I am the proud owner of a 1986 Olds Cutlass Supreme. I know its not very classic but i joined your ranks to find out more about classic Olds 350 and 403 motors because i would like to swap one into my Cutlass.

So i got some questions. What were the average horsepower ratings for these engines and how much could i expect to pay for one that is stock and maybe close to running condition?

 

Welcome aboard

Don't worry about what year your car is, an Olds is good enough for us. the 86 experts will chime in soon.

How's the weather in Mass.?

 

Welcome. This is Classic Oldsmobile, so you have a Classic Oldsmobile.

I was looking at the Olds Wiki and it says the 403 has no horsepower.

Go to the engine section and scroll way down, lots of invaluable info in the Wiki. BTW, Is that what they call anybody named Vicky in German? I have to go wacuum my Wista Cruiser now, it's wery-wery dirty.

http://www.oldsmobilewiki.com/index....gory:Top_level

 

weather is crap today was ok yesterday and tomorrow is supposed to be crap.
exactly how old does a car have to be to be considered classic?

 

I think the experts here have concurred that any Olds is a classic.

 

You got that right. They don't make them anymore so they must be classics

 

ok its a classic. but is there anywhere else i can get answers to my questions besides a wiki with pretty much no info in it

 

what do you want to know?

 

Well, you could start by figuring out what year motor you would want to drop in...best bet is a 350 from '68-'71 maybe '72 after that you may want to add some extra horses! I really would not go for the 403...as stated before, you wouldn't be happy with the upgrade in performance without machine work etc...

 

well i am not to worried about the year range and if horsepower stock is over 200 ill be happy because its a lot better than this tired 307 im driving that i doubt has half as much horsepower as it did when it was new

 

How about a 330 V8 high compression with a 4 barrel from a 67? I might consider selling if you're interested. It's been sitting awhile. Although, not quite the horsepower of the 455.
What part of Mass you live in?
I'm in Swansea...

 

i am in west springfield never heard of swansea. i am low on funds until my next paycheck. and how does a 330 compare to the 350 cause i havent heard of the 330 at all (i love olds but dont know much about them yet). and how much would you want?

 

I love the G body Olds, I built alot of those cars and I'm driving a 85 Salon now all street machined out. What kind of engine is in your Cutlass now? I can tell you this, I built alot of those 3.8 L V6s that would flat scream. You get rid of all that pollution and computer junk you would be surprissed at how much power you got. The 307 Olds V8 that came in those cars is a great engine also, and in my opinion is twice the engine as a 305 Chevy. I built some screaming 307s for G bodys also. Id like to find a 350 Olds engine to build for mine someday. Those computer carboraters that came on GM cars from about 78-88 on up were just plain junk. GM ruint the quadrajett when they made that electronic carb. depending on your states restrictions you mite need cat converters but theres a way around that too,,LOL.

 

Springfield maybe 2 hours from here. Swansea is just east of Providence, RI and next to Fall River, MA.

The 330 V8 was used from 64-67. I think it was rated at 310hp back then, not sure how it would be rated by todays methods, it also has a 10.25 to 1 compression ratio. The 350 V8 came out in 68. They're the same basic small block Olds with some obvious differences.
$500 the way it sits if you're ever interested.

 

i have the 307 and it is tired. i am going to adjust the timing cause it needs it. currently in mass 1995 and older do not need emissions and i just hollowed out my cat. the other day cause it was clogged. but yeah the carb is junk and it has been rebuilt twice. my buddy says i should get a chevy 350 i think olds would be easier. i dont know what to do

 

sounds good if only my paychecks were that big and how to get it here i dont know anyone with a truck

 

If you change the carb out with a non elecltronic junk carb you can rip the computer out of the passenger kick panel, the wireing harness and all. In those G bodys the computer junk all unplugs, its not like these new cars where have to have all that computer pollution junk. That 307 is well worth rebuilding if it still in running condition, I would at least hang on to it no matter what engine you use.

I'm running a 350 chevy in mine and a Chevy transmission. GMs are set up to use any engine, Buick,Olds,Pontiac,Chevy, whatever. all the holes are there in the frame for what ever engine you want. On those G bodys all the engine mounts are the same, V6 Olds to a Small block Chevy. you just move the mounts to what ever hole setting you need. Heres a web link for my 85 Cutlass if your intrested in what a G body looks like in peices. This is the only Olds I didnt take down to the frame. I had the frame to body bolts out and was ready to take the car down for a complete frame up build and I had a massive stroke, almost died. So when I got out of hospital and able to get back to work I just left it on the frame and put it back together. Still was alot of work involved. I'm painting it next spring, my wife took it over for her daily driving street machine,,LOL!
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3308992

 

Actually the 350 Chevy engines are cheap, "Hope i dont get thrown off this site for praising Chevys" LOL. But anyway i got a new 350 Chevy crate engine delivered to my house for $1647.00, and thats with a 3 year 100000 mile warrenty from Jegs catalog. I couldnt rebuild a engine myself for less than $2500.00. But i will say that the Chevy engines arnt no where near as tough as a OLDSMOBILE engine. At least from the factory that is,, depends on what yahoo shadetree mechanic you have rebuilding it also. Chevy engines and parts are CHEAP, the Oldsmobile stuff you are going to pay alot more for.

 

The 403 is a very good engine. It will do everything it was made for plus more. The beauty of it is it bolts right inplace of a 307 plus 96 more cubic inches. People knock it for the windowed main webbing but it is fairly strong. Look at the main webbing of a 425/455, thier nothing to brag about either. I heard all the bad about the 403. I got one in a package deal, a project gone bad. It was a 72 Cutlass prodject car in pieces. 403+ 0.030 block, machine work done, new pistons on rods. I have tons of parts so I put together an 83 Regal with odds & ends parts. I had a pair of #5 small valved- one angle valve job heads, used Lunati cam & lifters (.496/.512) Holley street dominator/quadrajet/ used Sat-nite converter/old 350 trans/3:73 posi. best time 12:96@104.85. I had the wrong everything in this car. Heads wouldn't flow enough, I couldn't get it rich enough. I ran an air cleaner plus I short shifted it (5200 rpm's) or else it would break-up. Wrong intake also. I ran it three seasons and it seen 6000 plus rpm when I had a shifter problem. It was in a white Regal (named White Trash) I raced at the Miller meet 5 years ago. The best it went there was 13:17. I was paired-off with a nice 442 (W-30) The guy's Son was looking at my engine. He told his Dad, "it's only a small block." The Father was driving, the Son was riding shotgun video-taping. I would love to see that video of "White Trash's" rear-end getting smaller and smaller! Never any engine problems, I still have the engine buried in my building. Cheap way to get way more power is Look for a running one and re-ring it, put either small RV cam or a stock 455 cam (.430 lift) It will wake it up. For more $ go with #5-6-7 older heads. U will need an Olds guy for help to put the different heads on. Older heads need the holes drilled for the 1/2 403 head bolts. Later, Ken

 

wow thats a lot of info thanks but some went right over my head "windowed main webbing" "#5-6-7 heads" whats that stuff mean? and i am a fan of chevy but its just too big of a name Oldsmobile was something my grandfather saw something in and i am sure he would love my current car and help me wrench on it if he was still with us. But it will take a bit more research before i decide on which motor i want.

 

and Burning Rubber thats a nice machine you got