I know nothing about these, but found one. 1961 409 Engine (impala?), Dual Quad intake, all apart for years (indoors). No carbs. Told it is bored 0.60 over. All I want to know is what anyone would consider a decent price/value. The guy has not put a price on it yet.
Not enough information. Is the crank standard, need turning? Is the line bore good? What heads are with it (there were a couple of different castings)? What other parts are with it (exhaust manifolds, distributer,water pump, flywheel, intake, valve covers, timing chain cover). Everything listed and a lot more go into the value. This is a semi-rare engine and rounding up missing parts is getting increasingly (read more expensive) difficult. Frank
If it's a true 61, the skys the limit. "The total production figures for 409's in '61 was only 142!" If it was supposed to be stock with the 2X4's it bogus. "There was only one version of the 409 in 1961. It was the 360hp. It was equipped with solid lifters, high lift cam, and a 4-barrel Carter AFB carburetor." But any 409 will bring a premium. Larry T
He will have a price and it will be alot, if its not buy it.I know thats kinda vague but I have seen them go for a wide range of prices, check out ebay and you will a good idea.
392HEMI4SPEED, Be careful. Those first year 409 blocks had cracking as well as bearing problems and being .60 over and apart that long may mean that it IS over for that mill. Be sure and run the numbers. Many guys think they have a 409 when it's a 348 and may be a truck version as well. As a pig in a poke, though, if it truly is a CAR 409 I'd personally give him $100 because of the shipping costs and take my chances just cause I'm into all things Chevy-Cool.
Not enough information to really give a price . If it's apart and he wants to sell it , he knows what is wrong with it ! Make sure it's all there . Parts aren't cheap for a 409 . Make sure it's not a 348 too . Look on the internet and get all the information and numbers to make sure of what you are getting . Be carefull and make sure you know what you are getting into . If that block is bad like many your're screwed ! It's not a 1961 either with a 2x4 set-up unless the intake was changed from a later year . Remember with .060 over bore there is not much left . Take someone that knows the 409 real well with you before you lay out you hard earned cash . BTW how much is he selling it for ? Just remember if it's too good to be true then it's probably not !
Well, I'll do a little more digging here in time. The guy thought it was a 61. His father in law gave it to him years ago and his father in law had it in boxes since he was 18.
I was at the 1961 Nats at Indy and the Super stock cl*** ran 61 409 chevys that had 2x4s.Dino Don and Dave Strickler to name just a few. I could be wrong but I think the 2x4 set up came late in the year just in time for the Nats.
I had a 65 model 409 in a state trade school shop in Tennessee in the late 1980's where I was the instructor, that had never been fired up! It was a donation from GM when the school opened. We tore it down once as a cl*** project, and there were still felt tip marker numbers on the piston tops indicating the weight of the pistons. Somebody stole it after I moved on to another job and the program closed down. Jerry
Like Larry T said 61 409's are rare and valuable. As wingspread7 said the 61 409's were known to be a little bit fragile but even a damaged 61 block that needed eight sleeves would still be worth quite a bit to a collector. There may have been some dual quad 61's but chances are it's a 62, 63 or 64 engine. I haven't really been watching lately but I think fairly complete, rebuildable 62, 63 and 64 high performance 409's usually sell for $4,000 or more on E-bay. You really have to check the casting numbers because a similar looking 348 or 409 truck engine might be worth hundreds instead of thousands. Here's a place to check casting numbers... http://www.348-409.com/cast.html You can also check for suffix codes... http://www.348-409.com/suffix.html If you can get some casting numbers from the block and heads you can probably get a good idea of the going price if you do a post on the 348/409 site. http://www.348-409.com/forum/index.php?
There were 142 or 143 '61 409 p***enger cars, depending on your source. (Of these, I've shot two for features, one owned by a guy who bought another new in '61 and raced it in New Jersey as "Roman Red."). I've also seen 4 legit '61 409 engine blocks. (One with the mains cracked out of it). From the factory, they came with the single 4bbl carb. Late in the year, the 2x4 package was introduced as an over-the-counter package. NHRA first put it in Factory Experimental (FX). In '62, Chevy changed foundries, and the blocks were higher nickel content. They weren't eggshells to begin with, but the blocks did benefit from the higher nickel content. A truck block has big notches in the top of the cylinder bore. Even if it's a '61, the truck blocks aren't that expensive. P***enger car blocks are fairly expensive, for all years. '61 truck blocks are fairly common (as far as 409 blocks go). Run the numbers, and be sure it isn't a 348. If it's a 348, it's only a couple hundred dollar piece. If it's a '61 409 p***enger car block, and you decide to p*** on it, let me know and I'll drive up there and get it. (No, I'm not kidding) All 348/409 engines are prone to cracking the exterior of the block, below the deck, where the side of the block meets the deck. Overheat, or freezing cracked them like plastic. It can be repaired, but don't do it in an oven--the metal will degrade and the block gets soft and flaky. Lamar Walden is THE authority on 348 and 409 engines, and I've been lucky enough to call him a friend for the last 5 years and hang out at his shop a lot. We've done a bunch of magazine stories together, and I've picked up a good bit of '09 info. -Brad
The good thing about 409's and the related parts is that (unlike FE Fords for example) you CAN decode them from the numbers cast and stamped into them. GM provided all the info on each engine and even went so far as to stamp into the front of the block (on the pad in front of the p***enger side head) what the actual application for that engine was! Do the easy research and get all of the numbers to find out what you have or don't have. Then just google the casting numbers and read up on them. I would be interested in what the numbers are just for kicks so when you get them can you please post them??
<TABLE cl***=tborder style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px" cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=6 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR ***le="Post 3930471" vAlign=top><TD cl***=alt2 align=middle width=125>lawman</TD><TD cl***=alt1>Re: 61' 409 Value? <HR style="COLOR: #e5e5e5; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e5e5e5" SIZE=1>I was at the 1961 Nats at Indy and the Super stock cl*** ran 61 409 chevys that had 2x4s.Dino Don and Dave Strickler to name just a few. I could be wrong but I think the 2x4 set up came late in the year just in time for the Nats. Looks like you're right, click on the link below. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> http://carsfromyesterday.wordpress.com/2007/06/28/the-legendary-409-chevy/
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