I started to take the mav apart today. When I pulled the fenders off there is a plastic piece under the fender. I assume it is a spash guard. But I only have it on one side. Do they serve any real purpose. I would only worry about leaving them off if it supports the fender some how. Thanks Cary
You are exactly right. They are splash guards. They don't support anything but I would highly advise putting them back on. If not, you'll be getting water and mud in places you really don't want to get it. You'll just be setting yourself up for potential problems down the road.
Id leave them... they dont weigh much so its not a "race" issue really, and like was mentioned, it keeps dirt and mud/water out of places thats hard to get to
Reg: There are two behind the front wheels up against the fire wall, the one that is missing is in front of the wheel. I guess I will try and find another one. As for what happened to the missing one who knows . This car is kind of scary. I haven't found any signs of a severe accident like frame damage but the back half looks to have been originally brown and from the firewall foward including inner fenders,firewall and shock towers all appear to be originally white. I haven't found the body tag. Anyway thanks for the input, I am sure I will have many more questions in the weeks to come as I attempt some repairs I haven't done before. Cary
May be two different cars welded together-firewall forward 1 car-firewall back another car. This used to be a standard practice when a car was hit hard in the front or rear, they would cut the winshield posts and the floor just behind the firewall on two cars and mate the good parts back together. I seem to remember somebody filing a lawsuite a few years ago against some dealer for selling a car that was put back together like this as a never wrecked car, a BMW or some other high dollar car like that if I remember right. I have never seen one in person that was put back together like that, but I have seen the cut clips on rollbacks going down the road, I guess going to a customer for that very reason. I would guess you would call that a rebuilt insurance car, taking two totals and making one good car.
It doesn't have to be a total to get a complete front or rear clip. I have repaired many cars cutting them in half...and NONE of them were totals to begin with. I do only insurance work and don't build totals at all. Most of the insurance comapnies are starting to get away from cutting them in half though. I'm sure there have been some liability issues come up against them over the years. They haven't asked me to do a complete clip job in 2-3 years now whereas I used to get one about every 3 months or so. I'm glad...I hated doing them.
What would I look for if the car had been repaired like that? Ray since you have done this are there any safety issues that should concern me if my car has been built out of two? I don't intend to build a radical race car but I would like it to run high 13's someday. Thanks Cary
Cary, the most common place someone would cut the car would be through the windshield post (sometimes the back glass area) and through the floor. I would inspect the bottom of the floorpans and if you see evidence of welding you should probably dig a little deeper. You can pull the carpet back and inspect the inside floorpans. Sloppy jobs will show up with rusty or broken welds. There is nothing wrong with a clipped car...IF...it is done right.
yup ive worked at a ford dealership and seen many cars come out of the body shop clipped and when done good it looks like nothing happen, its def. for the professinal , not the back yarder under the tree after a case of beer
Just saw these on Ebay for you. I'm sure these are what you're looking for. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/71-77-Ford-Maverick-Comet-inner-fender-splash-panels_W0QQitemZ180029851269QQihZ008QQcategoryZ50455QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Yeah thats them but $20.00 shipping TX to OK seems a bit much. They are light and wouldn't break so packaging shouldn't be a big deal. Cary
