1976 Pontiac Ventura coupe
 

I’m back in the Pontiac club with this sweet little Ventura! 44,500 original miles! Olds 260/metric/7.5 driveline runs great but we need a lil gumption.. warmed up Pontiac 350/350/8.5 -3.23 combo going in sometime soon. Starting to get it looking better and go through the car to make it roadworthy.. needs tires really bad lol. Super stoked to be back in a Pontiac thx gus

Had one in a similar colour. Leaf springs came up through the trunk. WI car :)
I always thought a T/A 403 would be the ticket?

We know of an olds 455/400 combo running and cheap but I can’t do it....Sacrilege

Got the trim off. Looks mo betta!

Cannot fix the upside down wth!

Those look like a big Astre to me. Always wanted a hatchback version. Good luck with it.

I thought it was a hatch before I saw the car in person Glad it’s a trunk!

My mom had an Omega with the itsy bitsy 260. Great little car, WAY better than the Aspen station wagon she had next.

The 260 is smooth!

Look forward to pawning off some extra parts to this project. I recently reacquired the 78 W72 4 spd 400 Formula we had before and it has a temporary low mileage 74 350 in it that is around 50k miles and I just pulled a set of 54k mile 66 092 389 heads off the Star Chief engine that are not going back on it so that would make a good solid 9.5:1 on the 350 , a simple 068 HO cam with a set of 4 tube second gen F headers with a good converter and gear change should run and drive real solid in that Ventura !

Things changed and now we’re building a 455 with trw forged flat tops 228/235 475 110 cam RPM intake 800 qjet and 4x heads outta run good

This should make it the ultimate sleeper! Have a '76 Ventura (hatchback) myself. WAttachment 531211ish I had the time to put into it. I inherited it from my Dad when he passed away. He bought it brand new.

This almost a replica of my first car. Mine had steel wheels with hub caps. Red bench seat interior.

I’m excited about it. Getting rings and bearings soon!

There you go!

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...1&d=1581560872

Thanks!!

She has sweet rear axle upgrade done A wider 76 Camaro 10 bolt housing with perches moved to fit but corrects front rear tracking to be even, Upgrade with new 1514H alloy 30 spline axle upgrade, tubes welded to center. late model HD 8.6" 3.23 GM R & P from a 1500 truck. new Yukon 30 spl Posi unit. Southside Machine lift bars and new HD multileafs

I like that. Looked better than the 77 phoenixes.

It’s gonna look real good with the 250.00 full set of used draglites I got for it too! Heck of a deal on the wheels and free like new 275/60/15 m h race masters! Also a pair of brand new 165/80 fronts for 75 bucks! I’ve got 325 in wherls w brand new tires! I need lug nuts and center caps

Pretty schnazzy with the weld wheels

Why was the name changed from Ventura to Phoenix? Any history on that?? A friend in elementary school dad was a Doctor. He had a new one back then. Not sure why, he could have drove a high end European car, and he did, his previous car was a BMW 2002. Guess he had other bills to pay back then and chose sensible transportation.

I’m not sure why they called it Phoenix

Because its a play off of the meaning of Fire-bird aka the Phoenix same reason the made a Grand Am after they had the Trans Am

Gus ...when ya gonna drive that thing over and we put that 455 Pontiac in ? After the summer heat ?

Isn't funny how these cars grow on ya but at first you couldn't stand them?
That car is SHARP.

GT

Been too long.. got a huge update. Pontiac Larry put my 455 in his 63 Catalina for testing and two outings it went 7.87-7.86-.786 85.,xx mph. Last weekend went 7.79 then 7.76 85.09 on not so sticky track. That’s at 3800 lbs. race weight. Hopefully the Ventura is lighter. Outta be swapped in by Xmas time allowing! Combo is mild .40 over 455, erson tq50 228/235/110. Stock 72 intake , 9.1-1 CR pump gas, 10 inch tci and 3.64 gear I believe. Not too shabby!

Here is the vid from last year when it went 7.7's with undecked re-ring 455 030 cast rod used TRW forged piston hyd small Erson cam near stock 6x-8 heads (minor bowl clean up) not gasket matched stone stock 1971 iron intake etc... Converter it TOO loose for this combo it was running 7.7-7.8 riding the downward backside of the torque peak that is lost in the flash of converter its will be better with a tighter stall in the Ventura regardless I would think 7.6 easy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9kWO3l4vEc

NEW 2026 update , the 455 isn't in the car yet and now Paul ( PJ Pontiac ) owns the car now . He made a deal with Gus (Shoebox1.1) and he drove it over this week. The swap should happen this Summer .. the three of us had also owned my 63 Catalina it bounced around 2x at the 3 of us before I committed and got it going. LOL So nothing new here.. When the engine was in my CAT the converter was too loose for the combo and I was running on a declining torque curve it flashed well past peak TQ rpm I am sure See video on this week ! the 260 finally did the posi burnout I required to see hahahaha https://youtube.com/shorts/yv7A-26fh...tegETSt5s990yj