Chevy 409 V8 Engine

by the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide

Four-Oh-Nine! from its burbling throb at idle to it high-rpm scream, Chevy's 409 cu/in V8 was a sensation. What was the magic in this new engine? Was it just cubic inches? Well, it was that, plus something else - that indefinable quality an engine has when everything in it is designed to match everything else.

The 409's magical power was evident almost from the day it appeared in 1961. For example, Dan Gurney tore around Riverside in a stock 409 Impala to beat Dave McDonald's lap record, which had been set w/the hottest, FI 283 Corvette. Gurney raced his car in England that same year - but only once. He led the race, outpacing a pack of tuned 3.8L (232 cu/in) DOHC Jaguar sedans, until his Chevy lost its wheel. But the 409 has been fast enough to make its mark on the European scene. It went on to a career in NASCAR oval-track events, & was a surprise winner at the 1961 NHRA Winternationals, where Don Nicholson's Impala was timed over the 1/4 mile at 13.19 seconds at nearly 110 mph. Thus began what would become a legend in Chevy performance history.

Legendary 409 V8 was the heart of the Impala SS package.

Actually, there had been a big-block V8 before the 409. It was the type W, the most unlikely starting point for a big-inch powerhouse imaginable. To understand how the 409 came to be, you have to go back to 1958.

Chevy's 283 V8 was hardly a year old when engineers discovered-to their great dismay-that it wouldn't be able to provide competitive performance for the larger, heavier models planned for 1958 & beyond. Chevy was going to need a lot more cubes in a hurry, way beyond the 302 that was the limit for that block & then-current crankshaft. Almost in desperation, they looked to the only bigger V8 they had, a new 348 mill-wincing a little, because it was primarily intended for trucks. But there was nothing else to use as a starting point for a high-performance car engine, so the type W it was.

With its 4.125” bore & 3.25” stroke in a block having cylinder center-to-center spacing 4.84”, the 348 had plenty of room for enlargement. For car applications it was given the name "Turbo-Thrust" to distinguish it from the small-block V8s, which were named "Turbo-Fire." It was designed by John T. Rausch as project leader, w/Howard Kehrl & Donald McPherson working as his principle assistants.

Hotting up the 348 began in mid-1958. There were new & wilder camming, multi-carb setups, compression ratios that would have made Kettering proud, & many other little tricks to gain efficiency w/out losing reliability. This work was handled by Maurice Rosenberger, an ex-Cadillac engine man, assisted by Fred Frincke & Dennis Davis. After developing satisfactory 348s for both racing & street use, this team turned to developing an enlargement, which became the 409.

Chevy 409 V8 Engine Overview

In concept, the 409 was supposed to be simply a bored-out 348 w/a longer stroke. The production unit, however, ended up having few interchangeable parts. Cylinder blocks & heads for both engines were machined on the same lines, tho, which was a vital bit of help from the cost angle. In boring out the 348 block, Chevy carefully avoided any changes in the casting. For one thing, it was considered imperative to retain the full-circle water jackets around the bores. This limited the maximum bore increase to 3/16” (0.1875”), giving a final bore dimension of 4.3125”. Stroke was increased from 3.25” to 3.50”, which called for a new crankshaft. Both the 348 & 409 had forged-steel crankshafts, tho the latter had longer crank throws. Bearing sizes were also shared - 2.50” diameter for the mains & 2.20” diameter for the crankpins. The 409's crank demanded heavier counterweights, however, & consequently weighed 8.2 lbs more for a total of 67 lbs.

To keep the same deck height, it became necessary to shorten the con rods. This had the drawback of increasing maximum rod angularity & therefore side thrust on the piston. While the 348 had permanent-mold cast aluminum pistons, the 409 was fitted w/forged-aluminum pistons for greater heat resistance. The 348 employed offset pistons pins, which had the benefit of reducing piston-skirt slap after a cold start. That makes a truck engine more civilized, but has no real importance for a high-performance car. The 409, however, had no piston-pin offset, so there was no need for separate lefts & rights. In the 348, valve relief cavities were on opposite sides of the top land. The 409 pistons had milled valve reliefs, all on the same side.

Like the entire basic layout, the valve gear design for the 348 was taken from the small-block engine. This meant ball stud-mounted, stamped-steel rocker arms & valves arranged in a line at a 12-degree inclination above wedge-shaped combustion chambers. Cylinder heads for both the 348 & 409 were made from the same castings, but the 409 had a wider pushrod holes & different valve spring abutment faces. It also had stronger valve springs than the 348 for sure closing at high rpm, as well as stronger, thicker pushrods. The 409 used a single coil spring w/a flat steel damper per valve, while the 348 had dual valve springs. Both intake & exhaust valves on the 409 were inherited from the 348, the intakes measuring 2.066” across the head & the exhausts 1.72”.

As a reworked 348, the 409 naturally featured higher compression (11.25:1) & a wilder camshaft. Intake valve lift was raised from 0.406” to 0.440”, & exhaust valve lift from 0.412 to the same 0.440. Intake-valve opening duration was extended from 287 to 317 degrees, & overlap (the period during which both valves are open) from 66 to 70 degrees.

In 1960 the 348 had been offered w/a triple 2V carb setup that boosted rated power from 340 to 350 bhp. No multi-carburetor manifolds were devised for the initial version of the 409, because its big 4V Carter had almost the same airflow volume as 3 deuces.

The 409 debuted as a mid-1961 option. In its most powerful form it delivered 360 bhp @ 5800 rpm, & generated peak torque of 409 lb/ft @ 3600 rpm. It weighed 664 lbs, only 34 lbs more than the 230 cu/in Chevrolet 6. A 409 bhp option w/dual 4-barrels by Carter became available for 1962. The following year, a full 425 bhp was claimed for this combination, thanks to an 11.0:1 CR & solid lifters. The same engine w/a single 4V Carter was rated @ 400 bhp. The twin 4V option was discontinued at the end of the 1964 model year. For 1965, the hottest 409 was rated at 400 bhp. It sported a big-port aluminum intake manifold, 11.0:1 CR, a high-lift/high-overlap cam w/solid lifters, single 4V carb, & special low-resistance exhausts manifolds. A 340 bhp version was carried over unchanged from '64, w/10.0:1 CR, single 4V carb, & hydraulic lifters.

NOTE: A special 427 cu/in (7.0L) version of the 409 engine was used in the 1963 Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe ordered under Chevrolet Regular Production Option (RPO) Z11. This was a special package created for drag racers, including aluminum engine & body parts & a cowl-induction air intake system, along w/the 427 engine. The aluminum body parts were fabricated in Flint (MI ) at the facility now known as GM Flint Metal Center. Unlike the later 2nd generation 427, it was based on the W-series 409 engine, but w/a longer 3.65” stroke. A high-rise 2-piece aluminum intake manifold & dual Carter AFB carbs fed a 13.5:1 CR to produce an under-rated 430 hp & 435 lb/ft. 50 RPO Z11 cars were produced at the Flint plant. GM Documents exist that show 50 Z11 engines were built at the GM Tonawanda engine plant for auto production, & 20 partial engines were made for replacement/over the counter use. No evidence from GM has been found that show 57 cars were built.

Chevy Muscle Cars

Rare V8 Performance History

1962 Marked Chevrolet's 50th Production Anniversary

August, 2008
Text & Photography by Doug Marion

The year 1962 marked Chevrolet's 50th production anniversary. To many, the full-size '62s were the best looking ever, rivaling the '57, but in a bigger, bolder way. You could get 1 of 2 optional high-performance 409 big-block engines in any full-size Chevy: 380 hp w/an ‘E’ series (650 cfm) Carter 4V carb, or 409 hp w/2 ‘D’ series (500 cfm each) Carter AFB carbs. The only difference in the engines was the induction.

In all, 15,062 '62 409 engines were assembled at the Tonawanda Engine Plant, & 8,909 of them were shipped to respective big car assy plants for new vehicle installation. The remaining 6,153 went to the GM Parts Distribution Center for shipment to dealership parts departments. The RPO 580 380 hp 409 cost $320.65, while the RPO 587 409 hp 409 cost $376.65.

Check this out: A total of 99,311 Super Sport Impalas were sold. Evidently, those 453 '61 SS models really made an impression! As for Corvette, a record #-14,531-were sold. The Corvette 300 hp 327 (3,294) cost $53.80 extra, the 340 hp 327 (4,412) cost $107.80 extra, & the 360 hp FI 327 (1,918) cost $484.20 extra. The new 327 was ordered in 240,909 full-size cars. By year-end, '62 big car sales increased 230,031 over 1961 to 1,424,008.

As seen in this official '62 380hp 409 factory photo, the Carter AFB fuel inlet was moved from the left rear (1961) to the right front. From 1958-1962, knowing that serious racers would install tubular headers, Chevrolet chose to go cheap on their exhaust manifolds. On a 409 competition engine, the addition of headers was worth an additional 100 horsepower.

With 142 409s selling the year before, Chevrolet was not particularly expecting this kind of sales increase to 15,062 in 1962. The competition did not sell nearly as many high-performance big-blocks as Chevrolet did. How many 4-spd full-size Chevys were sold in 1962? Exactly 25,448. That's a bunch. 3-speed? An unbelievable 338,695. Add another 16,795 w/OD.

'62 Z-11 409 Engine Race Parts/Cars
A good example of future things to come were the '62 COPO Z-11 engine parts for the 409. The original 18 sets of heads had much larger rectangular ports. We saw these ports again in 1965 on the new Mark IV semi-hemi, L78 425 hp 396 big-block engines. To say that Chevrolet engineers were up to speed on these ports a full 3 years ahead of RPO production is simply stating the truth. The Z-11 heads were such that 409 valve covers would not quite fit. The Z-11 heads & valve covers had squared corners, while the RPO 409 heads were rounded.

The high-rise aluminum intake manifold was a 2-piece assy. The bottom was a valley cover & the top was the actual manifold. Yes, there was a single 4V manifold floating around, but most were twin 4V. The carbs were std-issue 409. The pistons had a 12.5:1 CR. The cam was big on lift & fairly short on duration. As a result, the Z-11 had a powerful midrange & good top end.

We snapped this photo in 1986 of Tom and Linda Jacobson's "Old Blue" 409 Biscayne. With a Z-11 top half, it won the '65 AHRA Nationals at Bill Heilscher's Green Valley Race City in Hurst, Tex., with an 11.50/125-mph time. The car was raced brand new by Butch Leal of Tulare, Calif., otherwise known as the "California Flash."

Chevy II FX V8 Kits
This story is mainly about rare performance engines, but the following data is applicable. A lot of Chevy high-performance engineers wanted to see a V8 offered in the new '62 Chevy II, but it was not to be until 1964. No matter. They pressed on & engineered a kit so any owner or dealership could do a V8 swap, either a small-block or big-block 409. They presented all the data to the NHRA for competition in A/FX, B/FX, & C/FX (Factory Experimental). Some racers campaigned a 2-dr Chevy II, some a 4-dr, & others a station wagon. We have seen 283, 327, & 409 engines in Chevy IIs.

Not much more was said/stated/announced by the factory. New car RPO sales were much more profitable, & the working press & media seemed to like the big car drag wars more than Chevy IIs, Falcons, & Tempests. Some of these FX cars are still around today. We have the complete factory FX list of part #s, but space does not allow us to print it here.

By the end of the year, these "FX" Chevy IIs mostly ran in the high 11s. So did Don Gist's legal '62 FI A/SP Corvette (he was a Florida winter-home neighbor of Harley Earl) & most of the Z-11-equipped 409 big cars.

Around the time Hayden Proffitt won SS/S Eliminator at the '62 U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park, a guy named Gary Usher was flogging his 348 & helping write songs for his buddy Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys in Hawthorne (CA). Usher was a top songwriter who really wanted to own a 409. Lore has it that he & Wilson went out one evening & Usher began stringing together phrases such as, "I'm gonna save my pennies & save my dimes, giddy-up, giddy-up 409!" Wilson then added his 2 cents' worth (pun intended), & in 2 months (around Halloween time when the '63 Chevys were out) the song "409" came out as a flip-side to the Beach Boys' hit tune "Surfin' Safari." The rush of revs you hear on the single was actually Usher's 348 Chevy, which was supposedly recorded in front of Wilson's house.

One of the fastest 409s on the East Coast from 1962 to date is campaigned by the popular & affable Ronnie Evans. The car was recently upscaled to match-race trim. Evans lives 30 miles from nationally known 409 & Z-11 racer of note & SUPER CHEVY Hall of Famer Bill Jenkins.

1963-Hang On!
As sensational as 1962 was, 1963 was Chevrolet's best bang & then biggest bust year-ever. Almost 100,000 more big car V8 2-dr Chevys were sold (471,114). Some 9 Mark I 427 Mystery Motor Chevys hit the super speedways early on. Something like 38 engines were built. The 50 Z-11 427 Impala drag cars hit the dragstrips. 5 Grand Sport lightweight Corvettes outran the Cobras. A 427 Mystery Motor Corvette saw action w/2 legends sharing driving duties: Mickey Thompson & Junior Johnson. Lastly, a brand-new Sting Ray was introduced in both fastback & convertible forms.

I don't have my "Chevy Charger" '62 409 SS drag car anymore, but I still have my shirt. When running stiff competition at Midwest UDRA & NADS regional events, you had to wear your game face & look the part.

I don't have my "Chevy Charger" '62 409 SS drag car anymore, but I still have my shirt. When running stiff competition at Midwest UDRA and NADS regional events, you had to wear your game face and look the part.

But then GM followed the '57 AMA anti-racing edict & pulled the plug. Cars were mostly sold off, & many racers & race teams who made their living in motorsports signed on w/other brands … many forever.

A record 21,267 409s sold, including 10,586 Turbo Jet torque monsters … the 340 hp L33. The 10,681 '63 solid lifter 409s outsold '62 409s by 17%. How many '63 Chevys had a 4-spd manual gearbox? About 44,000. That's 916 per each lower 48 state. No other big car could compare.

The Z-11 was Chevrolet's 1st & last big-block, full-size "race car." Altho it was referred to for its official build code, ‘Z11’, no one other than a dealership could order one. Replacement parts could only be had w/the vehicle's VIN # & proof of ownership. Research by noted authorities Rusty Symmes & Rag Redy indicates 50 engines & 20 short-blocks were built at Tonawanda.

John Mounts began collecting '63 Z-11 & Mystery Motor parts back in the ‘70s. He also owns 3 untouched Chevy originals: a '59 335 hp 348, 4-spd El Camino, an L72 '68 Impala SS, & a '70 LS6 454. Seen here is a complete 1963 427 Mystery Motor. The short-block came from Michigan, where it had evidently been a factory dyno-test engine, & the heads came from one of Ray Fox's crew.

John Mounts began collecting '63 Z-11 and Mystery Motor parts back in the 1970s. He also owns three untouched Chevy originals: a '59 335hp 348, four-speed El Camino, an L72 '68 Impala SS, and a '70 LS6 454. Seen here is a complete '63 427 Mystery Motor. The short-block came from Michigan, where it had evidently been a factory dyno-test engine, and the heads came from one of Ray Fox's crew.

The bench seat Impala body featured an aluminum front end, bumpers & brackets, fan shroud, & more. The bored & stroked 409 block had 12.5:1 CR, & the heads had big-block-type rectangle ports. The dual-quad high-rise manifold was 2-piece. The Impala's base price was $2,774. The Z-11 option cost $1,237.40. That totals around $4,000 plus tax. This was a hefty sum in 1963. For what the factory accomplished in such a short period of time, the Z-11 427 cu/in 409 ranks right at the top.

The '63 "Mystery Motor" 427 set the performance world on fire. Early on, it won a # of NASCAR pole positions, including Daytona, where Junior Johnson & others ran as much as 10 mph faster than the competition during qualifying. It was said to have put out about 650 hp. When GM pulled the plug, racers continued on as long as they had parts. Some returned to a 409 powerplant.

1964-A Styling Year, Plus The New Chevelle
When you talk about the 1958/64 X-frame Chevys, the '64 Impala SS was voted decades ago as the classiest/sexiest of the group. Chevrolet stylists created a super upscale interior, & the SS body was laden w/polished aluminum trim. A Super Sport convertible w/simulated wire wheel covers was indeed the cat's meow. The '64 big car was the biggest of its era & visually the squarest, too. Not particularly aerodynamic, its 2-dr V8s nonetheless outsold the previous year by 52,103.

The "Super Sport" Impala became a model code in 1964 instead of just an option. The ‘1847’ hardtop sold a staggering 257,208, & the ‘1867’ convertible sold 50,279. OA 409 sales dropped about 50%, but tilt steering sales almost tripled. A/C sales were also up about 50% over the previous year.

Hayden Proffitt grew up in Texas & won thousands of races in Chevys from 1956 to early 1963, including SS/S Eliminator at the '62 U.S. Nationals. Fellow Texan Delmer McAfee constructed this clone back in 1988 for Proffitt to drive down the Texas Motorplex dragstrip after being inducted into the SUPER CHEVY Magazine Hall of Fame.

The awesome Chevelle made its introduction in 1964, & it certainly cut into potential big car sales. Enthusiasts gravitated to it because of its smaller dimensions, sportiness, V8/4-spd availability, & price. Most of us had grown up w/Chevy big cars & Corvettes. Now there was a new, affordable player-the Chevelle.

Most of Chevrolet-America did not drag race, so the AMA anti-racing edicts of 1957 & 1963 meant nothing to them. Neither did the oncoming demise of the 409. Chevrolet-America was given a brand-new love in 1964, the Chevelle. It was well-built, did not wheel hop on launch, looked great, & was affordable to the working person. Chevrolet's enthusiast base was growing by leaps & bounds every day.

The New Rpo L65 365HP 327
Chevy engineers continued to develop the Corvette 327 thruout 1962 & 1963. In 1964, a screaming RPO L76, 365 hp 327 was offered in the Corvette & almost in the Chevelle. It cost $129.15 extra. Its camshaft was the new Duntov "30-30" (0.480” lift, 300 degrees duration). The big port heads featured 2.02” & 1.60” diameter valves. The intake manifold was more top end oriented, & the carb was a puny 585 cfm Holley 4V w/a single fuel inlet.

When the '63 Z-11 427/409 Impala came out in early 1963, it & its engine sure didn't look like much. That cowl induction air cleaner completely covered up a pair of Carter AFB carbs & a tall 2-piece intake manifold. The Z-11 put out in excess of 500 hp. By year-end, '63 Z-11 Impalas ran mid-to-high 11s @ 120/125 mph. It was Chevrolet's 1st & last full-size drag car.

Even w/this small carb, the engine was a terror. With the big-box Rochester FI (RPO L8 /$538), the engine was rated at 375 hp-the most ever in a small-block Chevy. It made big power to 7,000 rpm. Sales in '64 Corvettes were 7,171 & 1,325, respectively. In '65 Corvettes, they were 5,011 & 771. Nothing on the street could touch either engine-until the L78, 425 hp 396 big-block engine arrived. Then it was a toss-up.

Why no L65 in the Chevelle? It was a ‘go’ right up to seemingly the last day. Then it was cancelled. Why? Many reasons: It would have been a huge hit & wiped the GTO off the performance map. The engine plant may not have been able to keep up. It could have easily given "Corvette-like" straight-line performance. We also kept hearing that Chevrolet did not want any of its other models to rival the Corvette in performance.

The factory was also planning a new 396 Super Sport for model year 1965, so why worry about an even faster '64 327 Chevelle? Yikes. Guys from coast to coast were pissed for about a week. When they regained their senses, they realized they could order a 283/4-spd Chevelle. The transmission & rear end were the same. They could then buy a new L65 crate engine for $239 & get headers, a blowup-proof clutch assy, & a bigger Holley carb for a few hundred dollars more. With 283 flags on the front fenders, look out!

In 1965, about 5 miles from where I lived, there was a white '64 Chevelle 2-dr post 327 street racer. A cat named Tony Christian was involved. Man did he ever have a good-looking sister! Tony went on to become one of America's most storied Chevy drag racers. I was undefeated at Union Grove in 1965 in my C/S 409, & in 1966 in my C/S L79 Chevy II. Tony was undefeated at Union Grove in 1968 in his black '57 C/Gas Bel Air. His car was the very 1st there to pull the front wheels off the ground on launch. Great guy.

1965
The 409 was in production less than 5 months, & on 2/1, it was replaced w/the Mark IV, semi-Hemi, 396 big-block. Total 409 production was 2,828 (2,086 L33, 340 hp & 742 L31, 400 hp). The RPO L78, 425 hp 396 was ordered in 1,838 big cars & 2,157 Corvettes. The FI Corvette sales totaled only 771, & it was also replaced by the potent 396.

This was also the inaugural year for the RPO L79, 350 hp 327 in the Chevelle, El Camino, & Corvette. Sales ultimately totaled 6,021 in the Chevelle & El Camino & 4,716 in the Corvette. Another 5,011 Corvettes were sold w/the torrid RPO L76, 365 hp 327 V8.

The 1964/65 365 hp 327 was a Corvette-only engine. But it came w/in an eyelash of being offered in the '64 Chevelle. With 2.02 heads, a solid-lifter 30-30 cam, & 11.0:1 CR, the engine ran strong to 7,000 rpm. Few could run w/one on the street or strip.

Lastly, late in the year, 319 1965 Chevy IIs were ordered & sold w/the RPO L74, 300 hp 327 V8. Add another 324 w/the 250 hp 327. Finally, let us never forget the 201 limited-production RPO Z16 Malibu SS powered by the new L78 375 hp 396. In a word: unbeatable. Was there anything that could run w/any or all of these performance Chevys in 1965? Zip.

For the record, the total # of 1961/65 409-powered cars sold was 43,629. This was outstanding for the times. Divide that total by 4.2 years of production, & 10,388 were sold annually on average. Compare this figure to any other yearly engine run from 1956/70. Total 1963/65 Corvette FI car production was 4,706.

In 1965, the total # of Chevrolet Muncie 4-spd transmissions in new cars, including the Chevy II, Chevelle, & Corvette, was 124,700. Wish you were there.

409

The Beach Boys

The Surfin' Safari album was released in 1962
www.songfacts.com

This song describes the Chevrolet 409, named because of its huge 409 cu/in engine. Dubbed "Turbo-Fire," production began in January 1961. The engine had a single Carter 4V carb that supplied enough fuel-air mixture to generate up to 360 hp. With a bit of tuning, more than 400 hp was easily available, making the car a big hit among street racers.

This full-size family car 409 did the 1/4 mile in 13.58 seconds @ 105.88 mph. It could go 0-60 in under 6 seconds. This song describes the Bel-Air sport coupe version of the car equipped w/the "4-spd, dual-quad, Positraction" equipment. It could do a 12.22 second 1/4 mile @ 115 mph. 0-60 in 4 seconds flat.

This was released as the B-side of "Surfin' Safari."

In their early years, The Beach Boys wrote a lot of songs about girls, cars & surfing. Others car songs were "I Get Around", "Shut Down", "Little Deuce Coupe" & "Fun, Fun, Fun," which discussed a girl in her father’s T-Bird. The engine heard was a Chevy 348 that was owned by Gary Usher.

When the masters to “Surfin' Safari” & others were sold (for $100 each) to Capitol producer Nick Venet in May 1962 he had to twist the arm of the label execs to release them, & then 1st it was w/“409” promoted as the A-side -- Who cared about surfin' -- right? Within a couple of weeks of release (June 4th) 'Surfin' Safari' broke on its own, & the rest is history. But “409”, according to top 40 station KLIF covering DFW, was the biggest hit that year locally.

The sounds of the 409 were recorded on Brian Wilson’s Wollensak tape recorder outside his home in Hawthorne (CA).