Opinions on 403's?

[G-Body_Vet]

Well I went to look at it today, squirted some oil in the cylinders, it spun without issues and had good compression after I re-installed the plugs. The plugs also had a normal burn and the sludge buildup on the cylinder head was minimal after I pulled a cover....so it went home with me! I'm skeptical about the extreme low mileage they were trying to sell me, but I got a deal and everything is looking good so far.

This is the first time I've seen this kind of mount on an Olds engine. I don't know if it's Pontiac specific or what. My car is set-up with Pontiac frame mounts. I've seen the 2 bolt Olds frame pads before and that's what I'm familiar with. The one in this pic is from the 403 and they fit on the 301 frame pad???

 

[deanlemans81]

could it be from a late 70`s TA? Either way looks like a good score. Now drop that baby in the GP and have some fun until the 455 is ready 😀

 

[DRIVEN]

Congrats!

 

[hurst1979olds]

Looks like a good deal for sure. Congrats.

 

[G-Body_Vet]

could it be from a late 70`s TA? Either way looks like a good score. Now drop that baby in the GP and have some fun until the 455 is ready 😀

Yep. It was in a '79 TA. The thing that surprised me is that the flex plate has both bolt patterns already. That tells me a 200-4R will bolt up without spending extra money

I already have the 8.5" 3.73 rear end and drive shaft, so there's my plan of attack!

 

[deanlemans81]

Win-Win for sure

 

[78 salon]

Nice score. 2 main problems with the 403 are siamesed cylinders create overheating problems and the windowed mains, which can be fixed with a girdle($). As stated, keep it under 5000the and you'll be ok.

 

[olds307 and 403]

My 403 had .010" rod bearings when I bought it. The stock pistons are heavy and mains flex with excessive rpm. A girdle sure doesn't hurt. I used those mounts on the Olds powered 4x4.

 

[G-Body_Vet]

I decided to open it up for a little cleaning and new gaskets and found what appears to be the victim of the old Penzoil formula! :lol: Not sure if that's what they ran, but it did have a Penzoil filter on it anyway. I remember this being a problem in the 80's.

I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to see what the bearings look like after I pull the pan.....to be continued!

 

[DRIVEN]

Gross. I guess it's no mystery where the hot part of the intake is :lol: .