- This topic has 12 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 12 years ago by
.
-
Topic
-
Sup my motor head friends…
So I just got my self a 1977 6.6 403 trans am with a Th350 trans….
I traded a truck I paid 500$ for…
Not only did I get the car but I also got EXTRA – Both doors – Both Fenders – tail light -tail light grills – trunk- Trunk wings – body trim- 2 radiators – 3 Radiator supports – 4 extra tires – 2 extra wheels and tires – Alote of other small end items –
The inside Is leather (The front two seats need redone)The back just need cleaning.
The dash is great.
The underside may have light rust.
The Rear fender are rusted (But I have replacement cut outs)Hears the story I got from he guy…
His dad owned it..When he died he drove to Oh and got the car and parts…. When he got home he drove the car for a weak when 3rd gear fell out… He pulled it into the barn and parked it…
He said he coulden look at the car anymore bc of his dad and all that really mattered to him is that the car went to a great home with some one who loved it and wanted to restore it..The guy told me that right before his dad died he had the engine rebuilt from top to bottom…. Everything was stock extp a Hp cam and a set of headers…
He also said the car had set for 20+ years but it had ran when he parked it….So Iv got it in my drive way right now….
Heres what iv found….
When I FINELY got the hood opened (Hood latch was broke -Got a extra 3 of those aswell lol)
I found everything unplugged (Looked like they wear prepping the engine to be pulled)
Nothing cut or anything like that…This kinda worried me… I have no clue why they would wanna pull the engine if it was running fine.. Then I got to thinking maybe it was due to the trans being blowen and this was the best way to fix the issue…
Anyway I grabbed the breaker bar and tried to spin the engine…No go the engine is locked up….
My next thought was maybe the engine has locked due to setting 20 years…
So iv pulled the fallowing – Valve covors first (rockers and upper head looked nice and clean) Next was the carb. (Inside intake looked good – A little rust but wiped away) NEXT WAS THE INTAKE… This is the part wear you do not wanna exit out of this topic bc your not gonna believe this.So after pulling all the intake bolts and extra items on the intake -I got my mallet and tapped on the intake trying to free it… After 2 hours the intake would not move… (I checked many times for hidden bolts but found NONE.) So my next step..
(The way I get my engines out when they need to be pulled is with a comalong hooked to a chain thats wrapped around a big branch in a tree)
So like I said after 2 or more hours of nothing happening I bolted my pulling chain to the intake and hooked my comalong up to it….
I cranked and tapped – cranked and tapped – and soo on…. I cranked so much that the front wheels of the car wear fully off the ground but the intake would not come lose…. After tapping for a few more hours and spraying trans fluid every wear the intake finely let go.
Omg wtf did I miss something??? Iv never heard of a intake getting this stuck before.I pulled all 10 bolts…. The intake did NOT separate at one end or the other like a bolt was steal there -it finely just let go all at once…
I got a peak at the cam. It looks good – Nice and shinny.
I picked up some pb blaster to day and will be pulling the heads tomorrow to start the unlocking process….
Whats yalls take on the Intake issue???Im betting the engine is just stuck due to rust around the rings….
So my plain is to- See how bad the cylinder walls look. If there not to bad. I plain to spry PB blaster around them and tap them with a 2×4 and see if the free up…
I plain to pull the oil pan and clean it due to oil just setting for 20 years…I will be when I get the money fully rebuilding this pup but right now I just wanna get her drivable again…
My dad said he had a jeep that set for almoste 30 years… He pulled the spark plugs and sprayed Pb blaster and Trans fluid in each cylinder for over 2 weaks Then put the jeep in gear and him and some friends rocked it a few good times and the engine was free…. They dropped the pan and cleaned it… Changed the oil – fuel and all that good stuff. Ran a compression check and it raid 80+ on every cylinder (Low compression)
He said they Got it to fire up…He said after the more he drove it the better it ran…After 100 miles He ran a compression check on it again and it had 140psi on each cylinder.So lets say this 403 is locked up due to just setting… If I get it freed up and cleaned up… What are the chances this thing will fire like my dads did and maybe even regain some life??? Did my dad have good luck or what???
Whats yalls take…
If anyone knows a thing or two about issue or good things to do with the T/a or the 403 please let me know….
-
Replies
-
Pull the spark plugs and add some marvel mystery oil
to each cylinder. let it sit a day or two.ratchet and
socket on the crank bolt.try to easily free up the motor.
leave the plugs out while doing this.well if the cylinders are rusty, don’t try to run it. it could have been some type of mechanical break side the engine that caused it to lock up. no amount of oil is going to free that up!! i have tried using marvel mystery oil as penetrating oil without success. maybe try 2 stroke oil and atf? check the plugs. maybe one is smashed from something going wrong in the combustion chamber but i doubt that. it could also be hydrolocked.
Pulling the heads is a good idea. as well as using oil to try to loosen the piston rings. personally I would drop the pan and make sure it doesnt have a spun or siezed main or connecting rod bearing as this will also lock up a motor ( be a waste of time to mess with the cylinders if this has happened. having owned this same car I can tell you a few things about them –
Don’t expect to much out of the 403 , low hp motor although it did make decent torque for what it is. the ws6 suspension is really nice. handles well and stops good with the 4 wheel disc brakes. throw the carb thats on it in the trash. an edelbrock performer carb ( 625 cfm ) will work great. if you want the car to fly p/u a good 455 ( the earlier years the better ) build that up and drop it in ( the earlier t/a’s came with a 455 ) for a trans go with a 700r4 ( you will get decent gas milage and the low first in the 700r4 will let it launch )
I agree with everyone so far and thanks….
Thanks 619DioFan for the little extra info… Iv heard roomers that you can drop 350 olds heads on these 403 with a aluminum intake and cam and good carb and pull some good hp out of them…. Not to worried about doing this.. Iv ran all numbers on everything I can find and everything appears to be original!!!Heres some leaks to my photo bucket altho she kinda dirty…
http://s1288.beta.photobucket.com/user/Bluemule93/library/Well this is not good. http://s1288.beta.photobucket.com/user/Bluemule93/media/021.jpg.html?sort=3&o=16
Im wounding if this peace broke when they wear building the engine and this is why its locked up…. Wounder what great place this lil bugger could be….Yea outdoorsman I much more happier knowing theres a 400 vs a 403.
I love the 400s.
I keep waiting for eric to pop in but its not happened.
I got the heads off.. The walls arent bad at all. 2 out of the 8 had minnor light rust…
Iv blasted all cylinders with PB and trans fluid. Iv free a few lightly stuck lifters.
So far iv found one stuck valve in the heads… Iv got it unstuck not… Ill post more in a bit along with photos.
In all honesty I personally would not waste any money on that block. as I mentioned earlier p/u a 455 ( earlier the better ) and build that.
[quote=”619DioFan” post=36659]In all honesty I personally would not waste any money on that block. as I mentioned earlier p/u a 455 ( earlier the better ) and build that.[/quote]
That T/A is worth more with its original 400 and Th350 Trans.
[quote=”Moparrundown” post=36666][quote=”619DioFan” post=36659]In all honesty I personally would not waste any money on that block. as I mentioned earlier p/u a 455 ( earlier the better ) and build that.[/quote]
That T/A is worth more with its original 400 and Th350 Trans.[/quote]
Thanks. Thats what I was thinking.
This is tough without seeing it for myself. At least you’ve gotten it broken down enough to see what you’re looking at. Do your best to clean up the cylinder walls, any abrasions here will equate to a loss of compression and burning oil. 77 is new enough to have hardened valve seats so you shouldn’t need to worry about that. Otherwise I say put it back together after you get it cleaned up and see if it runs.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.