I am thinking about buying a 1970 maverick from a local junkyard. it is very straight and has if any a little rust(surface). He wants $100 without a motor. Is it hard to put a V8 in a maverick? I am 14 and grew up around chevys. This will be my first car but later will be turned into a dragcar. Thanx.
No, it's not hard to put a V8 in a Maverick. I feel the best thing to do is find a V8 Maverick/Comet donor car and just swap out all its V8 parts for your 6 cylinder ones. Basically you have to change the springs, rearend (go to bigger 8 inch on newer Mavs; 70 is smaller/weaker) crossmember, engine mounts, radiator, driveshaft, and the V8 tranny mount (has bends to allow dual exhaust). This is a basic overview of the swap. Like I said a V8 donor car is great to have for all the small parts and stuff related to the V8. Personally I have not done this swap, but a bunch of other members on this board have and they can help you more than I can. Hope this helps. The V8 swap is one of the easiest swaps that anyone can do to these cars. Good luck! -Corbin
Tucan, I've performed the V8 swap on my '76 two-door Maverick and its not really that big a deal. Look at the bright side, since your engine compartment is empty, it will be easier to get at the engine mounts! You will need the following (assuming it was an inline-6 car to begin with): 302 V8 Engine (Duh!) - Junkyard Ford LTDs are good donors... V8 Engine mounts (check Ebay) V8 Frame Brace (not crucial but highly recommended) V8 Throttle cable (the I-6 is different, you need the V8 cable) V8 Transmission kick-down lever Thats it! Also... If your car had an I-6 in it to begin with, check the VIN number to see if it was a 170, 200 or 250-sized engine. If it had the 250 engine and the C4 transmission then your in luck, the V8 will bolt right up to the tranny with no problem. And... If your car had an I-6 in it, or you don't know, check the fuel line on the drivers side of the car (look through the wheel-well opening on the front-left). If the fuel line goes into the engine compartment BEHIND the shock tower (as viewed from the front of the car) then you have a car that origionally had an I-6 in it. If the fuel line enters the car in FRONT of the shock tower, then it had a V8 in it and you are set! Many of us here have performed V8 swaps... Let us know if we can help! Regards, Tracy
Do it... Hey there, If you've got the space to put it and a random $100, then get it. We're all here to help out, and it's a fun project (even for us old guys.) I've even got a C-4 crossmember, frame mounts and engine crossmember waiting for ya when you're ready... Yours, Atzy.
Fuel Line I am not trying to prove anyone wrong here, but not all I6 fuel lines enter the engine bay behind the shock tower. My brother's old 73 Maverick has a 250 and the fuel line enters the bay in front of the shock tower. This car is completely stock and it came from the factory like this. Maybe different years came in different places. Who knows. There is also a whole behind the tower for a fuel line provision as well, but my factory V8 73 Maverick has the same thing. Maybe they put a V8 line instead on his car. The vin and everything match, and nothing has been tampered with on this car. Just something to think about. Also if it is a 1970 then there is no way that it would come factory with a V8; someone could have put in one however. Good luck with the project. Does anyone else's fuel line on their 6 come thru in front of the tower, or is this a one-of-a-kind car? -Corbin
Corbin, I enjoy the dialog on this subject! No problem at all! Hey, I can use an edumacation right up there with them colage boys! When I perfomed my I6 (250) to V8 conversion (Coast High Performance), I found that my fuel line ran into the car BEHIND the shock tower (next to the manifolds/headers). This is a very bad thing when running a V8 because as soon as the car warmed up, the fuel would start boiling in that part of the line causing my fuel pressure to drop from 8psi (cold) to 1.3psi (hot) and would starve my engine with anything above idle! I found a 302-powered donor car, took the fuel line off of it, put it on my '76 in the proper location (ahead of the shock tower) and Wham! Fuel pressure stayed up at 8psi! Apparently it is a little known fact that the Maverick/Comet came with two different fuel lines for the engine types. Nonetheless, it educates us all about some of the finer details on these classics! Thanks, Tracy
Tracy, Well maybe my bro's old car was a mess up, or on the other hand I think that maybe it was the factory Experimental Maverick that slipped through the cracks into society. Yep, the line is in the front because the HiPo 250 Stroker Engine puts out a lot of heat when it is redlining at 9800! Rated at 350 horse and 380 ft/lbs it would make the fuel boil even though the sport-tuned stock cast iron exhaust manifold is on the other side of the engine! Well, that was enough BS to bury a Maverick, but the point is that I am still curious as to why/which 6 cylinder Mavericks and Comets were equipped with this apparent "V8 fuel line" setup. Anyone else noticed anything?? Maybe it changes when it has different options on the car. The only thing that our two Mavericks share in common is that they have power steering, but I don't see why it would matter where the fuel goes in that case. Thanks for the interesting conversation. -Corbin
My 1970 has the fuel line in front of the shock tower. It was orginally a 250 car. Maybe the fuel line routing has more to do with assembly plant or year than engine selection.
It seems that Ford could use the "V8" fuel line on the 302 and inline-sixes, but not the other way around. My guess is that if they ran out of I-6 fuel lines then they would simply toss on a V8 line (?) on the sixes. I have never heard of anyone that had the I-6 fuel line on a factory V8 car though. Seems like that would be dangerous since the line runs so close to the manifolds! Tracy
I wouldn't call them 'I6' and 'V8' lines, there just isn't enough evidence to support that. Most of the cars I've seen have had the fuel line in front, I6 or not. It's definitely not a way to tell what engine your car came with originally, the VIN is a much easier method.
Fuel line Well, I'm in the middle of transplanting the 302 from a 1976 4dr to my 1977 2dr (originaly I6 250). I just went out to check the fuel lines. Believe it or not, in both cars the fuel line enters behind the shock tower!! I also just checked the vin on the '76 and it's an original v8 car!? Guess we need a new theory. Also, based on Pegasus's coment, should I move the fuel line in my car before I put the v8 in? I don't have the proper v8 line to install but I can do it with rubber tubing, right? Dan
My all original 71 with a 170, my 72 Sprint which came with a 200, and my 77 which came with a 250, all have the line in front. They are also all Canadian cars. My 76 parts car is USA made, has a 250 and is in the back. Mabe it was a Canadian thing
That sounds like it could be a very good possibility, but both of our Mavericks were made in the US; at least that is what is says on the door jam. Where do we find the location of the assembily plant code? I already have the codes, I just need to find them on the car. Thanks -Corbin
Dan, Based on the fact that your factory '76 302 has the line BEHIND the shock tower leaves me wondering if Ford just threw whatever line on it they had in stock that day? Also, on this same car, is the fuel line in any way factory-shielded from the drivers side exhaust manifold? What is the routing like to the fuel pump? Can you snap a quick picture? Is the line from the engine-bay-wall to the fuel pump rubber or metal? This mystery is getting weirder by the moment. So far we have deduced: * Fuel line can be supplied from the factory, front or back, in any 250 or 302 car. I wonder if there is a 200 or 170 I-6 car with the factory line in front of the tower? * Ford definitely supplied the "short" or "long" fuel line throughout the production run of the Maverick so the "long" line is not any attempt on thier part to fix any fuel boiling problems. Just my .02 cents to figure out what Ford was thinking Thanks, Tracy
