I am looking at building a 348 and I am wondering what the difference between the 348 heads and the 409 head? And then was there a difference between the passenger car heads and the truck heads? I know they had the high performance heads that had the larger valves but was that the only difference between any of the heads?? Any help would be greatly appreciated! 39
the intake ports are different between high per. and low per., so intake manifolds are also going to be different. Try www.348-409.com for more info.
I believe the Hi-po heads are all on their own, but between the regular passenger cars and the trucks, the difference in compression was in the block itself. (Since that is where the combustion chamber is) The trucks had a notch machined into the cylinder wall near the top to lower compression. Car craft had a great article on these engines a few months ago. I have a scanned copy if anyone wants it. --Brian
348s have the dipstick on the driver's side, and 409s are on the passenger side. Otherwise they look the same
I understand that the combustion chamber is in the block, but am i understanding the rest though that there really is no difference between the 348 and 409 passenger and truck heads....... I know that the high prof heads are different I am mainly just wondering about the passenger and truck heads.
The early 58 348s are in their own world too. The heads have no coolant provisions around the spark plug. Can't interchange them. Can't put later heads on the early block.
Let me rephrase that, the passenger car heads Like 690's will take a different intake, than say 333 truck heads. By High per. i meant passenger heads. (Not Z-11) Passenger Head notice the intake Side of the head Truck head
You can, BUT you have to weld up the steam holes in the later heads. The holes hang over the edge of the early 348 block and will leak like a shower the first time you fill the block with coolant! Ask me how I know Anyway, the steam holes are small and easy to fill.
New issue of Hot Rod came yesterday. Has a buildup of a 409 based on a truck block. Might or might not have info you can use.
Kustomrodder53 What issue was that article in?? AnimalAin I read that article this morning and it really didn't have anything in it that I didnt know already, it was mostly just about the heads that Edelbrock now has for them. Tindall Thanks for the info and wedsite, very helpfull. NITROFC Do you know what kind of hp you get from yours and how/what did you use in your buildup of your motor. What is it that you have it in as well? I always knew the notch in the top of the cylinder was to reduce compression for the truck motors but I just checked the numbers from the block I have and with the casting number and date code it says that it is a car motor, but it has the notch in the cylinder??? was it just a bigger notch in the truck motors or is mine definitely a truck motor because of the notch????
Also, on many 409's there's an X cast into the block above and to the right (if standing in front of the motor) of the timing cover. I've heard most have this, BUT not all. Also, i had a 348 and currently have a 409. The '09 is a 65 truck motor, the 348 was a 60 or 61 car..Both have the same casting heads, just different date codes.. The low horse 409 shared the same head as the 348's. The website Tindall posted is a good place for info. I'm a member there as well and have gained some knowledge from there about these. Sooner or later i'll get around to mine..when i hit the lottery or something.
All the truck heads that I've owned had deeper valve spring pockets to make use of valve rotators. 348-409.com has many threads on building good truck heads for the street. Max
The 348 and 409 truck heads shared the same small valve sizes with the 348 car heads except for the high horse #1147 348 heads which is basically the same as the 61 360 horse 409 and 63-65 340 horse 409 car engine heads. Max
I have a 1966 348 Truck Block with X on the block and heads. Is this an under bored casting? Heads were 333 castings. Doug
Doug, some of the 3857655 and other 348 blocks have been bored out successfully to accept 409 or larger pistons in the past. The 333 heads are worth holding on to and can be reworked to run the large hipo 409 valves. The 409 crank is basically a drop in. Some of the guys have stroked thier 348s with 396 and 427 Rat cranks. A sonic test would always be recommended to see how far you could safely go. For more info by people that know a lot more than I do, check out www.348-409.com
damn i'm glad this post came up, i just came across a 348 and am REALLY concidering it for my coop.... btw, what's a fair price for a COMPLETE one? and i mean complete, down to the aircleaner. a good friend has it so i'm not gonna lowball him...
...cool article in the newest issue of Muscle Car Review magazine on these two engines, you mite be interested in it.
4gc or a wcfb 4bbl. block casting sez it's a 58-61. too dirty to get a suffix or casting date. don't think it's a truck but it might be, has a clutch and b'housing still on it... if the deal was done. there was a pair of offy v/c's at the swap meet today....
Doug, the X was added in the block castings late 62. There are a few different views on why the X is there, the most popular being that the X indicates a higher nickle content in the cast iron.
Also How does a 1958 nice restoration run with 1958 heads? Do they use them for date code putposes, or are they ready for the scrap iron pile? I have not heard much good about the early heads.
They allso make awesome stroker kits for 348 and 409. You get a lot more cubes out of the 348. More power awesome sounding engines allso. John
Nate, im going to an auction on the 20th and at that auction are 2 sets of 1964 340 horse 409 heads and also 2 1964 dual quad 409 intakes with OG carbs. Send me a large stack of cash and I will get them for you.
The Jalopy Journal
