Ok, I know the big block question has been done before,.....nearly impossible without a Mustang II front suspension conversion.....seems the general consensus is even the modified shock towers wouldn't cut it for a big block...so, bottom line, you want a big block Maverick, you're pretty much limited to having to fork out the $2k+ for the Mustang II set up. Then I see A Mav for sale with a big block in it....modified towers only. I posted and asked about the set-up, that it looked like it worked...tight, but do-able..... zip comments or replies A week later, an old drag Maverick that had the shocks moved outward to make room for a big block..... I posted that that sounded like an alternative for a big block swap.....anyone know anything about it?..... Zilch. Now, there's A Maverick on ebay sporting a 428 big block,....and it doesn't even look like the shock towers were modified! Then I see a little notice from the Maverick/Comet boards at the top of the page saying "Bum's_Steer, you haven't posted in a while. Start a discussion, ask some questions", etc. etc, etc, Been there, done that, got squat so far. so, here we go again....I'm sure there's Maverick/Comet folk like me out there that would love to have big block power for their cars.....and yes, I know the engine compartments are miniscule on room for just about anything bigger than a 289/302 without modification....but hey, I've owned big block Darts and big block Mustangs and I've helped build a big block 260-Z and even a big block Fiero,.....I know "tight fit", I know the problems involved, and I know sometimes you have to live with them (or work 'em out) to get what you want....especially if you can't afford to just plop down $2,500 for an entire front suspension swap. So,.....anyone done it with just shaved towers? What engine? What mounts? What headers, manifolds? What front springs and other suspension mods to help the car handle the extra weight? (yeah, yeah, I know....Mustang II!! LOL) Any special tricks to make life with a big block Mav easier?....Like drilling access holes through the inner fender to reach spark plugs from the wheel well that you'd normally never be able to get to from above in the engine comaprtment (That trick made tune-ups soo much quicker on my 440 Six-Pack Challenger with the Hooker Super Comp headers that blocked access from above to half the plugs) Or, the moving the shock set-up outward to make more compartment room?....seen plenty of threads on cutting and trimming the towers....but anyone tried to re-locate the shocks outward? Know any old drag racers who may have run big block Mavs, and tricks they may have used to wedge the monsters in there? I've got two Mavericks to play with....one is already planned out...Late model carbed small block, 4 or 5-speed, Factory Grabber paint and body scheme, a set of 17" Bullitt wheels for the pro touring look, a set of 15X7-8 Torque-Thrust Americans for the street machine look, maybe some Mag 500's for a stocker look.... But the other Maverick.....it's just sitting there.....practically begging for a little Frankenstein-ish experimentation....and I'm willing to try it.....I've done the hit-and-miss/trial-and-error-til-you-find-what-works routine before, but this board has helped me save alot of wasted time and effort with the generous hints and ideas of those who've "been there, done that"....and I think there's some helpful and new ideas for an affordable big block swap too. So, how 'bout it?
i think it sounds like a good idea and a really interesting project, im pretty new at all of this so i dont have much help for you but i think this would be a cool thing to see, let us know how it goes.
the car ebay appears to have mustang towers alowing for the room... cant remember exactly if its the whole front end or just inner fenders , ratio411 can steer you in the right direction for that... it is nearly impossiable to put a big block in a mav with out touching the towers... main reason for shock tower mod is for spark plug clearence otherwise it doesnt help for engine fitment... honestly i love big blocks BUT they weight SO much so...your power to weight ratio is very low... this being said you can build a 600 fwhp W and weight 150-200lbs lighter than a 427/28/29/60 with same amount of power... thats JMO...BUT if you could do an aluminum block/crank , lightweight rods/pistons...it might weight near the same as an all iron SB\ but thats just me
I have made several posts/threads about different options. I have contended that the FE should fit with shaved towers and was pretty much shot down. I still believe it will... Wanna know why? Because until just recently both Hooker and Hedman made swap headers for an FE in a Maverick! Have been on the 'books' since the 70s, but they don't get talked about much. Now just in the last year or 2, they have been discontinued. Probably lack of interest. The other vehicle I started a thread about had the towers moved outward... But not like that exactly. They had to use the front subframe of a 70 Stang. They removed the subframe from the Mav, and installed the Stang subframe. The Mav sheet metal hung on the Stang engine bay just fine. Should, I have posted pics of a friends 70 Mav that had a Stang front cap bolted to it, and it fit. Anyway... put a Stang engine bay on a Mav, and you have an engine bay wide enough for a BBF. I don't think you could 'widen' the towers any other way. The one, and only, drawback of sorts to this mod is that the wider track of the Stang must be squeezed under the Maverick fenders. So more backspacing must be used on the rims to get them under the fenders. Then, there are 2 BBF Mavs that have popped up recently with stock towers. I think that everyone that has seen those pics agreed the cars are deathtraps. The towers were cut way back and around the springs, with no room to put metal back in! Then the 460s were sitting almost against the coil springs and the plug wires were run through the suspension. Basically they cut all the strength out of the front of the car and dropped in a very heavy engine to weaken things further. Neither car I saw had aluminum heads or intakes. I don't even thing they had headers. I'll have to dig up all the pics, or links to the threads. Dave
You posted while I was typing. If that is a Maverick engine bay, then that is the FE in a Maverick that I always thought would work. I have just never seen it done to prove it. I appreciate that pic. It proves it will work. Doesn't even have the towers shaved from what I can see. It's definately not a Stang engine bay. The towers are way apart on those. The problem with the car in that pic is the lack of tower braces. They are very important to our cars and the towers will sag just sitting without them. That heavy FE running around without braces will constantly bend the towers and change the alignment every pebble he drives over.
heres the link for that mav above http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford...wItemQQcategoryZ6057QQitemZ120104832574QQrdZ1
real safe huh:16suspect notice the engine plates , dont think you can use mounts to make that thing fit... im sorry to whom evers car this is but that make me nervous to drive , core support cut out , towers gone...surprised it ever passed tech...
Here's the one with the Stang engine bay/front subframe. Personally I think they could have done a much cleaner job. However, it beats the heck out of the hacked towers swap.
yes there is at least one guy i know who knows alot about this...he never posts on here , although he is a member bossman6985(?) not sure if the numbers are right but he owns and runs the boss shop up in NY , he has fast eddies mav with a boss 504(429) with shock towers pushed out i do believe that is alot of work , it is an old drag racer trick though
The 'old school' way of putting SOHC and B429s in Mavericks, as well as other factory sponsored drag cars with small engine bays, was to mount a Boss 429 engine bay on the car. Same general principle as the last pic I posted of the 70 Stang bay on the Maverick. Just more expensive as the B429 front end uses many unique parts, including spindles and such.
Yeah, one possible problem with moving the shocks outward would be cutting down on how wide a rim/tire you could run....seems it would probably limit you to running drag skinnies.....not real great for street driving anyway, add the weight of a fat block.....would handle like driving on a road made of marshmellows. The Mustang engine bay swap sounds pretty promising....swapping in the suspension from the same would be even better, but the wider track bothers me.....any way of doing some parts swapping to bring the track width back down maybe? In the end though, the 'Stang front end swap might be as pricey as the Mustang II swap...which defeats the purpose. And I hope no one took it that I don't like the MII swap....it's just if I've got $2,500 to throw into my Maverick, it's going to go to paint and body, so I can finally have a decent paint job on one of my old cars for once in my life! I actually found a M-II kit awhile back....guy was asking about half the original cost,....still all "new in the box"....he had it for sale for more than a year and couldn't unload it.....I told him I'd probably have the money for it by the beginning of the next month, and I lucked out,....wheeled and dealed the money together within the week....about the same day he e-mailed me telling me it sold! LMAO!! Go figure my luck! (P.S. Sincere congrats to whoever scored that deal!) Any possibility there's other cars out there that might incorporate into a Maverick engine bay, front suspension swap that might better acommodate a huge block? Like Granadas or something? And thanks for all the feedback folks!
There's no reason you'd have to go to an expensive M2 front. Heck...I did mine for around $1200 complete with tube a-arms, adjustable QA1's, springs, everything including firewall mods (I moved the engine back 5"+..), headers, motor plates, trans crossmember, fender braces & mounts, radiator, fan, rack spacers (had to move the rack out away from the crossmember a little bit), bolts, nuts, and all. Do take into consideration that I am on the same type budget that you are on...If I had the money to just buy it all new & have the work done, I'd have had it put on a 4130 tube frame a LONG time ago! I just used a factory M2 crossmember and bought some Ebay control arms. The uppers are cheaper than the lowers, BUT you can use the factory control arms as well...but I liked the look of the tubulars, plus I don't know the history of the factory ones that were on the crossmember I bought. The downside to using a factory crossmember is that you're going to have to "notch" the frame rails quite a bit and remove a lot of material off of the crossmember itself, as it's loaded down with brackets, etc that were in my way. I also welded up all of the seams while I was at it. You might do a search for something like "backhalf pic's"....or new front end installed...something along those lines. Old Guy posted some pics of when I did mine. I never ran a big block in mine; just a little windsor. At first I had the towers notched and custom headers. It was a total pain in the butt to work with....plugs, valve cover removal (adjustments), engine R&R (freshen ups in the offseason)...everything about it was a pain to work with. Lots of busted knuckles, cuts, and burns. I've had this car for close to 15 years....the 2 best things I've ever done to it were backhalfing/4 link and M2 front suspension--in that order. It drives SOOO much better with the M2. The rack & pinion works a thousand times better than the old worn out steering gear assembly--and mine is still the original '74 Bobcat R&P unit which isn't in perfect shape. Lots of options to consider, but if I HAD to have that big block (or anything but a 302 for that matter), the M2 would be my choice. I'd keep the inner fenders but just remove the towers completely and fill the space with sheet metal (or parts of an old JY inner fender to make it look correct). Grafting an early Mustang front end onto one of these can be even more $$$ than just going M2 to begin with....because first of all you'll have to find an early Mustang that has a useable front end (which those cars generally bring good money now) and even then most people are going to sell you the whole car. Junkers around here are bringing $2000-$2500. Then you'll have to rebuild the suspension as they're 40+ years old. A disc brake upgrade is also in order. Add some more expense there. By the time it's all said & done, you could have bought 2 M2 front suspension kits from someone like Fatman Fabrications or the like. But, it would LOOK stock, but it will still be a pain to work on. Most people that have big blocks in Mustang still notch the towers for header/plug clearance. Have you ever seen headers on a 429-460 in a '67-'70 Mustang? They aren't exactly the nicest things to work with. You could also use a Boss '9 front end but good luck finding one for less than $5 grand. Now that said, the M2 isn't exactly a bolt-in deal. The crossmember & suspension are the easy part. Then you have to bolt in the engine, find headers to fit it, oil pans, engine mounts, hood clearance is GOING to be an issue, steering shaft to the R&P, brake lines, master cylinder (most likely), etc. It ain't easy...but it's DEFINITELY worth it!!! I would leave the inner fenders intact as they provide the front frame rails some added support by tieing the body to the frame. I removed them and added the front cage "stubs" from the cage to the front frame rails, then used frame rail headers (that go out over the frame rails behind the A-Arms). Using the search, you can find some pictures of when I did mine. Tons of room now! I can basically do everything from the top (headers and all). In a nutshell, it's not so much of a pain to work on it now...in fact...I kind of even enjoy working with it.
AZ Fairlane had the big block Mav for sale....if it had been closer, I'd have bought the thing just to see how it all fit! He got a couple of inquiries about what it took to get the fat block in there, including from me, but didn't reply Check the pics though....looks tight, but not a hackjob. a couple of quotes from his post:
Thanks MavMan....some really good tips and advice.... and common sense. and a fellow Arkie! Where you at? If I'm ever in your neck of the woods might have to come by and see some of your work. I'll admit, the few big block/M-II set ups I've seen looked really clean and "factory",...and considering the Maverick's "questionable" handling potential in stock form, the M-II set up is unarguably the best option, big block or not.
Yep...Im an arkie. I'm actually in the conway area. If you're ever out this direction give me a holler. I'm down to one Maverick now...but we still have a housefull of Fords...with the exception of old guy's 2000 Intrepid..which is sitting in the back yard needing a steering rack. Imagine that.
