1972 Maverick Sprint

[Maverick]

How about a tow bar or tow dolly?

Don't think so. Might have to make a second, solo trip to Mich in 2011.

[TireSmoker]

If you try to drive the cruise from end-to-end, yeah, there will be some terrible traffic. But there are sections of it that move ok. Bloomfield to Pontiac was always a pretty easy drive, but once you got further south from Bloomfield, it would start to slow down. The good news is you can just pull off anywhere, and just watching the traffic is pretty entertaining. Granted, it's a lot easier drive from Cleveland than down south, but it's worth going to at least once.

-Dave

[Maverick]

Haven't posted any progress for a couple of weeks. Not much to show in pictures so I haven't posted anything. But, things are progressing.

For the first time, there is a schedule objective. I want to take the car to the largest all-Ford event in the Southeast, the NPD show in Silver Springs to be held 1/8-9/11. To do that, I need to have it on the road by the end of October and all the kinks worked out in time for a 8-9 hour drive. There are a lot of Mavericks & Comets at that event so it should be a fun time.

Next potential road trip would be Spring Carlisle but WXO and I will figure out which car to take.

Then, in late July, the Maverick Comet Club International (MCCI) is holding their 2011 annual gathering in Dearborn, MI. Not sure how I'll manage that. We visit Port Huron, MI, about 70 miles from Dearborn, every Summer but we usually make that 13-hour drive in the DTS. Should be even more Mavericks and Comets at that event.

As to progress, there has been some. Headliner is looking good. Creases from shipping folds are gone. Never did get the hair dryer out to shrink some of the minor wrinkles but they're mostly gone too.

Rear quarter windows are in, as are the front and back glass. The previous owner came and helped me install the windshield and back glass. Had some problems with the windshield and had to abort the first installation attempt. fortunately, I had an extra gasket/weatherstrip since safe removal of the windshield destroys the gasket. Second attempt went better. Back glass was easy.

Reveal molding on the front and back glass was a bear!! The repro clips aren't well made. I had to adjust each of the 50 clips in 1 to 3 ways to use them. Even then, I had a difficult time getting the trip in place. Only a couple of minor dings in the process.

The dash is painted and mostly reinstalled. I've had the instrument cluster in and out at least 10 times as I worked on various electrical issues. A couple remain.

There was a short in the wire to the fuel gauge sender that caused me to think the instrument voltage regulator was bad. With the short, I was reading zero volts on the regulator output. While waiting for the replacement, I started poking around just to verify everything. Pulled the wire off the fuel gage sender and attached a hot wire to that wire at the instrument panel. Wanted to check for voltage drop at the other end. But, the hot wire gave a tiny spark when I attached it. Had to be a short in the wire! Someone had made repair to that wire, replacing about 2 feet of the hot wire and the companion ground wire. Qualtiy job -- used shrink wrap too. Only problem was he overheated the shrink wrap and melted the insulation on both wires. There were a few places where they could have been touching. I replaced the pair of wires from the connector at the rear quarter to the sender terminal.

WXO came and helped me install the heater/AC box under the dash Think everything is working there. We did encounter a mystery connector in that area. Couldn't figure out where it was supposed to go. Turns out its not used on mar car. A guy on the Maverick Forum said it was for some outside temp sensing device that goes under the front fender. No such device here.

Got all the lights on the back of the car working except I need to replace the license plate light. Just gotta pick up a bulb.

I'm installing a 1/4" foil-backed rubber insulation throughout the cabin. Will take a picture when its done. Should keep some noise, heat and cold out.

Did I mention that I cooked the original wheels in my electrolytic bath, applied two coats of Eastwood Rust Encapsulator and two coats of Chassis Black? Got my Craigslist 14" tires mounted and balanced and have them on the car with the original trim rings and dog dish hub caps. I've given up on the American Racing 15" wheels about six times. Keep going back to them. May get them presentable some day. Mounted one of the Craigslist 235X60X15 BFG TA's on an AR wheel for test fit. They fit on all four corners.

Installed the trunk weatherstrip with help from the wife. Just wasn't able to apply the adhesive, control the weatherstrip, and put it in place with two hands.

The door weatherstrips each come in two pieces, the top half is attached to BLACK windlace that goes around the headliner. Had to mask the weatherstrip and paint the windlace white to match the headliner. Kind of tedious. But, its done and those are installed.

The partition between the back seat and the trunk is made from ROOFING FELT!! It even has the lines to tell you where to place the shingles I picked up a 4X8 sheet of Masonite for $4 or $5 at Home Depot, cut out a new partition, and threw out the deteriorating roofing felt.

Also cut a new package shelf board from the Masonite. (I could have gotten a painted one from AutoKrafters for $50+) WXO and I were at the Charoltte Auto Fest last weekend. The only thing I bought was a 54X18" piece of headliner material to cover the package shelf. AutoKrafters was there and had the material back at the store. Should get it this week.

Think that's about it. When I get the rest of the trim on and doors re-populated I'll take some pictures and post them. Got most of the writing done now so next time, mostly pictures.

[Maverick]

Wasn't going to post pictures till things were farther along but here are some I took this morning.

Rear assembly is done.



Repaired a small dent behind the bumper.



Front valence found a few curbs in the past. Front of hood frame rusted thru and pin holes thru the front of the hood. All fixed.



Patch panels cut from full quarter skins to repair in front, above and behind both rear wheel wells. Outer wheel wells repaired.



Metal and vinyl pad both painted with a custom-mixed vinyl paint.



Hood decals by Graphics Express, Tampa.

[Fred32v]

One picture (or 6) is worth a thousand words. Wow!

[Maverick]

I got the Sprint in Oct of 2008 and have been working pretty steadily for going on 2 years. I have a goal to have it on the road by the end of Oct this year and have it ready for a road trip to the the big NPD All Ford show in Silver Springs, FL Jan 8-9. I'm fairly confident in the goal.

Progress since the last update: made new package shelf and trunk separator, insulated the cabin, installed new door weatherstripping, installed the racing mirrors, assembled the drivers door and a good start on the passenger door, painted door panels, interior quarter panels, seat belt aparatus, ... You get the idea.







The larger (7/8" vs 3/4" stock) sway bar is in. That will balance the 3/4" bar previously added to the rear. Originally it had no rear bar.

I removed the covers from the Camaro bucket seats (Carlisle 2009) and shipped them to Rhode Island to be used as patterns. New covers will be in the Sprint fashion. The blue cloth material is still available from SMS Auto Fabrics. I'll order it as soon as the upholsterer tells me how much to get. He's had the covers for six days and I haven't heard from him. Think I may install the bench seat till the new covers arrive.

Next I'll finish the passenger door and dash reassembly (AC ducts, radio, package tray, ..., then on to the front end (splash pan, bumper, grill, lights, ...). I'm going to tack (WXO MIG) a turndown onto the collector on the passenger side header before I drive it to get exhaust. (That header is pointed somewhat at the passenger's left foot.) When it has an exhaust system, CarQuest can make me some AC lines and WXO will evacuate and charge the AC system.

Gotta make a junk yard trip some day to find some horns and a hood strut to assist in holding up the trunk lid with Mach 1 spoiler.

Getting close ...

[MostMint]

Looks good. Seems this last leg of the journey is going faster.

[Maverick]

Looks good. Seems this last leg of the journey is going faster.

Thanks. When the big stuff (seats, interior panels, etc.) start going on it shows more progress. Gets the blood pumping.

I bid on a rebuilt '65-'66 Mustang Trac Lok 3.40 rear end but got out bid. Still didn't get to the minimum set by the seller. Oh well, I'll keep looking.

[Maverick]

The Maverick made a big leap forward today. It was added to my insurance policy and a quick trip to the DMV got me a registration and plate. Ordered a personalized plate "BKETLIST" and got a loaner plate till the new one comes in about three weeks. Took six or eight trys to find an unused string of letters indicating "Bucket List".

Home a little after 10 AM and WXO arrived about 11 AM. We installed the front shocks, firewall-to-apron braces, headlight buckets, a turndown on the PS collector to direct the exhaust away for the floor/firewall, and the front bench seat. Abouit 3:30 we took a spin in the neighborhood. Just enough to convince us the Sprint will make the 40 or so round trip to get an exhaust system.

Still have lots of tinkering to do but the fundamentals seem to be there. The hard stuff is done, at least for Phase 1.

Camera man WXO will add some pictures and video to this post. I was very pleased that his schedule freed up today and we were able to take that ride together. We'll try to get the exhaust system installed next week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G3wTLDebUU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYltSGQBQFs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHeDXlAuoiU

[wxo]

Links to YouTube videos have been edited in to Maverick's last post.

[Maverick]

Links to YouTube videos have been edited in to Maverick's last post.

THANKS!!!

[TireSmoker]

That's awesome! That first drive is always sweet. But did you guys wear crash helmets like BP & Fred did on the T/A's first drive?

-Dave

[Maverick]

That's awesome! That first drive is always sweet. But did you guys wear crash helmets like BP & Fred did on the T/A's first drive?

-Dave

Nope, no helmets. Barely got above idle. Didn't want to antagonize the neighbors.

WXO and I are taking it for the exhaust system on Monday. After that we'll give it a little run.

[Maverick]

WXO and I took the Maverick down to a custom exhaust shop in Apex, NC (Southwest of Raleigh) today to get the exhaust done. I took the 2 1/2" X-pipe I got in Carlisle (thanks, Paul for putting me on to that deal) and a pair of 3-chamber Magnaflow stainless mufflers for them to use.

We arrived for the appt at 10:30 AM but they didn't do much till after lunch. From about 1 till about 5:30PM there were 1-3 guys working on it. Did a beautiful job. Ran 2 1/2" from the Doug Thorley shorties to the mufflers and 2 1/4" tail pipes to the bumper. All mandrel bends.

I had put a pretty good dent in the driver side collector to get full travel for the pitman arm. They tossed my handywork (good!), trimmed the bellhousing and spacer plate, and made a little S-curve to move the pipe over to make room for the pitman arm. Very nice work. (Gotta get rid of that overspray on the fuel tank!)

Also perfectlly formed and positioned turndowns tucked up under the rear valence. The boss wasn't satisfied with the passenger side turn down so he re-did that tail pipe from the muffler back. Glad he wasn't satisfied and I didn't have to argue.

It sounds good but louder inside the car than I expected. Quiet under light throttle but roars pretty good with more throttle. Maybe it'll quiet down some when the carpet is installed and the windows are up. Gotta get that AC going

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UEaKd5UnW4[/youtube]

I'm NOT going to put a steeper gear in the rear end unless I also do an OD transmission. Don't have a tach installed but it seemed to be revving pretty high at 70 MPH. Would be pretty monotonous on an all day drive to Florida or Michigan, both of which I want to do.

WXO did the camera work again. Thanks again.

Engine hasn't been tuned and it needs it. Hesitates in transition from light to more throttle. I'll try adding a little timing but won't mess with the Holley. Just need to get it to the dyno and let them set up the carb, advance curve, etc.

We didn't expect that job to take all day but its done and I'm real happy with the result.

[wxo]

OK, images and video link are edited in to Maverick's last post.