Hi everyone! I've had a great Maverick day today, and wanted to share, and pick your brains on some simple questions. First of all, I found the original keys to Ethel, the Wondermobile. I KNEW they were in a box somewhere at my dad's house, and I dug around in his closets until I found them. They are now on my key ring. Amazing what a little thing like this will do for you. I took the newfound keys and walked out to the field and opened the trunk. Amazing what you find in a trunk. Spare wheel... old oil cans... complete set of wheels off another Ford car that my dad used to have.... a lot of dirt, but not much rust that I could see. THEN I went around and raised the hood. I haven't looked under that hood in 12 years, boys and girls. And knowing where it's been for those twelve years, I was NOT optimistic about what I'd find. I was pleasantly surprised. Other than one field mouse nest and some mouse droppings and a few spider webs, it wasn't bad. And I couldn't believe how much room there is in there. I've gotten so used to the clutter under the hoods of newer cars. I stood there, in the rain, reminiscing.... remembering the time that I, a lowly college student, changed my master cylinder and bled my brakes in the dorm parking lot, with only a phone call or two to my dad back home for help.... and the time I was changing the battery cables in the dorm lot and a guy friend stopped to ask what I was doing. When I told him, he was amazed I'd want to do something like that myself. He just took his to the repair shop when his needed work. I remember even then thinking how much he was missing out on. Ahh, reminiscing. Anyway, I'm getting more excited about this project every day, and in my project planning, I've made some decisions. I believe it would be in my best interests long-term to just pull the engine and rebuild it. (And I think it would be interesting to rebuild an engine.) A friend has an engine dolly, and I'm purchasing one of those stand thingies to bolt it to for rebuild. My question about this is: Do you think I should pull the tranny too? I really didn't want to pull the transmission unless I have to. Dad says I can pull the engine without the tranny and hope I don't have tranny problems. Or I can pull both at once (I found another thread that described how to do this, actually. ) What do you think? All I remember ever having done to the transmission was replacement of a reverse band, which I assisted with, but don't remember much about. What do ya'll think? I also read with interest a thread about cleaning the gunk out of an engine with diesel or other products. Should I try that first? The reason I'm leaning on rebuilding is because I can't be sure what shape the engine was in when it was parked. Any input would be welcome here. Also, can I trust tires that have been on the car for 10 years? 10 years ago 4 new tires were put on the car in anticipation of driving it again. That never materialized, so the tires just sat there with the car. Not smart, I know. Reckon there's any salvageability in those tires? One is still up. Three have leaked down. I know this is long, and these are probably dumb questions, but at least I can provide entertainment for you seasoned Mav restorers. I took pictures today, and will be posting them as soon as they come back. Jean I love my Mav!
hey if the tires aint weather cracked you could still use them my 1970 dodge pickup had sat for about 11-12 years and all i did was change the plugs that was a year ago and i've only changed one of the tires since but let me tell you when old tires blow they BLOW when the tire blew allthat was left on the rin was the bead every thing else was in the ditch
Cool Letter You are about to have sooo much fun it won't seem real! There are so many ways to start a project but the best way I found that works for me is to start off with what I can afford. Money or lack of is the biggest project killer with Time coming in a close second. I started a project like yours on a '77 Mav. First thing I did was change the oil and filter WITHOUT starting the engine to warm it up. I disconnected the fuel line at the fuel pump on the gas tank side. Pulled the spark plugs and squirted about a tablespoon of motor oil. Then with new oil and filter, installed a good strong battery. I pulled the coil / distributer wire and cranked the engine not to start it but to circulate the fresh oil through out the engine. It may take about a minute for the oil light to go out indicating there is oil pressure. I was lucky, the previous owner had installed a mechanical type oil pressure gauge so I could see how good or bad the pressure was. We then droped the gas tank and took it to a car wash and cleaned it out. After drying the tank and reinstalling it, put in 5 gallons fresh gas, hooked up the fuel line I disconnected, installed new plugs and points and hooked up the coil wire. The engine started up with a little help from ether and is still running 18 months later without having to rebuild the carb! Oh ya, I almost forgot. had to put in 3 qts tranny fluid. The car runs great with no leaks and all it took was about 30 bucks and 1 weekend. I changed the oil after the first 100 miles and ain't looked back. Almost forgot, it's a 250 6cyl but you can do same to any engine. There are other ways to get a car going that has been sitting a long time but for me this was the cheapest and quickest to see what I was facing. Good luck and have fun!
Re: Cool Letter You know, I might try this myself. My father swears he drove it down the road 5 or 6 years ago before parking it in it's current location. He says he thinks an oil and transmission fluid change and some clean gas would crank and run it. I may try this first just to see. If that worked, I could save the engine rebuild for a later project. Cosmetically alone I'm looking at a lot of money. If I could save money on the front end, it might be worth it to me. But I seriously want to make sure this thing is mechanically sound, as I'm sure there will be times when I'll want to drive it out of town, and I want to feel secure in it's ability to get back home. Mechanical soundness is my first priority. If it turns out to be a bucket o' rust, at least it will run well enough to puddle around in while I go out and find me another Mav to restore. Thanks for the info, and I assure you I'll be posting my progress. My husband has volunteered to videotape the project and I intend to take a lot of photographs along the way. He wants to make a documentary type film of this project and I think it'll be fun. He's not mechanical in the least, so this is a good way for him to participate in the project. Thanks for reading and sharing. Jean
Jean, sounds like you have an exciting project going there. One thing to keep in mind is, even you can get everything going (engine and tranny) without rebuilding, the gaskets and seals have a way of going bad after sitting that long. If I was going to pull the engine, I would go ahead and pull the tranny at the same time. Try to not get ahead of yourself and make a plan. Most importantly it sounds like it could be a lot of fun if you and your husband can take this project on together. Good luck and keep us updated on your progress, and feel free to post pics as you go!
