HP Reduction Request

[Mike Jones]

[QUOTE=Randall Klein;528955]Wasn't someone running a '62 Impala on the east coast a few years ago
Any others come to mind??

Denny Ford and Ray Whitney

Mike A114
P/SA

[Mike Jones]

Originally Posted by Mark Yacavone

The 62 409 was actually 409 hp rated.
The 63 was 425, with not much difference in specs, if any.
There's a perfect example for Dwight's previous post .
The 62 has been reduced through the current system, but nowhere near enough.
The single 4 , 380 /365 hp needs about 65 more off it ,with that small carburetor.

Thanks, Mark
I thought two 4 barrels made it 425HP
Mike

[Greg Reimer 7376]

Alright, let's kick the dinosaur in the posterior and see if it wakes up.In the realm of 409's, the '62 engine had straight down 2 1/2" exhaust manifolds. It had a camshaft,#3830690 that had around .510 lift. it called for a valve adjustment lash of .018"on the intakes, .030" on the exhausts, mechanical lifters. At that setting,it sounded like an early Z-28 Camaro. Manual transmission only, probably 99% were 4 speeds. It had an intake that ended in 881, and the two Carter AFB's were D series as to their size. The '62 engine was rated at 409 horsepower at 6000 RPM, the single 4 barrel engine at 380 horsepower had a larger 4 barrel AFB than the dual 4 barrel. The 63 400-425 horse engines had the same size carbs as the '62,the 690 cam was carried over until mid year 64, that engine was internally identical to the 62 engines. The only difference was that the 63-64 engine had a neat set of cast iron header type exhaust manifolds. They also had chrome valve covers, dip stick,and air cleaner. These engines had bunch of torque at 4000 RPM, but the factory horsepower ratings were pretty close to what these engines could make, although good tuning and good headers helped a bunch. The '62 cars with lower factoring would be the car to build. A really well used properly built 409 with a pair of quads could realistically make 460- 500 horsepower. Much more than that would require re-engineering, but it's doable. Get a set of those Edelbrock heads approved and start with that!

[Alan Nyhus]

Originally Posted by Mike Jones

Thanks, Mark
I thought two 4 barrel`s made it 425HP
Mike

Not in '62...those were 409/409's. The '63-'64 dual quads are 409/425'S.

Denny Ford races a C/S '62 409/409.

[Greg Reimer 7376]

The '62 409 horse and 380 horse engines were exactly the same as all '63 400 horse and 425 horse engines, except for the exhaust manifolds and the chrome parts. The '64 400 and 409 horse engines had a mid year change,actually mid November 63, where a higher lift camshaft was installed, number 3837735, and the heads were 583 castings. The only difference in the 690 head available in 62-mid year 64, and the 583 head was that the valve spring pockets were deeper to accommodate taller springs and more valve lift. The heads and the cam had to go together-putting a .540" or so lift cam in the earlier heads with the shorter installed height springs would coil bind the valve train resulting in rocker arm breakage and flat cams. Still,the horsepower ratings were 400 for the single 4 barrel, and 425 for the dual 4 barrel engine. The 409/425 was not available in '65. the 340 horse and the 400 horse was the last of the 409's, only about 2800 or so total 409 engines were sold in 65 Chevys.

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by Mike Jones

Thanks, Mark
I thought two 4 barrel`s made it 425HP
Mike

Good friend of mine bought a new 1962 409 hp 409" 4 speed, Biscayne 2 Dr sedan. The '63 425 hp cars were no faster. Same carbs, etc. His '62 came with two head gaskets on each side. Little book that came with it telling you to remove the extra gaskets to race it.
Single head gaskets, nice fenderwell headers, Hurst shifter, 4.56 gears, slicks, he never did get that car into the 12s. But, he drove it like he was afraid we would tear it up. We street raced a lot then, I don't remember a 425 hp car outrunning him. I think the '62 was lighter?
The 409 409" came out in 1961. You had to "be somebody" to buy one. Local guy Jerry Weiderman had the only one around here. Jerry's claim to fame was winning the 1957 NHRA Nationals, which was held at Oklahoma City for a couple of years. Jerry won that with a red & white 1957 210 2dr sedan with the 283 hp fuel injected 283" engine, column shifted 3 speed. 4 speeds were not actually available in anything but a Corvette then.

[David Lee]

didn't a guy from new mexico run one of these? Bobby ?

[Mark Yacavone]

Get ready for another extra long Billy thread...

[Coleydog]

Achilles heel was the center driveshaft support, the rear and driveshaft. Friends 64 had two or three rears set up, extra bearing supports and drive shafts. Running on bias ply tires. That's the one reason I liked Chrysler, they put strong drivetrains to go with the big engines. That 348-409 was the best looking engine Chevy ever made. The 61 348 should be a good combo I would think. Had the use of one for a summer and would fly.

[Greg Reimer 7376]

Many,many moons ago,I had a good friend in Danville,New Jersey.He got a '61 Impala with a 250 horse 348 and a factory 3 speed.Along with that he got a wild hair to make a NHRA Stock Eliminator car out of it. It fit in O/S. 250 horsepower, 15 pounds plus driver. I think the index was a 13.30 or so.He got a good 4 jet, a tricked out 4 speed, 4.88's with a spool for the original rear end, somebody's good axles, and he flogged it into shape.He told me it went a lot of 13'0's,and a few 12.90's. This was in 1980-82,a three tenths under pass was a big deal then. He said that it was the combo that shouldn't have worked,but it did.