Well, all, as for another update. Sad to say, the recently rebuilt/repaired 409 didn't last but maybe 300 miles. So extremely disheartening. It has been pulled out of the car, and sent off to the place that built the engine in the racecar. Will probably need at least 1 sleeve, 1 piston, and if the heads aren't repairable, or the cost is too much to justify for stock heads, it will be getting a pair of bob walla aluminum heads. I really wish I knew what was causing this thing to self destruct. I mean I'd understand it if I was beating the snot out of it, but I was cruising on a back road in 4th gear at maybe 1900 to 2000 rpm. So hears hoping that the 3rd and final place can get this damn thing right. I have faith in the builder as he built us one hell of an engine for my racecar. Will try and keep you all updates as I find out.
I've heard some people say that 409's are tempermental, but this is ridiculous! What happens when it lets go, and is it the same thing every time? Maybe if you paint the engine orange it will stop pissing on your leg! LOL! (Sorry, just trying to throw a little humor at a shitty situation ) Looking forward to update's.
409 can be tempermental with tune up like some other hi po engines back then..But driven within it's limits should cause no mehanical failures...unless there's sloppy workmanship...
Is it breaking them due to lack of clearance or is it dropping them because of other valvetrain issue's?
Cruising along at 2000, rpm seems like a retainer must have failed, maybe check if the retainers you have installed are up to the roller spring pressures your running. They might crack after a few hard runs then fail
That's to bad your having so much trouble. These engines aren't that complicated but there are things that need more attention than some other engine platforms do.
This Ford guy loves that "W Motor" & the car. You,ll get the valve thing fixed & have one sweet ride.
My guess would be lack of clearance. So I may even go to a smaller roller cam just to be safe. It has a crane solid roller in it now with .655 lift. I may just go with an old isky 505c-62 if I can find one. They're about .560 lift
On that cylinder did the valve bend or break, what was the condition of the exhaust valve keeper and retainer?
For the longest time we were fighting cylinder #7. This time it was #5. The valve itself broke. The bottom half of the stem and head are gone. And like said prior, both were in good condition and in place as should be. Below is a pic of #5 exhaust. It blew up bad enough that it spit shit out of the exhaust. But some was caught at the bottom of the header dump.
I always try and be spot on tune up wise. I haven't even had a chance to even see what it's limits even may be.
Am I seeing a hardened seat in there, is that a coolant leak at that stain? If so, leaking on the exhaust valve stem could have made the valve hang open.
So im also assuming that the heads are now junk if they've had hardened seats installed? Which now would also make sense in why I kept getting moisture up in the heads.
When I was playing with 348/409's I was always told to never cut for hardened seats. For this reason.
Post your info to 348-409.com if you haven’t already (I didn’t go through all the posts to check). Add a question to the Interact, Forum, 349-409 Engines forum. Great knowledge base there. John
Welp, without any further words from the engine shop, here are my plans for the 409 for now if the block is savable. One sleeve, one piston, remove the crane .655 lift solid roller and go down to an isky 505c-62 solid roller, and a pair of bob walla heads with my current valvetrain.
That’s your post? WTF, man? OP came here after having issues with two engine builds that are both heartbreaking and frustrating and you want to nit pick whether or not it was an original 409 car? Jesus, man.
I applaud you for stating that it was not an original 09 car I was just pointing out things to look for when questioning a car that is supposed the be original I am so tired of I have a original 1961 409 Biscayne adds.
Thank you. The only way to honestly tell if it is a real 409 car is to either have bought it brand new, or to find the build sheet. I do know for a fact that it was not a factory 425hp 409 car due to it being a factory ac/ps/pb optioned car. Now, the 340hp cars could come with those options as the block in the car is a QC code which denotes a 340hp 409. But anyways, enough about that. Thank you to those that are questioning the issues with the last two builds by two different places. I'm praying that the 3rd and final place is the winner of them all as I already have one of their engines in my racecar and it's a screamer.
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