Restorations..How far will we go???

How far will we go with the restorations we do on our cars? Do you think we'll ever get into Concours Maverick/Comet restorations? Compared to 10 years ago, we've come along way, with the number and quality of cars, and not to mention the parts we can now get, maybe in another 10 years we'll be albe to buy floorpans? doorpanels? almost anything you'd need?
Should we be documenting any "Survivor" cars? just so we know what was original or not?
Just wondering.....(maybe it's the heat)

 

pretty far I think

We are seeing some nice rotisserie or jackstand restos. Lots of that has to do with the work needed on these cars after 30 plus yrs. of neglect. Even more helpful is the slowly increasing availability of repopped and NOS parts.

Concours restos? Dan Hines is working hard to make his 'correct', although a V8 swap. Jean Doll just made a deal on her appearingly 'correct' '76 I-6 Stallion. I would say that it was as close as any would think any would get, even with the gloss black vs. non-gloss factory paint. t was a great looking resto. The difference in these cars vs. Mustangs, Camaros, Torinos, etc. is that they were never 'performance' vehicles so there is no appeal in them to muscle car enthusiasts. Many times what makes a Mustang or Camaro valuable is what came under the hood. These cars showed up too late for that party. You could choose from 11 different engines in 1969 for your Mustang. Same year, first year for a Maverick, a 6 cyl. is all there was, and I think 170 and 200 may have been it for the first ones. I still think V8 cars with streetable mods and driveability, handling and braking upgrades will be more in demand than all original cars.


That's my $.02.

Seth

 

There are quite a few folks .. including myself .. that prefer the factory look over the chromed out aftermarket look. If you look through members websites and gallery pictures you'll see some really nice restored factory appearing interiors, engine compartments, etc ...

There are plenty of low mile cars out there to document for restoration reference. Keep in mind Mustang folks have been documenting this stuff for decades and I don't think it is an easy task. There were multiple markings and stamps on my car that I could kick myself now for not taking pictures of since I am trying to produce a nice factory looking car.

I don't think we'll ever see concourse restorations ... who's gonna start assembling documentation to what a Concourse Maverick should look like? ... I do think restorations which are more factory correct will continue to grow in popularity.

As far as repops ... don't get your hopes up ... I have talked to Year One reps who have told me that just getting all the tooling necessary to reproduce a Charger 1/4 panel was $300,000 before a single panel was stamped! I won't say NEVER but I just can't see Mavericks ever having a following large enough for large scale reproduction of parts. I know folks on this board have talked to manufacturers to reproduce basic parts like a lower rear 1/4 panel patch ... and they were told no because the would never sell enough to get a return on the investment.

We are very, very lucky that Ford used the same suspensions, engine components and other parts like that on both Mustangs and Mavericks or we'd really have a tough time finding parts. We lucky that Ford robbed parts bins of other cars for Maverick parts so we now have repops (i.e. Torino/Mustang armrests, 67/68 Mustang door handles, 71/73 rear trunk filler pipe seal, etc ..) We are also very lucky that Ford sold so many Mavericks that auto parts stores still have a nice selection of maintenance parts for them.

 

I'm not into concours restorations. I think stock is boring. I also prefer understated elegance. I like a little chrome or aluminum here & there, but not all "chromed-out". I like a factory musclecar/ponycar look, but with upgraded engines, suspensions, brakes, and wheels & tires...

 

I recently coined the phrase"Old School New" That is what I am shooting for. Non-Stock look, performance, but staying true to the cars original lines/looks. IMO restomodding has made cars look to busy. I am not a fan of all original for myself. I respect the guys who take the time to do it that way. It can be just as challenging as a non stock resto just in different ways.

 

I like em all but I guess I prefer the mild restomod look over the others. I may go the route Dan has gone on one of my future projects so I hope he's keeping good notes. I haven't yet decided how I'll be doing the Sprint but if I do much modding, it will definetly be minor enough to change it back with ease.

 

God Forbid! Please no!

no dis-respect to you Dan what so ever cuz i think you cars are really nice! No if ands or butts there! besides you have converted one style maverick to another style big props there!

but every car show i have been to with concours cars the owners think their $#!^ don't stink. you try to talk with them and its like “I don’t have the time for you.” as soon as they find out you own a maverick. to me personally there is no satisfaction of having a stock car. why? what for? that’s the way it came form the dealer or factory? if i wanted a stock car i’d buy a new one. so you wanna put it back? ok? fine… now what? it looks like everyone elses.. big friggin wuppee! ok maybe i just i don't get it? however to me is shows no innovation or creativity at all! ok so yeah… you like to follow the crowd or a bunch of guys who say what’s right and what’s not. what’s to point? innovation… none! creativity.. none! standing out from the crowd… for sure none! yeah big deal you car look just like the one sitting next to you in your concours class. Oh wait? You don’t have the right yellow chalk mark correctly marked on your rearend. please! (if there was a barf icon i'd use it here )

i’d say the only car i’d say to put back to stock would maybe something that was so rare like Tucker or some car like that… that would make sence! but mavericks are far from rare! one thing i think would be cool is to have a totally looking stock maverick on the outside and totally modded in the inside!

i mean to me, that’s what i loved about mavericks in the first place there was no person or club or concours idiots to tell me yeah that’s not right? or die hard to say that’s not right and that is. yeah there are the few obvious things that look hideous on a car but that’s not what i’m talking about.

bottom line mavericks should be mavericks… no other definition there… why i love to be quoted to be a maverick!

 

I like both worlds. I can appreciate a car that someone has put back to all stock. To me, Dan's car is the nicest stock appearing '71 Grabber in existance. Kind of hard to explain, but I think from a historical point of view, we need some people to restore back to stock to kind of remind of what the cars were originally.


On the other hand, I like hotrods. Simply put, they are badass.

When I get my Grabber going again, retro is the best thing I can think of to describe what I'm going to do with it.

I'll build my cars however I like them. If no one else likes them, well, that ain't my problem.

 

Never. Stock appearing and stock is 2 different things. I prefer stock appearing with a little dress up.

 

I'm bassically gonna leave mine stock looking, aside from wheels, ride height, exhaust and paint. Think how they would have built a hot rod when these things were popluar, I'm running a twisted torker II, M/T valve covers, painted mag 500s, manual everything. All wrapped in black primer, and it'll stay that way for a while, at least till I get the body straightened out so I can lay sonic blue metallic

 

I think the Maverick is the car that Ford looked at and said lets give the guys and gals out there something to play with. They designed the car with basic amenities and put out a few special models to show us what could be done with them and then said here you go, see what else you can do with them. They were designed to be tinkered with and modded. Ford gave us a car that was basic enugh to do what ever you wanted to do with it. I have seen very few mods that were not eye catching. (Some on the other hand have been just down right ugly, but few) The Mav was born to be changed by us the owners who understand that this is a special car. We have to work harder to get parts, use much more imagination on mods, fab most of the mods ourselves, get little respect from the rest of the "muscle car owners" (that is untill they get thier a$$es handed to them by one of us) When I first started Drag raceing I drove a Mav and all I got was sneers and laughs untill they pulled up beside me and after the smoke cleared and they were pulling that big block chebby up on the trailer and I was off to the next round they would come over and ask "So, what ya runnin in the Maverick?" Then when you tell them that you have a small block and the few mods that you have done to it they just cant understand how they got spanked that bad, and they walk away shaking thier heads. This car was made to be changed, I say change it to how you like it and it will be OK. As we all know you have to put money into Mav's to have them be worth anything. Case in point, If you have a pretty nice car that does not have any rust, pretty good interior, Not played around with much, you could expect to get $2000 to $3000 out of it. But you put a fair paint job on it, do a few power mods and some suspension mods, that number doubles. Very few people will pay big dollars for a bone stock Maverick (There are exceptions for rare ones, those are excluded from this statement) But on the other hand there are alot of people out there that lack mechanical ability who will be more than glad to pay some pretty good money for a modded one. I look at it this way. If the car was not intended to be modded by Ford they would not have given the car huge rear fender wells so you could stuff a 11" tire under them with nothing but the proper wheel back spacing and a little lift, it just looks empty with a F78 14 in it. You cant do that with a Mustang, or Fairlane. They gave us the basics so we could do our own thing with them. The powers that were smiled on the auto tinkerer when they designed this car and I think that all of us should take advantage if that fact. Do what makes you happy and the hell with all the others that think thier cars are superior to ours. Make it go fast and let them know who has the better car.

Just some thoughts from an old school street car guy.

I love thease cars and will continue to mod them and build them my way for the world to see.

 

I have long preferred the restomod to the original. However, having said that, it depends on the car. For Mavericks, only V-8 Grabbers, Sprints, and Stallions should even be remotely considered to do a concours type restoration. Keep in mind that concours restored cars are 99.99% trailer queens and museum pieces. If I had an original 63-64 R code Galaxie, a 66 7-litre Galaxie, a '64 GTO, 1956 Crown Victoria with the glass top, etc., I would go concours. A car restored to concours quality should be one one that will have great dollar value when complete. We can spend $15,000 restoring a Maverick and have a $12,000 car when we are through. We can spend $20,000 restoring a 1967 Mustang convertible with a six-banger and have a $27,000 car when we are through. Concours quality cars should be investments with a return. Get the picture.

With a restomods, you have the best of both worlds. You keep the stock look and have the more modern suspension and drivetrain. I truly believe that for Mavericks, restomods will always be more valuable than restorations and a heck of lot more fun to drive. Just my opinion.

 

I agree one million percent!...

 

Good discussion guys,, I really like them all.
Dan

 

Okay, what's going on here??? T.L. actually agreed with somebody