Recent content by 427John

  1. 4

    I am stumped : carburetor issue

    MRHP hit the nail on the head, with the difference between fuels from the 50's and 60's (no ethanol) to todays gas I would be totally surprised if the factory calibration for the carb still worked it will probably want a little more fuel in most scenarios including accelerator shot.
  2. 4

    Notched 068 block

    Early truck 348 blocks were double notch, later truck 348's were single notch, I think they coincided with early 348 truck heads not having the combustion chambers like the later 333 truck heads.
  3. 4

    Is this a 1961 409

    It would take an unethical person to do something like this, and there never seems to be a shortage of those so I'm sure it has been done.
  4. 4

    3732692 Crank grind

    That video is probably referring to the nitrided cranks used in some HP 427's and 454's such as L-88's and ZL-1's, not sure if the 425 horse engines used them too but it definitely wasn't used across the board on steel cranks. It was a surface treatment that only went in a little way, polishing...
  5. 4

    Is this a 1961 409

    The problem with the VIN you keep referring to though is a 61 VIN, supposedly stamped into an engine that was assembled in Nov 61 several weeks after the end of 61 MY production and the beginning of 62 MY production. Assembly date of the engine will predate the assembly date of the car. Once...
  6. 4

    Looking for any company that ever made a tri-power set up for the 348-409 engines besides GM's one and only cast iron piece.

    Pontiac made an aluminum tripower intake for their389SD program, can't remember if it was for 59 or 60, but they are few and far between, I personally don't remember seeing any aftermarket tripowers for the W, but there were lots of them for Pontiacs and Olds who also offered OEM tripowers for...
  7. 4

    Best Rear End for 409

    If it were me and I was going with the 3.55 gear I would stick with the stock converter, I wouldn't bother with a looser converter for the uses you stated unless I went with a 3.08 or numerically lower ratio. A nice 409 backed by an auto with 3.55 gears will have plenty of pep, for cruising you...
  8. 4

    Thinking about a stroker short block, going rate for a block?

    While it is in contradiction of the original engineers reasoning of increasing journal diameter to maintain overlap when increasing stroke, apparently the manufacturers of stroker cranks don't share that concern. It would seem that the original reasoning was overly conservative.
  9. 4

    Correct length of clutch pedal push rod

    Are you certain you have the right height TO bearing? there are 3 different heights for chevy's, I went thru this in my 64 K20 when I replaced a LUK clutch that had been behind a swapped in 305 with a Centerforce when I swapped in a 454.
  10. 4

    Thinking about a stroker short block, going rate for a block?

    I had a 454 crank that was already .040 under and I considered going to the SBC journal, but it cleaned up at .050 and I was able to find some bearings.
  11. 4

    Best Rear End for 409

    Assuming some sort of big block with the Turbo 400, I would go something in the mid 3's 3.36 or 3.55 nothing lower, the larger and more powerful the engine the less gear you need. If you're talking a small block I would be considering a Turbo 350 especially if its a 283 thats light on torque...
  12. 4

    Best Rear End for 409

    If Chevy had used them in their big cars, they would have been the rear that the aftermarket flocked to because the numbers of them out there would equaled or exceeded the numbers of 9"s, I know they were more expensive but economy of scale would have offset some of that.
  13. 4

    Best Rear End for 409

    If you were talking 64 or earlier I would say early Pont/Olds 9.3, but being a 65 a 12 bolt is just as La Hot Rod says, they were way more prevalent in big Chevies after 65 than they ever were in Chevelles, Camaros, or Novas.
  14. 4

    All aluminum 409???

    Were the blocks he did use the aluminum bore or were they meant to use a pressed in iron sleeve? I think they either used a different alloy or a different heat treatment for the aluminum bore blocks. Ford made a very few blocks that had iron sleeves and a casting number for the 494 Can Am...
  15. 4

    Swap 348 into 1959 apache 3600

    If they are both SM420's I don't think there is a lot of difference between them maybe the later casting date version may have some updates but take a close look at them if both SM 420's they should look almost identical, if there are some differences the later casting number trans may be a...
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