I've been doing a LOT of research and this site appears to be THE place for Maverick/Comet information, so hopefully you guys/gals can point me in the right direction here. I've been mechanicin' and hot rodding for over 25 years, built a LOT of Chevy stuff, but only a handfull of Ford's and those have almost exclusively been pickups. Anyway, here's the deal. This disabled old man has a early '70's Maverick for sale cheap. It's an I6/auto car with no options (manual steering and brakes)...for some reason I remember it being a 250 I6. The wife loves the body style (as do I but I'm 6'5" and don't exactly fit in it very well...so it would be for her), and it is, at least initially, way more affordable starting material than the 60's Mustang she REALLY wants. The engine is sick and the tranny slips, but the body is pretty much rust free and "mostly" straight. The interior is well faded and dirty but otherwise in good shape. It also just so happens that I will have a leftover '83 351w truck motor soon after I get the fresh '89 351w dropped into my '83 F-150. So I'm thinking...light car, freshened up '83 351w with a handful of minor mods...should be a lot of fun for a minimal budget. I've been doing a LOT of reading on here...seems that the biggest issue with the 351w swap is the exhaust. Anyway... 1) Exhaust seems to be by far the biggest issue with the 351w swap. I'm not opposed to using the 302 Mav manifolds IF I can find them. Otherwise, a set of 1 1/2" headers will be plenty sufficient. It sounds like the summit #6901's are useable with some "tweaking"? I'm not scared of doing the shock tower trimming either...sounds like the only way to keep your sanity during plug changes. 2) What do I do for motor/frame mounts? There are NO mavericks/comets in the salvage yards around here, and very rare on Craigslist, and I don't do E-Bay. 3) The I6 tranny bolts up to the 351w, correct? Are the I6 C-4's lighter internally (weaker) than the V8 versions (GM did this quite often). Will the tranny have to be relocated forward? 4) What front springs are needed to keep the ride height and handling reasonable? I live in Oklahoma...not exactly known for its smooth roads! 5) Do all these cars use the 8" rear? I know some Fords of the era got a 6.75" rear end, which would probably vaporize if you looked at it too hard. It also seems that the 2.79 and 3.00 gears was all that was available? What ratio is most likely in there? I'm thinking of the following build...fresh bore, try to keep it around 9.0 compression, use the AWESOME D8 heads (keeping the stock 1.78/1.46 valves, but 3 angle valve job, mildly ported intake and heavily ported exhaust, and a normal freshening), performer 2181 manifold, 600 edelbrock card (because I already have it, and a 750 eddy too), lightly ported 302 manifolds or 1 1/2" headers, a Isky 270HL cam (216@.050, .470 lift, 108 lsa single pattern for a little rumpity rump but still strong torque), backed with a 2000-2400 stall convertor, and retaining the stock rear gears. I've built pickups like this and even with 2.75 gears they ran really well...should be a real hoot in a 3000 pound car. I'm guessing low-mid 14's easily enough with traction. Thoughts?
...to you and your Wife...:Handshake "I'm guessing low-mid 14's easily enough with traction." ..."Thoughts?"... in a small tunnel '70, a mild built 302 will get you there with a whole lot less hassle...JMHO Frank
Welcome to the site 1. Summit headers don't fit too good...gotta grind steering box for clearance/smash tubes 2. We used homemade solid mounts 3. The 250 and 302 C4's got the same guts. 170-200 missed out on extra clutch 4. See http://dixiemaverick.com/DMcoilsprings.html 5. All 73-up Mavericks got the 8"....early 6 cyl got the 7.25"
Welcome to the site. You say early 70s Maverick, Do you know exactly what year? That would help a lot. Where in OK are you located? I probably have all the parts you will need for your project. IE 5 lug rear end (Stock 8" or 3.70 Tracklock 9" out of a 59 Fairlane), Front disk brakes, Engine stands, V8 trans crossmember, Belly bar etc... Might be worth the trip to get most everything you need in one trip. If you decided to get some stuff from me we might be able to meet somewhere in the middle to do the deal. Let me know exactly what you will need and we will talk. PM me.
I wouldn't put money into those heads. Does the truck 351 have a front sump pan or will you need to find one? You could pick up a serviceable 5.0 with E7 heads for $200-$300 and a tired tired old 302 with front sump oil pan, timing cover, accessories, brackets, front cover, ... for $100-$200 and get less expensive better-matched headers, have less head aches and 200 HP at the rear wheels.
The headers I used with 1.5" primaries for my 351w swap were Summit G9031, not 6901. I haven't heard of successes with 6901's but I could be wrong. The G9031's did take some patience to make fit. There were a couple of places where the tubes had to be hit, not too bad though. I did have to grind a tiny bit on the steering box, the bolts on the idler arm had to be ground down if I remember correctly, the upper control arm mounting points had to be lowered a little, ("Shelby drop") I had to notch and box in the area between the engine mounts and the shock towers, and the middle vertical "hump" in the lower part of the towers had to be eliminated. I didn't "shave" the shock towers in the traditional sense though; you can't tell outwardly that I did anything at all really. I can even reach my spark plugs. It was a whole lot of frustrating work, and by far the hardest part of my 351w swap. But I don't regret doing it. The torque of that engine is awesome in this little car. If I had deep enough pockets I'd get rid of the shock towers and use an aftermarket front end kit. One day I might. That way you can run just about any kind of headers you want. For that matter you can run just about any engine you want.
Welcome to the Maverick world. I had a 71 Grabber with the 351W in it. Hated to work on it but it fit. Plugs were a chore to change. Unless you want to do the shock tower cut. I'm kind of partial to a 302 based motor. You can get what ever power you want from a 331 or 347 and not have to do any cutting. My 308 runs 11.80s, but it is a strip only car. Good luck. You'll find a nice Maverick will turn more heads than a Mustang will. You might also ask what any of the others on here do that are pretty tall.
That's not a problem, either. I'm 6'6", 275 lbs (shhhh). The seat brackets can be redrilled to move the seat a few inches farther rearward.
6'7" 320lbs size 17 shoe daily drive my manual 3 spd. seat in stock location. I will admit I can't wear my new boots while driving it though.
Thanks for the replies! The car is a '73, but rougher than I thought initially. Floor pans are "swiss cheese" as is the trunk floor. The engine does run (more or less) but the tranny is toast. I was looking for a low budget deal that didn't need too much work, but all I kept hearing in the back ground was ka-ching ka-ching lol. I'll keep looking...
