I dedicate this space to: the Ford Maverick, a car that is rapidly becoming much more than FoMoCo ever intended, and more importantly, to my Maverick.
Owner: Tom Charney
Where: Bolton, Connecticut, USA
Car: 1977 Ford Maverick
Exterior Color: Ford Oxford White (9L)
Exterior Accessories: '75 Maverick grille, '69 Mustang Mach1 / Torino GT hood scoop, '73 Torino dual remote sport mirrors, Ford oval mud flaps, ET-IV aluminum mag wheels, Trans Am rear spoiler.
Interior Color: Black
Interior Accessories: A/C, tinted glass, bucket seats, '66 Mustang floor shift, Faria gauges, 120 MPH speedometer, chrome halon fire extinguisher, Kenwood stereo.
Engine: 302 c.i.d., TRW forged pistons, Total Seal rings, Isky cam (.310 lift, 270 dur.), Rhodes lifters, Motorsport guide plates, Crane roller rockers, stainless steel valves, World Products Dart II heads, Weiand intake, Holley 650 cfm carb, Hooker headers, clutch fan.
Transmission: Ford AOD, /w shift kit
Rear End: Ford Granada 9", narrowed 2", Traction-Loc, 3.70:1, traction bars, drum brakes.
Front End: power steering, disc brakes, V8 Granada anti-sway bar.
Tires: BF Goodrich Radial T/A, 225-60R14 front, 245-60R14 rear.
Standing 1/4 Mile: 14.76 @ 95 MPH
Top Speed: 55+ MPH
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My first car (one that I could drive anyway) was my 1977 Ford Maverick. When I got it during my senior year of High School, the Maverick was twelve years old, and seemed pretty lame. It was Tan with a Brown vinyl top, and a Tan interior. Underneath was a 250 c.i.d. straight six, C4 automatic, and an 8" rear. The only original options it had were Power Brakes, Sport Mirrors, Bumper Guards, and Tinted Glass. Somebody even cut a hole in the radio delete plate to install a stereo.
The first couple of years that I had the car, I did little besides drive it. Then my Dad and I realized that it was in pretty good condition, and that it was worth saving. I started out by removing the vinyl top and bench seat. I added bucket seats, (from a 4-door) a day-night rear view mirror, and mag wheels. I drove it like this for a while.
Between my Sophomore and Junior years at college, I finally began seriously working on it. I found a '73 Comet at the junkyard that had a great black interior. (The rest of the car was shot) The bench seat was ripped, but I didn't want that anyway, and the headliner was all dried out (my Mom and I would make a new one). A couple hours and $40 later, a black interior was on its way home with me. Twenty dollars at a swap meet got me a pair of rust-free Comet doors. Another parts car (my fourth one, at this point) gave up its A/C equipment for the cause. I found a pair of remote Torino sport mirrors that were mounted with studs and nuts, and since I did not like the exposed philips screws and nutserts of the original sport mirrors, I decided to use the Torino ones.
I wanted to get all of the rust fixed, and put the new interior in before going back to school. The rust repair amounted to: a half-dollar sized hole at the front of each wheel well, a silver-dollar sized area under the driver's quarter garnish molding (just outside of the quarter window), and a small patch in the driver's side floor where the e-brake cable bracket is welded underneath. All in all, not much rot for a car that has spent its whole life in New England. In order to put the interior in, particularly the new headliner, all of the glass would need to be taken out, so we figured that we might as well do the edging for the new body color while we were at it. At this point, the Maverick was basically stripped from the firewall back, and from the floor up. I installed the new A/C heater box, then we painted all if the exposed interior metal. After edging all the openings, we re-installed the glass, put the new doors on. The new interior went in well, albeit with the tan buckets. You see, I still needed to find a pair from a 2-door, ones that would fold forward for rear-seat access.
I drove the Maverick primered and edged for close to a year. In the mean time, my dad had found a pair of 2-door buckets for me. They were tan, so they needed to be reupholstered. I had a spare trunk lid and a rust free hood that I was able to do the body work on inside while still driving the car. When I wasn't busy sanding filler, I helped my mom redo the new buckets to match the rear seat. By this time, it was early summer again, and I was going to have some time off before going back to school. Once again, I stripped the car, but not as far this time. With the windows masked, and the body work done, it was just about time to paint. We built a spray booth in our garage by hanging plastic sheeting around one bay, and wetting the floor down. My dad, the experienced one, did the shooting. It came out quite well, the improvised spray booth kept the dust out, and there wasn't a run to be seen. Boy, was it white! Two days later, it was back together, ready for the trip to Michigan. Boy was it nice to finally have it all one color again, inside as well as out. For those who are wondering, that is a Trans Am spoiler on the trunk lid. I don't like to admit to using a G(gag)M part on my car, but the spoiler fit so well, I couldn't resist, Besides, for $40 from the junkyard, it looks a lot better than some gaudy $120 wing out of the JC Whitney catalog.
OUCH! Four months to the day after getting the Maverick back on the road from the paint job, disaster strikes. On my way to work, this guy in an Audi sedan pulls out on me in the rain and crunches my driver's side fender. Luckily, the damage was fairly superficial. His insurance company paid me well, and a few weeks later, the car was good as new. The worst part was that I lost a nice rust free fender.
Finally! As a college senior, with a student loan covering my last semester's tuition, I had the money to build a respectable drivetrain for my Maverick. I collected all of the parts I needed, and rebuilt everything ahead of time. I decided to use an AOD tranny, because I did need to drive the car still, and I didn't want to get gallons to the mile. My Dad and I rebuilt the tranny, a task I would never undertake without a manual. (A certified Master Mechanic doesn't hurt either! Thanks Dad.) A coat of blue (PPG Concept) later, and it was time to move on to the rear end. I got a 9" rear from a Granada, and had it narrowed 2". That's 1" to get from Granada width to Maverick width, and 1" for some tire clearance. The V-8 8" axles are the same as 28-spline, small bearing, 9" axles, so I was able to find a pair of original Maverick axles that had some extra length to the splines to use in the new rear. I simply cut 1/2" off the end of each one, and presto! Narrowed axles. After a complete rebuild of the center section, including a Traction-Loc unit and 3.70:1 gears, we finished the unit with DP90 epoxy sealer - primer. I decided that I wanted to get some miles on the new rear before doing the engine + tranny swap, so the old rear came out, and in went the new. Boy, was that a scream! The gears actually gave the six some power. It was funny, too. since I hadn't changed the tranny yet, the speedometer was way off. At highway seed, it was reading 90 to 100 MPH.
On to the engine rebuild. Once the machining was done, the assembly went pretty quick. After assembly was complete, the engine got the same color treatment as the transmission. Now that all the parts were ready to go, it was time to start on the car. Out came the venerable 250. The engine compartment looked so big when it was empty! A thorough cleaning and sanding got it in fine shape, and then we put on a coat of the black sealer - primer. The engine went in fairly easily, but the tranny required some fabrication. The AOD is about the same length as the C-4 overall, so the driveshaft was OK. The AOD has more guts in it though, so the mount is farther back (i.e. longer body and shorter tail housing). We widened a '70 Torino cross - member so that it would reach the frame rails. We made re-enforcing plates with welded nuts to go inside the rails so the cross - member could be bolted in without ripping the sheet metal apart. I have always liked floor shift more than column shift, so I installed a 1966 Mustang shifter. The hardest part of putting the shifter in was re-shaping the shift rod to snake around and reach the shift lever. The mechanicals were done at last, and after a long night of wiring the engine harness and gauges, it was time to take the car to my Uncle Gene's house to make the exhaust. He has a nice exhaust tube machine for bending and flaring the pipes. (Right next to his ERA GT-40 replica, under the cover)
The exhaust system came out well, but I was not able to take the car with me to Michigan. It was time to go, and there were still a few bugs that needed to be worked out. I drove my Dad's '47 Coupe to school, (It got a lot of attention itself) and after working out the rest of the problems and breaking it in a little, my parents came out for a visit. They brought the Maverick out to me and drove the coupe home. I took it to our school car show, and took best in class honors. Also that semester I went to Dearborn to see Greenfield Village. I got lost on the way, and found Ford World Headquarters. It was too tempting a photo opp. to miss! I also went to Milan Dragway with the school car club, The Firebirds, that semester. The track was slick, and I couldn't get good traction at the line, but I managed to turn a 14.76 @ 95 MPH.
There is one underlying rule about special interest vehicles. They are never "DONE" until you sell them. I wanted to put a hood scoop on the maverick to match the rear spoiler. I bought a Mustang scoop at a swap meet and painted it to match the car. You can bet that I did lots of planning before drilling those mounting holes in my precious hood! It was exactly the look I wanted. As for future plans, I am still looking for the turn signal indicators that go in the scoop. I also want to make a carpet mat and spare tire cover for the trunk. The paint job is starting to show its age around the bottom of the car, so I have been toying with the idea of doing a little body work before it gets too bad, and finishing it off with a lower body accent in either blue or red.
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| Early on, 3/4 rear view |  |
| Early on, 3/4 front view |  |
| Awaiting new doors and interior |  |
| Newly installed A/C |  |
| Doors and interior parts made black |  |
| Black interior mostly in |  |
| Edged 3/4 front view |  |
| Edged 3/4 rear view |  |
| Prepped for paint |  |
| All white! |  |
| Body done, side view |  |
| Same, 3/4 rear |  |
| Same, 3/4 front |  |
| Front seats that match! |  |
| OUCH! |  |
| Rebuilding the AOD |  |
| Tranny's ready |  |
| Old rear end |  |
| No rear end |  |
| New rear end |  |
| Assembled 302 Shortblock |  |
| Likewise, Longblock |  |
| Complete Rebuilt 302 V8 |  |
| Pulling Out The Old Straight 6 |  |
| Empty Engine Compartment |  |
| Engine Compartment Freshly Painted |  |
| Putting In The 302 |  |
| '66 Mustang Floor Shift |  |
| Full Complement Of Faria Gauges |  |
| Engine Swap Almost Done |  |
| Uncle Gene, Making The Custom 2-1/2" Exhaust |  |
| Maverick & Me After GMI Auto Show |  |
| Maverick In Ford World Headquarters' Parking Lot |  |
| Latest Addition - Hood Scoop |  |
| The Maverick Now |  |
| Maverick Outside Of Its Old Winter Home (I have my own garage now!) |  |
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After the Cleveland - powered Pinto drag car, driven and built by Gapp & Roush, was burdened with weight penalties by NHRA due to its short wheelbase, (read as "It beat too many Chevys") they moved on to the next smallest Ford that had a longer wheelbase (and thus less of a weight penalty) - a four door Maverick. Also with 351 Cleveland motivation, their Maverick 4-door beat plenty of Chevy 2-doors, that is until NHRA outlawed 4-doors (see "read as" above).
I saw a T-shirt with a drag racing, early 2-door Maverick. The driver's name was "Fast Eddie" Schartman. Thanks to Bill Pratt for the following info:
"He raced out of Cleveland, Ohio, and was considered one of the toughest Super Stock/Factory Experimental campaigners in the world back in the 60's. He, like Don Nicholson, raced funny cars for a while (as the Super Stock and A/FX camps began to split into what became the Funny Car and Pro Stock classes we know today). Schartman was always reasonably competitive in the seventies, but he never regained his top dog status in the days of Gapp, Glidden, and Nicholson."
If you're into drag racing history, be sure to check out Bill's site: "Drag Racing List Online"
Anybody out there have a good pic of this car?
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This site last updated February 24, 2008