Topic: looking to buy

[the right TA]

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)

[HughJass]

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.

[MacT/A80]

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