After picking up the Harbor Freight engine stand I put it to the test and take apart my 403 Olds motor and discuss why Pontiac used the 403 Olds.
Check out my Harbor Freight engine stand review here: https://youtu.be/kbUirPent3U
Music:
“Furious Freak”
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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Had a 79 Buick Park Ave with 403. The oil pump drive driven from the distributor , basically an allen wrench handle, rounded off and ruined the motor . I loved the power of that car
Wow with the lip smackers
Low end torque at low rpm, to meet emission standards with low compression, with s*** rear end gear. A friend of mine got the compression ratio up changing pistons. Mild port work on heads, now it's actually it was a pretty stout motor. It's just far too expensive to build a 403 compared to a small block chevy. Most people aren't aware of the 403 is a small block olds, not the same block as a 400 olds from the 60s. The 400 olds had nearly the same bore & stroke, the 403 is large bore, short stroke..
Very cool, look forward to seeing your rebuild.
And honestly, the whole reason the Olds 403 was even developed, was because the Toronado was still big in 1977 (didn't get downsized until 1979), and the Olds 350 wasn't enough motor to power the 4,600 lbs Toronado, but they couldn't justify keeping the 455 big block around just for 1 model (as the Delta 88 and 98 had been downsized)
It's simple, Pontiac V8's were no longer allowed to be sold in California after the 1976 model year, and California is the biggest car market in the country
Did you ever work at Albertsons in Florida I new a guy that look just like you
0lds 403 is a great motor..big pistons with a short stroke crank.i bored mine 30 over changed pistons to flat tops.installed a joe mondello cam and modified the quadrajet.i surprised alot of mustang 5.0s and HOz28s in the early 80s…had a b/m shift kit with a superholeshot torque converter..
It's no surprise outside of Chevy Oldsmobile engines supplied power to many agriculture machinery , RV's , and on and on. The 4a heads just need a boat load of work . The ticket is earlier heads with big valves , bowl work and they will save a bunch of time and money.
I think the bore size is like 4.35 or so 3.30 stroke would be neat to hear one turning a lot of rpms . Would work great with a stick shift
Put a good set of heads on the smog motor it will come alive
There’s a huge misconception about the Olds 403. GM rated it at 185 Hp, but it cheated. The test was done with less timing. When you set the timing outside GM’s recommended setting, the Olds 403 responded with far more power. Pontiac got away with advertising the W72 400’s Hp at 220 because it was mated with a manual transmission and standard 3:23 gears. I know, as I owned several Trans Am’s in 79. The Olds 403 would walk away from the 400 Pontiac with just a timing reset and 3:23 gears, while still using the stock 3 speed turbo 350. The Olds 403 was also far more bulletproof than the Pontiac 400 as it was prone to rod bearing failure at higher rpms. I will always be a fan of the Pontiac 400, but the truth is, that the Olds 403 was a much better engine.
The Olds cleaned up better in the emissions department. That is how it was the last carburetor V8 sold by GM in 307 trim through 1987. It was also lighter than the Pontiac 400.
Im a Ford guy but i like looking at other odd brands but watching this come apart it has alot of similarities to a Ford Cleveland motor from the valley pan and stamped steel rockers to the fuel pump slot good video
So how much horsepower are you wanting? 500’s?
Why all the tears on the 403? Best Bore vs Stroke of any factory engine… ever.
My grandmother had a 1977 Riviera with the 403. They weren't rockets but I rember grandpa saying it got 22 mpg when we took the car on vacation. Pretty respectful for a big car made in the late 70s.
Was a great engine even bone stock. Had one in my 78 delta 88 2 door. I believe it was 2.73 gears not completely sure was 2 .something anyway with a turbo 350. Took a bit of know how but as long as you knew what you were doing and not baby the gas pedal it would kill the rear tires all day long. Many times getting on the interchange thats a death trap near where I was living with a very short weave lane and heavy traffic constantly mashing the pedal and just as the 4 barrels opened up kick it sideways at 50mph for the next 1/4 mile or so
Good torque and would pass emissions….
Had one of these motors in a GMC Motor home – front wheel drive toronado set up
Sorry, bout my spelling. Should have been Eldebrock Torker.
I had a 1976 Trans Am with 403 Rocket fire V8. Automatic trans. Yes ,you read this right. It also was black on black. As I understand it, this was unusual for 1976. I bought this car new in Tennessee, paid a little over 6000.00 for it. I bought a Eldebrock turkey intake with a 650 holley from a guy who had this on A 75 FORUMLA 400 . Surprisingly it mated up. Next, I had a set of Hooker Headers added to that. Then , had a B and M shift kit installed. Car ran strong , especially mid – range to top end . I raced a 76 455 4 speed and smoked it in the quarter mile. We raced for a case of Beer! Needless to say, I was drinking some cold beer afterwards and went to bed proud and with a big smile on my face later that night. Wish I had kept that car!
I can't remember if it was car and driver or car craft ( Probably C/D) but during their testing of the 79 Turbo T/A they actually had to put the rear wheels in water to smoke the tires. It simply wouldn't spin'em on dry pavement. However, it did give a pretty good kick in the pants getting on the interstate once you had some rpm and turbo buildup. My youngest brother had one. When the blow by became to excessive in the 301T we swapped out a 1969 455 olds in its place. Turned that car into a real monster with 355s in the rear.
Dad says 50 I say 75
Pontiac does not have a small-block and big-block all V-8s are the same dimension.
The 77 Oldsmobile 403 blocks don’t have window mains
Pontiac ceased to be a division of GM in 1979. It became a brand of GM in the early 1980's.