Justin's just been hangin' out, waiting to show you the new motor he dropped into his car. He'd also like to report that he's dropped the dreadlocks, as well :-)
A
few views of a pretty nice '72 owned by Jason Delaplain in Oregon 
(R) Another piece of automotive history out of my archives, but I no longer recall which magazine this appeared in. So sorry!
(R) A nice "before" picture supplied by Bruce Schafer, taken at the perfect front 3/4 angle. The car has its motor out in this shot.
"The car was originally a six cylinder/powerglide (which were removed before I took the side shot) base model with power steering, manual drum brakes, rubber mat flooring and only 49K miles. I bought it from the estate of the original owner who was 66 when he bought the car new. It has a few rust spots in the typical areas (front fenders behind the wheels, base of windshield which you can see in the firewall shot, under the taillights where the bumper to body seal goes) Otherwise the car was in pretty good shape for a 32 year old car.
"The plan was to replace the six with a 350 chevy with a TH350 and drive it while I painted it. I contemplated doing a Pontiac 455, but the block was too hard to find in my area at a reasonable price. I found a complete 350 4 bolt from a truck that the owner said didn't run. Two wiped cam lobes do that to a motor. I freshened up the motor with forged pistons, balanced lower end, Lunati cam, Holley aluminum heads, MSD ignition, Holley intake and 750 vac sec carb, Dynomax headers, Flowmaster dual exhaust, new cooling system. Basically rebuilt every system.
"I obtained a TH350 for $40.00 that also didn't work and figured it's a great transmission to learn how to rebuild. I tore it apart and found the low/reverse planetary was fried along with the clutch pack. I got a rebuild kit and the new parts from a local transmission shop along with an output shaft and housing to convert it to a short tail shaft trans. I also picked up a B&M shift kit and installed it during the rebuild. I topped the package off with a 3000 rpm stall converter from JW.
"The stock 8.5" open 10 bolt rearend had 3.08:1 gearing which didn't fit in with my plans for the car, so I got a solid Eaton posi out of a Trans-Am and traded its 3.42 gears for some 3.73's. Again with so little cash outlay I figured I would attempt the rear end rebuild myself. It took five tries installing different shim packs behind the pinion to get the gear pattern to come out right. I also sand blasted and painted the housing, replaced all the 32 year old brake springs and wheel cylinders while the rear end was apart.
"Right now I have the driveline in and am finishing some plumbing and wiring to start the engine. Can't wait.
"I am also welding in new sheetmetal where I cut out the rust. Another new trade learned for this project - welding. I have painted before so at least that won't have a steep learning curve.
"I've completely removed the interior to recover the seats and replace the carpet and to get it out of the way of the welding. I am converting the interior color to another yet to be determined color but I bought black carpet so that's a start. The door panels are in great shape so I am hoping I can just dye those, but I removed the entire dash so I can paint the metal and replace the PRNDL with a PRNDL2L1 plate.
"It's amazing how the project snowballed, but I figure I am going to have what is basically a new car for one third what a new one costs and ten times as much character. I need to take some more pictures in it's current state. I'll keep you posted. Bruce" schafer@gru.net
We haven't seen this one before...cover of a 1972 brochure available from www.mclellansautomotive.com
Note: '73 front clip
Joe Reichardt (
jknight@knightriderzofnewark.50megs.com)
also found himself this nice project car. He writes:
"A little history...this Ventura was built at the Willow Run, Mich. plant.
The car is a '72 Ventura II with a '73 Ventura front end. It's a 307 V8 2bbl
carb. with approximately 54,314.2 miles. It was bought by my grandfather's
dad on April 2, 1974 for $1,600 in Newark, OH. (I was told) my
great-grandfather was the original owner. My grandfather got it when his dad
passed away. It has been in the backyard for a few years because the 307's
timing gears had plastic on the gears and broke when it was being tuned up
one day. I think it might have damaged a combination of the cam, valves,
piston(s) etc... the engine no longer runs and needs to be rebuilt. It
needs a little body work."
(R) Carrying on with the rescue of as many Ventura photos as we can get our hands on...let us know if any of these cars show up in your neighborhood :-)
This car belongs to Norm Johnson ( abstractorman@earthlink.net ), who was overjoyed to find photos of his car on this site ('72 page 2 ) because he'd lost his originals! The intended buyer flaked out, and he still owns the car, pictured recently at right.
Here's a taste of what's happening in the pages of Hot Rod magazine...the Ventura II project has gotten tremendous response so far, and nothing's even been done to the car as yet (June '04)
Other than that, it's all original. I switched the stock steering wheel for a Grant but after much junkyard scrounging, I found the 3 spoke style out of a Catalina. The suspension is my next project as all the bushings are shot and the front springs look like they are for a 6 cylinder car. They aren't even the right diameter and they almost ride on the bumpstops.... my grandfather passed away in 2002 and I want to make this car into something he would be proud of. I promise more pics as I go step by step." We'll be looking forward to it, Dan!
Dan Taylor's '72 Project Kicks Off (fall 2004) Dan's well under way with his restoration job; during this site update, a new set of photos came in, with the car's front end already going back together again. The second photo above shows a busted spring, not a good thing to have while running in triple digits! He speculates that perhaps God watches over fools and Ventura lovers. Lots more to come on this project, plus he has Jeremy Foster of 72ventura.com fame to help him out. WE HAVE WORD THAT THIS CAR IS NOW COMPLETE. YEE-HAH!