ok i went and looked at a 79 T/A. paint is a old faded blue (dirt covered, i dont even think it would buff) the interior is a light blue, in dire need of replacement. Not sure if its the 400 or the 403? the shaker hood said T/A 6.6

it has t tops and the auto transmission. the guy that has it said that it hasnt been driven in ~4 years. but he said he started it up every 3 months to let it run. Its 35 degrees here right now, so with a weak battery and no fuel to prime it with, it wouldnt start.

Body is acually pretty nice. a coupla spots of rust about the size of a quarter. supposed to run and drive good.

My question is whats it worth? sorry i dont have any pictures, i may try to get some later...

 

pics are worth alot. if its a 79 and auto, its the 403. there was a big debate over whether or not you could get a 400 with auto, but im 99% sure that by 79 and up, ALL 400s were manual, and ALL 403s were autos. but, who knows if that motor is original or not. if its been sitting outside, then im sure the t-tops leaked at least some, so the interior like you said needs a restore. what are your plans for it.....restore, restomod, LSx transplant (dont do that), racecar? without seeing pics, if you can get it to run and drive, if the trans works, then id say 4k, off top of my head.

 

If you owned this car, and someone walked up to you with 100 dollar bills, how many would it take to sell it?

 

Ta 6.6 Were The Old 403 Motors.

 

It Is Not Worth A Bunch. It Is A Soft Color Combo. Nothing Special.

 

so is 35 one hundred dollar bills a good deal?

 

echo, if i do end up getting this car, i will first off, give it a real good washing. Then make it a reliable driver. Then drive it around the way it is.

then, in 4~5 months, ill strip it all down and re paint it, re upholster it, may compleatly rebuild the engine (odometer read 52k, but its rolled over once) and if i do pull the engine, ill do a whole lotta work to it. Put a shift kit in the tranny. I dont want a blistering fast car, but just something that will get with it.

 

Actually T/A 6.6 was the Pontiac 400 designation
6.6 litre is what was read on 403 powered Shakers.
That is a Old's 403 in the picture you can tell because of the tall lower aircleaner Pan and the Oil fill tube in the front
I had one of these cars for 7 yrs bought it with 82k sold it with 208k
I swapped the Olds for a 400 Poncho but after that I never had a problem with it. It was Reliable, Fast and Fun.
If it runs I say it's at least worth $3500 Hell I paid $3200 for mine back in 1990

 

Alright, well that deal fell through. Dang, i was looking forward to working on that car...

 

Becareful of what you wish for, you might just get it.

 

wow....litterally a barn find. too bad you couldnt get it, it doesnt sound like that bad of a car. only one pic though, but IF he ever decides to sell or you get a chance to buy it, id think 3500 would be a pretty good price for you, provided it runs and drives without too much major work.

 

that's what i thought, because mine says T/A 6.6 and it's the Pontiac 400.

 

Yup, T/A 6.6 meant Pontiac 400, and 6.6 Litre meant Olds 403. However, alot of the aftermarket decal packages (and that car has an aftermarket hood decal on it) just came with the T/A 6.6 decal. So....you can't go by the hood scoop decal.

As someone else pointed out, without popping the hood, you could tell by the tranny (in 79 only).

-Rich

 

in 77 how do you tell the 400 from the 403? and which is better

 

Damn I soo want to find a 77-78 "barn car" trans am to fix up for a daily driver!!!

 

400s had more power, bigger aftermarket, and youre getting a real pontiac motor in your pontiac car. 403s arent bad, especially in daily drivers. decent pep, pretty good mileage with an auto (for a 25yo V8), and there is enough aftermarket to built it up how you like it. i only saw one engine pic the first time i looked at this thread, but now i saw the others....you made it sound like it was in much worse shape. that is one HELL of a great find. if at all possible, get back there and buy that thing before i do. interior isnt so bad at all. ive seen much, much worse.

as far as telling the two apart, i dont really know offhand. ive dealt with 400s mostly. always check the vin and cowl tag first. if i dig through some boxes, i can find my code book which should tell you what motor comes with what code.

 

Easiest way to tell them apart is look at the motor. The olds motor has a big oil filler tube sticking up in the front of the motor.

 

Just curious how you know the hood decals are aftermarket?

 

You can see the color of the car between the wings and the body of the bird, and the bird has 2 small flames coming out of it's mouth, instead of one.

 

I would have paid $5k for that car sight unseen.