Hot Rods 1958 348 Tri-Power with Powerglide

I can get this motor for $1600 with transmission and thinking about grabbing it to put in my 1950 Chevy 3100. Would I need custom motor mounts or would I use 409 motor mounts and is it a good price for the motor and transmission


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The 348 and 409 use the same motor mounts. I think its a good deal myself. If its running good. It would cost you more than that to find one and rebuild it.

 

thats a good deal even for rebuilder. Though as a heads up the 58 348 does have some oddities in their design over the 59-61's. Mainly they use different head gaskets. Learned that one the hard way.

 

The 348/409 use the same mounts as a small block. They are also located in the same position relative to the bellhousing surface.

 

Are you sure it is a power glide not a turboglide

 

^^^Simple I.D.; aluminum trans case=Turbo-glide; cast iron trans case=Powerglide.^^^ Personally, I'd update to a more modern trans, and the TH400 gets my vote (not an OD fan in rods). I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

I am with butch here, not a big fan of OD for a hot rod or a power slip for a driver.

To go in a '50 Chevy truck yes you are going to need to build mounts but no hill for a stepper. They even make a Hurst mount for that engine (I have an NOS Hurst mount that will fir that motor) if you want to run front mounts. I personally would probably just run side mounts.

the 348 with trips (factory) was a pretty snappy motor for the era by the way.

 

I'm an overdrive fan in hot rods, just not the automatic type.

 

Sounds cheap. Re 58’s, early 58 is different to late 58. Early 58 have slightly different heads and a rope rear main seal. 348 409 forum has a list of numbers for id.

 

Sounds like a good deal. We need pictures, remember all W motors are precious and should be saved and used!


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The issue with the head gaskets is the addition of spark plug cooling. Sometime in early March of 1958 Chevy added the spark plug cooling bosses to the block but not the heads. These new bosses were left undrilled until the cylinder heads had the bosses added to them which happened about a month later. I believe this was done to use up all the cylinder heads that did not have the bosses for water cooling the spark plugs areas of the castings. My feelings are that Chevy had a stock pile of the heads without the bosses and did not want to scrap them.
This makes for three different engine variations during the 1958 model year. I hade a 348-315hp 3-2bbl 3-speed engine that was cast in early March with the bosses but no water passages drilled or machined in them. This early engine had cylinder heads without the spark plug cooling bosses and used the head gaskets without the cooling bosses
and holes. I bought this engine from the original owner that replaced it in 1959 with a 335hp 348 engine after he spun
two connection rod bearings. The engine had never been apart, just stored in his garage and left for dead in the summer of 1959 so I have no reason to doubt its originality.
When I was going to rebuild this engine I did some digging to find out why it was built like this and ended up selling it to a guy in California that wanted it for his 1958 Impala so off it went.
This really should not be a problem for you providing the heads match the block and if its complete, running and not pissing water out the deck surface it sounds like a winner to me.

 

I like the stories & personal history from oldtimers, like this old forgotten motor swap back in the day.

 

Even if the heads don't match, it's an easy fix. Simply drill out the offending part to allow installation of a round plug such as expansion plug or hex socket threaded plug.

 

I have been trying to add photos of the motor and transmission and I can’t figure out how on my iPhone. As far as I know it’s a original motor and auto transmission off a 1958 Impala

 

I think you need a PC or iPad to load the pics...a phone app does not provide that function