I was eyeballing a couple of Rivs the other day, 1 was a 64 the other 76ish. The 64 has a fixable body and fair interior, but the trans is shot and it has no breaks The other looks good in and out and has alot of cool parts. Like, 4 wheel disk breaks,12 bolt posi, and a 400 turbo tranny, but it has a 403 olds in it. It also has no title :ball: My question is, how hard would it be to put the 12 bolt, 4 wheel disk and 400 turbo in the 64 o No: Is it a part for part swap, or a major under taking :error: Thanks :3gears:
olds 403? olds 403? as in, the small block with a bigger bore than a buick 455 or a cadillac 500? :error: (bore / stroke is 4.351 x 3.385, bigger i believe than any modern car motor other than the 429 / 460 family) damnit man, i'm tempted to offer to buy the motor off of you if you buy the 76. unfortunately, i don't think you'll be buying it for the parts swap idea. the 71-76 b-bodies do not share any suspension or body parts with the earlier cars. that was some of the information that was in the (now deleted) sticky thread on rear ends. not even the internals of the rear diff can be exchanged from 70 to 71. i'm not even sure the TH400 would bolt up in the 64 although according to "Phil" over at Buickstreet buick introduced the TH400 in 64 on the larger motors so you might get lucky with that. the rear axle would certainly require modding to get it to in. the spindles and control arms would all be totally different.
The 400 would drop in unless there is a problem with the long tailshaft 400's not fitting with the X-frame. As far as putting the motor in, that will take some doing to get to fit. As far as the rear end... look at www.rivowners.org and see what the rear track width is for both and if you can adapt it into the 64 by welding the bracketry off of the 64's on. Though I've never heard of anyone busting that Riv rearend. As for the front, you'd be better just to buy the front disc kit for the 1st Gen Riv's they are now offering for about $1000.
The Olds 403 was an option in the 77-78 Rivs which came with a standard Buick 350. The 4 wheel disc brakes option is quite rare on these. The car probably has badges mentionning the option.
