lemoldsnut

So, I tried to search for a thread on this but failed to get where I am pretty sure there is already a good discussion about this. In fact it seems to me I read something Joe P posted some time back about this very topic. So here goes:

Was there any 403 blocks cast with solid web main bearings. I have never seen one and believe there is no such thing. What is the truth?

Thanks guys

Larry

captjim

Myth, not a single one has ever shown up.

tru-blue 442

I think Chris, (Octania) has a reward out for the first person to produce one.

joe_padavano

Chris has been offering that reward since the 1990s, back on the old Chubecto listserver Olds site. As noted, not a single SMW 403 has ever been documented since they were first cast in 1976 (for the 1977 model year). Keep in mind that EVERY SINGLE gasoline Olds V8 block got windowed mains starting with the 1977 model year. It would not surprise me if prototype 403 blocks cast in the mid-1970s as part of the development program were based on the older solid mains architecture, but even if they were, none were ever installed in a production vehicle (and none have ever been documented).

joe_padavano

It occurs to me that given Chris' $1M reward, I could pay someone to cast new SMW 403 blocks, artificially age them, and still come out with a tidy profit from the reward money...

80 Rocket

I'll invest in your project.

Bill X_R

Hate to dig up the dead - but I believe my 79 T/A has solid mains...

Bill X_R

http://classracer.com/classforum/showthread.php?t=44511

This talks about numbers production. 2500

oldcutlass

UH huh... sure you do.

svnt442

Not the caps, the main webs in the block. Look for some giant holes...you can't miss them.

joe_padavano

Hahahahahahaha!

Good one!

You do realize that in the 40 years since they were produced, not one single SMW 403 has ever been documented, right?

Bill X_R

Shoot! I thought I had seen luck fall my way. Sorry for the false alarm.

The article I posted did talk about 2500 of them being produced? Click the link and scroll down a bit.

oldcutlass

It didn't originate on the internet, therefore it can't be true.

svnt442

For comparison the early 1968 455 cranks were forged, but do to a fire at the foundry (Joe please correct me if I'm wrong about this) they stopped and went to cast cranks for all Olds V8 cranks.
Those do show up from time to time. There has never been a documented SMW 403.

Fun71

Yeah, sure, 2500 were produced yet not a single one was cashed in for a $1,000,000 reward (that's one million dollars), or even simply photographed.

joe_padavano

And yet, even that article doesn't have a photo of one - the block in the picture has windows like every other 403 ever cast.

Let's put this in perspective. There were 54 1966 W-30s built and a large number of them still exist. There were three 1969 H/O convertibles built, and two are still known to exist (one was destroyed in an early crash). Out of 2500 alleged SMW 403s, NOT ONE has ever been photographed or otherwise seen in public. Does that seem plausible to you?

Keep in mind that every single gasoline-powered Olds V8 block used windowed main webs from the 1977 model year forward. I suspect that there were some solid web 403 blocks cast during the early development in the mid-1970s, since all Olds V8s were SMW at that time. The problem is, even it that were true, those were experimental engineering development units that did not get released to the general public. In over 40 years, not one has surfaced. I'll point out that other experimental parts HAVE surfaced, including the cross ram and Webber intakes I have for the BBO, aluminum heads and blocks as used on the CroSal Can-Am race cars, and a TBI intake for a 307. Still no SMW 403s, however.

Kennybill

Solid Main Web 403 is "Fake News" If only they had it would have been a great engine to race. JMO.

gs72

Maybe Bigfoot bought them all. That's why you never see one.

cjsdad

Hide-n-seek champion of all time!

olds 307 and 403

I believe in Bigfoot more, many more sightings.

Kennybill

Maybe they'll sight Bigfoot carrying a SMW 403 on each shoulder.

Run to Rund

As I posted earlier, I have several of them, 4.015" bore, 3.975" stroke. Originally they were 400 E blocks, but were bored .015". If anyone had "real" SMW 403 blocks, it would likely have been Vance Brady, but none surfaced after his death. You will have more luck finding a NASCAR block, and a few of them have been found.

olds 307 and 403

And the Siamese bore version can go to 4.351" without issue and has the ultimate bottom end.

midnightleadfoot

How much weight did they save doing this..

joe_padavano

I can give you one firsthand data point. Using the finest Chinesium bathroom scale sold by WalMart, I weighed a bare 455 block and a bare 403 block. Yes, I am aware that this is a BBO vs SBO comparison in addition to a SMW vs WMW comparison. The 455 block was exactly 200 lbs. The 403 block was exactly 170 lbs. I'd guess that the deck height difference was maybe half of that 30 lbs.

SWM403

I bought a 78 TA without an engine, and the same day saw a 403 from a TA for sale on Craigslist. Guy said his son looked at the numbers and thought it was a special block - said there was only 1000 built. I didn't think much of it. I just needed an engine. I looked at the numbers it is 554 990 4A. the heads have the 4A on them also. Wont get exited until I open up the OP and look. Will update.

joe_padavano

554990 4A is a run of the mill 403 block. I have three of them, all with picture windows. Once again, in FOUR DECADES since these motors have been produced, there is not one scrap of photographic evidence that SMW versions exist.

Fun71

Don't count on getting excited.

olds403

Best of luck.....

edzolz

As I recall, Joe Mondello started this rumor about the 2500 SMW 403's. His first technical manual mentions these being produced in Buick wagons and Firebird Transams. Never seen one and never will.

brownbomber77

FAKE NEWS....ugh....

brownbomber77

They were buried with Joe...his last joke....

Majic Jack

The 1977 long block 350 R motor was 47 lbs. lighter than the 76 version.