has anyone ever considered stroking a 348 with a 454 crank? would make a 428 incher with same bore/stroke as a pontiac 428. less money than a 409, more common parts....
W engines are just fine with a healthy rebuild. Like some of the others said. The big heads would not be worth spendin' the extra bucks for in a performance street deal. Screw in rocker studs are a must. The pushrod/rocker geometry is not the best but, not a big problem when built with good parts and done right. The spring installed height is short for big cams. Not a problem for your deal. I'm a cylinder head guy in a race engine shop and we do a few 09s for nastalgia drags and did a couple for street stuff. Crower,Lunati, and a few others have cams. Cons:They are wide. Steering boxes/headers get close. Pros: See above and did I mention that they are big and wide... Smokey
The current issue of Car Craft (Feb 08) has an article about using 454 cranks in these motors as strokers. They mention a few vendors that might have the info you need.
As far as performance, with a Z-11 cam, balance job, 4:11 posi, and headers, my 2X4 '62 Biscayne would smoke the H70-15s, just stepping into it in 2nd gear, and spun 'em well past 100 MPH. In the late '60s it ate every GTO I could inticed into a race. Scared the absolute Hell outta my mom one time, when I didn't tell her I was going to have a "go" the goat next to us at the light! ~ I tried to buzz it like my smallblocks a couple times....but it did not like that!!! I also put some recap M/T 10 inch slicks on it, but broke the third member first time out, so I took 'em off.
I LOVE this car. I must have spent half an hour looking at it once. No real advice on 409's other then they sure do look awesome!
Actually, I didn't think the 409 engine build was too far out of line, as performance motors go. I just finished mine for my 62 Biscayne this summer, and it didn't hurt as bad as I first thought. As previously mentioned, if you can stay away from the rarer parts such as a 62 QB car block and matching 690 heads, the price can be drastically reduced. More vendors are begining to see the demand for bringing back W motor performance parts. aluminum heads are now available, and an aluminum block is in the works. We have a thread going now on the 409 forum, about building a strong 409 using a truck block and the 333 truck heads. We are going to list the parts and the machine shop costs, and tricks to use for a lower cost build. There will be lots of good information, and the price is right (as in free).
Lol sorry Neil- I've just never heard her run and was suprised you never took her off the trailer at Syracuse Nats that year. I think it was mainly because of the weather. How's your drag car coming? Thats Hemi powered if I remember correctly right?
Hey dave please let me know about the link. also what do you think of the stroker 348 with a big block crank. it seems to be one way to keep the total cost down. Thanks, Bobby
I think the big stumbling point is the actual engine itself. Finding a block you can use is the hard part. Check that... finding a block you can use and AFFORD is the hard part. The cheapest I found was $1000. For a good block. That was the CHEAPEST! Of course I was looking for a 409 block. Spend some time on Ebay and see what this stuff goes for. I could have bought a complete 348 for $500. If you can find a complete engine with all of the accessories you are way ahead of the game. If you aren't worried about setting the world on fire... you can make decent power with a 348. The old 1 HP per cubic inch is easy to attain. You can use a 454 crank and stroke it for more power, but machine work will make it more expensive. As far as heads... I hear the 333 small port castings are decent for making power. The 690 and 583 are the heads the racers want... they are the big $$ heads. The jury is still out on hardened valve seats or not. Some guys say you can put them in... others say no way. You start cutting and you hit the water jackets and the head is junk. I didn't do it on mine as the guys I talked to ran unleaded gas and added a lead additive every 4 months or so. I agree with screw in studs... if you run a larger cam and rev the piss out of it... but if its in the budget, its good insurance. Along with the waterpumps... Edelbrock has their script valvecovers coming back out and they also have big port heads coming too. The castings were at SEMA. For big money you can get race heads from: http://www.409raceparts.com/
Go to the www.348-409.com site and all the info you need is there. The guys on the site are the best at this game. You can build a good 348 for about $5000.00 and you will have an engine thats not a sbc
I know. I've gone in a different direction now. (the poor house) I'm not in the market for a block anymore. thanks
My buddy had a stock 425 horse 409 in a '64 Impala, with a somewhat tweeked Turbo 350 trans. Not much on the street, stock or modified, that could touch that car in the eighth or quarter mile (except my Ford ). I'm a Ford guy through and through, but I'd own a 425 hp 409 given the chance. None of the other versions of the 409, though.
Damn, I hope not. I'm real, real proud of finding the set I have. One of the great things about them is that they're really rare and hard to find! I've seen one set in real life, two on magazines/book cars, and my set. With prices for other 409 valve covers though, the ones from Edelbrock will probably be about what I paid for my original releases, so I won't get burned. But if everyone can buy them, I'd just as soon run no-name finned versions. -Brad
Hooligan, The 348 was available from GM in your truck new. I am the second owner of a '58 SWB and it came with the GM service manual which gives all the repair / servicing information on the 348 in the '58 pickup. Mine came with the 235 originally and I put the period proper 283 in it but would love to have a 348 in the truck. I know a guy who has one in his '58 Chevy car but he won't part with it. He has four '58's (1 vert, 1 HT and 2 moredoors) which he is going to restore "someday"... yeah, right. He has had them for 30 years!
Remember if you are going to stroke your 409, using a 454 crank and rods, you cannot use a 454 balancer as it will hit the bottom of your 409 water pump. You will have to use a S.B. balancer. Just in case you decide to build a blown 409, PM me and I will advise you of the problems I had, balancer, slight issue with the intake and no one makes blower pistons for an '09.
I've seen them but they are aftermarket fabricated aluminum intakes from Hogans. As far as a cast aluminum intake goes... haven't heard of one since the 60s
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