What do you guys think, is it worth saving? Got this '76 2 door rolling shell from Terry in May of last year. Been sitting in my grandpa's field since then with a tarp thrown over it. I was originally going to cut it up for parts to fix my '74 Grabber, but I am now considering makeing it a summer project and getting it back on the road. Probaby paint it flat black with a Comet front end and small bumpers since those are the parts I have laying around. The only real draw back to the car is the drivers side quarter panel and trunk floor. I don't know much about body work, but that trunk floor repair looks seriously botched in my opinion. The floors are rock solid and onlylightly surface rusted, they would clean up fine with a wire wheel and some POR 15 or rust encapsulater. The doors are also rust free except for some light dime sized patches of surface rust on the outside. The cowl vent is surface rusted but dosen't leak. It looks like someone was trying to fix the car up and just lost intrest. It's an original Georgia car, so it's structurally rock solid. Car was a 250/C4 with A/C, P/S, and power disc brakes from the factory. The entire disc brake setup is still there except the master cylinder and booster, has a good 5 lug rearend. Was originally brown with a white halo top. Probably looked almost identical to this one from the factory. I know nothing else about the history of the car other then Terry got it from another member here (76 Mav). So do you guys think it's worth putting back on the road or do you think I should just go ahead and chop it up and junk whats left? I'm haveing a very hard time decideing. What kind of $$$ would I be looking at to have the quarter and trunk repaired correctly assumeing I provide the patch panels? I have a rust free drivers side front fender off my '74 Grabber which is bent enough to be ruined, but the wheel lip area is still ok. Can I cut the wheel lip out of that front fender and use it as a patch panel for the rear quarter panel, or is it diffrent? http://5hp.hill.cc/maverick/76Mav
First of all you need to get the tarp off the car. There is alot of moisture that comes out of the ground. Thats why cars sitting in fields rust out so bad. Putting a tarp over it compounds the problem. If you have to store a car over dirt, you should buy some real thick sheet plastic or one of those blue plastic tarps and spread it out. Then drive or push the car over it. As far as body work, unless you have a friend, you would probably spend alot more money that it is worth. You could buy your own welder and learn to do it yourself for much less.
Entire car isn't covered, the tarp is just big enough to go from the cowl to the tail light panel and about half way down the sides of the car. Want to keep rain out since it has no windows. My dad has been welding for 23 years and I'm just starting to learn, he can do the body work when he has time which isn't very often. Vote 1 for cut it up and junk it.
why not offer it "for sale" before you chop it up? learning how to weld is just doing it welding sheetmetal just takes time...it is a slow job...something even a "retired" person could do... ...frank...
Hmmmmm, It's hard to say if this car is worse than your '74??? the '76 has had some bad body work done (thats for sure) but it's front frame rails would be in alot better shape than your '74's. Maybe make one good car out of the 2, and I would think that the '76 would be a better start, if you can't weld very good or are just learning, then theres no way your going to weld on a new frame rail to your '74. Or just leave the 2 as parts cars...and just work on the your '72, and when everything on that car is the way you want it, find another car then???
That small pinhole in the door is probably worse than you think, thats how mine started. My car was in worse shape when I started, so I vote to fix it, or at least use it as a parts car like Dave Boyer mentioned. And as far as welding sheetmetal goes, I welded once in my life before I did sheetmetal. I took a crash course on welding with sheetmetal, more or less.
i resemble that remark frank. i don't know enough about body work myself but i plan on learning more with the 2 cars i'm going to be working on. one needs floor pans and the other needs the cowl replaced. i figure those are 2 good places to start as they'll be hidden when i'm finished. when i do everything that cannot be seen i hope my experience will allow me to start on the areas that will be seen. i have a friend that is a genius when it comes to fabricating or body work so if i get in a bind i can always go to him for advice. i'd use that car and get some experience doing what you want for a while then decide if your going to continue with it or not. you can't lose anything but time. good luck.
There are 2 options for the '74 Grabber. It will either have the frame straightend or replaced, or it will go back to 3rd owner exactly how it sits right now and rust to the ground in his field where it had previously sat for 9 years. My dad would be welding the new frame rail on, assuming the original frame rail cannot be straightened (I think it can). No way I would attempt to weld it my self when it comes to something that critical. I have had several tell me fixing that car is just a matter of a few hours on a frame machine. Or if I wanted to go all out the frame rail and transmission tunnel could be replaced and it would be like it was never wrecked. This forum is really the only place I have heard anything negative about fixing the car, which is kind of surprising. There is no comparision as far as the 76 vs. the 74 goes, the 74 is in better condition in every way except the front floors which have pin holes from a leaky windshield. If the frame rail or any other structural part needs to be replaced, my '73 4 door will likely give up those parts since that car is as good as dead. Frank, not sure what you mean. Seems to me there are alot of variables. Then again, our welder isn't exactly your typical welder you would have at your house. I don't think I could get enough money out of the '76 to make it worth selling, especially after I keep the disc brakes and 5 lug rear. Worth more to me for parts. If it's not worth me fixing, why would it be worth anyone else fixing. That is not a rust hole in the door, it's a hole from the side trim. The doors are rust free other then those tiny thin surface rusted areas you can see in pics. The doors will eventually end up on what ever car I end up building because they are in great shape. I never said that I don't have the means to do the body work or any welding (complete opposite actually, look at our old Comet), I was just intrested in what that kind of work would cost if I wanted to be lazy and take it to someone. If any of us are worried about it costing more then the car is worth, we all should question what we are doing working on these cars in the first place. Looks like the general consensus is this should be a parts car, although now I am starting to compare it to my '72 in which it wins in every way against that the '72.
Fix it. I think it's worth doing. I think eventually these car are going to be worth the investment we all put into them. Instead of just parting them out. I saw a car similiar to mine that's a 4 door in even worse shape and that guy is doing it over completely, and he even has bad roof rust. So, it's a matter of how much time and $$ you are willing to spend I guess. I still got my eye on that car in Wisconsin though. If that falls through. I probally will sink a fortune into the one I got. Because, it's better to have it that not have it! LOL
Jamie; I tend to agree, that the car is worth saving. How long it takes you, how much money you spend, and how much you learn while doing it are different matters altogether. Use it as a mule to learn on, and get it going in the process. Good luck!
Earl, I like that idea, use it to learn on. It is certainly in better shape then my '72 is. This is a very hard decision. I would probably use it as a daily driver starting this fall as I'm getting kind of tired of my feet getting wet when it rains. I talked to 2 other people today about my '74 Grabber, people which I trust wouldn't steer me wrong, and I am now set in stone to fix that car. Also came across this site today: http://www.angelfire.com/oh5/grabber75/projects.html If that guy can MAKE his own frame rails, I don't see why we can't replace mine with ones from another Maverick. Of course the passenger torque box area will need to be pulled out 3/4ths of an inch, but that should be nothing. With sub frame connectors and a Mustang II front end the car would be rock solid.
Jamie; go for it. If you think you can fix it, and it be safe and sound, then the car is worth saving. Good luck, and let me know if I can help. Take care,
I agree! Even if you don't fix it - keep it. My rule is a Maverick/Comet should NEVER go to heaven. Even if it's not going to be fixed. I've got land with room for lots of Mavericks and Comets - so if anyone disagrees - just send the cars my way.
When I was 12 years old I got hold of some bondo and some sandpaper and dove into my grandmothers 56 chevy. Taught myself, learned from mistakes. That car is the car to learn on Jamie, do it. Dan
