Over the weekend I picked up a couple cars - a 1951 Ford (listed for sale) and a 1960 Impala. I started another thread, "I must be living right" to show off my buys. One of the things that has come up is the topic of what was the original engine. I know the crossed flags indicate a 348, the Chevy emblem with the "V" underneath is a 283...but here's where it gets sticky: 1. The badge on the trunk is the crossed flags. The trunk appears original, the holes are original, etc 2. The badge in the grille is the the 283 badge, but it is mounted upside down as though it was re-installed incorrectly 3. The splash pan is a different color than the original and repaint colors, indicating there may have been damage that necessitated replacing the grille/bumper/splash pan. 4. The car was originally a column shifted manual (has all three pedals that appear to be original) but has been converted to a floor shifter. 5. The old man I bought it from stated the original owner claimed it had been a 348 car. 6. A 283 now resides under the hood. It is a D code engine, which would be correct for a 1958 OR a 1960. 7. "D" Code engines should have been bolted to an automatic and this is a stick, lending some credibility to the thought the engine has been swapped out. 8. It looks like it is a 2-core radiator Are there any other identifiers I should be looking for? Variances in spring diameter? Number of coils? Did they use a 2-core with a 348? Wiring harness? Surely there is some other way to identify the correct engine, otherwise a badge swap would make any 1960 an "original" 348 car since the VIN only specifies V8 or 6-cylinder....???
3/8" fuel line, narrow fan shroud if original, dual exhaust. Also look for voltage regulator only had the top two bolts with a rubber bushing on the bottom.
Fuelaltereds, Is this the narrow shroud? It appears to be based on pics online plus the fan isn't fully immersed. The fuel line is 3/8", there are remnants of dual exhaust hangers not used with the current dual exhaust. The only thing that doesn't fit your clues is the regulator...has a bolt in the bottom, but may have been changed at some point?
That is a 348 / 409 fan shroud. All voltage regulators used 3 bolts, not matter if it was a 6 or a V8. Something else to check is if it has ballast resistor, or a resistor wire. If it has a ballast resistor it definitely was a 348 car. However, not all 348 cars had ballast resistors. Only the high horsepower 348 cars had a ballast resistor. The low HP 348's and all 283's and 235's had resistor wires. Attached is a photo of the 348 in my 59 BelAir. Although it is an original 235 six car, I built it as an accurate high HP 348 TriPower car. The ballast resistor is just barely visible at the back of the drivers side valve cover. It is partially hidden by the plug wires. Also, if it was a factory TriPower 348, (either low or high HP), there would be mounting holes in the firewall, for the coil.....Just to the right, (passenger side), of the distributor.
It has the ballast resistor but not sure if I'm seeing any holes that correlate to the coil location for a tri power
Sorry...ballast resistor photo is washed out a bit. There is a bolt in pic #2 that might be a plugged off mount hole (or just wishful thinking)...
Is this the mount hole? Some pics I'm seeing show this hole being used, this one is filled with some sort of filler/gum/seam sealer
jcmarz, No. 1960's tag simply identifies it as either a 6 or a V8 but doesn't specify which V8. I assume because of this fact there are a lot of "clones" out there. I'd rather be true to the car regardless of value, but of course if it's a real 348, especially if it's a tri-power, I'd like to know that.
D2...thanks but all that is covered in my 1st post above. For clarity, 1. Flags and V = 348 2. Chevy emblem and V = 283 3. Chevy emblem, no V = stovebolt Mine has a mis-matched set of emblems: flags on the rear and the Chevy emblem and V on the front, but upside down as though it's been replaced. Info provided in posts above are pointing towards a 348 car...now the question is Tri-power or not Tri-power
The mounting holes for a firewall mounted coil were only drilled, if they were used. There may be some small dimples in the firewall that were used to locate where the mounting screws would go. This may vary depending on where the car was built. My 59 had a couple of these dimples, that I used to locate where the coil would go. The bolt that you mentioned is actually one end of a support for the dashboard. If you look under the dash, you'll see the rest of it. Since it does have a ballast resistor and no holes for a firewall mounted coil, (assuming that the resistor was not added later), it must have originally been a high HP 348 car, with a single 4 barrel carb.
If you can check a "Factory" 1960 Chevy assembly manual, the locating dimples for the coil are shown, as is the ballast resistor. The dimples are shown in RPO 573, and the resistor is in RPO 577 / 590. By the way, RPO stands for Regular Production Option. Here is a link to some more info. https://books.google.com/books?id=B...Irse6sOGGxgIVhQGsCh1yzgAj#v=onepage&q&f=false Based on this, it looks like it was originally either a 320 HP, or 340 HP 348 car. Both of these has a single 4 bbl. carb. When researching 348 / 409 engines try to use as many different sources as possible. Accurate info can be tough to find and there is a lot of contradictory information, as well.
Torkwrench...thanks for all the information. Truly appreciated, as I appreciate all the input. Markyac - yep.
I was just wondering, would a 1960 have a build sheet under the rear seat? My dad's 66 chevy had the build sheet under it and for some reason I was thinking it told the code for the engine, what transmission, etc. Just a suggestion
I looked for one there not knowing it it would be or not. If it had been I was probably removed during the crush velvet wrap...
Sorry about my redundancy. What does the vin and body code number decode to? That is what I would be looking for. From what you mentioned, the main car sounds like a 348 car. But the front end/engine sounds like a 283 concoction. Sounds like someone replaced the clip and engine out of a 283 car.
D2, The cowl tag only denotes V8, not size. It also identifies options, interior, and paint- in this case Roman Red with a red vinyl with red and white hounds tooth inserts, with a padded dash and power seat. The power seat is kind of strange considering there are no other real creature comforts outside of a radio - not even power steering. The VIN identifies the year, the plant built (Baltimore, MD), and body style (sports coupe). At this point, with the info shared from Torkwrench and others, I am sure it is a 348 car - just not sure what configuration/hp other than most likely a 4-bbl. I haven't found a build sheet yet, but not yet giving up hope it's stuck somewhere. I don't think the whole clip has been replaced - everything looks too original on the fenders. Most likely just some bumper, grille, and splash apron damage that I can tell and a replaced engine sometime early in its history.
I finally got a chance to go down and check for dimples - and found holes instead. Are these the correct holes for the tri-power coil mount? The bolt and nut showing is the dash mount you identified earlier. Torkwrench,
They look like the correct holes. If there aren't any small dimples in that area of the firewall, they must be mounting holes for a cowl bracket. Combined with having a ballast resister, it appears that it was originally a high H.P. TriPower 348. It would be either a 335 H.P. or a 350 H.P. 348. This possibly could be figured out by when the car was built. The 350 H.P. 348 was a mid-year option for 1960. If your Impala is an early year car, it would have been a 335 H.P. engine. A late 1960 Impala would have had a 350 H.P. 348.
Good W block site but don't know if'll help. http://www.348-409.com/ I just picked up a '61 348 Impala but a lowly 250hp.
You probably have your answers by now, but I have been told 409 s have an x cast into the front of the block, and I believe 348 has the dipstick on one side and 409 on the other. I had a58 Apache with a 348 (not original) and it was a thirsty beast. But a lot of fun. Good luck with the Impala.
Thanks for the help everyone. I had looked at 348-409.com but only today found the ID section. Oh well, led to a good discussion here! My car was built the first week of August, so I guess it would be the 35o hp variant. Now all I have to do is track down and engine with the right codes... Anyone know what the lag time was between engine manufacturing and being placed in the body? In other words, what dates would I be looking at for a body produced in the first week of August? I still haven't really decided what I'm going to do with it, but while I'm deciding I might as well start the search for the engine. If I decide to sell it later on, I don't think I'll lose money on the deal.
So, at Charlotte swap meet the last couple of days i bought new additions for the impala. I found a date correct tri power set up yesterday, and then today found a complete, solid running 348...not originally a tri power engine, but will suffice until I find the right one.
So, I was doing a little research in the casting numbers. It's a first casting 348 #3732811 block, cast October 23, 1957 and assembled on November 6, 1957. It's a G code 250 hp originally mated to a power glide. What I actually need would be a pre-August 1960 FJ or FH (if it exists) to be correct. My Impalas production date is an 08A, or the first week in August 1960. Anyone know how long the 3732811 casting was used? I wonder if the relative scarcity would make it valuable enough to swap for the one I need? More research is in order. I did find the eBay listing the previous owner had for this engine....asking significantly more than I paid
Just FYI in case anyone is interested the dipstick on a 348 is on drivers side, 409 is on passenger side. Bob
I just bought a 1960 Nomad. 348. After reading this thread...what do we have if the coil is mounted on the driver's side of the distributor?
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