I recently purchased this car from original owner and I am not a Ford guy, but why is it I never see any other postings here or else where of Mavericks with a 170 ci motor. Is this a rare option?
The 170 was the base engine, most were optioned with 200 which I believe was required to get the C4 automatic... Possibly the semi-automatic was avail with 170 but didn't have many takers, was dropped after '70... Take a look at the VIN list that everyone is encouraged to add to, the ones with U in VIN have(now days likely had) a 170... http://mmb.maverick.to/threads/vin-...se-is-your-car-to-someone-elses.61672/page-47 BTW code T is 200 & L 250 6cyl, 302 became available in '71 is code F...
I took a look at Paul's VIN list for 1970 and the early 70's (69.5 cars) had both the T & the U code in the VIN - mine was a T so it was a 200 - no L code shows in 69.5 (in the list at least) - 1970 had the U - T & L codes so all 3 of the 6 bangers were available sometime in the 70 model
My '71 had the monster 170 and the always enjoyable three on the tree. Too bad I was too young to have known to persuaded grandpa to buy a loaded Grabber instead of the strip model. Grandpa was "thrifty." Micah
I have a '70 (actually 69.5) that originally came with the 170 six cyl and c-4 automatic. Engine and trans were bad when I got it, so they went out the next day. Lots of them had the 170, as it was the base engine, and if cheap was what you were after, that is what you got. Not a bad engine though, just not big on power!
What constituts a 69.5? My title says 1970 but the sticker on the door area has been pulled off but I found a peice of the buildsheet and it has August 1969 on it.
Correct me if Im wrong, but the 69.5s have the ignition on the dash. I dont know the date it changed over to the column, but I would assume late in 69.
There are quite a few early differences, including the use of Falcon suspension pieces, that Ford had to make in order to get the early 1970 model out ahead of the competition in April of 1970 - but as doncomfort states, the ignition pod under the dash to the right of the column is the dead giveaway - my 69.5 was built in very late October 1969, after the regular 1970's were released 2 months prior to that build so the date of the actual full changeover is kind of foggy - I'm sure that the official 1970 showroom release in September 1969 all had their ignitions in the column but my guess would be that Ford was using up all of the under dash ignition pods and harnesses until they were all gone - you can see my ignition pod under the speedo in the package tray area
Those Falcon suspension pieces(spindle, upper & lower control arms, tie rod ends) are the exact same pieces that went into 1968/1969 big block Mustang, Torinos etc, nothing really Falconish about them... Spindle size was increased for the 1969 Boss 302 Mustangs and then in 1970 the larger size were used on the other lines to standardize parts... This includes the full size Fords, LTD etc, through 1969 those use same spindle diameter as the 1969.5 Maverick(no spindles won't interchange between the two)
Just a lot of different Ford pieces put together to get it out in April, I guess - I remember the 64 1/2 Mustangs being the same way with the entire 1964 Falcon rectangular dash board in place - the sportier dash with the pods on each side came in September - I'm sure Ford made out very well with both car's early unveiling
Ford used every part they could to save on engineering costs, how else could they sell a freshly skinned vehicle for $1995? Other than center link every part in front suspension and steering was already on the shelf, used in Mustang or the intermediates and Falcon if we must(1966 up have the exact front suspension & under hood dimensions as the intermediates)... What differs is the huge Fairlane type shock towers that were used to accommodate the Mustang/Fairlane upper control arms under the somewhat narrow fenders... Last year I measured the distance between frame rails of a '68 Shelby Mustang, it was 27½ vs 26¾ or just 3/4" wider than my Comet... It's narrower shock towers are most of the difference as why the Stang can swallow a 390/428 and Mav/Comet all but chokes on a 351... As mentioned my 428 Fairlane uses a similar shock tower to the Maverick(plus exact same steering sector), but distance between frame rails is around 30"...
