[1]Bill Storer knows an opportunity when he sees it. When he bought this 1972 Ford Maverick, it had already been started as a drag car project but was far from complete. Once he got it back to his Lawton, Michigan, home though, the project really got off the ground. The result is that his “Grabber Pro-Street” Ford Maverick has won multiple show and shines and, according to Storer “is a blast to drive on the street.”
[2]Storer says that the body was very solid so he continued along the same theme that the previous owner had begun. He wanted his Ford to be as at home on the strip as it was on the street, so he back-halved the car with mini tubs to give the huge 15×10-inch Weld [3] Draglites plenty of room. The front wheels keep that dragstrip theme, they’re 15×3-½-inches.
To keep those wheels planted, Storer used a ladder bar setup with a Ford 9-inch rearend housing that has been equipped with 4.56 gears with a mini-spool. He also figured safety first, so he tied the sub frames together and added an 8-point cage. Storer figured that you can’t be too careful, especially considering the engine that he built for his Maverick.
After all, what’s a drag car without big horsepower? So Storer built a 331 stroker motor with Keith Black pistons (11.0 to 1 comp), H-beam rods and Brodix Track 1 heads. An Ultradyne flat tappet solid cam (5.95/6.18 lift, intake and exhaust) bumps the valves in those heads while the Milodon [4] 8-quart oil pan and pickup, Melling hi-volume oil pump and the Wieand [5] hi-flow water pump ensures that the engine runs as cool as it can under the circumstances.
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Plenty of combustibles are needed for such a voracious engine, so a 650cfm Demon [9] carb literally pours the race fuel into it through a Edelbrock [10] Victor intake while a 150hp shot of nitrous (thanks to the NOS [11] system) gives it a kick like a mule on steroids. To make sure that the TCI Auto [12] C4 trans, equipped with a 3,800 rpm convertor and reverse manual valve body, is actuated with precision, Storer chose to go with a Hurst [13] ratchet shifter.
[14]Storer says that he built this Ford for street use, but that he has taken it to the local track to “see what it would do.” Running on fuel only, the best time so far is 10.16 @ 132mph but on the nitrous it ran a blazing 9.62 and 9.55 @ 144mph. Storer says that the track officials only let him make two passes because faster than 10 seconds you have to have a parachute, and he didn’t want to run a chute on the street.
Storer likes his toys from mild to wild and that while the Maverick is just one of Storer’s vehicles, he says that he enjoys driving it when he feels like hearing the noise it makes and going fast. Those are things that we can relate to ourselves.
If you’d like to share your ride with us here at SLTV, send us an email at Reader’s Wheels [15], and tell us a little about your car. Get some pictures ready and we’ll contact you and get more information and you’ll be on your way to sharing your car with the rest of our readers. Let us know what you think in the comments section below!