DOES ANY HAVE ANYTHING NEGITIVE TO SAY ABOUT THE 403? ALSO ANYONE CLOSE TO PHILLY HAVE A REBUILDABLE ONE FOR SALE?
403 SBO?
- Thread starter TROUBLED215
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Yes, people do have negative things to say. Some people have positive things to say too, it all depends on what you plan to do with a 403.
403's Positive features: 1)Large bore
2)Large intake valves in 4A heads
3)Can make 350 plus horsepower w/ mostly stock components
403's Negative features: 1)Windowed main webbing in block
2)Large cc combustion chamber in 4A heads
3)Siamiesed cylinder walls
4)RPM has to be limited
I personally ran a 403 olds motor in a stock car for two seasons, mid 300 horsepower, 5500 rpm every straightaway with no major failures and a number of main event wins. The same combination could have been easily run on pump gas in a mild street car. Check the Oldsmobile forums, a lot of information is out there. Good luck.
2)Large intake valves in 4A heads
3)Can make 350 plus horsepower w/ mostly stock components
403's Negative features: 1)Windowed main webbing in block
2)Large cc combustion chamber in 4A heads
3)Siamiesed cylinder walls
4)RPM has to be limited
I personally ran a 403 olds motor in a stock car for two seasons, mid 300 horsepower, 5500 rpm every straightaway with no major failures and a number of main event wins. The same combination could have been easily run on pump gas in a mild street car. Check the Oldsmobile forums, a lot of information is out there. Good luck.
i originally wanted to run a 403 olds in my cutlass just for the extra cubic inches,but ended up with a 350 sbo,the one thing that i heard was bad about them was they had weak stock bottom ends,not neccesarely race ready
I HAVE A 83 CUTLAS THAT IM LOOKING TO SWAP THE V6 OUT FOR A SMALL BLOCK. I KIND OF WANTED TO KEEP IT OLDSMOBILE BUT I ALSO JUST WANT A RELIABLE STREET CAR ON A BUDGET. I DO WANT TO BEET UP A COUPLE CAPRICE BUBBLES IN PHILLY. IM TIRED OF THOSE THINGS(AND ALSO MUSTANGS). I AM OPEN TO ANY AND ALL OPINIONS. THANKS
For the love of all things sacred and holy, PLEASE TURN YOUR CAPS LOCK OFF!!!!THERE IS NO NEED TO SHOUT!!!! For other helpful tips on how to post things to the internet and this forum, please refer to this link: http://gbodyforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=13207 Thank You.
As for performance, if you have a V6, right now Yugos running on 3 cylinders will beat you up. BTW, A beet is a food, not a verb. Beat is a verb.
As for performance, if you have a V6, right now Yugos running on 3 cylinders will beat you up. BTW, A beet is a food, not a verb. Beat is a verb.
My bad with the caps lock. I just got this car to build it I have not drove it and the v6 is already out of it. Also it was 3 am when I wrote that so F*?k off with the spelling lessons.
It was 3:20 am when I wrote that , and if you wish to have lessons in grammar, spelling and punctuation then I will give it to you. However, I was nice enough to NOT point out every error you made in utilizing the English language and instead chose to point out the one which is most egregious to the people reading the post .
As for the v6, I speak from experience. I drove mine for 140k miles with that engine, most of which was delivery work. I timed it 0-60 several times and the average time was around 21 seconds. I was beaten by 4 cylinder minivans and all manner of automotive rubbish short of a Mercedes 240D on a regular basis. I have since changed it to a 355 Chevy that has far better acceleration. However, it took a balanced systems approach in order to maximize the yield from my investment. I used several parameters in determining what parts needed to go in to building the drivetrain before I ever bought anything. These included: acceleration, ease of maintenance, reliability and fuel economy. I attained most of my goals only after much experimentation and failure. If you only want a fast car, there are easier paths to go down than to build a G Body. These cars are so slow in stock form as to be almost unsafe on a modern road. To fix that, you will need to change everything if starting with a V6 car. A V8 car is easier because it permits you to do a much simpler "Family Swap". In a family swap, you can retain everything but the engine itself. While it may be possible to do a similar swap with a Buick 350 in place of a Buick 231, not everything is the same between the two engines. If you wish to do the 403, it is a good engine for a car that may see the high side of the 12's every now and then, but it is not strong enough for sustained competition use in a serious drag car. However, building it will not be cheap if you go far from stock in power output.
You will also need to change all the engine driven accessories, and work out the gearing you intend to use. Like I said, it is a system, not just an engine. You will get improved performance just from swapping the engine and transmission, but it will never live up to it's potential if you do not optimize the transmission and rear axle for the engine it is behind. I will use my car as a case in point here. When I swapped the engine, I did not have the money to change the rear axle gearing or build a transmission to suit it. I used a junkyard TH 200 4R and the stock 2.41 gearing. Yes, it was quicker, but not all that great. Switching to a 3.23 gear made it much stronger, but revealed the other weakness: The transmission governor. The stock WOT shift point in a standard TH 200 4R is around 3,000 or 3500 RPM, not high enough to take advantage of the power band of my engine, which needs around 5000-5500 RPM. Other changes made since the swap include: 4 different carburetors, the intake manifold, camshaft, rocker arms, timing advance curve, etc. It can get pretty pricey, even if you know what you are doing. However, if you enjoy tinkering with mechanical things and love problem solving then this just becomes part of the fun. What you need to decide is if you want to go through the process. If all you want is a fast car, it may be cheaper (and easier) in the long run to buy a used car that is already fast. Remember that Mustangs are fast cars that people buy to make faster and come with plenty of advantages stock. You can overcome this, but it will take some hard work and money. In case you are wondering, the exhaust, cooling system, , fuel system, ignition system, accessories, wiring, engine, transmission, etc. combined has cost me around $7500 so far and it is not yet done. My whole car has probably run me at least $12-15k including everything and it still needs $3-5k to be finished. These are typical numbers for a car built to be competent all around. I am not a rich man either, and I do all my own labor right down to paint and body work to keep the costs down.
As for the v6, I speak from experience. I drove mine for 140k miles with that engine, most of which was delivery work. I timed it 0-60 several times and the average time was around 21 seconds. I was beaten by 4 cylinder minivans and all manner of automotive rubbish short of a Mercedes 240D on a regular basis. I have since changed it to a 355 Chevy that has far better acceleration. However, it took a balanced systems approach in order to maximize the yield from my investment. I used several parameters in determining what parts needed to go in to building the drivetrain before I ever bought anything. These included: acceleration, ease of maintenance, reliability and fuel economy. I attained most of my goals only after much experimentation and failure. If you only want a fast car, there are easier paths to go down than to build a G Body. These cars are so slow in stock form as to be almost unsafe on a modern road. To fix that, you will need to change everything if starting with a V6 car. A V8 car is easier because it permits you to do a much simpler "Family Swap". In a family swap, you can retain everything but the engine itself. While it may be possible to do a similar swap with a Buick 350 in place of a Buick 231, not everything is the same between the two engines. If you wish to do the 403, it is a good engine for a car that may see the high side of the 12's every now and then, but it is not strong enough for sustained competition use in a serious drag car. However, building it will not be cheap if you go far from stock in power output.
You will also need to change all the engine driven accessories, and work out the gearing you intend to use. Like I said, it is a system, not just an engine. You will get improved performance just from swapping the engine and transmission, but it will never live up to it's potential if you do not optimize the transmission and rear axle for the engine it is behind. I will use my car as a case in point here. When I swapped the engine, I did not have the money to change the rear axle gearing or build a transmission to suit it. I used a junkyard TH 200 4R and the stock 2.41 gearing. Yes, it was quicker, but not all that great. Switching to a 3.23 gear made it much stronger, but revealed the other weakness: The transmission governor. The stock WOT shift point in a standard TH 200 4R is around 3,000 or 3500 RPM, not high enough to take advantage of the power band of my engine, which needs around 5000-5500 RPM. Other changes made since the swap include: 4 different carburetors, the intake manifold, camshaft, rocker arms, timing advance curve, etc. It can get pretty pricey, even if you know what you are doing. However, if you enjoy tinkering with mechanical things and love problem solving then this just becomes part of the fun. What you need to decide is if you want to go through the process. If all you want is a fast car, it may be cheaper (and easier) in the long run to buy a used car that is already fast. Remember that Mustangs are fast cars that people buy to make faster and come with plenty of advantages stock. You can overcome this, but it will take some hard work and money. In case you are wondering, the exhaust, cooling system, , fuel system, ignition system, accessories, wiring, engine, transmission, etc. combined has cost me around $7500 so far and it is not yet done. My whole car has probably run me at least $12-15k including everything and it still needs $3-5k to be finished. These are typical numbers for a car built to be competent all around. I am not a rich man either, and I do all my own labor right down to paint and body work to keep the costs down.
Here is some helpful links for the 403's mane
http://www.mondellotwister.com/Art403Olds.htm
http://www.mondellotwister.com/ArtUnsungH.htm
http://www.dickmillerracing.com/MagazineArticle5.htm
http://www.mondellotwister.com/Art403Olds.htm
http://www.mondellotwister.com/ArtUnsungH.htm
http://www.dickmillerracing.com/MagazineArticle5.htm
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