1972 Maverick Sprint

[Maverick]

Finished installing the Taurus fan today.

The fan is mounted upside down and sifted about 1.25" to the passenger side. Strips of 16 gauge sheet steel on each side provide mounts for the shifted fan/shroud.





Shift to the passenger side is so the fan motor doesn't contact the water pump pulley bolts.



Fan controller is for a single speed fan.



I'm gonna try it and see if the low speed is adequate. If its not, I'll wire up another sensor, and a relay to switch the low speed off and high speed on. High speed can only be started if the fan is running on low speed and then the low speed has to get switched off. Not doing that additional relay and circuit unless its necessary.

[Maverick]

Just thought I'd post about some recently completed items.

The Taurus electric radiator fan is in and works well. Just runs for 5-10 seconds at a time. I think I should have an indicator light to tell me when its running. Its not hard to know when it starts if the car is idling. The 100 amp alternator drops the rpms similar to when the ac compressor turns on. But I'd like to know if it comes on when I'm driving, especially when the weather gets warmer. One of these days I gotta get some gauges.

The Traction-Loc is in and seems to work fine. Haven't had a chance to try to lay two strips yet so can't say if the 5.0 torque is adequate for 2-wheel burnouts with the stock converter.

The guy that installed the TL had to have a second try. First attempt was very noisy on deceleration and the pinion seal leaked. Good news was he didn't resist fixing it. This time he took the whole car, pulled the center section himself, and reset the gears. Now, its nice and quiet -- as far a I can tell. Lots of other noises but noting that sounds like a rear end noise.

Also installed Lakewood traction bars. Lakewood makes bars that are SUPPOSED to fit a Maverick but no way. The bars replace the spring plate and have holes for the bottom shock mounts. Unfortunately, the holes are placed such that the shock meets the rear axle housing before it lines up with the holes. Fortunately, Lakewood bars designed for Mustangs fit just fine.

The rear springs are sagging, especially in front of the axle. That's one reason for adding traction bars. I was concerned about wrap up of those week springs when both tires are biting.

Anyway, with the front half of the springs de-arched, the rubber snubbers had to be cut down to get clearance between the snubbers and the spring. Some Econline springs fit the Maverick. Just one or two leaves from an Econoline makes a nice Maverick spring. Will get to that someday.

I like the way the traction bars stiffened the ride. Those, together with the added sway bar in back and larger sway bar in front give a firm, flat ride.

Disk brake parts are cleaned and painted and ready to be installed. Suspension and steering will be rebuilt when the spindles are changed. Steering and suspension parts are ordered and should arrive any day from a place that sells MOOG parts cheaper than any other place I could find. If anyone is intereste, I'll post the web address.

Replacement brake parts will come from the local CarQuest when the checkbook recovers. WXO is down with a cold but when HE recovers, maybe we'll shoot another video.

[MostMint]

My TA had broken leafs when I got it. At the time there was a junkyard that had a trailer full of leaf springs. I picked out two pairs of leafs (or is that leaves?) and he cut down the second pair to the right length. It was quite cheap. I got leafs that were just a bit thicker than the old ones and it lifted the car up nice.

Regarding the fan, put a small light on the same circuit as the fan (after the switch).

No gauges? I highly suggest moving that up the list.

The car keeps getting better all the time.

[Maverick]

As an alternative, I could replace the second leaf with a stronger one that extends almost to the front eye. Hadn't thought of that. I really don't want to raise the car -- I like the current stance. It sits low with ample suspension travel.

If money were no object I'd get some new springs re-curved to keep the current height. Have to get up to the good junk yard again and see if they have some Econolines.

[Maverick]

Went back to see R&J Custom Exhaust last week. Left tailpipe is hitting the shock. Right tail pipe is hitting the axle. And it's way too noisy inside the car. Why is it too noisy? Its the mufflers. I bought 3-chamber stainless Magnaflows from Summit for $50 each. Didn't expect 3-chambers to be so noisy. Exhaust guy is recommending Thrush mufflers. Says they'll be a lot quieter. Hope he's right. Since he didn't have them in stock, I'm going back tomorrow afternoon to get them installed.

Ran into a complication on the disk brakes. Learned the center hole in my '72 drum brake wheels will not go over the disk hubs. Hustled back to the junk yard this morning and, luckily, the stock wheels were still with the disk brake donor car. Got all five. Took four Taurus (I think) wheels up with me and traded them, with $15, for the five disk brake wheels. Glad I got them but now I have to pay to get the tires removed, get the "rust bucket" electrolysis going to de=rust them, paint them, and pay AGAIN to have the tires mounted on the disk brake wheels and balanced. Thought I had that all done.

Most of the new suspension and steering parts arrived today. I'll wait a month or so put the new brake parts on the charge card. Gotta space the purchases out some.

Bro Willy said he thought the rough idle and hesitation problems I was having were lack of manifold heat. The new touchless thermometer supported his theory. Where the exhaust passages go up around the intake manifold, the temperature was lower than at the intake runners. I didn't' check, before it was installed, to see if the exhaust passages had been blocked in the used Edelbrock Performer or if maybe the gaskets were blocking those passages. Someday I'll have to pull the manifold back off but there's no hurry. Replaced the 180* thremostat with a 195* and it helped a lot. Its not perfect, especially till it gets warmed up, but its good enough to make driving enjoyable.

[Maverick]

Got the mufflers changed to Thrush Turbos today. I like the sound better. Not tinny and somewhat quieter. They reduced the interior noise level by at least half. I don't mind it at the new level -- it comes on now only with more throttle. But, I think I'll put a sound barrier in the front of the trunk. Its open over the wheel wells to the interior rear panels with no insulation in the path. Think some insulation on the front of the trunk, quarter panel-to-quarter panel, might help a lot. Worth a try.

Robert at R&J changed the mufflers and made new tail pipes. Worked close to 2 hours. Hope these pipes don't hit anything.

One of the guys informed me of a tradition where cars do burn outs in their parking lot. Great idea since I've been looking for an opportunity to test the new Traction-Loc and Lakewoods. Been wanting to see if the 5.0 with 3.0 gears and stock converter would have enough torque to light up BOTH tires. Gave it a try and result wasn't too impressive. Some spin -- 10 or 15 feet -- about what my Explorer would do. When I pulled away, IT WAS IN 2ND GEAR. Went back and had another go. Much better this time. Couldn't stay on it since there's only about 100 feet between speed bumps but at least I know it will light 'em up in first gear. Time to take it to the track.

Also got the old tires taken off the disk brake wheels. NO CHARGE at our Merchant Tire. They disposed of the five old tires too. Think I owe them some business.

[Maverick]

Took the Sprint to chruch Sunday. On the way home, at a stop light with no one around, I explained to my wife that I needed to check the 1-2 shift point. Spun the tires thru most of 1st gear and it got a little squirly on the shift to 2nd. Too busy to check the tach but I think the shift point is OK. Might have to check it again ...

Five disk brake wheels have been thru the "rust bucket" treatment. One still needs the final coat of paint which will come tomorrow if the weather cooperates. Still need to buy about $200 worth of stuff to do the disk brake install. Maybe next month.

[TireSmoker]

Five disk brake wheels have been thru the "rust bucket" treatment. One still needs the final coat of paint which will come tomorrow if the weather cooperates.

Jim, is this the method where you get the bucket, washing soda, some riebar and a battery charger? If so, how well does it work?

-Dave

[Maverick]

Yes, that's it. It works great as long as you're not in a hurry. Light rust will be loose in a couple of hours but heavy rust can take some time. I did each wheel for about 12 hours. (Well, actually 24, but my tub isn't big enough to get the whole wheel submerged. Did 12 hours, turned it, and did 12 more.) The process works at the boundary between the rust and good metal. After it's cooked the rust will come off with a little scrubbing with some steel wool and its bright shiny steel. Rinse, dry, and don't delay putting some rust stabilizer on it. The metal is very clean and will begin to rust immediately. I've used OSPHO when I'm painting other than black. If I'm painting black I use POR15 or Eastwood Rust Encapsulator. I'm doing the wheels with Rust Encapsulator and Eastwood Underhood Black. All aerosols.

If your charger doesn't want to put out much current (the automatic chargers don't seem to want to put out the voltage to the electrolyte) use a battery with a charger going That'll keep a battery charged while you're cooking the rust and keep a good current flowing. 2-3 amps seems like a good rate. If you can see steady bubbles its doing fine.

[Maverick]

Nothing very exciting going on right now. Brought some interior quarter panels back from Florida, painted them, and found they didn't fit when I tried to install them. I thought all the '72-'77 panels were the same but not ture. So, once again trying to locate replacement panels.

Installed some sound insulation in the back part of the trunk. There's a lot of noise getting into the cabin from the rear area. Packed the quarter panels from the door jam to the center of the wheel well with foam rubber in plastic garbage bags. Also in a chamber under the rear package shelf. It helped some.

Ordered the rest of the replacement steering and suspension components from CarQuest. They had all but three items in stock at the Raleigh warehouse. Remaining items should be in Monday. We'll see. Once I have all the parts, rebuild of the steering and front suspension will begin.

The junk yard with the Maverick that gave up the front disk brakes is pulling the rear springs off a 2nd Maverick. They should be ready this week too. Need to get the rear end up an inch or so. The front of the current rear springs are actually re-curved down. I like the stance but I'm concerned that the pinion angle will be off with that much sag in the front half of the springs.

I'm on the fifth vintage radio and still don't have one that works 100%. But, I'll spare you the boring details. Now have a period correct one where the FM and cassette drive work with some nice old 8-ohm speakers in the back shelf. No AM, but that's not a big concern. Last two radios and speakers were contributed by my friend that sold me the Maverick.

I keep looking at Craigslist and ebaymotors for a Phase 2 donor car -- just to know what's available. Might pull the trigger if the right one comes along. I'd either like to find worn out cores or engine and transmission that are usable as is -- not someting in between. If its cores, I'm thinking 347 stroker.

[Maverick]

Finished removing the drum brakes, front suspension, and steering gear today in preparation for the disk brake install and suspension and steering rebuild.

Got the front end all disassembled. Used a big Pitman arm press to push out the rubber busing on the idler arm end of the drag link. Couldn't budge the steel sleeve so used my sabre saw with a metal cutting blade to cut out a piece of it. Put the new bushing in the freezer, and the drop light under the drag link to warm it up some, and pressed the new bushing in with the same Pitman arm press. JUST BARELY!!

Had fun getting the control arms off. Had to heat the caster-adjusting nuts that attach them to the front cross member. Melted rubber sure is messy.

The borrowed spring compressor from AutoZone worked well. Everything is out and so now it should be more fun putting the new stuff back in.

Used my new ratcheting box end wrench on the upper control arm nuts. No socket would fit in there. With the nut almost off, the end wrench wouldn't come off because there wasn't room between the studs and headers. Had to take the nut off and then get the wrench off the stud. Going back in I'll have to put the wrench over the stud and then start the nut. Don't ya think Doug Thorley had it all planned?





Been using the heater because we're in another cold snap. 50s today and 40s tomorrow.

Assembly ready to come out.




And out.

[oldvettedad]

Sounds like you are having fun again.

[Maverick]

Progress has been S L O W, keep thinking things will go faster, but they don't.

The master cyl, proportioning valve, brake lines, steering, and driver's side suspension and brakes are in place with most everything ready to be torqued.



The disk brake swap had some surprise issues that I think are now all under control. IIRC, disk brakes were not available thru '73, 10" front disks were an option in '74, and 11" (same as Granada) disks were standard for '75-'77. Most reports of swapping the later disk brakes onto earlier cars are described as bolt ons. That's mostly true but a lot of guys cheat and use drum/drum stuff on the disk/drum conversion. Me, I swap EVERYTHING 'cause I don't know the consequences of the mis-matched parts.

Some of the differences are:

. Length of the rod between master cyl and brake pedal. Manual disk brake rod is about 1/4" shorter which will change the height of the brake pedal about an inch or more.
. Master Cyl piston sizes and tube nuts. There are FOUR different tube nut sizes (hex and threads), all for 3/16" tube. Ford changes them all around to AVOID swapping parts. Try to find those larger ones if you need to make some custom lines.
. Proportioning valve is rotated 90 degrees changing the geometry for all five tube connections.
. While the drum/drum proportioning valve was mounted directly on the fender apron, the disk/drum valve seems happier mounted about 1.25" off the apron.
. Brackets that hold the rubber-to-steel connectors mount about 10" farther forward. The brackes mount to nuts welded INSIDE the frame rail.

Thought I would cope with all that by ordering all new/rebuilt master cyl, pre-bent lines for the front brakes, and rubber lines for the '76 disk brake cars. But those short lines with the complex bends that go between the master cyl and the proportioning valve weren't right. Fortunately, the ones from the donor car were still good so those were used. To hold the proportioning valve off the apron, I made these spacers by welding 5/16" nuts to both ends on a 3/4" piece of 3/8" pipe. One end screws on the studs on the valve and the other end is fastened by bolts thru the apron. Notice the extra marks and one errant little hole in the apron.




So, what to do about the missing nuts that should be welded to the inside of the frame rails? Thought about big hex-head metal screws but rejected that idea because all the flexing might loosen a metal screw allowing the steel line to move, bend and break. Thought about welding the brackets to the frame rails but the driver side bracket is about 1.5" from the fuel line. Decided to drill holes thru the frame rails and fasten the brackets with 5/16X3" bolts.


I've never seen disk brake assemblies like these. I expect there are a lot of failures because the caliper doesn't move. To fasten the caliper to its mount, a long, flat, heavy spring is POUNDED (well, maybe tapped) into place.


When its assembled the caliper will NOT slide by pushing or pulling on it. Doesn't seem right to me but multiple sources say it should be very tight when assembled. I'll check on it after a few miles.

The tube nut on the line going to the rear brakes was bigger for the drum/drum brake proportioning valve. After trying unsuccessfully to find fittings to make the transition, I cut the fitting off the line going to the back, cut another line with the right fitting for the valve, and used a 3/16" union to join the two lines. The union is visible in the above picture of the installed proportioning valve.

Should go faster now, right??

[wxo]

Now that you have good brakes, wanna try a video of 0 to 100 to 0?

[Maverick]

Now that you have good brakes, wanna try a video of 0 to 100 to 0?

That sounds like fun. Shall we wait till I get new tires?