1971 Ford Maverick... Running Gear Swap!

[peteh1969]

I woulds say needs a de coke and valve stem seals and lap the valves in properly, that would make the biggest difference.

I have seen worse but I have seen better too.

Just my opinion.

[neilsdavies]

Tom Atkinson's Nova, as driven by his better half Kirstie Tramm? I know her brother Spencer well. Small world, isn't it!

[Ralph.Wrecked.It]

Jul 24, 2019 15:28:50 GMT peteh1969 said:

I woulds say needs a de coke and valve stem seals and lap the valves in properly, that would make the biggest difference.

I have seen worse but I have seen better too.

Just my opinion.

All sound advice, I suspect you aren't wrong there! Will open her up at the weekend and take a proper look. Was all meant to have been rebuilt... But based on some of my other findings on the car, I suspect it wasn't. 

[Ralph.Wrecked.It]

Jul 24, 2019 17:44:10 GMT neilsdavies said:

Tom Atkinson's Nova, as driven by his better half Kirstie Tramm? I know her brother Spencer well. Small world, isn't it!

Right you are sir! Kirstie was driving on the Friday for a little birthday treat, Tom was then driving on Saturday as part of the Custom Car Invitational. Very pleasant weekend. 

I think they are all racing again in Sportsman this weekend at BugJam, pretty sure Spencer is racing too... 

[Ralph.Wrecked.It]

So a little update on here, carried out a compression test and it got some dismal results on cylinders 1 and 6... You could basically play the flute on the oil dipstick.

So I thought, pull the motor and measure up for a re ring...

Motor out:



Big hole:



And then time to open the motor up:



So after a closer inspection, it seems a re ring won't cut it. The bores are silky smooth and certainly not round any more! Very worn out and a huge lip at the top of the cylinders. This thing needs some machine work.

Currently the plan is a bit up in the air, I wasn't planning on investing in this motor so now I need to decide what my game plan is... Getting quotes to get the machine work done and supply of new pistons isn't coming back with very attractive prices. I have been quoted to get the whole motor fully rebuilt which is tempting if I want to keep this lump, but that price coming back at £2k isn't what I want to invest in this motor.. I'd rather pour that money in to a V8 build. Hmmm.

Open to suggestions.

[SmokeEm]

Small block 302cu for the pure rumble. Even in stock form.

[Ralph.Wrecked.It]

Aug 19, 2019 9:59:13 GMT SmokeEm said:

Small block 302cu for the pure rumble. Even in stock form.

Keeping my eyes open for one. 

It's either rebuild and keep this motor or 302 swap time. 

[SmokeEm]

Not worth importing a crate 302? I know shipping can be pricey but if you can grab a pallet space in someones crate coming over?

[Ralph.Wrecked.It]

That is certainly a consideration. For £3.5k could have something half decent and fully dressed. I'm not after big power, more noise and reliability for long road trips.

[SmokeEm]

That was my point. 3.5k fully dressed and running. A nice reliable 300ish BHP with scope for far more if needed at a later date. I have a 302 sat in the bay of my Nephews Capri currently awaiting wiring. Nice compact block aren't they. I have also heard they respond really well to one of those 'Carb' lookalike injection kits. Someone I know said they saw over 30mpg with it fitted! (Along with a far smoother drive)

[Ralph.Wrecked.It]

Ah brilliant, yes the Maverick even has factory engine mounts available for a 302 install so it would be a painless swap really.

I have a Holley Sniper EFI unit that I was planning on retro fitting on to the 6 cylinder just to see if I could, but with the motor not running right, it isn't worth me installing it just yet. Brand new sat in the box waiting for an excuse to get fitted...

The only issue is, this was meant to be next years plan when the wallet would allow, accelerating plans to swap the motor might have to be on the cards though if I can't do a quick and dirty rebuild on the 6 banger. Hmmmm

[stealthstylz]

Bits for the 6 are cheap as chips iirc, think a set of oversize pistons is about $125.

[Ralph.Wrecked.It]

Yeah I can see on Rock Auto and similar they are readily available, just need to find someone to do some machine work and see what that quote comes back as...

[rodharris83]

Is this of any use, even for an idea of budget?

Ford 302 5.0 V8 Engine



link

[Ralph.Wrecked.It]

That's great cheers, I will drop them a line about 302 options as well as machine work.

[stealthstylz]

Aug 19, 2019 14:26:10 GMT Ralph.Wrecked.It said:

Yeah I can see on Rock Auto and similar they are readily available, just need to find someone to do some machine work and see what that quote comes back as...

Would be roughly £100 to bore and hone it at our place, £30 to skim the deck, probably £40 to knock the cam bearings out and fit new ones (labour if parts are supplied), £40 to polish and measure the crank. That's probably all the professional machining it would need to do the bottom end. Send it in with the core plugs and gallery plugs knocked out and get them to hot tank it after they've removed the cam bearings and done the machining.

If you're wanting to clean the block off for paint give it a good going over with a wire wheel before you send it in.

Reassembly is dead easy to do yourself, American stuff is mega basic. Just make sure everything is clean (dunk tank of TFR is great for ferrous bits) and a pressure washer is ideal for giving stuff a final blast off to make sure it's properly clean.

[Paul Y]

www.summitracing.com/int/parts/hpe-hp99f/overview/make/ford

I would just throw this in.

Probably £200-300 to get it here and you are ready to go.

P.

[Ralph.Wrecked.It]

Aug 19, 2019 17:36:02 GMT stealthstylz said:

Aug 19, 2019 14:26:10 GMT Ralph.Wrecked.It said:

Yeah I can see on Rock Auto and similar they are readily available, just need to find someone to do some machine work and see what that quote comes back as...

Would be roughly £100 to bore and hone it at our place, £30 to skim the deck, probably £40 to knock the cam bearings out and fit new ones (labour if parts are supplied), £40 to polish and measure the crank. That's probably all the professional machining it would need to do the bottom end. Send it in with the core plugs and gallery plugs knocked out and get them to hot tank it after they've removed the cam bearings and done the machining.

If you're wanting to clean the block off for paint give it a good going over with a wire wheel before you send it in.

Reassembly is dead easy to do yourself, American stuff is mega basic. Just make sure everything is clean (dunk tank of TFR is great for ferrous bits) and a pressure washer is ideal for giving stuff a final blast off to make sure it's properly clean.

OK, this is all sounding quite reasonable. 

So off the back of the machine work, I would then be looking at ordering a rebuild kit with undersized bearings to suit and over sized pistons to suit? 

Are there any potential pitfalls to watch out for? Is there any potential for the cam and crank to be junked or unlikely based on the fact the motor was running mostly happy before? 

This would be my first engine build, so I just want to know what I am getting in for, but more than happy to get stuck in and get it done though! 

Thanks for the advice so far, what's your business called? 

[Ralph.Wrecked.It]

Aug 20, 2019 6:05:24 GMT Paul Y said:

www.summitracing.com/int/parts/hpe-hp99f/overview/make/ford

I would just throw this in.

Probably £200-300 to get it here and you are ready to go.

P.

If I had that wedge in my pocket, it would already be on the way haha

[Deleted]

Any progress on this? Have you decided what to do engine wise??

I like the Maverick, its nice to see something a little different from the norm.