Hey guys I am the friend that bought FrankTF's 71 grabber. Frank and I go way back and we did this before where I bought or traded to get one of his project cars or parts. This one came at a surprise to me too when he offered the car to me a few weeks ago. Im happy I got it but REALLY having a hard time proceeding with the direction I originally bought it for. The day Frank and I made the deal I was seeking a shell that I could cut the floor out of and build a tube chassis drag car. At first this sounded like a good idea but once I had time to let the car sit in the air on my lift where I can see and digest the many hours of hard work and beautiful detail this car had done to it I became weak at the knees and couldnt decide the fate of this awesome car. I tested the waters on Ebay and got a few offers but nothing that worked for me so I ended the auction early. So Im still on the fence wether to "cut it up" or let someone out there save it. Right now I would consider a trade for a tube chassis car like another Maverick or something of interest. But in the next week or two I may get to the point of no return on this and the torches will come out. Today I built the jig that the drag car chassis will be built on if I keep going in the race car direction. I have a mustang 2 tubular front suspension under another car I planned on transferring over to this one. I plan on mocking that up first on the factory frame rails and see how the car sits before I hack the rest of it it up. So if anyone has interest in a serious drag car trade...im open to suggestions before I get too far. For now I will start adding to Franks original post on my progress for those that wish to follow. Glenn
Welcome to the madness!!! The car is yourse now, you should do what you want with it. Frank did indeed do alot of beautiful work on the car but...If what was done does'nt fit with your plans, start cutting. Its the only way to get it where you want it. Good luck with it either way. I am sure many others inclueding myself look forward to seeing it completed in one form or another.
Welcome to the forum! You have a great project. Keep in mind depending on what you cut out and where, we would be interested in parts such as floor pans, trunk floor etc.
I guess you didn't get what you want on ebay. I wish I had the money to get it. It is a great platform to start. I have aquired tons of parts on my own build to start thinking about a second car. Welcome to the forum.
Thanks guys for the warm welcomes!! Cruzin...WOW you also did AMAZING work to your car. When I saw your thread the other day I started getting that feeling again that cutting this car would be wrong. Ebay brought a few good cash offers but still nothing that made me jump. I like trades better than cash but cash is good too. Maverick1970 I will try and salvage as much floorpan as possible for future offerings. Do you think the entire floorpan in one piece is better than L&R sections separately?
Welcome to the site! As much as I was looking forward to seeing Frank finish his project, the car is yours now, so do what you want with it. Like others have said, if you are going to remove stuff, keep the rest of us in mind, and you could surely offset the cost of your build a little bit by doing so. I would think the whole floorpan would be better, assuming Frank didn't weld the b'jeezus out of it and it comes out cleanly
The entire floor pan will be difficult to sell due to the size, shipping, etc. Just something to consider. P.S. Please don't cut that car up.
Welcome from Northeastern Illinois... I hp u find someone to trade or buy the car w/ the intention of keeping it whole and putting it on the road. But, like others have stated it belongs to you and do as you wish.
sheesh.. now I'm feeling even worse for wanting to chop mine up too. I've also thought about trading my71 GT for another that would be less rare and more easily improved into a road racer. Tough to find good solid builders in my neck of the woods though. Good luck with it however you end up going on the project.
I say cut it up! No doubt it will end up just as cool as if Frank continued the build, just a different cool. What was the old saying? Anyone can restore a car but it takes a real man to cut one up!
Thanks for the kind words. You probably don't want to hear my vote. I would say leave it alone. You don't come across something that solid everyday. The work has been done and I think you can find something different that would suite your drag car needs better. If you do cut it up, I don't think anyone here would hold it against you. Again welcome to the forum and I can't wait to see what you do.
I dont know the story behind the car but I say do as you wish. franks hard owrk may have mad eit a better platform for you to start with. the original seller (frank) shouldve been the one to hold on to it if it was important enough for him to fix up so much that its questionable whether or not to cut it up. but he has the right to choose to sell or keep it as well as fix or not to fix just like you have the right to choose to cut the car up. THERE ARE ONLY SO MANY of these cars out there. the restoration of these cars is preserving some but most are either non existent or are rotting away in someone yard or in a field or even in junk yards waiting to be crushed and gone forever. do as you wish but its always tough to see a good car get cut up can you share what offers youve had or what offer you would like to get? maybe that would persuade someone to pony up the cash? from the small pic looks like a super nice start to a build. and the rusty floor boards are prolly the most common area of difficulty on these cars besides the infamous torq boxes
