B3R Garage: 1970 Maverick Update

After a bit of a brutal 2014-2015 winter the Mad Scientist noticed a small rear axle leak. Instead of tearing apart the axle and simply putting it back together, the Mad Scientist to the opportunity to make a little drivetrain upgrade. He went ahead and replaced the stock rear gears with a new posi-track differential. There are not too many better improvements that can be made to a street machine that having both tires spin in the same direction at the same time. Currently, the Ford 302 small block may not be producing the amount of power we would like. However, this upgrade will likely make a future power upgrades significantly more noticeable. Let us know what you think of the current upgrade.

B3R Garage: Two weeks of fun and productivity

The previous weekend I mustered up the courage to finally take the Capri on a drive outside the neighborhood. July 26'th marked the date of Orland Indiana's Vermont Settlement Day's and The Mad Scientist convinced me to make the trip. Conveniently, the day also marked the firs American Legion car show in Orland. After a few days of pulling the car out of the garage and making a few laps around the neighborhood I began looking for a way to put the hood back on the Capri. I rummaged through the shop and came across what was left of a cutting wheel that was just enough to cut a hole large enough for the air cleaner. Everything seemed to be going really well in the Capri until we were about two miles outside of Orland. As it turned out, for some reason a roll pin sheared off in the distributor separating the rotation of the bottom of the distributor from the top. The Mad Scientist yanked the distributor, rolled into town and got some help from Bill's Towing before shooting back down the road and dropping the dizzy back in the block. When I hit the key the car fired right up and I was able to drive the rest of the way into town. Better yet, I was even able to watch the parade and head on down to the car show at the American Legion to look at other people's really awesome cars.

B3R Garage: Polish and Shine

The Mad Scientist's 1970 Maverick has always been quite photogenic. However, following the painting process the paint began to quickly fade. In many areas such as the trunk and in the middle of the doors, hazy grey spots began to emerge. Needless to say we where not to happy with what was going on with the paint job. Regardless, the Mad Scientist decided to take the Maverick to a few shows and visit those who helped provide parts for the car. On one of the Mad Scientist's visits he was informed that he should simply continue sanding the car until the haze went away. After painting the car the Mad Scientist and I decided not to do any sanding because we thought that it might actually scratch the paint job. However, we were assured that sanding the car after paining it was exactly what was needed to be done in order to get a "car lot" shine. As it turns out, lacquer is like a hard-candy shell that is meant to be sanded in order to get it to shine. After spending a few hours in the garage with a 1500 and 2000 grit sand paper the car revealed a shine the Mad Scientist and I did not know that it had in it. So if you have recently put garage paint job on your car don't be afraid to give it a good sanding a few weeks later to bring out the shine you really want. According to the Mad Scientist his best results came when he laid a garden hose on the roof of the can and sanded areas where the water would continue to flow down. His method allowed for the paint to be "polished" without rubbing the fall-off back into the paint.

B3R Garage: Spinning the Wheels

Over two weeks ago I found myself, my wife, and the Mad Scientist cruising down the interstate in my '84 Mercury Capri at a more than reasonable rate of speed. Unfortunately before the ride was over the oil pump drive shaft decided it no longer wanted to participate and SNAPPED!  It was fun while it lasted. I won't lie, it is a great feeling to have been able to tear down a car and build it back up in less than a year. In fact, the Mad Scientist and I not only rebuilt one car but two. Due to a rapid shortage of funds, my poor Mercury will have to sit in the garage for a while longer. On the plus side my replacement RPM cam and lifter kit from Edelbrock was received just last week. Soon enough the winter season will be upon us and I'm not too sure that I feel safe testing the limits of the Capri in snowy conditions. So, it is likely that my 1984 Mercury Capri will simply have to sit in the garage until summer. It is looking as thought the winter project this year will be pulling the motor yet again in order to install a new oil pump drive shaft and my replacement cam and lifters.

Although the Capri has had little street time, the Mad Scientist's Maverick is still out on the prowl. If you are ever in the fort and happen to see bright blue 1970 Maverick with a three barrel carburetor scoop sticking out of the hood, you can probably bet that it is the Mad Scientist. If you are driving by, make sure to give him a "Thumbs-UP", and if you have time to stop be sure to let him know what you think of his ride. Although there where many ups and downs in building it, it turned out to be a lot of fun. Make sure to look out for the Maverick at the local cars shows as well. Perhaps the Capri will make it next year.

B3R Garage: A Surprising Resolution

As you may know the Mad Scientist has been driving his 1970 Ford Maverick around for almost a month know. Interestingly enough, he has been doing so with an unidentified Ford 302 block with a Frankenstein Holley carburetor. That's right the carb was put together with parts from three different carbs! Unfortuantly the car would move but the secondaries would never open up. So, we never knew exactly what the old car could do.

That was until the Mad Scientist went out and nabbed a brand new 600 cfm single pumper Holley of the shelf. He threw the new carb on and guess what! The car sounded like CRAP!. It would idle real nice until he put his foot anywhere near the pedal. This was confusing to say the least.

After about two weeks of insanity checking the timing, replacing sparkplug wires, spark plugs, and the distributor cap and rotor the Mad Scientist had enough. He was about to push the old car into the back yard and tarp it over for good. Until he got the idea of removing the valve cover and watching each of the valves open and close as he manually cranked over the engine.

As it turned out, the timing was off. Way OFF! What the Mad Scientist and I though was a standard Ford 302 block (With regular firing order 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8) was actually a Ford 302 HO motor (with a firing order of 1-3-7-6-5-4-8) .

I won't lie, this discovery simply blew my freaking mind! Just one week before the Mad Scientist put on the new carb we where out driving though town. Granted we where only going about 35mph the car still sounded PERFECT! It was quite, smooth, and not backfiring.

Now that the Maverick's kinks have been worked out and we know everything there is to know about our little Maverick, the car drives smooth and has no problem breaking the 100mph in a relativity short distance. If we could just get the back tires to stop spinning when we hover over the gas pedal we might even be able to get the front end off the ground!

B3R Garage: An unfortunate turn of events

Yesterday was one of Orland Indiana's reestablished car shows. The mad scientist and I had been working feverishly on the weekends of the past few months in order to get are Ford powered tire squealers ready for the event.

B3R Garage: Driving the Maverick Home

That's right everyone. The Mad Scientist was able to drive his 1970 Ford Maverick out of the operating room and take her home. Unfortunately, the carburetor needs a little work and the car needs a set of front tires, but the car was able to make it 13 miles across town without too much trouble.

So what does it all mean? Will we hear about the Mad Scientist's Maverick in the weeks to come?

B3R Garage: Lifting the Carb

A whole lot has happened to the the Mad Scientist's Ford Maverick this weekend. First off, the Mad Scientist went ahead and sprung for a 1" carburetor lift plate in order to raise the carburetor scoop up height enough to avoid resting on the HEI distributor. I am not going to lie, putting the lift on his intake was significantly more of a task than I had doing the same process on my Capri. However, in just about an hour we were able to raise the roof on the newly installed street/strip carburetor scoop.

If you have been paying close attention to the pictures of the '87 truck block dropped into the Maverick you might have guessed that the Uni belt pulleys on the Edelbrock water-pump and crank might cause an alternator issue. And you would be right. So the Mad Scientist took it upon himself to drop into the nearby Pick-it-yard (takeapart.biz). He climbed up in an old Ford and walked out with a handy dandy uni-belt pulley, some hood rubbers, and window trim clips. He then went ahead and swung by the nearby NAPA and bout a new alternator, and had the employees put the used belt on it so that it would work with the current pulley setup. Pretty crafty huh!

The Mad Scientist even went so far as to acquire a handy dandy band new radiator cooling fan. Unfortunately, the fan requires that it be put on the front of the radiator (behind the bumper). As it turns out there is not a log of room there. The room that is there is currently occupied by a trim bracket. Bummer! But don't worry everyone! The Mad Scientist and I are no stranger to chopping off unneeded pieces (check out the shock tower chopping section) and/or fabricating what we need. So, hopefully the new radiator fan will be going in this weekend.

The only thing that still seems to be missing is the exhaust. The Mad Scientist has his eyes set on a pair of Lake Pipes from Jegs.com, but he may just throw together some of the spare pipes with a couple of over-the-counter mufflers just to be able to roll down the road a little earlier.

If you are interested in the Mad Scientist's 1970 Ford Maverick, be sure to keep checking in and occasionally check his Squidoo page under the Maverick tab above for more information and videos to come.

B3R Garage: Just A Little Bit Closers

Over the weekend the Mad Scientist and I were able to spray the maverick down with its final coat of primer and hit it with its first coat of color. Awkwardly enough it took much longer to mask the car than it did to actually spray it. Unfortunately, the color did not come out exactly the way we wanted it to.

This is what the Maverick looks like now. 

 

B3R Garage: Champion Radiators

With the Mad Scientist's Maverick nearing completion there are only a few essentials that still need acquiring before the beast can take to the streets. One such essential is none other than a radiator. Conveniently for my Capri, I was able to simply pick up a radiator relatively cheap. However, the Mad Scientist was not so lucky. Years ago the Mad Scientist was not opposed to sporting a significantly larger truck radiator-with no hood-in his Maverick if it meant he could race on the weekend.

However, the Mad Scientist and I decided that we would like to keep the mechanicals under the hood for this particular Maverick. So instead of buying whatever radiator we could jam into the car for the cheapest price the Mad Scientist decided to go another rout. The Mad Scientist Went ahead and dished out a few hundred on a Champion Radiator straight out of California. (note: California has a high fraud warning so don’t be surprised if you purchase something from California and have your card declined and froze until the transaction is verified by your bank.) Conveniently the radiator showed up only a few days after purchasing it and simply bolted right up.

B3R Garage: Primering up the 1970 Maverick

Finally the Mad Scientists’ 1970 Ford Maverick is getting a little dash of primer. The Mad Scientist shot his Maverick with primer from the cowl to the trunk this last weekend. Surprisingly, only a little time was spent in skimming tiny pinholes and dings in the body with filler. On the other hand, the use of an air file made sanding down the Maverick a whole lot easier. Needless to say it was a bit of relief to see the car in a single color for the first time even if it was primer.

If you are into doing body work on cars the Mad Scientist and I would HIGHLY recommend you get yourself an air file. The air file literally took out a huge chunk of time we would have originally spent handing sanding the car. Instead, the air file sanded the car so well that we could have probably hit the car with color and been done with it, but we are trying to go for a specific look. 

B3R Garage: Ford Maverick-Preparing For Primer

Although the 1970 Ford Maverick still requires a little mechanical work, the Mad Scientists and I have decided to simply move on to doing a little body work. Conveniently the Maverick only requires a little body work in order to get prepared for primer and paint.

Currently the paint already on the Maverick already contains a luxurious shine in many places. However, there are yet some areas of the car such as the driver-side door, and rear quarter panels that still require a little skimming of body filler and smoothing before the primer. This weekend the Mad Scientist and I will be busting out the sand paper and foam blocks in order to get the Maverick ready for its first coat of primer. 

B3R Garage: The Mad Scientist's Tranny Troubles

The Mad Scientist has cut, chopped, and welded his 1970 Ford Maverick into submission. We have finally been able to completely drop in the Ford 302 sb into the Maverick using truck mounts. We wired up the starter, and bypassed the transmission lines. However, as easy as cutting into the Maverick was it was about time it cut back!

The Maverick strikes back!

B3R Garage: Shaving Shock Towers

The Mad Scientist has decided to put his 1970's Ford Maverick under the knife again. So far the pre-modified can lighting setup was cut from the rear and replaced with a Torino tail lights. The rear bumper was fabricated from a Ford Mustang rear bumper and all visible exterior mounting bolts were shaved. The engine going into the car currently will be a Ford 302 small block with mustang shorty headers  and a C4 automatic transmission. However, the Mad Scientist has recently got the concept of bigger blocks on his mind. So instead of simply dropping the small block into the the Maverick, the Mad Scientist did a little homework and found out what it would take to put a larger block into the car. As it turns out, the process requires shaving the shock towers!

B3R Garage: 1970 Ford Maverick Update

After a week of waiting the Mad Scientist and I were able to acquire a new heater core and windshield wiper motor for the Maverick. Awkwardly enough Ford Maverick's without A/C have more expensive heater cores than those without. Who knew. Regardless, the folks down at the local NAPA store was able to provide us with a heater core and windshield wiper motor.

After this weekend the entire interior of the Maverick should be completely done. With that being said the car really only needs a few more pieces to reach completion. Unfortunately  the Mad Scientist's truck decided to keel over and die (hopefully for the last time. ). So the Maverick build budget was slightly cut into in order to fix the Mad Scientist's Aspire long enough to get the Maverick done. Although the Maverick street strip build will not stop the build, but it will be extended a little longer.

No offense to anyone following B3R Garage, but it is likely to be in your best interest not to buy a Chevy (s10).

B3R Garage: 1970 Maverick Custom Interior

After about two weeks the 1970 Ford Maverick's interior carpet was finally delivered. Conveniently, the carpet came at just the right time. Previously in the week the Mad Scientist and I were able to fabricate seat brackets for the black Tenzo Racing seats, all of the dash pads were recovered, and the headliner was restored.

This weekend the Mad Scientist and I will be looking forward to finally dropping in the carpet, and getting started re-installing the heat ducts, dash panels, trim panels, and front and rear seats. Keep and eye out because shortly we will be posting pictures of the newly upgraded 1970 Ford Maverick interior.

B3R Garage: 1970 Maverick Update

It has been about one month now and the 70's Ford Maverick has come a long way. over the week the Mad Scientist and I were able to tear out everything from under the dash. Not only was EVERYTHING removed but we were able to undercoat (rubberize) everything as well (including our clothes, shoes, hands, hair, and anything else we touched). The Ford 302 sb was fitted to check for potential clearance issues as the motor is from a '87 truck of some kind. Seat brackets where fabricated to help level the custom Tenzo Racing seats that we will be putting in as well. I guess you could say that the 1970 Ford Maverick is at the same point my car was in during the final stages of its completion. There are only a few more weeks before the February 12th (Mad Scientist's Birth Day). I wonder if the car will be derivable by then.

B3R Garage: 1970's Brakes & Interior

Over the weekend the Mad Scientist and I where able to install the new rear brake parts. Unfortunately,  finding and speaking with knowledgeable representatives at your local auto parts store can be a hit or miss endeavor. For the most part, when we speak to someone about finding parts for the Maverick the representative freezes in panic when we mention that the car is from the 70's or that it is a Maverick. Probably due to the younger generation not realizing that there where indeed cars before they were born. (who knew?)

Regardless, the Mad Scientist and I were able to acquire some brake parts from our trusty NAPA store. Over the weekend we were able to install new brakes on the refurbished 8" axle. The brakes took a little longer that expected due to some lacking parts. However, we were able to scavenge some working parts off of some Granada front drum brakes in order to make the instillation a success. As far as the brakes are concerned the 1970 Maverick only needs three brake lines measuring a few feet in distance.

This weekend we did not stop with installing brake parts. The Mad Scientist took it upon himself to enlist some help from his personal interior fabricator (his mom). At a month before her 70th birthday the Mad Scientist's fabricator/mom was teaching the Great Grand-children how to Snowboard. (This is no joke. Those Grand-children are mine.) Anyhow, the rear bench seat in the 1970's Ford Maverick was tore apart, painted, re-padded, and re upholstered. The back of the newly refurbished back seat also sports a snazzy Ford logo as well.  

Along with finishing some simple projects, there where some projects that where just getting started. We took the time to remove the interior heater motor, squirrel box, and wiper motor. We also removed the shock tower supports and began wire-wheeling the doghouse.

B3R Garage: Approaching New Years

Over the last week I took some time off over the holidays to visit Fabulous Las Vegas. Now that I have a slightly refreshed sense of motivation, I am ready to start  really digging into the 1970 Ford Maverick Street Strip Build project. Before my vacation the Mad Scientist and I had left off with having completed the rear quarter panel, and tire well repairs along with fabricating a bumper.   The Maverick also received a little body work in the rear in order to accommodation a larger Ford Torino tail light due to a previous owners botched body job.

Although I was out for a while the garage was not entirely quiet. The Mad Scientist stayed behind, and chipped away at some of the lighter work that still needed to be done to the 1970 Maverick. In my absence the underbelly, inner trunk, and floor boards where thoroughly undercoated to prevent any future possibilities of rust damage. The Mad Scientist also took it upon himself to remove the old 7" rear axle. The small axle will soon be replaced with a completely gone through 8" axle from a 1971 Ford Grabber. The Mad Scientist also sanded and primered the rear louvered bumper cover and front valance. 

With so much done in my absence there is really little to be done to make the Mad Scientist's 1970 Maverick a real ground pounder. The list of items to still be completed included installing the new rear axle, fuel cell, engine, and transmission. We will also need to do some minor floorboard repair and modifications for properly fitting the Tenzo Racing seats. 

Keeping in mind that most of B3R Garage's work is done in just a few hours during the weekend, we are planning to have the car-at least-up and running by late February. I guess you could call it a resolution.