not sure how it would look but just an idea. Anyways, keep up the GREAT work and I'm sure it will look good whatever you decide to do.