If he doesnt someone else will. If the pedigree is correct and documented this is a winner. Cant go wrong at 25k
Never try to convince Grumpy Jenkins that the 409 was not tunable. In 1963, he worked for AAron Smith Chev in York, Pa. He was responsible for tuning the car known as "The Old Reliable" driven by Dave Strickler. That was one bad a$$ car as was the ones owned by Don Nicholson and Malcom Duram just to mention a few. Mine was a 63 Bel Air 409 4 spd post car with NO options. I remember, I picked it up on a Friday , changed the gears Friday night and hit the drag strip Sat night. Tunable? Yes, every day !!!!!!! Slicks? NO! Just Atlas Bucrons if anyone remembers them. Jan Garwig
Here is Car and Driver's take on the '65 409 Impala: http://www.55-57chevys.com/coccc/articles/646/65asty1.html
409 is on LITTLE DEUCE COUPE The Beach Boys Producer: Brian Wilson Released October 7, 1963 Capitol Records T & ST-1998 Album Charted: 11/9/63 Highest album chart position: 4 Album Spent 46 weeks on the charts
Nope.......a 327. I wish someone would tell Charlie Lombardi the cylinder combustion chamber is a hinderance...... His 409 425hp Impala clicked off a 13.15 @ 104mph during Saturday shootouts at the June Pure Stock Drags. Charlie's best was 13.38 @ 103(?) on Friday and my 427 425hp Marauder ran a 13.30 @ 106mph on Friday (Sat was out due to broken trans) I've got more power but I'm not running away from that combustion chamber that doesn't respond well. :laugh:
The first fast car I was ever in was a 63 Biscayne with a four speed, dual quad 409. It belonged to a friend of my fathers and he took us for a ride in it. I could remember how squirrelly it felt when he launched it and being just a little scared as the speedometer approached 100 mph. It was a former drag car and through the cheap green repaint you could still read the cars name Insane Biscayne. I was 9 years old and hooked for life.:Brow:
Sounds like a keeper. I had a 63 Impala 409 years ago. It is one I should have kept but who knew what they would be worth. If memory serves the 348 had the same design heads and valve covers. I would check the casting numbers to be sure your getting the real deal. Swapping out a 348 for a blown 409 was a common used car trick back in the day. I also think Chevy cast an X in the front of the block on the driver side. Good luck with it.. Did I ever tell you about my 41 Willy's Coupe 409 power. Now that was a ride........
My 409 would run consistant low 13's in A/S fashion with 4:56 gears. It was very difficult to hook up and launch was slow with Bucrons. When we were forced into A/FX we cheated a little more and would run mid to low 12's with traction still being a problem. Cheating was so rampant that the A/FX class was created and the weight to H/P classes were changed to bracket racing as we know it today. All fast 409's that I know of were really 427's with "cheater cams" that we changed factory markings. Oh, what fun it was while it lasted. I finally had to give in and buy a Savoy with a 426. If you couldn't beat them, you had to join them. The 409 was a real thrill in its day but times do change. Jan Garwig
