Our October feature car is one Poncho that got a new lease on life. What was assumed to be a minor fix turned into an extensive restoration. The results are well worth the effort! Ray Friesen is the proud owner of this four speed equipped 1970 Acadian SS 350. Ray tells us the rest of the story:
I had always wanted a muscle car, but family considerations and finances left me unable to acquire one.
In 2001, I came into a small inheritance and the search was on!! I looked hard at Dusters, Darts, Mustangs and realized that I could never afford one of those. My skills were not up to a project car, so I needed something that I could drive and “tinker” with.
The Buy and Sell was a great tool back then and I picked one up every Thursday. Then I spotted it, a 1970 Acadian with a four speed. Ad noted that it was “like a Nova”. In my home town of Coaldale, Alberta, there was a guy with a black 69 Acadian with a 454 and massive tires on it. It was a really cool car! So I knew what an Acadian was.
This car, the 1970 Acadian, was green, black interior, four speed, positraction, seemed great. Went to look at the car, some rust bubbles on the quarters, but did not seem too bad. Had a 305 in it, but that was okay. Wanted to build up something fast anyway! So, I made a deal and brought it home. I was ecstatic.
Drove it for a while and started tinkering. Played with the timing, the carb and then decided to go to an aluminum manifold. Changed that. Big job for someone that had only changed oil before this. Bought an MSD distributor and box and swapped that in. Then the cam went flat in the 305. Time for a new engine. Had a short block rebuilt and I installed the heads, intake, new carb, new water pump, new radiator, new motor mounts. Was great fun.
Then the time came to replace the body bushings. Big job! Replaced the rear springs as one was broken. Next, sub frame connectors were installed. Car seemed rusty at the back. Figured it should be okay for now....
Then the front end bushings were replaced. The car handled nice!! Next I found out the front spring was broken. So that is why the car sagged to one side!!
the engine had an oil pressure problem so it was pulled and freshened up. New bearings, valve job, new cam etc. The car flew! Thanks Terry Bride.
Replaced the gas tank. Those supports seemed really rusty. Hmmm. Talked to my buddy and we came up with a plan to replace the supports. Found out the trunk was REALLY rusty. We could see daylight through it! Now it was time to fix it right.
Talked to my buddy, Carl Jamieson, Abbotsford’s Maximum Collision Ltd. and talked him into fixing my car. He put his best guy, Jim on it. Thanks Jim, Emma, and all of the people at Maximum. This is the story of an accountant and his hot rod.
Great car! And a BC car to boot. Hopefully I can see it.
Hi Ray. Sounds like you were happy with Terri Bride? I've talk to him and I was thinking of taking my engine to him also. I'd love to hear more about your experience with him and more details about that engine.
I'm glad we get a chance to look at this sweet ride right through Halloween!
-- Edited by Mondo Poncho on Saturday 30th of September 2017 03:52:57 PM
Wow, what a great result. I'd say an accountant with balls to take on a project like that. Thanks for sharing your story with us and hopefully will get to see it sometime. Enjoy the month at the top of the page. Love the color.
Great looking car and I love the 4 speed! It certainly has had quite the journey to where it is today. I really like the color and it really looks sharp!
From one Ray to another, that's a beauty, 1970 is my personal favourite year for the Acadian SS, it has to do with my dad buying a Tempest that year and in the showroom was a dead ringer for the Acadian SS brochure car, red with white vinyl top, I should have bugged him to buy it.
I'd say an accountant with balls to take on a project like that.
x2 Nice resto!
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Prince Edward Island
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
Thank you for the kind words. Lots of fun and a real educational experience. So different from my normal job.
The pictures really don't do the paint justice. The colour is a stock 2013 Toyota paint with some really good gold highlights. My wife was with me when I was picking out the paint and she quickly got bored. Never thot I would see that.
Never know what you will find when you start digging into rust. It turned out great and a beautiful colour.
Don
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63 Parisienne sport coupe (The Big GTO), black, maroon interior, 409 4 speed; former owner of a 59 El Camino, 63 Corvette SWC, 62 Chev Bel Air SC. 1963- Pontiac top selling car in Canada
Mahone Bay, NS Still not old enough to need an automatic
Superb example of a truly rare car (not just a Nova). A Super Sport to boot! I've heard of about 5 1970 Acadian SS coupes in the last 40 years.
I also see that it came with manual steering for no horsepower loss, plus a Muncie M20 & 3.31:1 Positraction rear.
Looking at the option list it would look as it does today, except that it had gold Custom cloth bench seat interior, full wheel covers, white stripe 70-series rubber with a single narrow stripe.
With the paint the way it is now it would really pop with the original gold interior, or leave it as it is currently as it looks great. Take a look below to imagine the gold bench seat Custom interior & wheel covers as shown below:
It would have been a real sleeper when new!
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67 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe, Oshawa-built 250 PG never disturbed.
In garage, 296 cid inline six & TH350...
Cam, Toronto.
I don't judge a man by how far he's fallen, but by how far back he bounces - Patton
Thanks. I think it has a 355 rear, at least that is what the brochure said!
I know this car came with a gold interior, but I just can't get my head around that colour. The green would look really great, but......
This car was driven hard and not really looked after too much until i got it. Still driven hard, nothing like having Stairway to Heaven on the stereo as you are reaching for 4th at full throttle!! Would never happen, right?
This thing came with the minimum options. The extras would be the radio, custom interior/exterior, wheel covers and super sport. Nothing else, not even a block heater.
I have come across 5 1970s or so out hear, a green one, mine, a silver one, a yellow one and a black one. You are right, not that many.