Getting a little discouraged

I bought YAHOO stock at $135 share (now $25).


- you're situation could be worse!

 

I guess I am a little different from most people. I bought my mav as a daily driver. It was $1200 and pretty much all I got was a good tranny and a pretty decent body. Pretty much everything else has been replaced in my 3 year odessey. It just takes patience and a lot of will to get it ready. Fortunately mine ran, but there were many a time when I went out to start it and something went wrong and I had to catch a ride. And I went through the cycle of fixing one thing and another breaking soon, sometimes that same day. But I can't imagine driving another car everyday. I love my mav, not to say others don't, but I don't think that I would get as much out of it if I only drove it once or twice a week or just on the weekends. Just my two cents. Keep the faith, cause one day it will be all worth it! Jeri

 

Lord, I was one of those old guys responding to you back when you were all rapped up in 600 hp engines. You are starting to get a reality check now. Got to learn how to walk before running if you know what I mean.
We all get into the vice of building up an older car with substanial age and wear if for no other reason that we want to change things to be different but that gets into back yard re-engineering and if one doesnot know how to handle an 'as engineered car' there will be a long and expensive learning curve.
Example; Looked for car with fine body, found same, no body work to do! Rebuilt AOD trans, shift kit. Installed posi, rebuilt all the rear suspension. Heavy duty front and rear anti roll bars. Kenne Bell super charger. The list of repairs and upgrades is long.
Today the car is a powerfull daily, reliable driver and getting ready for paint. The investment is far in excess of ithe car's value but is nearly complete as new and that is the point of doing it! Satisfaction without getting discuraged along the way by have a long range goal.
Hope I have been able to offer some insight.
Next undertaking is a 358 cu/in sprinter race car.
My other car is a 73 Comet GT with fuel injection. One if the first ones ever done that way and on the old 302 engine.
Good luck.

 

what realy gets me

Its not the fact that i have to work on the car...i got the car with that in mind. i want to work on her and learn about what makes it such a great car. the problem is how everyone around here in oregon acts about it. i get no help becuase "it's just a maverick...go get a mustang instead!!!" you know..my machanic told me that i should go get a honda or a toyota instead!! he said it would be way better! its just that kinda thing. were people here are so closed minded about my maverick. oh..and by the way. i won a 2 door on e-bay for $600 what do you guys think about it?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2413941369

 

thats just the point though, its not a mustang, honda or toyota its not what everyone else has. its a maverick.. hold your head up, it will be worth it in the end..

nice score on ebay, that looks like it will be a great toy as well

 

So LZ....when you coming to Indiana and get it?

 

thats the prob....

that is the broblem..i gotta figure out how to get there!!!! im trying to get ahold of the guy who is selling it to let him know that i am so far away. he has a 15 day limit on it so i need to figure this out soon...so we will see!

 

Sounds like you got a good deal.

Earl

 

I am about 3 hours from South Bend....so I can't offer much, but if I can help, let me know.

 

Well, since you asked Mr. Zero, I'll be blunt. I think you are nuts going all the way to Indiana to pick up a car with rust on it. In your part of the country you could do much better.

Seems like you're a bit impatient to get things going and are buying the first things that you see. Rusty 6 cylinder big bumper mavericks aren't worth much, especially when you have to go 2000 miles to get them.

I think you shoulda waited, sorry. That's my honest opinion.

 

I see that Lord Zero didn't meet the reserve....so he can walk away.....which I would also recommend.

 

Don't get discouraged!

Probably the single best piece of advice I can give is that if you choose to work on a given part of the car (brakes, electrical, motor, etc) make damned sure that you do it 100%! It does no good to electrical-tape a wire if you don't check the rest of the wiring along with it.

Same for a carb rebuild; either buy a new carb or COMPLETELY rebuild the old one. Don't be half-a*s and just squirt some carb cleaner on it, TEAR IT DOWN and put in a rebuild kit.

If you keep thins this tip in mind then you know that you'll not have problems with that particular item again. You may have them someplace else, but not on the item you went 100% to fix. Either fix it for real, take it to someone that can or leave it alone.

My nephew was getting discouraged in the early days of fixing up his Maverick as well (he was 19 then). I told him not to try and fix the entire car at once, but rather take it one major area at a time (engine, tranny, driveline, suspension, brakes, you get the idea). He found out pretty quick that once he started looking at it this way, the project was completed quicker and with much better quality.

Good luck on your project and DON'T GIVE UP!

Pegasus

 

I can relate to your discouragement. As a mechanic by trade, I deal with it every day, getting fed up working on one job that bites me in the butt. This is totally aside the mavericks I have. The turbo mav is on the back burner right now because the bracket car needed some attention, and the Mustang is in need of a motor (246,000 miles on the original). The engine is at the shop, but I havent had time go get down there to bore/hone the block, nor do I have the money for all the necessary parts. The turbo mav is in need of some carburetor work again...seems like I can never keep the Holley in working condition. 2 months ago during a halfway race against a 02 vette, head gasket on the driver's side let go, I had the vette covered quite easily, and when I floored it, it started to pick up a miss. Luckily that's all the damage it did. I bought a $600 wastegate to stop the headgasket problems--and hopefully save the motor as well. Got all that fixed, now the carb is acting up. The bracket mav is working fairly well, in fact last race, I ran 5 consecutive passes with the 60' times within .002 of each other, and the ET within .01. The light killed me in the first round (.550 against competitors .518) bought back, won 2nd, 3rd, 4th...and my own darn stupid self let off the throttle to early against a bone-stock 11 second '86 mustang and lost by .00002 second. I had him covered easily had I stayed on the throttle, but oh well...we all make stupid mistakes. The motor developed what I thought was an oil pressure problem, the warning light in the dash would flicker from 6800-7000 rpm, but turned out to be nothing more than a loose wire on the sender. I haven't adjusted the valves since I put the thing together this winter, nor have I changed oil/inspected oil filter, etc. Haven't had time, but I did get it home this week to get it all done. Seems like sometimes no matter how hard you try, you get further behind...but don't give up, because someday you're gonna find yourself in one of those days where everything fits together.

This whole post reminds me vividly of the week I spent building the headers for the 351 in the bracket mav. 6 days on one side, and not to mention some newly invented words, after taking a day off and relaxing, came back out to the shop and completely built the passenger side in less than 6 hours. Sometimes it just all falls together (and the passenger side was a major PITA!!).

Don't give up, Mustangs are like chevys---anyone can build one to run fast, and there are millions of them. It takes a REAL man to build a Maverick!!

 

Zero.

Hey.
Walk away from that one you bought in Indiana.
My roommate lost interest in Her Mav '75 2dr.
It's 250 powered, auto.
Not a bad little car.
Nice and solid.
She only wants around 500-600 for it and it's a lot closer.
Bellingham, WA
Come on up on the weekend.
Give me a call if you want to talk about it more
(360) 201-5048

BTW the car recently blew its heater core, but she ordered one for it.
I think it's included in the purchase along with a few other odds and ends.

 

hey courier11sec

hey. that does sound good. i did walkaway from that one becuase the guy said they wanted 1500 for it and they changed their mind. i didnt want to pay that much for a rust bucket. do you have any pics of you car that i could look at? i have done some thinking about how people have told me to get a 2 door and rid of my 4....im not going to rid of my 4. im going to make it my power house car. i would rather have a 2 door to make into a daily driver im different that way..anyways. enough rambling. talk to you soon! thanx ray-james

P.S. hey max.....my uncle lives in ST. Paul MN too!