New guy in AZ and MN

R

Rue

New Member
I need a new engine in my 55 chev. Want to do something different rather than 350. I'm looking at a 409 that is available, but it is a truck engine 1964. I know they had lower compression, but I also remember a truck that my uncle had with a 409 and it was a sweet running truck. Everyone wanted to drive it....
That said, I think it would be a great running engine even with the lower compression. Anyone out there have any experience in this conversion. Thanks for any help....
 
D

Don Jacks

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 3
:welcomeWe have a number of guys here that run w engines in the tri 5 cars,someone will chime in.Since your engine will need rebuilding anyway,the sky's pretty much the limit as far as power production goes.One member has truck engine,heads and all making about 475hp.:idea
 
tripower

tripower

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 2
Welcome aboard. The truck engine is a great foundation to do what ever you want...:deal and stuffing it in a 55' Chev is just the ticket...:brow
 
jim_ss409

jim_ss409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 5
Welcome to the site! :beer
The truck engines are just fine but the compression is very low. I think it's about 7.75 to 1 so you can't make a whole lot of power unless you change pistons.
here's a link to some info about building truck engines. It's a pretty old thread so some of the info is dated, but it still gives you an idea of what's needed to bump up the horsepower.
http://www.348-409.com/forum/threads/truck-engine-rebuilds.8908/
The truck blocks have a notch at the top of the cylinder that lowers the compression, but that's not much of an issue if you get new pistons.
Most of the drag race cars are using truck blocks, mostly because they cost less.
It's not mentioned in the thread but there are a lot of guys running truck blocks with stroker cranks and aftermarket heads to make big power. :beer
 
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