Markstl67

markstl67

New Member
Good afternoon,

I wanted to introduce myself to everyone. My name is Mark and I live in the St. Louis area. I have a 1964 Impala station wagon 283/3sp o.d. that is our family cruiser/power tour car. Last year I acquired 2 -1963 impalas. Both are fairly solid (for Missouri standards). 1 is a true SS and the other is a plane Jane 2 door hardtop. I also have a 1967 Malibu that I've owned for close to twenty years that I completely rebuilt and painted as a project when I was in college. The 67 and 64 are both driver quality (not original, dings,etc) and that is fine with me. The 2 -63's I plan on making into very nice, well put together respectable drivers. Neither car was originally a 409. When I purchased them they came with numerous 409 parts including 2 already built engines- the previous owner planned to clone both into 409 cars. The plan is to make the SS a factory appearing car and the non-ss is going to look like a 60's/70's street car that I plan on building a fairly healthy stroker for. My dad has a nice original 35,xxx mi 4 door impala he has owned since 1977. He also bought a 64 2 door project that I sold him when I bought the 2- 63's. I plan on making his 64 a 409 car if a third block I have (its cracked pretty good) is usable. His first car was a 2 door 64 he completely rebuilt when he was in college- it was a 6cyl/powerglide car because that is what he could afford at the time. He's always wanted a 409, so I'm going to try to make that happen. I'm sure I'll have numerous questions during the projects which is why I joined this site. I'm not sure which project will get started first, but I'm leaning towards my dad's 64. This leads me to a question maybe a few of you can answer ( I can also post this in a different section if needed)- I have the 2 engines that came with my cars that are good to go- I'll pull them apart to inspect before I do anything to be sure, I'm extremely confident they are done right. I also have 2 blocks which are both cracked. One is cracked on both sides so I am thinking that will probably sit on a shelf. The other block is only cracked on one side, but the previous repair looks to possibly be jb weld and it's a mess. Regardless it's far from quality workmanship. I'd like to have the block checked out to see if its usable and am looking for a reliable machine shop in the St. Louis area to do so. Any recommendations, preferably within 75-100 miles? I used AMT racing engines before, but that was 20 years ago and I'm not sure they do 348/409. I've heard they concentrate a lot on mopars these days. Thanks in advance! I'll get a picture of the wagon posted when I get a chance. I can't get any good pics of the 63's or my dads 64 because they are in storage right now.
 

Jim Sullivan

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 10
Welcome to this great site Mark. Lots of information is available here. I've repaired a 409 truck block using morose ceramic sealer in the coolant passages, drilled the ends of the cracks, JB Welded pins in the holes, v'ed the outside and JB Welded the crack. Still hasn't leaked in over 7 years. But there are better ways to fix them- Lock-N-Stich pins or welding. Don't shelf the block.
 

markstl67

New Member
Jim, thanks for the reply. I’ve looked into the lock-n-stitch method, and one of my complete engines has been welded when the previous owner had it built. I’d like someone to put eyes on the block to see the crack in question after it’s been hot tanked and cleaned up. I certainly would prefer not to shelf the block, but I know it can get costly. I’d rather not build the engine only to have problems down the road.

La hot rods- I’ve heard of Morley, so I will look into them further.
 

Tom Kochtanek

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 12
Welcome aboard!

James, Tooth (aka John) and I are all in central MO (Columbia area) and Tooth is about to tackle a lock-n-stitch job on a 409 block he just acquired, so you might get some advise from him. James has now built several W engines in addition to other builds. I've gone with Tony Schaffer of Day Automotive in Independence MO and more recently James has been to Fenton at Morleys. Tooth has an "in" with another local machine shop that has offered to do some work for him, but I suspect that's a closed door for others...

Sounds like you've got a great start on several projects! Just ask and we'll try to help guide to to meet your objectives :).

Where are you in St. Louis? I've got a son in Clayton that I visit a few times a month.

Cheers! TomK
 

markstl67

New Member
Tom, thank you. I live in the south city area- about 15 min from Clayton. I’m close to Ted Drewes and even closer to the old Wise speed shop if you are familiar with either of those.
 

1964SuperStocker

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 3
The difference between people with cracks in their blocks and those without is money. I will say luck has something to do with it too. Never be affraid of finding a good shop to fix it. I'm eager to see a 409 block that is getting fixed up in Nevada Iowa at Mid-West Cylinder heads. They have done great work for me before but I have never seen them fix a cracked block before. They are one of the only shops capable in Iowa and they handle mostly big trucks but engine block is an engine block when it comes to fixing a crack.
 

63impalass409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 2
Welcome to this site!! You seem to be a very ambitious person and we would love to see some pictures.
 
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