Hitman's Pontiac Trans Am Forum
Trans Am Information => Trans Am Information => Topic started by: the right TA on July 20, 2006, 08:47:10 PM
-
Hello Everyone !
Im brand new to the board and TA's ... Im looking to buy one but had no idea how complicated it is to chose, theres just too many options/ choices.
I dont want to just act on impulse and buy one only to want another one with something special. I'd really like to find a better than average " rare" car or atleast less common TA .. maybe a 79'.
If anyone could help me with some of my questions or give me some suggestions i'd really appreciate it. ( a few years ago i bought a 1992 Camaro RS/ 5spd TBI and knew nothing about TPI 350's all i knew was i wanted a third gen ..boy do i hate 305's :( Now i really want a TA but dont want to make the same mistake and settle for less.
- what year offerd the biggest motor.
- what options/year are rare on a TA
- what kind of power does a 403 create... (im looking for the most power i can get out of a stock motor)
-
Look here for production numbers for each year
http://www.78ta.com/production.htm
The 455 was the largst engine offered with the Super Duty being the king of those.
Horsepower = $$$$$
Almost every motor will make decent HP if you put enough money in it.
I have seen a 500 HP pontiac 350 but it was $7000!
403 was an Oldsmobile engine and there are a few Olds builders out there and they can be a decent performance engine.
You have to decide what your plans are for the car, cruiser, daily driver or strip warrior, each one will be different.
-
if your looking to stay stock and have a little higher hp and have a reliable car, you might want to buy a car that has the 400cu. not the 403. the reason is that the 403's had a thinner walled block than the 400 so if you ever ended up building up the top end with cam,lifter etc. you would probably blow out the bottom end. A stock 400 in 76-79 was around 180hp, 360lbs torque, definately a freeway flyer but a nice cruiser. The turbo T/A's in 81 put out about 220 hp stock with 301cu block. like hughjass said it takes some dough to build any engine, but i just bought a 1974 400cu motor w/ 400hp, 10:1 compression and only 30,000 miles since the rebuild all for 1200 bucks. So you don't need a ton of $ to build a pontiac 400 into killer. hope this helps