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Just here for a quick introduction - I'm the owner of a 1977 Pontiac Can Am which in high altitudes and Ca. came with the stock 6.6 litre Olds 403 instead of the trans am engine. It is the still the original engine that runs fine but has seen better days. I will need to lean on you Olds experts to learn proper repairs, where to find replacement parts, and how to take the 70's constraints off to open up the full power of the Olds motor.
Last edited by mysticviking; Jan 28, 2021 at 07:57 PM.
Exceptionally cool car. A good friend has one he bought new when his dad was a Pontiac master technician at local Pontiac dealer. A few years back we used to line it, my white 74 Hurst and a white 1974 Laguna up together at cruise nights. A few people knew what they were looking at.
The biggest drawback to the 403 is its windowed main bearing webs. It also has siamesed cylinder bores with limited water circulation, and uses 1/2" head bolts which limits head choices without extra machine work. But you have 400+ ci displacement and a properly built 403 can make power.
How stringent is your area on emissions? Getting rid of the cat and going to true dual exhaust will make it feel like a different car.
Very cool car and extremely rare. I'm coming up with only 42 of the 403 versions ever being produced. To be honest till I saw your post I wasn't aware it ever came without the Pontiac 400.
The factory exhaust is really killing your engines performance, the TH400 is not doing your car any favors either, the 3.08 rear could be worse...
Welcome to the group... Sharp looking Can Am... There use to be a couple in the area way back in the day, not so anymore... Good luck with your 403 improvements...
Very cool car and extremely rare. I'm coming up with only 42 of the 403 versions ever being produced. To be honest till I saw your post I wasn't aware it ever came without the Pontiac 400.
Ditto. Very COOL car, I've always loved these cars,...............
Originally Posted by [color=#000000
Greg Rogers]Welcome! That car is really neat. I've never seen one with a shaker hood. Love it!
ESPECIALLY because these 1-year only Can Ams ALL had SHAKER hoods. These and the '74 GTOs are underappreciated Pontiacs, always destined to live in the T/A shadows. In any case, w/ the shaker hood, you are limited to a SBO or Pontiac, but you can swap that 403 w/ a pre-76 SMW 350 bored and stroked to 7.0L and make that car a monster. OR....... you could swap in a Pontiac 455................ You've got some options here for a cool sleeper.
Last edited by JohnnyBs68S; Jan 29, 2021 at 05:36 PM.
Welcome aboard! As already said many times, that is an extremely cool car. And it appears to be in very good condition, so the utmost congratulations to you as the privileged caretaker of such an awesome automobile.
