transam guys prefer the 400 because it was a pontiac motor..The thought of an oldsmobile engine in a pontiac didnt sit well with alot of people...As far as which engine is better, the 403 has a higher compression ratio over the 4oo, but the 403 is known to blow head gaskets, due to overheating problems, i think the 400 could take more abuse, but ive owned a few cars that had the 403 and saw close to 200k miles ...
We have been looking into buying a 1979 Firebird with the 403 V8. It has aftermarket honeycomb rims and has 12,000 original miles. They want 13,900$ for it. Is that a good deal. It is silver with a light blue interior.
The 400 is faster than the 403 but they both had a ram air so u could pretty much do anything to them
And if u know what your doing you could make a 403 burn a 400 I got a 403 in my 79 trans am and I've done things to it like big cam and heads and edelbrock carb and I'm pushin 400hp right now
@Antzlu the pontiacs are a little stronger and a little lighter, the olds had a 1 piece cast iron intake. weighted alot, the pontiac cast iron intake wasnt a full intake, there is a seperate push rod cover.
the 400 is more durable and solid than the olds 403.
The 400 is definitely a good motor to work with. While it only comes stock with 200-220hp - once woken up it'll be a powerhouse.
New exhaust/heads/cam/emissions deletes - you'll probably already be pushing around 300hp.
Of course now you may have issues passing emissions in your state - I'm in Iowa though - we have no emissions here - just got all this crappy corn gas lol
Z28 had the advantage off the line and for about 175- 250 feet. After that the Trans Am would walk it down. This is fact because I street raced my 400 Trans Am against Z28's many times in the mid '70s and it was always the same.
now i know tht the z28's slow down crazy after 60, but it just seems tht 350 is more mod friendly now i might be wrong. my buddy macgyiver117 has a 78 camaro its been bored.30 over so its a 355 with exhaust, small cam, intake, carb and it has in the low 200's hp wise but with him shifting his ratchet shifter it stays next to 99-04 gt mustangs pretty good i mite be wrong now
Im basically talking about cars that were close to stock with few bolt ons. When you get too far from stock your frame of reference goes out the window. I mean then how can you say a TA 400 would run against a Z28 and do this or that or that when its cammed up and shit. Anything can be made to hard. I suspect your friends Z has a good top end charge because of the cam. The stock 78 Z28 cam was weak in terms of a performance cam. The intake duration was around 195 degrees at .050.
@y4utalktome ya the w72 was the fastest in 79 but im saying leading up to that point the 400 was barely able to pull 10 seconds to 60 while the z's were already in the 7's to 60
@262Blazer Oh,, ok, yes 79 was the good year, they were dogs prior to that and the 73 sd 455 was a hoot to drive. Its too bad they cost over 100g's for a real one today!
@rushalex540 In the 2nd Generation the 400 was second only to the 455. A lot people work with the 400. you can add power to anything but if you want a real good engine get a 455
I hav a 79 trans am with a 455 rocket from a 75 cutless. the engine is all hooked up, but i need a exhaust manifold for the passenger side cus the engine is too big to fit normal headers in there. anyone know where i can get some?
ive got a 79 w a 403 in it. Bored out, cam, headers, 2.5 inch exhaust, somthing was done with the oil flow, torque converter, shift kit on a rebuilt th350. A/C taken out, Other mods to but was done years ago so dont recall everything. No joke this car hauls now and it sounds great. The 403 is a good motor just need to do some work.
It was prolly lined because the olds motors and pontiacs have a huge problem sucking all the oil out of the oil pan. Which when you get it lined it lets the oil drain faster back into the oil pan so you dont screw up your crankshaft....
nice. my 1979 TA came with a 403 as well, but it never impressed me much, so I swaped it out for a 455. Bored it to a 462 and did some other things too it. Now she halls some ass.hehe But you can make a 403 mean, just have to becareful cause they were known to be ticking time bombs if you did much to them.
@MiracleMile90 Because of the increasing threat of emission controls and safety lawsuits (thank Ralph Nader's activism) the auto makers underrated and detuned thier engines. Most of the cars of the muscle car era were twelve second cars with minor tuning and some real tires. Those bias ply tires were awful.
Another reason cars today have an advantage vs the higher compression cars of old cannot run on pump gas without detonation so the timing has to be turned way back, costing about 50hp.
@MiracleMile90 It certainly was a dark period. I'd say perhaps 1980-81 were the worst years. We've seen somewhat of a resurgence though but how long will it last given that we continue to be in a hyper-regulatory period.
As are most GM powerplants, especially SB Chevy. 79 Formula w/305 as I had was rated at lowly 150hp, torque was probably 250 or better. The '86 Corvette I bought in '87 and still own was rated at 230hp and 330ft lbs torque. (with some cheap and easy mods the TPI can easily pick up 20% more)
Fords in contrast due to different bore/stroke ratio usually have less torque but rev higher, the mustang guy doesn't realize he might win but backs off when he sees you kill him off the line.
@Antzlu i put a 1970 Buick 455 stage 1 bored .40 over in mine lol at the ass end im pushing about 500hp and even more torque, I'll post a video when i get it all finished, just interior and paint now.
Turbo were only produced on the third gen Trans Ams. And only the 400ci had 220hp, the 403ci has 185hp, both had around 320-330 Ibs of torque. I have a 79 myself.
Quadrajet carbs are actually a very good design. you just have to know how to tune them correctly. People who don't know shit about carbs can't do that, and they gave them the nickname quadrajunk.
the vacumm assisted, spread bore style of the Quadrajet is a bit limited with performance and you really do need to know your stuff to tune a quadrajet. Holley carbs are great because they are easy to tune.
Still the absolutely legendary Pontiac Ram Air IV engines used the Quadrajet, although those had greater cfm. Point is the Quadrajet can't be that bad. Those Ram Air IV engines made plenty a holley carb owner wish they'd bought a Poncho.
transam guys prefer the 400 because it was a pontiac motor..The thought of an oldsmobile engine in a pontiac didnt sit well with alot of people...As far as which engine is better, the 403 has a higher compression ratio over the 4oo, but the 403 is known to blow head gaskets, due to overheating problems, i think the 400 could take more abuse, but ive owned a few cars that had the 403 and saw close to 200k miles ...
beers2257 7 months ago
top speed
fastcard100 7 months ago
the 400 was pontiacs race motor
pranksta365 11 months ago
403 is great
iranclassiccar 1 year ago
We have been looking into buying a 1979 Firebird with the 403 V8. It has aftermarket honeycomb rims and has 12,000 original miles. They want 13,900$ for it. Is that a good deal. It is silver with a light blue interior.
CC01FJ40 1 year ago
My turbo A4 could probably keep pace in a 30-1xx race, and can go 140+, but 0-xx I'd be left behind by the torque.
Daaaake 2 years ago
I can't believe my 2001 3.8L v6
has more power than a 6.7L v8 trans am...
Yeh, yeh i know it has more torque, don't burst my bubble, haha
newtonmeters 2 years ago
mustang or camaro
262Blazer 2 years ago
i seriously don't believe that these things only have 180hp
gelsenkirchen95302 2 years ago
my neck hurts just from watching this.
saletious 2 years ago
The 400 is faster than the 403 but they both had a ram air so u could pretty much do anything to them
And if u know what your doing you could make a 403 burn a 400 I got a 403 in my 79 trans am and I've done things to it like big cam and heads and edelbrock carb and I'm pushin 400hp right now
Sexyshae9 2 years ago
yeah, i need to do some work to the 305 in my '88 camaro
wickedblackcamaro 2 years ago
uh you need to do major work to that thing those 305's need some for real help.
262Blazer 2 years ago
what i really want to do with it is drop a 383 stroker in, shift kit, and 3.73 posi
wickedblackcamaro 2 years ago
the thing is the 79 z28 had 3.73 and a 350 so bore out that 350 to a 383 and add a posi and shift kit
262Blazer 2 years ago
a 383 is a 350 with a 400 crank
wickedblackcamaro 2 years ago 4
ya so instead of getting a 400 bore and stroke the 350 to a 383 and it will whoop a modded 400
262Blazer 2 years ago
hey is the pontiac 400 a good moter to make fast
rushalex540 2 years ago
actually it has a oldsmobile 403. dont know about the pontiac 400. but people say that the pontiac is a little bit stronger than the oldsmobile.
Antzlu 2 years ago 2
@Antzlu The W72 400 was stronger but the L78 400 Pontiac was weaker.
mongoose704 1 year ago
@Antzlu the pontiacs are a little stronger and a little lighter, the olds had a 1 piece cast iron intake. weighted alot, the pontiac cast iron intake wasnt a full intake, there is a seperate push rod cover.
AndersonRacing44 1 year ago
@Antzlu the pontiac motor is a little stronger than the olds and the pontiac 400 apparently had less problems than the olds 403
Mr1946corvette1 1 year ago
the 400 is the best...stronger then the 455 block... the new aftermarket pontiac blocks are based on the design of the 400....
racecardriver467 2 years ago
the 400 is more durable and solid than the olds 403.
The 400 is definitely a good motor to work with. While it only comes stock with 200-220hp - once woken up it'll be a powerhouse.
New exhaust/heads/cam/emissions deletes - you'll probably already be pushing around 300hp.
Of course now you may have issues passing emissions in your state - I'm in Iowa though - we have no emissions here - just got all this crappy corn gas lol
Bbdrew 2 years ago
yeah maybe 300 to the wheels, and thats if you do mild cam, mild heads....
gelsenkirchen95302 2 years ago
aye thats basically what I said
Bbdrew 2 years ago
honestly id rather have a 350ci 79 z28 over the 400 but the 455 is a different story.
262Blazer 2 years ago
yeah - I even prefer my 350 in my bird over a 400
Bbdrew 2 years ago
why the highest horse power 350 in 79 was 175..the 400 had 220
paintballer223 2 years ago
the 400 was alot heavier and the z was faster
262Blazer 2 years ago
Z28 had the advantage off the line and for about 175- 250 feet. After that the Trans Am would walk it down. This is fact because I street raced my 400 Trans Am against Z28's many times in the mid '70s and it was always the same.
DONDIVA1969 2 years ago
now i know tht the z28's slow down crazy after 60, but it just seems tht 350 is more mod friendly now i might be wrong. my buddy macgyiver117 has a 78 camaro its been bored.30 over so its a 355 with exhaust, small cam, intake, carb and it has in the low 200's hp wise but with him shifting his ratchet shifter it stays next to 99-04 gt mustangs pretty good i mite be wrong now
262Blazer 2 years ago
Im basically talking about cars that were close to stock with few bolt ons. When you get too far from stock your frame of reference goes out the window. I mean then how can you say a TA 400 would run against a Z28 and do this or that or that when its cammed up and shit. Anything can be made to hard. I suspect your friends Z has a good top end charge because of the cam. The stock 78 Z28 cam was weak in terms of a performance cam. The intake duration was around 195 degrees at .050.
DONDIVA1969 2 years ago
262blazer, your wrong. The fastest car in 1979 was the 400 4sp trans am, camaro couldn't touch it. The T/a was even quicker than the Corvette!
y4utalktome 1 year ago
@y4utalktome ya the w72 was the fastest in 79 but im saying leading up to that point the 400 was barely able to pull 10 seconds to 60 while the z's were already in the 7's to 60
262Blazer 1 year ago
@262Blazer Oh,, ok, yes 79 was the good year, they were dogs prior to that and the 73 sd 455 was a hoot to drive. Its too bad they cost over 100g's for a real one today!
y4utalktome 1 year ago
@y4utalktome
Pontiac and Chevy were both owned by GM!
And GM would never allow another car of THEIR's to beat the Corvette! NEVER!
Just like today the Corvette HAS TO have better #'s STOCK than the Camaro to JUSTIFY the large price difference.
ESPsandEmgs 1 year ago
@paintballer223 Its 185 buddy, look it up
ptcyu 2 years ago
@paintballer223: That was the net rating, although I had once read the net ratings were not that accurate, especially in the early days.
MiracleMile90 1 year ago
@rushalex540 NO!
ESPsandEmgs 1 year ago
@rushalex540 In the 2nd Generation the 400 was second only to the 455. A lot people work with the 400. you can add power to anything but if you want a real good engine get a 455
81TransAmJunkie 1 year ago
The turbo 301 was a weak turd, luckly there are probably only a handfull of running ones left today. go 403!!!
Prfct80ctlss 2 years ago 2
I hav a 79 trans am with a 455 rocket from a 75 cutless. the engine is all hooked up, but i need a exhaust manifold for the passenger side cus the engine is too big to fit normal headers in there. anyone know where i can get some?
445rocket 3 years ago
ive got a 79 w a 403 in it. Bored out, cam, headers, 2.5 inch exhaust, somthing was done with the oil flow, torque converter, shift kit on a rebuilt th350. A/C taken out, Other mods to but was done years ago so dont recall everything. No joke this car hauls now and it sounds great. The 403 is a good motor just need to do some work.
mxzsledder81 3 years ago
It was prolly lined because the olds motors and pontiacs have a huge problem sucking all the oil out of the oil pan. Which when you get it lined it lets the oil drain faster back into the oil pan so you dont screw up your crankshaft....
Teadrinker1 3 years ago
nice. my 1979 TA came with a 403 as well, but it never impressed me much, so I swaped it out for a 455. Bored it to a 462 and did some other things too it. Now she halls some ass.hehe But you can make a 403 mean, just have to becareful cause they were known to be ticking time bombs if you did much to them.
stevendale79ta 3 years ago
455 olds or poncho?
transam579 3 years ago
Poncho all the way.
stevendale79ta 3 years ago
sweet. i have a 400 in my 76 and 403 olds in my 79. the 403 is a good engine, butthe 400 will pull away from it pretty effortlessly.
transam579 3 years ago
idk why you got the thumbs down, PONTIAC OWNS!
86cookiemonster 2 years ago 3
ive always heard the 403 was purposely underrated due to smog regulations or something, anybody know what hp a stock 403 can really do?
dri321 3 years ago
@dri321: Pretty much all cars were underrated back then. It was called the NET hp system................the early version of it ;-).
MiracleMile90 1 year ago
Comment removed
mongoose704 1 year ago
@MiracleMile90 Because of the increasing threat of emission controls and safety lawsuits (thank Ralph Nader's activism) the auto makers underrated and detuned thier engines. Most of the cars of the muscle car era were twelve second cars with minor tuning and some real tires. Those bias ply tires were awful.
Another reason cars today have an advantage vs the higher compression cars of old cannot run on pump gas without detonation so the timing has to be turned way back, costing about 50hp.
mongoose704 1 year ago
Comment removed
MiracleMile90 1 year ago
@MiracleMile90
Facts are facts and they remain facts even in the face of doubt.
mongoose704 1 year ago
Comment removed
MiracleMile90 1 year ago
@mongoose704: Well, we can agree on this: the mid 1970s truly were the end of an era...............
MiracleMile90 1 year ago 2
@MiracleMile90 It certainly was a dark period. I'd say perhaps 1980-81 were the worst years. We've seen somewhat of a resurgence though but how long will it last given that we continue to be in a hyper-regulatory period.
mongoose704 1 year ago
As are most GM powerplants, especially SB Chevy. 79 Formula w/305 as I had was rated at lowly 150hp, torque was probably 250 or better. The '86 Corvette I bought in '87 and still own was rated at 230hp and 330ft lbs torque. (with some cheap and easy mods the TPI can easily pick up 20% more)
Fords in contrast due to different bore/stroke ratio usually have less torque but rev higher, the mustang guy doesn't realize he might win but backs off when he sees you kill him off the line.
batvette 3 years ago
That is a nice ride! Does that have the infamous 6.6 Liter?
Fantafare 3 years ago
yes it does. 403 cui oldsmobile
Antzlu 3 years ago
absolute rubbish.... burn it
bw8780 3 years ago
bitch ride in a 455sd and say that
mayhem123321 3 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
you are a fag
transam579 3 years ago
GO BANDIT put that hammer down!!!
wish I could afford a trans am
weskitt 3 years ago 2
This comment has received too many negative votes show
what a dead pig
camirocz 3 years ago
is that black if it is i have one just like it. how fast have you gone?
alksdfnl 3 years ago
Watch the road dude.
austinga05 3 years ago 2
Hi all. It is not a Turbo. Its, as mentioned below, a 403 Oldsmobile engine with 185 HP.
Antzlu 3 years ago
@Antzlu did you take out the anti smog devices?
phil656565 1 year ago
@Antzlu i put a 1970 Buick 455 stage 1 bored .40 over in mine lol at the ass end im pushing about 500hp and even more torque, I'll post a video when i get it all finished, just interior and paint now.
myTAsmokesRicers 9 months ago
Turbo were only produced on the third gen Trans Ams. And only the 400ci had 220hp, the 403ci has 185hp, both had around 320-330 Ibs of torque. I have a 79 myself.
Pracerdohczx2 3 years ago
turbo t/as were availible in 2nd gens.. 1980 and 1981 and they were rated at 220 hp
paintballer223 3 years ago
Heh, I can distinctly hear the Quadrajunk secondaries growling, i remember that sound from my '83.
Whack78 4 years ago 2
Quadrajet carbs are actually a very good design. you just have to know how to tune them correctly. People who don't know shit about carbs can't do that, and they gave them the nickname quadrajunk.
transam579 3 years ago 11
@transam579 Well....
the vacumm assisted, spread bore style of the Quadrajet is a bit limited with performance and you really do need to know your stuff to tune a quadrajet. Holley carbs are great because they are easy to tune.
Still the absolutely legendary Pontiac Ram Air IV engines used the Quadrajet, although those had greater cfm. Point is the Quadrajet can't be that bad. Those Ram Air IV engines made plenty a holley carb owner wish they'd bought a Poncho.
mongoose704 1 year ago
@transam579 just finished building a Q-jet for my 72 firebird. it runs like a raped ape!
AndersonRacing44 1 year ago
love the 2nd gen trans am`s.....thats why i bought one....
uk79transam 4 years ago
what size engine
my1979transam 4 years ago
not bad for 185 horsepower (LOL)
seriously though, theyre awesome cars.
firehawk400 4 years ago
I guess he didn't get the turbo one lol?
MetalHeadXi158 4 years ago
Not in '79. Turbo was '80-'81.
Ladco77 4 years ago 3
no. they came out with the turbo trans am in 79.. look it up if you dont believe me
metallica88 4 years ago
NO, The 79 was the last year for the 400 and 403 motors, no turbo yet
tonidmc 4 years ago
The turbo trans am came out in 1979 for the 1980 model year.
firehawk400 4 years ago
They had 220 dipshit.
claviz13 4 years ago
My bad, it's a 79.
claviz13 4 years ago
The Pontiac 400 had 220 hp for 1979, but this is an Olds 403 with 185 hp.
firehawk400 4 years ago
damn your lucky i'd kill a small kitten to own one of these, thats how badly i want one
CharlieTheChina 4 years ago
Ahh!! watch the road
Good video, but the quality is not great...barely can see the dash well
YransformationNation 4 years ago
nah don't worry about it that car will drive itself.
86cookiemonster 4 years ago
my firechicken does, those cars float, power-steering is soo smooth.
Griwa2007 4 years ago