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This is my 1973 Pontiac Ventura Custom Sprint. The car was
originally purchased by Mr. Earl Gaberlson in Orillia at Russell
Pontiac in the summer of 1973. This car was driven from
April to October, and stored for the winters. Due to our rugged
winters and road salt the car would have deteriorated fast.
My parents purchased the car for me prior to my completion of
high school in 1980. I remained true to the original
owners request and stored the vehicle during the winter. I
drove it from 1980-1984. In the fall of 1984, the car was placed
in the barn owned by Mr. Gareth Mayo and it was not retrieved
until the summer of 2004. |
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These photos show the car arriving home after 20 years in the
barn. During its storage we found the 350 Pontiac engine
had seized. The car made another trailer ride to my
parents summer cottage, where my father proceeded to remove the
engine. The engine was stripped down to the bare block.
Three seized pistons. |
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In this series of photos to the left, my car is being readied for engine
removal. The car was then brought back to my home - less
the front end. A decision was then made to have the car
taken to a restoration shop - The shop of choice was Body By
Biggs. George Biggs is the owner of the custom restoration
shop. My father and I toured George's shop and felt this
was the shop to have the work performed. By this time the car
had racked up over 180 miles and the engine was not even running
as of yet. From the storage barn of 20 years, to my home.
Up to my parents summer home, back to my home then off to the
restoration shop. |
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These photos show the 73 Pontiac Ventura custom Sprint in the
first phase at the restoration shop. The glass has been removed,
as well as all seals, bumpers, the gas tank and any other item
that might get in the way. The car is being prepared for the
next phase - soda blasting. Still, the car is in
incredible shape. As stated earlier, the car was only
driven 11 summers. The vehicle made its way to Body by
Biggs the first week of September 2005. Some of the prep
work we did was removing the engine, interior and front fenders.
Once all the necessary parts are removed and safely stored, the
car is prepped for the soda blasting. |
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These photos are of the car after it was soda blasted.
The entire car was taken down to bar metal. Soda
blasting is much more delicate to the steel - with traditional
glass bead the contours of the car could be rounded out if one
was not careful. The results are excellent and the next
phase is started. The car was inspected for any pin holes.
A few minor repairs were made - the area around the gas tank
hangers had minor rust as well as the wheel tubs.
New wheel tubs were installed to keep this an all steel car.
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Some minor work is being performed on the car. Small dents
and imperfections are hammered out, and a few small welding
touch ups on the sill. The car was then sprayed with a
sealer called DP. Then the epoxy primer was added - great
stuff, and saves a lot of work. The primer is then sanded
with various grits, completely down to a wet sand.
Next, the high gloss black paint was added. This paint is
as tough as nails. All suspension parts as well as the
undercarriage are black. The fire wall will be painted green.
This PPG paint covers really nice. The undercarriage looks
even better than new - the guys at Body By Biggs have done an
awesome job. |
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Well, The
1973 Pontiac Ventura Sprint Hatchback is finally taking shape. The
exterior colour was matched with PPG paint. The engine was rebuilt
by Parry Automotive in Orillia - they are well know across Ontario for
their excellent work and service. A eldelbrock four barrel manifold was
added to the engine. New pistons (0.30) rings valves performance
cam, water pump, fuel pump and all the other fine accessories have been
put into the engine. The original Horsepower of this engine was
150 HP, but we won't know the final outcome until it is placed on a dyno.
A new Holley Street Avenger carb will sit on top of this engine with
only minor chrome accessories. The engine was painted with a high
temp paint, also from PPG. It is Pontiac blue. The car will
be outfitted with petronics ignition. Hooker Performance Headers
will feed the exhaust to the American Thunder series exhaust from
Flowmaster.
I have hunted for years to locate a new decal, and finally had to have
it reproduced - as well as the hatchback seal. There is a company
that is currently reproducing the seal to the original factory specs,
which is great news for other Ventura and X body hatchback owners.
Feel free to contact me at
pipher1@rogers.com. I'm
able to get the decal in the other three colours. Check back soon
as the production of the weather stripping is near completion. I will be
updating the site with new photos after I visit the builder. The
car is near completion and should be home before the end of January,
2006.
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