I saw a nice pickup with a 348 tri power at Milan Michigan. He also used a steering wheel and Sun tach from a 62 Impala. It looked really cool. You can make a lot of power with a stroked 348. Here's a link to a fairly radical one that makes 650 hp on pump gas. http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/engine/hrdp_0911_chevy_w_series_engine_build/index.html
Here she is my feeble atempt at posting pics Hey I did it. This intake is an Edelbrock. I have the 2 centers hooked up and running. I just got 4 new carb kits from Darrel Wilch. The ceters are the primarries and the 4 outside corners are secondaries. I have progessive linkage from Vintage Speed. Thats my winter project and its all in a 29 Ford 2 door sedan
Looking forward to seeing one of those blocks in Barry Camp's 62 bubble top.............one fine NSS Racer..... Mark
HA! Yeah, I think Barry will have one. He's a freakin' riot to be around. And his car is great... runs 9s with a bench seat! Jim--that's EXACTLY what I'd like to do with my '62 Suruban--I've got a '60 grille in it, and I'm hunting the '60-'61 hood with the '61 bowtie inserts. sixpak--I haven't seen the Edelbrock intake up close... does it have the low-horse or the hi-horse ports? I like those Chevrolet script covers, too. I found a really nice set of Edelbrock valve covers, and two years later Edelbrock re-released them. I'd like to find some no-names now. -Brad
UH, actually, I think Brian Wilson did more for the 409 (and the '32 Ford coupe) than anybody out there.
It has the low hp ports I am running the 333 heads. I like the stacks they are 4 inchs high and 4 1/4 inch at the widest part of the mouth. They are steel stacks
If money were no object, i'd have my name on the waiting list for sure!!! I'm lucky ( in my eye's anyway) to have a complete 409 here..it's a truck motor, but still a 409...and my favorite power plant bar none. Brad, thanks for the info. Tony
Tony you have a 409 truck good for sure. I have had my 348 on the road now for 4 years. Started out with tripower then went to a single 4. Love those engines
Man is it a small world! I was at Barry's last weekend! I hate to tell you but he had to put racing/booster seats in the Bubble Top NHRA safety rules for cars quicker than 10.00 (and so he could see over the steering wheel). Lamar has Barry's block and is working on it so he will be ready for next season. He is hoping to run B/FX 9.50 class. Brad think I saw you yesterday when I was headed home from work (The Corvair is hard to miss) We need to get together over a cold one some day!
I know Lamar's history with the 409; he's done a lot for the engine. I also know Bob. Of the two, Bob's the more "down home, doin' it 'cuz I love 'em" guy. Bob is not building his heads and blocks to make a fortune, just to recoup the costs of development. He wanted an aluminum block so he set out do build one himself. World/LWR are in it to turn a profit. I suppose it's all moot, though, as the World/LWR block will be priced outside of the range of affordability unless you're doing some serious racing (or gold chaining).
Tree'd me. Sayiing Lamar is only in it to make a fortune is ignorant. I've been in the magazine industry for over a decade, and I've got a pretty good bullshit meter... It's never gone off with Lamar. Whining because someone has figured out a way to make money doing what they love is idiotic. It also smacks of being jealous of someone else's success. -Brad
"Giddyup giddyup 409" Brad, I agree with what you are saying....as well, Lamar should be CONGRATULATED for having the balls to put in the $$$ and the R&D to pull it off.... Even if if these guys were doin it for a profit, PROFIT is what keeps mst of you guys in a job at the companies you work for. No profit = NO JOB. Think about it..... geez... Negative people piss me off.....if ya'all think you can do better, get of your asses and DO IT yourselves. Rat
No matter how you look at it, there are two groups perfecting the 409 to ensure we may all enjoy the 'W' valve covers in our rides. I personally think this is a great for the sport and these motors. No matter what, once a person has perfected or created a worth while item, some one out there will be trying to drag them down....
Amen! All the new blocks, heads and parts just give hot rodders more options. Like Rat Bastard said, no profit, no company, no jobs, no cool parts. It takes money and risk to tool up for new parts. There has to be some reward for taking the risk.
There is no issue using the "truck/marine" 409" units for a decent build, as long as the castings are in good shape they work fine. I included the "marine" unit here because I had 2 to build a while back, just need to make certain they were "fresh-water" cooling from day one. "Salt-water" blocks are no longer usable due to the amount of deterioation taken place over the years! You need to build these somewhat differently, due to the block/heads design from the 409"/425 HP units, but they do work! These original "small-valve" heads get some slightly larger valves and some 7/16" studs with guide plates. The original high HP '09's came larger valves and 3/8" studs that were "pinned" from the factory! Thanks, Gary in N.Y. P.S. Here's a shot of one of the "marine" units done a while back!
Let me tell you about Lamar Walden. He first got my attention when he was driving Barry Setzer's Pro Stocker. About 10 years later I organized the first Super Stock Reunion and as the event was nearing the phone wasn't ringing......until that day 29 days before the event when Lamar called me to get a clarification on the rules. I didn't know him at all nor did he know me. In the next 29 days Lamar built a '62 409 Biscayne and got in touch with many of his friends who also had a car/cars and a love for '60s Super Stockers including Floyd Garrett, who I had seen at shows but had never met. Floyd brought 4 of his Factory Lightweights and many others Lamar had contacted brought cars to race or display. Lamar won the race. That was 24 years ago and Lamar has raced many different nostalgia Super Stockers since then but has stuck primarily with the 409, developing ass kicking engines that live. This thread is about one more of his endeavors. When the Special Edition 25th Anniversary Super Stock Reunion is held next year Lamar will be one of the honorees. I called him about a month ago to let him know and he told me about this block he is very proud to be involved with. I know without a doubt it will incorporate his 40 plus years of finding areas needing improvements.
Some guys will complain about anything!! Lets see they are actually making parts for "W" engines and this is a bad deal in some guys minds because they are aluminum and maybe somebody is making a profit?? There is just no pleasing some people. To the rest of us this is cool as hell and opens the doors to maybe building a bad ass 409++++ cu in monster. I know the new Arduns suck! The new Hemi's are junk and if it didn't come out of a rusty pile somewhere it shouldn't be used.
Talked to World Products guys at the SEMA show in Vegas, and they said the retail price on the new aluminum 409 block would be under 5k or about the same as a new aluminum big block chevy. Jay
Faded Memories currently runs a built truck motor (482) and is running strong. But, in the quest of more speed and knowing the day will come when a rebuild is required, one of these Aluminum blocks may be just the ticket.
Paint the new cast aluminum 409 block chebby orange (or any color for that matter) 99.9% of the people won't know the difference. Hell a buddy of mine adapted some sbc valve covers on to his 289 ford powered 65 mustang and 99.9% percent of the people said it was a sbc with a front mount distributor.