I know there is A LOT of really good information on this site, and believe me...I'm reading through it as fast as I can. However, I have been unable thus far to find a thread that states specifically what people would put into their Maverick, if money was not a limitation. I have a 73 302 2-Door Maverick (had it since I was 16) that has been sitting dormant for way too long. I really need a daily driver, and although I just need a carb to get her going again, I don't want to spend any money until I have mapped out exactly what the endgame goal is for this car. What I can tell you is that the block is good, and I'd prefer to only build upon what is already there. However, if you feel that pulling the block to have it stroked and bored is a must do, please let me know why, and how much you think this should cost. I'm open to anything when it comes to this rebuild. My biggest fear is buying parts, just to replace them because I didn't properly think my specs through. What I'd like to know is, if you were building a daily driver with some serious speed to it, what would you do to your 302 V8 *soup to nuts*? Looking for specs of what parts you think would be the best for this type of objective, and if you've already accomplished such a feat, what parts you used to get the most ponies for your bucks. By the way, if there is already a thread that covers this, and I missed it, I apologize. Feel free to provide links to threads that address this very topic. Thanks all!
What do you consider serious speed and how deep are your pockets? These answers go hand in hand. Also....why do you need serious speed? Are you going to be drag racing this car on a drag strip?
For a daily driver, I'd pull the 73 engine and swap in a 96-2001 Explorer or Mountaineer 5.0. But I'd swap the EFI intake for a carbed one, like an Edelbrock RPM, Ford A321 or Weiand Stealth. Top it with a Holley 570 Street Avenger. Also replace the stock rockers with Crane 1.7 Energizer rockers, then add a set of headers. The end result will be comparable to the power of a 289 Hi-Po, but more reliable and streetable. You'll also need to swap in a steel geared electronic distributor to benefit from the electronic ignition and match the Explorer's roller cam. A second choice would be a 94-97 5.0 from a pickup or van, with the same parts added above. Only you'd need to remove the Thermactor bumps from the exhaust ports (which takes all of thirty minutes with a die grinder and a carbide bit) Both these engines use the same cam, which is the key here, it gives great mileage and performance, & works great with a carb.
Craig, I don't plan on drag racing the car, but I do want the car to pack as much punch as possible on the street (fuel economy is not a primary concern). I say daily driver because it will mainly serve as my transportation to and from work, but this is my first car, so I want to make the most of it. The main objective is to restore the cosmetics (incorporating grabber elements), while making the most of my money on the internal components. In addition, I don't want to sacrifice that deep throaty sound either, in fact, the louder the better. I have budgeted 10k to spend on the car this year, followed by another 10k next year. The car was bought from the original owners son, and besides the carb (that has a massive crack in it) the car consists of all stock part. However, keeping it stock is not the objective; although I will retain the stock parts just in case. The first thing I need to buy to get her going is a carb, but I don't want to buy just any carb. I need some suggestions on what solution will give me the most bang for my buck. Meaning... should I do a 2-barrel, or 4-barrel, or two 4-barrels. Should I upgrade the intake while I'm at it? Should the heads be changed at this time? In short, if you had 8-10K to put into the engine and the exhaust system, and you wanted a fast and fun street legal car, what would you do? Thanks!
Baddad, Thanks for the detailed feedback! If you were to leave the 302 in there though, what enhancements/changes would you make to get the most horsepower out of the vehicle? I need to buy a new carb in the next week, but before I do that, I need to figure out what other changes I should make that may influence the carb purchase. Thanks again for the feedback!
I bought an engine sorta like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/455Hp-Small...r_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item27c1bede90 from Doug at Prestige Motorsports. But, I had him tame it down with less aggressive heads, cam and compression because I wanted a smooth street engine and didn't need THAT much power. He was great to work with and was happy to work with me on a custom engine. If money isn't a problem I'd also buy the ignition and carb of his choice and let him get it all working nicely together on the engine dyno before its shipped. My "tamed-down" 347 has plenty of power for a street car.
The best bang for your buck which will allow you to build upon whats allready there would be a set of rear gears. 3.55s' 3.80s' 4.10s' ( I wouldnt go much more than 4.10s') Unless you step up to an overdrive trans. Get a traction lok unit(posi) as well while your doing the gears. You will feel an immediate increase in acceleration performance. As for the engine. Put a good 2 bbl on it for now. Get headers and dual exhaust on it and enjoy. Find a roller engine as badad stated and build at your lesiure. Once its done you can drop it in in a weekend and be rolling again.
All great ideas for the build. So, you say that you've got $10k budget'd for 2012................how much of that do you want to spend on the motor/trans/rearend...........and what else do you want to accomplish. Since this is your first car, how much of the work can you/do you want to do during the build. Maybe I missed it, but is this car an automatic or stick shift? How many miles does the car have on it now and when was the last time the car actually ran? Sorry for all of the questions, but just need to know your thoughts and direction.
Olerodder, The 10k for this year is all about the motor, exhaust, and whatever else others feel should be done to support the changes at the engine. The other 10k I'd like to allocate to the interior and exterior cosmetics. I'm willing to do as much work myself as possible, but I do understand that certain tasks are better served by a professional. The car is an automatic, has about 110k miles on it, and was running last summer. Thanks in advance for your feedback!
Ok, first of all, you say you've got 10K to spend on the motor/trans and rear, but you want to keep the Lo-Po 73 motor with 140 HP ? (doesn't make sense to me)It's got an 8 to 1 comp ratio, crappy heads and a crappy cam that's retarded 4-6 degrees. The best you can do is swap in a Comp 268H cam (and hope it doesn't wipe the flat tappet lobes and lifters) swap the carb to a Holley 500 2bbl (you have 10K but you wanted the best bang for the buck), port the exhaust sides of the heads. Only then will adding a better exhaust make any difference. Mavman72's suggestion to change the rear grear ratio made perfect sense, I'd do that regardless of what you do to the motor, but I'd limit the change to 3.50's, maybe 3.80 at most. 4.10's are completely out of the question for anything but a strip only car.
Well, lets turn this around and talk about the chassis first, then talk about the motor/trans. I'm not an expert on which rearend you should replace the stock 8" with but there are many on this forum that have done that. I will say it needs to be changed and I would go with either a 9" Ford or an 8.8" newer ford....you will also need sometype of posi/locker setup and a set of gears (the gears really depend on what transmission you go with, but putting a 5spd in place of the automatic is going to cost you more because you have to start from scratch.....again, there are people on this forum that have done it and I'll let them tell you if it's going to more or less than buying a new trans or having your's rebuilt to withstand the HP) so I would say either 4:11's if you don't plan on making any long highway trips....and 3:73's if you do. You really don't need disc brakes in the rear.....at least for now...........but do need them up front if you don't already have them. Then once you get the rearend you need sometype of traction aide.......Caltracs seem to be the way to go and should be easy to install. Then you really need sometype of frame connector to stiffen the subframe from the front to the rear....and weld in are the best (Joe Dirt here on this forum makes some good ones at a reasonal price) and this will give you a good platform to start with. While you are at it I would put in a drive line hoop (which is something you will need if you go racing and just makes good sense anyway).................then lets move up to the front end.............I don't know if you have disc brakes or not, but if not you need to convert to at least 11" discs up front. Both Wilwood and Aerospace Components make a kit that bolt directly to your stock spindles.....which is a plus, but you will need to replace the upper and lower ball joints just to bring the front end up to snuff...............since you will have to buy the lower control arms anyway to replace the worn lower ball joints I would suggest goint with the Global West lower control arms and to replace the strut rod with their's also...........this is about $900 but will improve the front end 100% over stock (I just did this on my race Maverick and it was fairly easy and can be done yourself). Then, I would replace the master cylinder with either of the manufacturers I mentioned above. We haven't talked about wheels and tires and again I am not the expert as there are many people on this forum that can show you what they did...............so, I would say at this point we have spent maybe (depending on how much of this work you can do vs having to farm it out) $3/4k..........leaving you with say $6k or maybe $7k. Now, if you elect to stay with the automatic trans you are probably going to have to spend another $1200/1500 for the trans/converter. So, now you come to the motor. If you really want to use the motor you currently have you are going to limit the HP you can realiably get out of the stock block, and I would say that after you have replaced everything inside the block with a good crank, rods, pistons..........(you really should probably go with a stroker, maybe 347ci) and have some very good machine work done (there are a number of really good machine shops in the Seattle/Tocoma area......I really don't know about Spokane) you are going to limit the HP to probably 400/500hp at the flywheel(just depending on how wild or mild you go). The stoker kits are all over the map price wise depending on steel crank vs. cast and what type of pistons you get. The really important issue with making HP with a SBF are the heads, and again there are many to choose from.........I like AFR and TRF heads but with the TRF heads you need to buy special pistons because the valves are not in the stock location. So, one thing to keep in mind is the foundation of any project, this means thinking about the chassis first.........making sure it can handle whatever you decide to put to it now or in the furture..............then the motor and trans.............at least this has been my approach for the past 40+ years with 30+ drag racing. In thinking only about the motor and making mega HP some people start breaking rearends, transmission.........and at speed you need some good front end components to "keep the shinny side up". One other thing to keep in mind is that an aftermarket block, like MoTown, Dart, etc........or any other 4 bolt main type block...........will handle upwards of 700+hp if the machine work is done right and you choose the right internal parts..........but this gets pricey very quickly.........like a billet crank which can cost you $2/3k, good rods.....not the made in China kind.....and good pistons/rings/bearings. Once you have a good foundation the sky is the limit..................within reason of course..................now this is just my opinion, and like "belly buttons", everyone has one......this is your car and your money, and with the money you are going to spend, make it right the first time, because you don't want to have to revisit going through the motor a second time.......................................IMHO
Olerodder, Wow, excellent advice! Many thanks. I'll look into what you said, and will focus on building up the chassis before I focus on building up the engine. I'm fine with replacing the stock engine, I just wanted to utilize the stock block... if it made sense. As far as the carb though, any suggestions? I need to at least buy this part to get her on the road and back to my house. I don't want to buy something that I'll just replace right away, but its either buy a carb... or have her towed home. Thanks again for your feedback!
As for buying a carb, what carb does it have now, just stock 2 barrel? If it does I would try and find used one here on the forum, not sense in spending any more money than you need to for something you will not use down the road, plus if you are going to go to something different it doesn't make sense now, you just want to get it running.............IMHO
If you have something to tow it with, or a friend that has something to tow it with, rent a tow dolly and tow it home rather than fussing with a carb, registration, and insurance just to get it home. Or, driving it without the proper stuff. Or, you could do what I did and buy a tow bar, remove the front bumper and valance, bolt the tow bar to the sub frames, and tow it home.
