My story with 409's began when I was born in 1970 - Our family car was a 1964 SS impala, black inside/out.
My grandfather was a paint and body man at the Chevrolet dealer in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. My dad was working in the parts department there at the time. Dad was a fan of the 62 and 63's Impala's, but did not quite like the 64 models when they first arrived. After a few months he began to like the 64 SS Impala and special ordered a 64 SS Impala with the 400hp 409 option, with a muncie close ratio 4-speed, white ball hurst shifter. The projected build and delivery time was around 8-12 weeks. The price dad paid was $2995.00 After only 2 weeks of waiting, the dealership called him and said his car had arrived, but had it some issues they wanted him to come down and talk about. Dad checked out the car, and was told that the engine would not start and the vehicle had to be rolled off of the rail car and towed into the dealership mechanic area (they were investigating the problem). The car had been shipped from Kansas City (not sure what that was about). Under the hood it had a lot of chrome, including the fuel line. Single Carter AFB as expected - but there were some surprises.
The dealer called the factory and was advised that they would send a part to resolve the starting issue - a nearly 2" thick plate of aluminum to insert under the carburetor. So, they did and the starting problem was resolved. Turns out the engine had a very radical camshaft in it after they got it running and had also noticed it was equipped with solid lifters. The car was beautiful and exactly what dad wanted. It of course ran really well.
As a child I always remember at the filling station: "fill it up with Ethyl" or the engine knocked on regular fuel. I assume it was very high compression.
Dad became pretty successful on the local street drag racing scene and strips around the state. He had a single-carburetor 409 that was tromping on all of the dual carb Fords (Dad's words were "it would eat dual carb fords"). Other 400 hp 409's were beaten regularly, even one dual carb 409 - assume this was the 425 hp option? Clearly, there was something very special about this particular engine. Apparently this attracted competition from all around the area - a single carb 409 beating everyone??
At about 5000 miles this engine in the 64 SS Impala developed a small knock, which was determined to be a wrist pin. Dad returned it to the dealership for repair, and it turned out that the mechanic that tore it down had no experience with the 409 engines. The mechanic made the decision to hone all the cylinders and replace the rings as part of the repair for the wrist pin. The mechanic apparently messed up the cylinder walls during the repair and the engine began excessively using oil thereafter. During this tear down, it was discovered that this was in fact a 427, with the 3.65" stroke, longer rods, and different wrist pin positioning. Just a guess, but It seemed that it might have been some leftover 1963 427 z11 parts -- but the heads and intake were clearly for a 409 (non-z11 parts). Dad was a parts guy, so he ran all of the numbers (he was also very familiar with z11 heads/intake). He never figured out why the car would have been originally shipped from Kansas City either.
After several reports to the dealership about the sudden excessive oil usage, the word came down that this was not excessive enough and they would not work on it again unless it came apart. The dealership had put their foot down - I'm sure they knew he was racing it - small town. So a few days later, a certain family member decided to make it come apart and force the repair - it only had about 8000 miles on it. It was discovered then that the car would run over 90mph in first gear (it had 3.08:1 rear gears). It made it about 3 miles down the highway under its own power before coming to pieces.
The car was towed into the dealership, torn down, and the situation was turned over to a special GM inspector from Memphis, TN. The dealership said they suspected my dad had over revved the engine, and if the Inspector found evidence of this then they would not repair it under warranty.
The car sat for about 3 weeks until the Inspector came over for the meeting. During the meeting, the Inspector and my grandfather recognized each other - they were old friends. The dealership openly accused my dad of over revving the engine which led to the mechanical failure. It was then, in front of everyone, that my grandfather owned up to over revving it himself and he informed the Inspector about the botched cylinder job and the dealer's refusal to repair damage caused by their work.
GM ordered/supplied an identical new 427 block assembly, minus the heads and intake. This assembly ran until my folks sold it in 1979 - it didn't use oil and held together! The new owner paid $1000 for the car, it had roughly 95,000 miles on it - I seem to remember him being from Pennsylvania but I could be wrong - I was 9 years old. Of course with three children by 1979, Dad wasn't doing a lot of racing with the family car. Here's a couple of photos with of the 64 Impala.
My mom holding my oldest brother in 1968. The car was retired from racing. Dad added A/C to it, and the radiator wasn't sufficient - had a larger new radiator built for it. My mom actually learned to drive in it, 4 speed, radical cam - the state trooper testing her was impressed that she was able to operate such a machine. He said he would have trouble doing so.
My mom and dad in 1966, Dad was stationed in Ft Polk, Louisiana. While he was away at the service, his older brother was regularly keeping the cob webs out of the tail pipes.
Dad also had a 1955 Bel Air that he ran on the drag strip (this was his first car). It was equipped with a 409, but running a set of z11 heads/intake that he bought from a man in Floydada, TX (dad was stationed in El Paso in the Army at the time). He owned a third z11 head (as a spare) that when he ordered it, he was told this was the last one GM had, new in the box, cosmoline, and no valves. It never got used and was later sold to a man in Iowa who was working on re-constructing an aluminum 1963 Impala.
The '55 had a modified wheelbase, I believe the rear axle was moved forward by 8 inches.
When your father is a body/fender man, you can hide such questionable modifications.
It'd be fun if some of the folks involved were here on this forum.
Happy New Year everyone!
-Brett
My grandfather was a paint and body man at the Chevrolet dealer in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. My dad was working in the parts department there at the time. Dad was a fan of the 62 and 63's Impala's, but did not quite like the 64 models when they first arrived. After a few months he began to like the 64 SS Impala and special ordered a 64 SS Impala with the 400hp 409 option, with a muncie close ratio 4-speed, white ball hurst shifter. The projected build and delivery time was around 8-12 weeks. The price dad paid was $2995.00 After only 2 weeks of waiting, the dealership called him and said his car had arrived, but had it some issues they wanted him to come down and talk about. Dad checked out the car, and was told that the engine would not start and the vehicle had to be rolled off of the rail car and towed into the dealership mechanic area (they were investigating the problem). The car had been shipped from Kansas City (not sure what that was about). Under the hood it had a lot of chrome, including the fuel line. Single Carter AFB as expected - but there were some surprises.
The dealer called the factory and was advised that they would send a part to resolve the starting issue - a nearly 2" thick plate of aluminum to insert under the carburetor. So, they did and the starting problem was resolved. Turns out the engine had a very radical camshaft in it after they got it running and had also noticed it was equipped with solid lifters. The car was beautiful and exactly what dad wanted. It of course ran really well.
As a child I always remember at the filling station: "fill it up with Ethyl" or the engine knocked on regular fuel. I assume it was very high compression.
Dad became pretty successful on the local street drag racing scene and strips around the state. He had a single-carburetor 409 that was tromping on all of the dual carb Fords (Dad's words were "it would eat dual carb fords"). Other 400 hp 409's were beaten regularly, even one dual carb 409 - assume this was the 425 hp option? Clearly, there was something very special about this particular engine. Apparently this attracted competition from all around the area - a single carb 409 beating everyone??
At about 5000 miles this engine in the 64 SS Impala developed a small knock, which was determined to be a wrist pin. Dad returned it to the dealership for repair, and it turned out that the mechanic that tore it down had no experience with the 409 engines. The mechanic made the decision to hone all the cylinders and replace the rings as part of the repair for the wrist pin. The mechanic apparently messed up the cylinder walls during the repair and the engine began excessively using oil thereafter. During this tear down, it was discovered that this was in fact a 427, with the 3.65" stroke, longer rods, and different wrist pin positioning. Just a guess, but It seemed that it might have been some leftover 1963 427 z11 parts -- but the heads and intake were clearly for a 409 (non-z11 parts). Dad was a parts guy, so he ran all of the numbers (he was also very familiar with z11 heads/intake). He never figured out why the car would have been originally shipped from Kansas City either.
After several reports to the dealership about the sudden excessive oil usage, the word came down that this was not excessive enough and they would not work on it again unless it came apart. The dealership had put their foot down - I'm sure they knew he was racing it - small town. So a few days later, a certain family member decided to make it come apart and force the repair - it only had about 8000 miles on it. It was discovered then that the car would run over 90mph in first gear (it had 3.08:1 rear gears). It made it about 3 miles down the highway under its own power before coming to pieces.
The car was towed into the dealership, torn down, and the situation was turned over to a special GM inspector from Memphis, TN. The dealership said they suspected my dad had over revved the engine, and if the Inspector found evidence of this then they would not repair it under warranty.
The car sat for about 3 weeks until the Inspector came over for the meeting. During the meeting, the Inspector and my grandfather recognized each other - they were old friends. The dealership openly accused my dad of over revving the engine which led to the mechanical failure. It was then, in front of everyone, that my grandfather owned up to over revving it himself and he informed the Inspector about the botched cylinder job and the dealer's refusal to repair damage caused by their work.
GM ordered/supplied an identical new 427 block assembly, minus the heads and intake. This assembly ran until my folks sold it in 1979 - it didn't use oil and held together! The new owner paid $1000 for the car, it had roughly 95,000 miles on it - I seem to remember him being from Pennsylvania but I could be wrong - I was 9 years old. Of course with three children by 1979, Dad wasn't doing a lot of racing with the family car. Here's a couple of photos with of the 64 Impala.
My mom holding my oldest brother in 1968. The car was retired from racing. Dad added A/C to it, and the radiator wasn't sufficient - had a larger new radiator built for it. My mom actually learned to drive in it, 4 speed, radical cam - the state trooper testing her was impressed that she was able to operate such a machine. He said he would have trouble doing so.
My mom and dad in 1966, Dad was stationed in Ft Polk, Louisiana. While he was away at the service, his older brother was regularly keeping the cob webs out of the tail pipes.
Dad also had a 1955 Bel Air that he ran on the drag strip (this was his first car). It was equipped with a 409, but running a set of z11 heads/intake that he bought from a man in Floydada, TX (dad was stationed in El Paso in the Army at the time). He owned a third z11 head (as a spare) that when he ordered it, he was told this was the last one GM had, new in the box, cosmoline, and no valves. It never got used and was later sold to a man in Iowa who was working on re-constructing an aluminum 1963 Impala.
The '55 had a modified wheelbase, I believe the rear axle was moved forward by 8 inches.
When your father is a body/fender man, you can hide such questionable modifications.
It'd be fun if some of the folks involved were here on this forum.
Happy New Year everyone!
-Brett
........
