1972 Pontiac Ventura II                page 3           

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Some shots I took at a Washington car show of Shawn Shay's awesome '72 Ventura Sprint.  The car was bought at auction for $1000, but lots more has been invested.  Power is courtesy of a Chevy 355, guarded here by a color-coordinated spaceman who was a big hit with the kids at the show.  Check out the trick blue bulb headlights!  I have other pics forthcoming taken after the show, which should be even better (less clutter).  Great car... enjoy, everyone!
As promised, some "after the show" views of Shawn's Sprint.
  (L) Here's a teaser to invite you to check out the updated At the Track section!

 (R) An e-bay offering.  Excerpt from the sales pitch:
" Has newly built 383 GM stroker engine with only 5000 miles, all new parts including 292 Comp cam, Pete Jackson timing gears, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, Holly double pumper 750 cfm, headers, true dual Flowmaster mufflers, new 3 row radiator, Centerforce stage 2 clutch, Saginaw 4 speed floor shifter, rear Lincoln locker, starter, alternator, water pump, hoses and belts.

Brand new painted Gunmetal Pearl clearcoat, all rust repaired, new windshield, dark window tint, good original vinyl interior with bench seat. Only minor tear in one headrest and armrests. New weather stripping. Manual steering and brakes all work perfectly. Originally air conditioned, have all components for buyer to reinstall if desired.  New multileaf rear springs with Urethane bushings, Lakewood traction bars, Compitition Engineering welded subframe connectors

Very powerful street machine, never raced, daily driver. Beautiful, solid vehicle."
 (L) Another retro rendering by Ted Nasmith.  He's done a fine job of capturing the look of the late 60s/early 70s car ads.  I'm not sure, but the guy clutching the door appears to be a Vulcan.

 (R) Dedicated V-Man Jeremy mmetalhhead@yahoo.com took his '72 to a car show July 2003 and forwards this souvenir shot.  Thanks Jeremy!
Rock Ringer 3rrock@velocenet.net has officially taken delivery of his terrific '72 and forwards a few fresh shots.  There's a rainbow in the first shot---a good omen!  He's already stocked up on replacement parts to begin work on the engine bay. 
   The '72 Ventura had a pretty bizarre sunroof option, seen here in a nice set of shots from Justin Makosky.  Check out the pop-up plastic air dam at the leading edge.
 Here's how the sunroof looks from the inside.  (10-9-03: Bruce Schafer schafer@gru.net notifies us that the official name is "Skyroof", and that it appeared to be offered on the Nova as well.  Thanks for the info!) Justin was quite surprised that it doesn't leak.  It appears that the sunroof is ribbed and rides in two slotted tracks.  Thanks for these unique shots, Justin.
  1972 Ventura Rebuild   (initiated August 2003)   by Justin Makosky  ( Pventura72@neo.rr.com  )    As you can see, Justin's got the front sub-frame pulled off and has the firewall freshly painted.  He says "It's not gonna see the road till next year, probably."  He also contributed some great shots of the car's unusual sunroof ("Skyroof").

  1972 Ventura Rebuild continued (September 2003)

Justin checked in with the latest progress on his car. "Hey, this is just a car update...I just finished welding and painting the frame and I'm working on getting the suspension back together to start re-assembly, soon hopefully. Then comes the money for an engine, hopefully a nice 383 or 400."  1) subframe stripped of grease and most of the rust  2) touched-up weld  3) "This oughta do the trick, heh-heh!" 4) POR-treated subframe...nice!  The last shot shows the condition of the firewall after painting. 

The Parts Start Coming Together (November 2003)

Justin's made some further progress on his '72.  Nice before-and-after view of his brakes, control arms and sway bar with new urethane bushings, and mounted subframe with bright new bushings as well.  I really admire this guy's energy and mechanical skill (not to mention his huge garage)!  He seems to have captured one of the recent solar flares in his last picture :-)

      
Roaring Heart Transplant (August 2004)

"Hey, it took a little bit to get my motor in, since my front clip was on... at most I'd say we were at it for 2 or 3 hours. My Hooker headers pretty much clear everything, the plugs are very close but it's not much of a problem, just the normal close to the starter problem, but it's alright. I started it today for the first time in a year and a half and it ran like a champ, all the way out of the driveway and out of gas, lol. ...I've been working on it non-stop for some time now, it drains me but I love it.  Thanks for caring so much about fellow Ventura owners.

"It may be a bit long, but I keep detailed information. Here goes nothing...
 Frame welded and reinforced, all suspension painted with POR-15, new rear bumper and brackets, polyurethane suspension kit, frame mount sleeves, ball joints, plugs and wires, front coils, lots of Rustoleum and Bondo, acid cleaned engine heads, Edelbrock intake manifold, cam, timing chain, 600 carb, and valve covers and filter, Felpro gasket set, dress up kit, Holley fuel pump, water neck and thermostat...

"MSD coil, Hurst pistol grip quarter stick shifter, shifter housing, custom made aluminum plates...took a LONG time, but worth it...Powermaster alternator, fuel filter, lots of hose adapters and swivel fittings, new bigger fuel line, billet alternator bracket and adjuster, billet power steering bracket, new heater box, billet pulleys, line locks, shocks all around, engine mounts, master cylinder, radiator cleaning and re-coring, Hooker headers, Edelbrock valve springs, Summit roller rockers, triple gauge bezel and gauges, and my TH-350 is done, so I can FINALLY get it onto the road...the total without the tranny is $2884, not bad I guess.

"The scoop on the interior, I bought the Quarter stick shifter with the pistol grip handle and my line lock button on top of it, it's sitting on 3 custom made aluminum plates that I made...I also made that plate where the shifter cable goes through the body. Justin" Pventura72@neo.rr.com

  (L) The results are in...the new motor rocks!  (Oct 2004)

(R) A site called www.carnut.com had this very pretty '72.  The plate says "Cindy", possibly the owner's name.