Hey all! New member here, how's everyone doing? There's lot of awesome info floatin' around on this site, and I'm pretty excited to start using it! I recently purchased a '74 Maverick Grabber, and have a question concerning the fuel tank. This vehicle was sitting in storage for 13 years, and it's gonna need a quite a bit of TLC. Right after I got it, I took it out for a short spin ( I know, bad idea, but I couldn't help myself). It starts up good, sounds good at idle (no missing or sputtering or odd sounds), but a half mile into the drive it cuts out and dies. Waiting for ten minutes fixes the problem, but only for another half mile. I figure it's because the tank is full of junk, and the fuel filter is clogged. Long story short, I'm hoping to save a couple hundred dollars by restoring the fuel tank and blowing out the fuel lines myself. I'd hate to incinerate myself or something (and my girlfriend prolly wants her garage left intact), so does anyone have any advice on how I can accomplish this? Or is it not even worth doing myself? Thanks a bunch for any help! Mat
Howdy and You can clean out the tank yourself. There are kits available from many sources including Eastwood. They come with all the material plus instructions. Just remember your dealing with gas and worse, gas fumes. Be careful.
I took the sending unit out and filltube , put about 1/2 gal of purplepower in it witha log chain, taped the openings with duct tape and had a helper and we kept shaking it ,we did this twice and then took it ti NAPA and had it hot tanked $20.00
I recall the radiator shop boiling out and coating my fuel tank for less than $100 .... they also installed a drain plug which can be useful ... just an FYI ...
having done it also, ill be the one to say that diesel cleans out some of the gum in fuel lines and the tank. just add a half pint to a quart though not a full tank.
Welcome to the board Mat. I also have a '74 Grabber which sat for about 10 years. The fact that you could start yours up and drive it after 13 years means yours must have been stored ALOT better then mine. I've been driving mine daily for about 6 months now and the only thing mechanical I haven't replaced at this point is the bare long block of the engine and the rearend... It would probably take 2 pages just to list everything I've replaced on the entire car to get it safe and somewhat reliable. Good luck on your project.
So... gas tank is unsalvageable :16suspect Talked to a company that makes the '75/'76 tank, and she said that it would not be compatible with my '74. The NAPA guy however, said that it would fit fine, the only difference is that with those later year mavs they switched to regular fuel, so the pickup line is different. Does anybody know if the later tank'll go in? :confused: I'll need a new pickup line anyway, so that's not a problem...
The later tank will work but you will need longer straps. Also they changed the vent valve on top sometime along the line. I'm not sure what year they did that. If yours dont fit, you can still get the valve & grommet from Ford. Lastly the tank is bigger so your fuel sending unit will not be able to suck the tank dry. Basically, you will be carrying around 4 gallons of unuseable fuel. I have a couple 0f good used tanks. If your interested, email me.
