Hey guys, I found a '77 4 door Mav. 250 was knocking, debris in pan. Engine block may or may not be usable. Car has auto trans, disc brakes, power steering, 5 lug wheels and new tires and 4 hub caps. My 72 grabber has 4 lugs, drums, not so good tires and funky wheels. He doesn't know if power brakes. Interior is burgundy? Deep red? leather buckets in good shape (really). Nice interior from the pics. Body looks cream puff. $500 plus $50 for trailer rental and maybe $100 gas for my Gas Guzzler Van. Some questions for the Knowledgable and Venerable members (layingig on thick) Will that diff be direct bolt in? Did auto's generally come with higher (lower numerical) gears? If so, will my pumpkin fit? I think those disc brakes will go right in, but just generally, what else do I need to do (proportioning block, lines etc.). If the head is good, it would make a good upgrade for my 200 I6. Have to mill it for compression though. Any issues with a smog head on a non smog bottom end? Any interest in power steering stuff (I don't want PS), or Interior stuff, body/trim parts from this car so I could recoup some cost. Dash pad is cracked. Would you go and get it?
Mavericks only came with two ratios from the factory, 2.79 and 3.00 [except the 69.5's with the 7.5 rear. but thats another story]. The chunks will interchange , 4 lug or 5 lug, both use the same chunk. However, if you want to change over to 5 lugs, you must use the 5 lug housing as the axles aren't interchangeable due to a difference in bearing size. To swap the front discs, get both complete spindles with all the brake hardware, the hard lines from the prop valve to the rubber hoses. Replace the rubber hoses with new ones for safety. Some say use the disc prop valve, some have used the drum valve with no problems. As far as other parts go, most of the interior will fit the two door, with the obivious exceptions of the door and rear panels and the rear seat bottom. Exterior front sheetmetal will fit, rear quarters can be cut for replacements. Windshield is only glass same on two and four door models. Not into sixes, so not sure about your head swap questions.
Thanks, So worst case, the rear wouldn't be that much higher anyhow. Maybe a just little better mpg and If I build a little more torque, no sweat. If I remember correctly, in other cars, the auto trans cars tend to be the ones with the higher gears. If the car wasn't 200 miles away, I'd have it already.
The sure fire way to tell the gear ratio's (assuming they have not already been changed at some point in the cars life) is to look at the door tag. A 2.79 car will have have 3 under AXLE on the door tag. A 3.00 car will have a 6. The head will be a direct bolt on swap, but there isn't any reason to swap the head unless it is a '76 and newer head (because they had hardened valve seats). You will not see any performance gains over your 200 head just by swapping the head alone. Milling the head may give it a little more compression, which would help a bit obviously.
If changing to discs, also use the combination valve (prop valve) from the disc brake car. Drum brakes have a combo valve with a 10 lb residual valve in them to keep the drums engaged. Disc combos only use a 2 lb valve. Running discs with a 10 lb valve is like driving while resting your foot on the brake pedal. I went through a set of pads in 6000 miles before correcting this. Also, if getting bucket seats from a 4 door, I don't believe that they fold forward. Might be a problem if you want to use your back seat.
Thanks, all good info. I don't know if I'll do the deal or not. Hard part would be getting rid of whatever's left over. I don't have a back field lol. I asked the guy and he won't part it for same reason. I guess I'd have to put the parts from my car back on the donor to haul it outa here. Car looks really too nice to junk, at least from the pics. It's a smog required car here in Ca, so putting it back on the road to sell would be way too much hassle/expense.
I haven't had any problems with my drum brake proportioning valve. My front brake pads have about 18,000 on them and still look like the day I put them on, wheels rotate freely... Why would it be beneficial for the drums to stay engaged?
