I have a friend with a block and heads. Block #3857656 head #3819333. Can anyone tell me what this is and what year. I can't find the casting # info on the HAMB like I could before. Thanks.
I think the 333 heads are truck heads, which is ok. They can be reworked. OK, I looked. Looks like a 64-65 409 truck engine. You can make them work real well. Takes different pistons than stock to bring the compression up though. Larry T
Does that mean the heads or the block have that goofy port in them. This is a HD truck motor from what I have read.
Truck heads good truck block bad. I am not familiar with the numbers but the truck block can be identified by a relief cut into the tops of the cylinders as I recall. Larry Does someone make pistons to build compression with the truck block? I wasn't aware.
Does that mean they will have that goofy port in the block. Or is that in the head? From what I have found it says it's a HD truck motor.
They have a notch in the block that the car engines don't have and the heads actually have a little bit of a chamber in them, where the car heads are flat. They are good cores. We took a set of truck heads, installed bigger SS valves and did some port and valve pocket cleanup and they worked real well. The extra relief in the block drops the compression a little (not much) and unshrouds the valves for a little better breathing. They are good engines to build, but grab your pocketbook if you decide to make some HP with one. Parts aren't real cheap. Larry T
The 348/409 head has no combustion chamber, the block has a wierd angle built into the deck to make a combustion chamber. The truck blocks have a chunk machined out of the top of the cylinder to lower the compression.
Ross makes a good lightweight (important on 409s, stock pistons weigh a ton) for them. They cost somewhere around 600.00/700.00 a set. Larry T
I was told I don't want a block with the relief cut in it. From the info that you gathered will it have it or will it not??
It could be either block, but with the truck heads on it I'd bet it's a truck block. That wouldn't bother me in the least. If it does you and you don't want it, PM me. Larry T
So might need to have him pull the head quick. It says it's not a truck block according to casting number on block. The casting on heads say its an HD truck head. So is that combination even correct or would that even make sense?
Beeno, The truck engines are REAL low compression and the heads and the block relief contribute to that. But the pistons is where most of compression is lost. If you take a Ross 11/1 piston and put it in a truck engine, you still end up with 10/1 + compression. Plenty to make a good running street engine with.
Are car and truck blocks same deck height? I don't know hope somebody does. I know about a truck 409 just sitting and it runs pretty good.
same deck ht, the truck block has a scallop cut in the top of cylinder wall. thats where the larger chamber / less compression comes from
With iron heads 10:1 is a gracious plenty. I guess the cost of the pistons isn't what one would consider cost prohibitive either. Pistons for anything are not cheap any more. The only 409 I ever owned was a factory 2x4. I loved it, everything from the way the power rolled on to the sound was perfect.
Truck and car blocks are the same deck height. Truck engines run on regular gas and make good street motors. The 348 3-2 manifolds fit the 409 truck heads and the 409 high horse intakes do not.
That's not to big of a deal? What kind of hp would you get with that piston. I understand it all depends on other stuff but my plan is to have a 2x6 intake with maybe some head work and a good sounding cam. Trying to stay as stock as possible.
They do with enough work. Here's a junk head I ground out to fit a HP 409 intake. I did it just to make sure it would work before a started on the good heads. You've got to plug the intake bolt between the cylinders, but I've never seen that give any trouble. One thing you have to watch out for on a 409 build is the valve lift. A stock height spring won't take much lift before it gets into coil bind. I did a thread several years ago on putting together a 409. I'll look up the link. There's probably 100 different ways to put an engine together, but this is how I did it. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=215715 Yea, an intake for a 348/standard 409 will work. The HP head has taller ports. Larry T
ANY 348-409 is worth building these days. They are just that hard to find. Even my pal that messes with them full time is having a harder time finding engines. There some fun combos I guy can come up with including monster cubes.
Thanks for that picture. I was looking all over for that. So if I would go with a good set of pistons what is your suggestion on a block like this and is there any difference cut in the head? Would this be a better flowing motor?
Well I got some great info so far and we know its for sure a 409. However the new info I just received is that there is an X on the drivers side front of the block. Does this for sure indicate that it is a truck block? Or a replacement block? I will have him pull a head and see if there is a relief area cut in the top.
I had read on the 348/409 site that all the 348 blocks had the notch and some of the truck blocks had two notches. I have 65 348 truck block with one notch and a 59 car block and it also has the notch too. So maybe just the 409 blocks had no notch? These W motors can be a little confusing. My truck block also came with the 333 heads and those do have a small combustion chamber in them, not much of one though.
Ross is the best bet for pistons, but don't use their "stocking" pieces, if you do you'll be locked into the factory rod length (6.010"), and this will be first mistake! On a decent build you really want to convert it over to the conventional BBC rods (6.135"). The '09 rods are really inadequate around the bolt heads and the cheek area! It isn't the bolts but rather the rod forging itself. On the heads, convert to 7/16" screw-in studs and guide plates! The rest of the build is fairly straight-forward! Stud the mains (ARP), has them on the shelf! Thanks, Gary in N.Y. P.S. That block is '65 only and was most likely truck setup although that casting number comes up as "p***enger" only! I just finished the identical unit from a fresh-water cooled boat and it now has 2x4's for an Impala! Also recently did a "QB" code, original 425 HP unit!
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