stupid ?

[greg fulk]

Ok here I go again...but why is their no 61-64 chevy "big" cars running stock or SS ? I know captin Jack has a 60 wagon but it's the only one I know of.

[Real Racer]

http://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCSt...r2008#indextop

360 HP 409

[Dragsinger]

Greg,

I think the biggest factors are car weight and a poor suspension system.

[Dragsinger]

also, all the small block 1961 - 1964 engine combinations for those car will use very small carburetors. Of course, the 409 uses a larger carburetor but that engine has limited potential in stocker form.

[Greg Reimer 7376]

Many moons ago when I was young and crazy,I bracket raced a red 62 Impala SS two door hardtop with a 409 with a pair of quads. The engine was a stock piece made up of whatever parts I could find 30 plus years ago.It had a NOS Chevy first-design camshaft, a Lakewood scattershield,a Muncie 4 speed with the 2.52 first gear,4:88's, and the design limitations of those cars showed itself pretty rapidly. Rear end destruction and drive line failure was not too uncommon.I put a one-piece driveshaft in it,massaging the frame tunnel as necessary ,and installed a 12 bolt. It stayed together pretty well after that, but never went any quicker than 12.60's@109. It was a riot on the street, but it would have been out to lunch as a stocker. The frame is too narrow, the suspension basically did not work, body roll on launch was extreme,but that doesn't mean improvement didn't exist. What works on a Chevelle basically worked on these cars,but size and weight don't help. Did anybody ever try one of these with a 327/300 horse engine?The #459 intake and the 461 heads wouldn't hurt, and the AFB would be an improvement over the 4-jet,or is the laws of physics regarding size,mass, and inertia just too much to overcome? It would be fun to see that G/S '61however.

[Alan Roehrich]

Originally Posted by Dragsinger

also, all the small block 1961 - 1964 engine combinations for those car will use very small carburetors. Of course, the 409 uses a larger carburetor but that engine has limited potential in stocker form.

Actually, the 409-425 has plenty of potential, at least by the numbers. The problem is you have a big heavy car, with a very limited supply of parts, that also must run a manual transmission. Any way you look at it, 409 stuff is very expensive and hard to find. The only real mechanical drawback I see is piston weight, I know from experience that 409 pistons are like lead filled trash cans. The transmission problem can be solved with a Jericho. You can put a one piece drive shaft in fairly easily. You can even swap in a 12 bolt, albeit with some difficulty. The rear suspension could be set up like Alf Wiebe does the Chevelle stuff. But you still have a really big, heavy, A, B, or C stick car that has a very rare and expensive engine. The "cool factor" would be outstanding, but I'm not real sure that'd outweigh the expense and difficulty.

[Real Racer]

Aubrey Bruneau from division 6 has a 62 bubble top 409 that runs in C or D/S I believe.

[Greg Reimer 7376]

In retrospect,I remember going to the 1980 Winternationals and watchingCal Method go to the final round in Stock with a T/SA '61 Chevy wagon,283 and all. Also about that same time,I had a friend in Noo Joisey that had a '61 Impala hardtop with a 348/250 horse engine and a 4 speed that ran O/S, and it went 13.0's at around 103. That engine wouldn't have needed a rev limiter. It WAS a rev limiter. One of the 409's I built had .060" over TRW pistons, just like OEM,and they weighed 1025 grams with pins. This was minus rings.The other problem with a 409 was the irregular exhaust ports.They didn't flow nearly like the intake ports. Also,the intake manifold had square turns, and no two runners flowed the same. They were an interesting motor, and I had fun for a lot of years with it. I still have the engine from my Impala,carbs to pan. I would like to put it in a 64 or 65 Chevelle and build the car Chevrolet didn't allow themselves to build. Now that heads and intakes are being reproduced by Edelbrock, it might be a real fun thing.

[John Dinkel]

Greg,

Gerry Gostenik from Dearborn Michigan has a beautiful black 61 Bel Air. He runs in G/S

[Billy Nees]

I've always wanted to do a 61 bubbletop with a 348. Big 4GC, big valves, enough cam, decentheads and oversquare bore & stroke at 250 hp should work. Has anybody got one that I can borrow?