I found a good deal on one, no rot at all except for the rear quarter panel wheel area. The floors are solid, the undercarriage was sandblasted and painted gloss black, true duals, new gears, fully rebuilt tranny and 403 engine with uner 100mi on them. The paint is awful and the interior is gutted (ready for painting atleast) yet included. So I'm curious if it would be a good weekend/track car. I'm not looking to go to a track often, but I want to have a nice car that can show people what old school muscle cars are about. Any comments? Thanks!

 

ive heard the 403's were not good engines, but since that car can probably had for cheap, you could put any motor in it you want

 

Well this guy said this car beat his fully restored 72 chevelle with a 396 FWIW. It felt powerful, but I just moved it a little bit, it had a flat so no official test drive yet. Engine swap isn't much of a potential since I have no access to the tools and prefer to just get a car with a good stock engine. Do you have any info on the 403?

 

Here's a new question. Is there anyway I can swap an early 70s TA front bumper onto the a late 70s TA? The late 70s were just so.... pointy.

 

From personal experience I'd have to say 2nd gen birds make great weekend cars, especially when restored right. Aslong as the body is good, I'd get it. The interior can be easily restored.

The 403 is an alright engine... to find out more about mod's you might want to check out www.realoldspower.com

Yes you can swap on the older style nose... it's not too hard but is a little involved. You will need a hood, fenders, front clip, basically the whole front end of an older car. There are some people who have done this swap... so if you search the message boards you can probably find a lot of help.

 

The 403 has a killer bore to stroke ratio. Only thing holding it back is the emissions stuff of the era, especially the exaust. Headers w/free flowing dual exaust, good intake/carb, and decent 350 heads/cam and it's a low 14's car.

You have 2 options on the heads. Low buck = early 350 heads to kick up compression ratio and maybe a little better flow. High buck = aftermarket to kick up compression ratio and flow.

It always amazes me that people dog the 403. Newsflash: all engines of the era were hounds, even the hi perf option in Corvettes, the L82. Reason was emissions, especially the extremely restrictive cats used in the day. Apply the basic mods and these cars are decent runners.

I've owned Oldsmobiles, I like them, but I like Chevys more.

 

My exhaust system is headers>2.5" pipes>true dual free flowing mufflers>tips

That should be allow plenty of flow I think.

 

www.mondellotwister.com

-build the Olds OR shove a real Pontiac in it, just don't sellout and put a Chevy between the wheelwells.

 

werd