Brian Lavender




Year 1971
Make Pontiac
Model Ventura
Body Style 4-door sedan
Miles 310,000

Engine 307
Heads unleaded-equipped

Transmission automatic
1971 Pontiac Ventura II
August 13, 1996: The new owner seems to be taking good care of it. In CA, the smog restrictions are extremely tight. I had "smogged" it just over two months ago thinking it would satisfy the owner requirements to smog it for three months. That was not the case. CA gives you two months, and it is required by the seller. Yesterday when we had it tested, it failed miserably on the idle test: hydrocarbons went off the scale. This morning after some adjustments, the car passed. It looks as if the new owner will be taking good care of it. He did look somewhat doubtful before it passed, but I had faith it would.

The guy I sold it to is the brother of my neighbor who lives down the street. He drove by, saw it, test drove it, made me an offer, I accepted, and the rest is history.

1971 Pontiac Ventura rear [Before selling the car.] I have had this car for sale for about eight months now, and I have received some inquiries regarding it. I have not given out a great amount of detail redarding it. I have done that for two reasons. One, I feel a loss about parting with the car. The Ventura has been in my family since it was virtually new, and I have grown attached to it. Two, I have the lingering ambition to keep it and further restore it and modify the motor giving it more horsepower. This car can easily be modified with a larger carburetor, headers, a cam, and other accessories and still pass smog in California.

Between my father and I we have accumulated 310,000 miles on the Ventura II. It is amazingly solid and I believe it will continue to be so. I have continually maintained it and invested some restorative maintenance in it, but now the time has come when my personal value of the Ventura II has exceeded any personal benefit. Aren Cambre [the operator of the Chevrolet Nova Internet Source] inquired about its condition; I gave a more in detail description of its present condition. Here I include that new description with the original description.

A Response to the Car's Condition

Aren Cambre

Why in hell do you want to get rid of such a fine car? Is it really not in as good condition as it appears?
Brian Lavender

1971 Pontiac Ventura damage spot
Yes, the car is in good condition. Of course being that it is 25 years old it has ventured through some wear and tear and minor mishaps. When it was about six years old another truck hit it on the side. That damage was repaired with a new rear driver side door and the area behind the drivers side door had a new piece welded into it and bondoed over. At the present time that bondo cracked over the repaired area and I sanded it and repainted with some spray paint. That is the worst damage on it. It could be repaired with new Bondo. I have driven the car for the last twelve years and it has accumulated 310,000 miles on the current engine. It has always been a reliable car, but the maintenance costs started becoming more unpredictable and the gas mileage, even though decent at 16 or 17 mpg, is far below most newer cars. Two years ago, I took the entire front end off the car and I replaced all the bushings. That was an extensive job and I did not have the car to drive for two weeks. The bushing are all new now and in that respect it handles great.

1971 Pontiac Ventura trunk
The areas that I know are solid are the engine, the transmission, the brakes, the suspension, and the stereo. I have always changed the oil every 2500 miles. A year and a half ago I did have a strange problem happen to it. I was driving and it was running perfectly. Then it started chugging and it stalled. I tried to restart it and it would not respond. I took it to my mechanic suspecting that it was the ignition. It has the points that can be adjusted by sticking an allen wrench through the distributor cap and sometimes they will slip and close on their own causing the car to run rough and eventually stall if they close enough. My mechanic replaced the spark plug wires, the points, and the spark plugs and it would still backfire some. He then replaced the carburetor and it ran decent. However, it still backfires sometimes.

1971 Pontiac Ventura engine
Four years ago just after leaded fuel was banned here in CA, it overheated damaging two valves causing the engine to loose compression in those cylinders. I needed the car, so I decided to replace those heads with two remanufactured heads that have the hardened valves and pressed in valve seats. That restored the engine back to good condition. I believe my father dismantled the engine when the car was around ten years old and reborred the cylinders. It has always had good compression, about 135 psi all around.

1971 Pontiac Ventura side
I would consider it still reliable, but with 310,000 miles it certainly will require additional maintenance. I know the rear end bearings will have to be changed in the future. I can hear some noise from that area and the mileage predicts replacement.

The reason I am selling it is I bought a 94 Geo Prizm a year ago. I wanted to keep my Ventura II being that it has sentimental value, but I think there comes a time to let go. Also my Prizm is surprisingly quick in acceleration and has a top speed rivaling my Ventura II. It's not a V8 though. I also need the cash. When I was making good money I wanted to keep it, but now I am not. I have been rather slow about selling it and I hope whoever buys it has as much fun as I have had with it.

Aren

Does it have a working A/C?

Brian

The air conditioning is 2/55.

Aren

Oh... a technical thing: does your Ventura have a Pontiac or Chevy engine?

Brian

The engine is a chevy(stock)307 small block.


Copyright © 1995, 1996 Aren Cambre.