Hey guys, my name is Austin and I live in Little Rock, AR. I drive a 1977 Buick Riviera.....you may be wondering why I'm here, that's because my Riv is powered by the factory Olds 403. I look forward to meeting you guys.

Thanks again,
Austin.

 

Welcome, was just talking to buddy last night about the 403 rivs

 

Thank you for the welcome.

I find myself talking about mine, a lot lol. oh, i forgot to mention in my first post, I'm 18 years old, and I am an umpire of America's pastime, baseball.

 

Austin, Welcome Aboard
Now we just need to get you into a Toronado..... or something....

 

Lol. There's actually a 196? Toronado for sale about 5 minutes away from my college campus. Here, you buy it, I'll drive it.

 

Both the Toro and Riv are nice cars. 77 was the last year for the really big Toro's. Almost bought one of them with the XS package. When I test drove it though I was really disappointed with the performance of the 403. My 72 Cutlass (dd at the time) with it's 350 4bbl made that Toro look like Grandpa was driving. Although I will say it was like driving a chesterfield down the road. Smooth, quiet and comfy. Needless to say I didn't buy it. Only thing with those old 66+ Toro's is finding parts. (66 was the first year Olds produced the Toro)

 

I'll have to go down a take a picture of it for you guys, last i checked, i think he was asking around 7k...

Tha'ts actually the reason I joined this forum, as well. I'm looking for a liiiiitlle more pep out of the 403.

 

Welcome to the site!!

 

Thank you very much!

 

Kind of funny how the Toronado and Riviera were always in competition in the market segment, but were very different cars up to '79.
Those 77-78 Riv's were pretty much gussied-up LeSabre coupes, while the Toronado shared almost nothing with any other Olds.
I will say that the 77-85 GM b/c-body platform was one of the nicest riding cars ever. Those Riv's were very luxurious for their day, and having the 403 is a definite plus.

 

I had a couple of those 403 powered OldsmoBuicks myself.
(77 Rivi & 78 Electra)

Most of the 350 & 403 cars came with leisurely 2.41's out back (even the 403 TA's & Firebirds IIRC)

The catalytic converters of that era were pretty restrictive as well.

You may want to start a thread in the small block section.

Share what you'd like to see out of it & what is/isn't acceptable to you in trying to get there.

Me personally - if I had another one of these cars tomorrow w/a healthy motor I would :

1) Timing chain & gears (more for longevity & piece of mind than anything - tho a sloppy chain can hurt performance).
2) Full dual exhaust with an H or X pipe - hi flow cats or none at all.
3) Re-curve the HEI.
4) Rebuild the QJet for performance.
5) If keeping the stock 3spd trans - 3.08 gears or 3.23's if running a taller rear tire.
6) If upgrading to say a built 200R4 OD trans - 3.73's or 4.10's if running a taller rear tire.

That should provide a serious kick over stock while keeping things fairly well behaved.

I'm a smooth idle - sleeper type vs a more a radical approach that might not be as daily driver friendly (but as they say - diff strokes for diff folks).

You're somewhat limited w/a stock 403 anyway.

Anything too radical will make yanking it out to rebuild it & beef it up the right way ... an absolute must.

Great engine as long as you know & respect its limitations.

 

Bring it to the OCA Nationals this coming July, in Springfield, Ill. Race with us at the Havana, Ill track. Last year an Olds-powered Buick won its class at the race in Eddyville, Iowa. Your car, as a race car, would show in Class 19b. More details on how to present your car are available.
Jim Lapikas of J&S Machine will attend. He is the guru of keeping a powerful 403 alive.
http://www.jsmachineoldsmobile.com/PRODUCTS.html

 

pull the 403 out and put a 455!

 

Thank you very much for the tips!

Something else I didn't mention about the car--It has California Emission Controls on it. (I bought it out of Riverside last Feb). This is the first car I (or my trusty mechanic, aka DAD) have ever dealt with with this. You said that the catalytic converters were restricting, we've been afraid to touch my exhaust due to not knowing what affect it would have on the Emission system.

 

Well, you see, if I can pick up a 455, it'll go into my other Riviera. It's also a '77, but its SBB, I didn't think you guys would care too much about that one. The 403 is a great DD, IMO.