HOLY COW, $8K for this?

Most restos are way strighter than the factory cars were. Nothing on these cars was straight or lined up well from the factory.

I wouldnt want to try to match that paint to fix what that car needs. Going to end up a resto anyhow to make it look right. Good base to start wtih though.

 

DO NOT RESTORE THIS ONE?... bah huum bug!!

i'd cut it up and turn it into a pro stocker. lol!

Purist.... phooey!

 

I'm glad that it sold for that price. These cars are a lot rarer then we think. And the cost to restore cars are getting expensive.
This car really wouldn't need that much work to restore it.
I think it is a good buy.

 

I know my response was directed at the attitude of the seller, who tells the story about how some idiot backed into the car denting the fender but then has the gall to say dont restore the car.

There are allot of things on that car I wish I had.. most notibly the hood and the lack of rust on the rear quarter panels. But like most people puttig that much money down on a car I would be ready to fix all the little problems.

 

If your lucky enough to find a Mint Survivor these cars were pretty straight from the factory and the paint shined very nice the sheet metal was very straight. Most mavericks have 2 to 3 repaints with bad body work. The only way to get a Paint job straighter than the Factory sheet metal "when it was new" is to actually Bondo the entire car like they do Street rods. Cant beat the factory paint as it was baked on at higher temperature and has less primer build up. Originally there was a red oxide Primer and then a nice clean paint job way layed down at the factory. Now you have Etching primer, primer filler, more primer filler after sanded sand again and then Sealer, then paint, then Clear....its a bigger build up of materials... Originally Survivor paint in mint condition cant be beat.

 

Are you kidding? If you want rust look at a car from Indiana or michigan! This is a nice west coast car! with very minimal rust

 

Well Considering for $6900 you could have gotten that Brown 71 That was absolutely Spotless, Not a grabber but not a speck of rust anywhere LDO interior, 5 stud axles etc. at 8 grand someone must have really wanted THAT car. It's a decent car but it still needs at least a couple grand in body and paint.

 

I don't agree, my green 73 was 90% original paint (one owner, California car) when I got it, and my brown 73 is 100% original paint (Arkansas car). The fit an finish is nothing special, and down right crap compared to what we have now. My brown car, has grinding marks, and rough ends where the lead is. Fender fit is atrocious, both my cars had the original fenders. 2 fenders side by side, can be different. When these cars were built, they were slapped together.
But, then again, there is nothing like an unmolested car. You never know whats hiding behind a bad paint job....

 

Go getem dave!

 

Ok...I have had this car for 25 yrs...I re-painted it once...Original paint was poor...Fit on the passenger side was poor. Door gap was ugly, end cap on quarter never fit right...And when I stripped the paint last summer I found these grinder marks (salvage repair on assy line) I allways wondered why the paint looked funny on this side of the car. On top of that, this quarter was replaced on the assy line (no E-coat) and brass filler rod used where there should have been spot welds in a few places. I cut 47 spotwelds and re shaped this quarter at the B pillar and the end cap to get it to line up with the rest of the car. These cars were not assembled like a fine Deusenberg or Rolls Royce. They were pumped out en mass. My "survivor" Maverick was never as straight before as it is now. Nor did the panels line up like they do now. GM was good for nice paint and good fit/finish back in the day. Ford...Not so much and Chrysler was horrible.
The pics below show the grinder marks due to a salvaged panel at the assembly plant being used on my car during assembly. This quarter probably had a rolled dent at the door seam from the process used to stamp out the panel (not uncommon) The other spot is most likely from a high spot in the panel after the stamping process.... File em down...bump em out...hit it with a grinder and throw it on the dolly....Next.

 

If they were slapped together and the paint is Atrocious why are Survivors top of the line for Collector Automobiles??? Im deffintly not saying they were perfect but they were very clean when new I remember.... they just have the right look.

 

Dave and Pete. AS you know my car was original paint when I got it short of the hood and fenders. When we stripped the body I had the same grinder marks in 2 places on my quarters. I was surprised but our body men said it was normal on the older cars. The car was put together terribly. Trunk and quarter end caps were the worst fit out of it all. We found all kinds of issues. Funny one was the 2 missing screws holding the top of the dash in. Not even a mark from them ever being installed. Then theres all the missing paint in places that needed cover, lack of sealer etc... We had a good laugh at work over how the cars were built. No wonder they rotted out so fast up here. We fixed quite a few factory built in issues especially just behind both doors on the rear quarters. Low spots on both. Took quite a bit of work.

 

Ive owned 15 Comets and Mavericks in my Hayday ... Survivors are my vote

 

Todays cars are assembled a little better on the Assembly Line , but Mavericks got the job done in there Era of Cars, " I prefer a low mileage Survivor ... they look Nicer."

 

Yep, that LDO was saweeeet! I was glad to see it go for what it did (having an LDO myself). Loyal Grabber fans have seen and pointed out the value in the one that just sold that started this thread. I admit to seeing their point of view, my pocket book and expectations are just different. When it boils down it's good for all us guys that have been in this arena for a little bit.

I was lucky in finding a nice 73 LDO to start with that I just had to bring back up a level or two then start adding my touch. I've thought about doing a Grabber but the more I go out there and appreciate the LDO style options, production numbers and small differences from standard options, the more I feel LDO's carry their own weight.

As far as quality from the factory, it's probably just like a lot of stuff....some days your on and some days your off. Hell, I have days like that myself all the time!