1961 Chevy 409 info wanted:

X-TECH MAN · 02-12-2009, 08:48 AM

I agree with Bill Dedman....I would buid a Z-11 clone for nostalgia racing if we could get Alum. heads and the 2 piece intake from someplace like Edelbrock. Greg Reimer is right on the money for the most part about the 409's. 142 SS Impalas were assembly line built with the 360 HP version. Even the racing greats such as Dyno Don Nicholson (Impala), Frank Sanders (Biscayne) and Dave strickler (Biscayne) started with 348/350 HP cars then switched engines for the Winter Nationals of that year. These were "left over" engines from the Daytona 500 of 1961 that were shipped to any racer who had connections with the factory or a name. The early engines were thin (cylinder walls) and blew up a lot during the 500 but worked OK for drag racing.The 409's were low RPM torque engines (6000 or so) as compared to the later big block version (396/427/454). They didnt breath well at higher RPMs. Thats most likely the reason they didnt use them in 1964, 1965 except for street use. The 409 was gone after half of the model run in 1965.

02-12-2009, 08:48 AM	#10
X-TECH MAN Banned Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Lake Placid, Florida Posts: 3,203 Likes: 1,047 Liked 235 Times in 110 Posts	Re: 1961 Chevy 409 info wanted: I agree with Bill Dedman....I would buid a Z-11 clone for nostalgia racing if we could get Alum. heads and the 2 piece intake from someplace like Edelbrock. Greg Reimer is right on the money for the most part about the 409's. 142 SS Impalas were assembly line built with the 360 HP version. Even the racing greats such as Dyno Don Nicholson (Impala), Frank Sanders (Biscayne) and Dave strickler (Biscayne) started with 348/350 HP cars then switched engines for the Winter Nationals of that year. These were "left over" engines from the Daytona 500 of 1961 that were shipped to any racer who had connections with the factory or a name. The early engines were thin (cylinder walls) and blew up a lot during the 500 but worked OK for drag racing.The 409's were low RPM torque engines (6000 or so) as compared to the later big block version (396/427/454). They didnt breath well at higher RPMs. Thats most likely the reason they didnt use them in 1964, 1965 except for street use. The 409 was gone after half of the model run in 1965.