Newbie Building a Ford Maverick

Rory McNeil · 10-08-2007, 10:05 AM

There is a 72 Mercury Comet from Washington state that has been running in P&Q/SA for the past few years, with the 302 2 barrel engine. As previously mentioned, these cars were only equipped with 2 barrel carbs, plus the heads are pretty poor, compared to the 283 Chevys.I can`t say that I had ever seen this Comet run more than about .25 under the current index, don`t forget that NHRA is apparently going to be reducing all the Stock indexs by 2 tenths. I understand that the engine in the Comet was pretty low buck, and decidedly "untrick", but even with wheelbarrows full of $$$ thrown at it, I doubt that it would ever be a top half qualifier. But unless you have a bunch of P&Q cars in your area, why not? Personally, I wouldn`t waste any money on the 8" rearend, the gear selection is too limited, unless you plan to use really short slicks, I don`t think the 4.62 ratio would be steep enough, which I think is as low as you can get. 8.8`s are cheap and plentiful, with a decent gear selection, and spools and axles are readily available.A 9" has a lot more ratios available, but is also heavier.

10-08-2007, 10:05 AM	#5
Rory McNeil VIP Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: from Vancouver BC Canada, now in Nova Scotia Posts: 1,311 Likes: 317 Liked 1,105 Times in 303 Posts	Re: Newbie Building a Ford Maverick There is a 72 Mercury Comet from Washington state that has been running in P&Q/SA for the past few years, with the 302 2 barrel engine. As previously mentioned, these cars were only equipped with 2 barrel carbs, plus the heads are pretty poor, compared to the 283 Chevys.I can`t say that I had ever seen this Comet run more than about .25 under the current index, don`t forget that NHRA is apparently going to be reducing all the Stock indexs by 2 tenths. I understand that the engine in the Comet was pretty low buck, and decidedly "untrick", but even with wheelbarrows full of $$$ thrown at it, I doubt that it would ever be a top half qualifier. But unless you have a bunch of P&Q cars in your area, why not? Personally, I wouldn`t waste any money on the 8" rearend, the gear selection is too limited, unless you plan to use really short slicks, I don`t think the 4.62 ratio would be steep enough, which I think is as low as you can get. 8.8`s are cheap and plentiful, with a decent gear selection, and spools and axles are readily available.A 9" has a lot more ratios available, but is also heavier. __________________ NHRA 6390 STK M/S 85 Mustang