taking the first steps to getting the Duck Tape Mav on the road again... hopefully.

Well, i've finally decided to get off my lazy bum and start workin on getting my baby ready to roll. cleaned her up and found a nice collection of dents that didn't come with the car. (if i catch who been doin it, my car may end up with a few more dents in the quarter panels shaped like the person's face)
1.Anyways... i started to get underneath today to try to remove the starter to see why she won't start. ( im not that proficient when it comes to this stuff, but i figure that when you put a freshly charged battery in and a jump pack on it and it only clicks once, it may be the starter.) but i don't know much about this stuff, so what else could it be? really though, mechanically that should be all it needs to get it driving.

2.After i pushed it into the driveway, i discovered that the parking brake was still engaged the whole time, so apparently either i had some freak burst of strength... or there's something wrong with the parking brake. any help there? (Ive been wondering, how hard would it be to convert it to one of those hand-operated ones? i think id like that better. )

3.I may swap the rearend, but i don't know yet. I seem to recall reading that 57 ford wagon rearends are a bolt-in and i have a 57 ford in the backyard not going anywhere for a long time. would it be a bolt-in swap? I have a 200-six banger with an automatic trans. how hard would it be to put the mav brakes on the wagon rear? i don't think those old drums will cut it after 35 years of woods.

4.Another thing... i've been thinkin she may need a new name now... the duck tape is long gone, and i can't re-do it, my uncle would kill me... (oh, and he'd never help me with another project so long as i live, and he's kinda a big help when it comes to cars.) I don't know. sometimes i call it #$&( #^$#&^ #&$##$# &#$#^&^$# &$^ ! but i don't think thats a good name for it... if i stick with duck tape, i may airbrush it on the sides if i ever get one of them things. and maybe airbrush it to look like duck tape if i get good enough at it. what do you guys think? any help/tips/advice/etc is greatly appreciated. thanks to you guys and gals on this board, duck tape mav didn't die when it quit runnin. its just hibernatin. and i gotta wake it up and have one well-rested car. lookin forward to reading some words of wisdom (and expecting the sarcasm and joking that automatically comes when posting a thread on this site.) again, thanks in advance.
-Kyle Briggs

 

what stoped it from running?
if the motor is sized then the start will just make one click and then the cables and solinoid will get very hot. if the motor is able to turn over then replace the starter and put a new solinoid on at the same time. they are not very expensive and is a good idea to replace when replaceing the starter.

the rear end should just bolt in. a 9" is way over kill for a stock or ever mildly moded 6 cyl. i assume that your trying to goto 5 lug. you can sell that 9" for at least twice as much as you buy a 5 lug 8 inch for. if you planing on doing a v8 swap then the 9" would be good to keep and have i the mav.

 

Being a '77, it should already be 5 lug. 9 inch is way overkill, and I can't see any good reason to swap the rear unless something is wrong with the one currently under it.

 

Whatever you do, well.............. JUST DO IT, ............. don't think about it too much just do one job at a time. Getting the Maverick running is the first thing and when that is done it will make you feel better. If you feel better hearing it run then you will want to do the next thing and the next and the next etc, etc, etc. Before you remove the starter, give it a few good solid taps with a steel bar or a wrench to maybe make it want to start, ya know just a few tap, tap, taps. Also if that don't work turn your key on, put a pair of pilers that are open like a V on the positive on the battery and on one side of the solinoid (try a side, if that does not work then try the other side of the solinoid) by doing this your putting the battery power right to the starter, if it still does not TURN THE ENGINE or start the car then the starter is shot. This way you can test it before you pull it. Get it started, YOU WILL FEEL BETTER, and that will motivate you!!!!!!!!!

 

Two things on yer starter issue: corroded battery terminals and frayed greasy wires can stop a lot of current from reaching your starter. Clean the battery terminals inside & out - esp if there's white powdery corrosion and/or rust. Even a fully charged battery wont start if the wires are no good. Battery terminal lugs are just a few $$$. Also the wire attached to the starter (it's usually buried inside black sandy blobs of grease) could be loose.

Also - problem I had - is the terminals on the ignition switch (bottom of the steering column INSIDE THE CAR) can dry-rot over time if they're not used much. I recently revived my V-8 car and it took no less that 200 wiggles of the key just to make the idiot lights come on... to actually start the car I realized that the switch had dropped 1/4" too low and the starter contact would not engage. Moved the switch up a little bit and the car started.

Don't pry the switch open. It won't go back t'gether....

Don't sweat the door dings. My little red car is suffering tremendously from all the wall-eyed student drivers in the parking lots at UBC hospital where I work. Bent bumpers now, a rash of dents on the doors, and ??SOMEHOW?? a new dent this week beside the driver's sport mirror. If I ever catch a student hitting my car there will be vacancies in their classes. But for a daily driver it's just something I gotta live with. But I would really love to plant some faces in mine too.

Isn't it bad luck to change the name of a car?... or is that just boats? For the sake of posterity - and to make your 'pappy happy - put some duct tape across the lower front valence opening and tell everyone it's "100 MPH tape" just like they use in NASCAR to make the car run faster during qualifying because your new 6 cly. motor is so-o-o hot... and have one big piece of duct tape flapping loosely on the side tell 'em that's from when you went "wa-a-ay over 100 MPH".

 

such.... (gasp) MOTIVATING WORDS...

and hallelujah (did I spell that wrieght?)



INSPIRING.... true. Some days I stare at the cars and girlfriend won't let me even touch them. Other days (when she's at work) I break out all the tools and have a field day. Nothing more motivating than 6 hours work when sometimes the only thing I accomplish is prying off a stuck bolt. Still worthwhile.

BTW... DUCK TAPE MAV... WD40 can be your best friend. Good for working on the car and *ALSO* good for removing all that adhesive glue that the duct tape left behind.

 

check that the starter selinoid(sp) is grounded well thats what was wrong when my car wouldnt start. too much rust to get a good ground so i just run a wire strait to the battery ground terminal. works just fine now.

 

Jamie that bug crawling around is really starting to irritate me.

 

-well, the rearend it has works fine, but i was thinking it might be fun to do and i may get a couple of my friends over and we just make a day of hangin out and swappin rear ends. right now i don't have plans for a v-8 swap, but you never know. and the motor will turn over by hand. so ill try to check the other things before pullin the starter off.
and yes it is a five lug already. but would it make it a pain to drive with the nine inch or hurt the fuel economy real bad? i just figured it'd be fun to do and i could put it to use until the wagons ready. (a looooong time from now.)

-i wouldn't worry about dings, but it's not really dings. ones bigger than my hand spread out over it. and it has a crease in the middle. it looks like someone uber keyed it and pressed so hard they made a dent around the scratch. and it happened while it was in the yard parked between the van we scrapped and a tree.

-well, most of the glue is gone except for on the windshield. the guy had an "eyebrow" on the top made out of duck tape. but it disentigrated and i peeled it off.

-lol, i had to laugh at that one. i can't tell you how many times i've put my finger up there tryin to smoosh it and then a real one land there ten seconds later makin me feel double stupid.

-well, i do have the steering wheel covered in blue duck tape, and i like the idea of 100 mph tape. and maybe with the mustang exhaust i can pull the "over 100" story off. Uncle Jeremy doesn't like the way sixes sound, but he said that this exhaust makes mine the best stock six hes heard.
AND, Comrick, i really like the way you worded that. makes me wanna go out there and work on it right now, but i just showered so i can go into town and look for a job. i may just have to print that one off and put a copy of it on the dash and one in my room... oh. and one under the car.
--- Thanks for the responses so far guys. after i go get my applications in ill try to get cory over to spot for me while im under the car and we'll see what we can do to get her up and runnin. may take a few days to get him over here but we'll see.2thumbs:

 

I may be able to come help you sometime with the thing.

Would you be interested in buying a set of 15'' ranger wheels for your car? I have the set I had on my Comet laying around in storage... has 2 good white letter tires on the front and drag slicks on the rear. Send me a PM if you want them.

Im going camping this weekend but maybe next weekend I could swing by and take a look and help you out w/ the car some.

 

Andysutt, i may be interested in the wheels, how much you want? i just picked up an application for ace hardware today, so i may be able to buy stuff for it soon. like paint. maybe a 302, stuff like that.

 

Send me a PM and we'll discuss them... I can send you some pics of them on my comet etc.

Which ace did you get an application for?

 

glad to see your gonna try and get it going again!

 

Stay on track, I keep getting distracted from mine.. I really need too get motivated to.....

 

Well, my cousin is attempting to convince his parents to let him come over and help with the mav, and if we run out of stuff to do on the mav (lol) then we'll find something to do on the wagon to get it closer to ready to go. (i think im gonna tear the wagon down to the last bolt and fully restore it from the ground up... so itll be easier on me than trying to "fix" it, but that's another thread. )