Very Nostalgic Ex-409 Owner

R

Raymond

Member
I live in Sacramento, CA and am a new guy in this forum needing some help
from any 409 friends.
In 1962 I bought a brand new SS 409/409. I drag raced it and of course drove it on the street and I have many fond memories of the good times I had with that Impala. Recently I discovered that I still had the old pink slip to my 409. I remembered that I had misplaced it back then and gotten a duplicate from the CA DMV. The next thing I did was put a tracer on it through the DMV but it was to no avail. In CA they don't give out any info but they at least told me that it did not exist in their data system. That means that there are 3 possibilities. The car is not registered, it has gone out of state, or worse yet. It has been totaled. CAN ANYONE ADVISE ME WHAT ELSE I CAN DO TO FIND THIS CAR?

I am also now looking at pictures of another '62 409 up for sale and find a few odd items. I want to be sure that it is a real 409 since there is no documentation. I remember that the tachometer sending unit was mounted on the left inner fender but this one has it on the firewall. That makes me wonder. What do I look for to know for sure if it is the real deal? Raymond:)
 
Brian Thompson

Brian Thompson

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 2
Raymond-

Welcome to the site! There are a lot of great people here and are very willing to help with whatever you may encounter.

As far as looking for a true 409 car, it is literally impossible to know for sure. there are tell tale signs to look for, but with all of the clones getting better, the only thing to prove a true 409 is documentation. Others will jump in here if they know of anything else for proof.

Things to look for, and I am sure others will comment to this as well.

1 - 409 and 327/300 HP had tach on column and sending unit on left inner fender.

2 - 409 and 327/300 HP Wire for reverse lights on tranny went through firewall next to gas pedal.

3 - 409 ONLY had a Ballast resistor on the firewall left of the master cylinder.

4 - 409 and 327/300 HP 4Speed had a cut in the floor for the 4 speed. looks as though it was done with a cut-off wheel and had a hump extension with alot of screws in it.

5 - 409 and 327/300 HP had a 3/8" 3-piece fuel line that went through the driveshaft tunnel and went to the inside (outside of frame rail) of the passenger upper control arm. 62 cars did not have the return line.

6 - Of course date codes on the engine and parts to coincide with the month the car was built. The parts can be dated a few months prior to the build of the car.

Hope this helps...
 
R

Raymond

Member
Tell Tale 409 Signs

Thanx Brian,
The pics do not show a resistor on the firewall where it should be just left of the distributor. However, there is a power brake booster in the general area but I don't think that would be cause to relocate the resistor. I can't tell for sure either but I don't see any holes to mount the tach sending unit on the left inner fender. The sending unit is mounted on the firewall. The dealer also advised me that the block has been decked so there are no visible stampings. This car is being advertised at 50k as is. Raymond
 
Old School

Old School

 
Supporting Member 1
Raymond: Welcome to the forum. CA DMV only holds their vehicle records 5 years. If the VIN is not in the system now, my guess is it didn’t make it. Most of the 409s ran until they blew the motors. Sadly, very few 62’s survived the scrap pile. In the 60’s, CA cars weren’t purchased by out of state buyers like they are today.

If you are looking for an original 409 car and have found one you are thinking is correct, post it on this board. There many experts here that would be happy to take a look at it for you or perhaps even know the car.
Mick
 
R

Raymond

Member
Same 409 Questions

Thanx Ron,
I studied the pictures again and can only come up with the two same questions I had before. The tach sending unit is incorrectly mounted on the firewall and the inner fender does NOT appear to have any holes where the unit should be placed.
That's problem number 1. Problem number 2 is that there is no ballast resistor
on the firewall but there is a power brake booster on the left side of the firewall.
However, theres still room for a ballast resistor. I've seen quite a few hi-perf 409's
but never recall seeing any with power brakes. Was that option available with a
'62 380-409 h.p. engine?


RCE1962 said:
Hi Raymond

Welcome to the site.


Here's a great link, within this forum, that I'm sure will be helpful, as well. :D


http://www.348-409.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4454&highlight=ballast

Once you read through this, and if you are able to check out the car again...let us know what you find!


Ron

RCE1962
Click to expand...
 
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