Long day...new project for my son
 

Some of you might have seen the earlier thread on the '74 GTO I was poking at. My son continued the hunt for a project car and found a Fernmist Green '74 Ventura earlier in the week that he fell in love with. My wife, who has zero interest in old cars, took a liking to the car too because of it's groovy color combo. This seemed like a rare moment where stars aligned. However, the car was a 9 hour drive away in Portland, Oregon. I had a nice chat with the seller over the phone, and decided to take a day trip up to Portland this weekend to check out the car.

We left the house at 4:30am to catch a 6:50am flight. On the way to the airport, the PHS for the car arrived in my email. Timely! The original plan was to meet the seller mid-morning, check out the car and explore Portland the rest of the day and head back on the 7:50pm flight. Unfortunately while taxing down the runway there was a mechanical issue with the plane that caused a 4 hour delay.

We eventually landed at 1pm and I headed over to get our rental car. Unfortunately the rental company had completely overbooked against their inventory. I was fuming. I found another company that claimed to have cars and made a reservation on my phone. All seemed well until we got to the lot. It was empty and there was a line of 30 very angry people waiting for cars that did not exist.

The clock was ticking. Determined to meet the seller, I got creative and I ended up taking a cab to pick up a ZipCar which rents by the hour. Finally some transportation! We made it to the seller's location around 3:45pm.

We gave the car a thorough inspection and it was as advertised. The 350 2bbl ran surprisingly well for what it is. Interior is very tired and dirty. Some dents and dings on the exterior, but nothing show stopping. Very minimal rust. It's a fairly original car (most plug wires were original date coded!) with 100k miles so it needs a little bit of everything. Kind of oddly ordered with RTS, a/c, p/s, manual drum brakes and an open rear end. It also has a factory block heater.

I couldn't get a read on what my son thought of it as we walked around. In my head, the parts list, work and $$ was growing, but as it turns out, he was inspired. We talk it over and make a deal to buy the car. I have him put his name on the title. I have never seen him so over the moon and beaming with pride.

After we finished up, we had just enough time to turn the rental in and head back to the airport. We got back home to California at 11pm. Whew.

The day started out stressful, but it became one of the best days ever. While he works on and drives my cars, I underestimated how important choosing his own car and having a financial stake in it is to him. He already has so many plans for it. On the way home on the plane he discovered the chase scene in The Seven Ups and had the biggest grin while watching it.

On paper, this was not the most economical purchase considering all the travel and the fact that I have to have the car transported down from Portland. but it was worth every penny. This day will be a memory and a story we share forever.

We'll be hitting you '74 guys up for some parts :D

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Congrats!


Car looks cool!
Your son looks very happy.


:)

Nice!

Nice ride looks solid. Funny how "wife's" take interest in kids projects. Good find!;)

Oh the color and interior pattern. Wonder if there is an "upolstery duct tape" or iron-on version to band the 2 front-center bench seams.

Engine bay looks great: AC, V8(455 mountain motor ideas), swapt that iron brake cyl for a aluminum from a G-body.), lots of wipe-downs and rattle resprays will make it pop.

Awesome! Congratulations to your son, and you for giving him the bug.

Congrats Ken! His adventure begins!

Groovy seats too

From first glance it looks like you could hire a PDR specialist to smooth out the dents and just buff the paint.

Very cool little Ventura, I can see why your son is so happy to score that beauty.

Have fun with it. :)

Ken, what a great first project car for your son! I have a soft spot in my heart for '74 Ventura's. Here's a '74 Sprint PHS that was ordered like a GTO. Have fun with the car!

Dennis

Very cool. I will never forget picking out my ‘65 Grand Prix with my dad 30 years ago (he has it now). Your son looks extremely happy.

I bet the paint has some life left once you wash all the Oregon off of it! I’ve brought a few paint jobs in that condition back to life. Feel free to DM me for the process.

And I would definitely be recovering those seats with a lime green plaid pattern similar the what the Chevy square body guys do.

I think it will clean up nicely - it's got chips and dings, but nothing major. Curious to hear your process. There's a dent in the rear passenger quarter that will likely pop out. The front end was repainted at some point a long time ago so it's a smidge darker than the rest of the car. There's red under a few of the panels, so there's a story there. No obvious signs damage outside of the front bumper being smushed a little though. We may put the tighter '72 bumpers on it anyway.


The interior is huge for him so we'll definitely be retaining the plaid. I assume we'll have to have the cover made. I ordered some samples from SMS but I've heard they aren't too responsive.

That's a cool car! These things have grown on me. This one's your typical grandma commuter. My wife said it looks like something Carol Brady would've driven. I think my son mostly wants to keep it that way, but we'll be adding a set of Rally IIs and probably do a 4bbl swap since I have those parts sitting around. We were also talking about adding a '74 GTO stripe as he likes '70s car graphics.

I'm surprised at how original the car is. It's worn out, but not messed with. Looks like it was just a regular car that was used and maintained as best they could. The a/c still works! I am concerned the engine may be on the tired side, but I didn't see any substantial blow by or indication it's burning a lot of oil. It runs very smooth and starts instantly. It's been a while since I had something with dirt oil and grease on it. I forgot about that smell of old cooked grease. Check out the original plug wires!

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Looks like a great project....he will always remember it!!

California is the best place for a car named Ventura , that works out nice.
That color doesn't need any stripes or decals , but let him make it whatever he wants .

The hairy hose on the air cleaner would bring some serious coins from 2nd Gen TA restorers.
Pretty sure you can flush mount those bumpers by modifying the mounting.

Adding a posi carrier and desired gears would be a great class project .
Working AC is an easy $1000 value on the car.

Neat car - those early 70's plaid interiors were over the top. I've always liked the chevy truck highlander interiors from that era as well.

If it still has the block heater I'd leave the plug hanging out and tell people it's been converted to electric!

interesting that is where my 74 gto was sold new and it was optioned with a lot of the same stuff. i wish i hadnt sold it.

Ken, Curious to hear which heads it has...46's or 4C's. Being a 2-bbl, it's "supposed" to have press-in studs...but you never know...

Dennis

By 1974 wouldn’t all heads have been built with screw-in studs?

Sticking your finger down in the oil filler cap hole will confirm that pretty easily.

Years back I pulled a few sets of #46 off 350 2bbl engines to resell due to calls wanting them after the headflow test came out in HPP magazine.
They were all screw-in studs , but I don't know if that was luck or not.

I like it!!! Great car for son!!!

Carol Brady....LOL!!!