NEWBIE NEEDS HELP !!!!

[Tom Ciuba]

Hi my name is Tom and I need some help. Just located my dream car 62 SS 409 that I am interested in purchasing. Not being a SAVY expert in the car field the car I am looking at is said to be all number matching which is what I want. HOW DO I KNOW FOR SURE?? Are there any 409 EXPERTS that I can pay to survey the car?? Its a lot of $$$$ and I dont want to get screwed.Not to mention what my wife would do to me if I paid for an all original car and wound up with something else. Any help or names of people thet might do that sort of thing would be very much appreciated.If this all checks out I might be a new " MEMBER " in the world of 409's
Thank You Very Much, Tom

 

[Don Jacks]

Welcome Tom,There are indeed several 409 'experts"availeable here[not me,but]I'm sure one of them will come to your rescue.In the meantime,check out our homepage,under how to identify a "w' car,as this can be of some help.

 

[Dick MacKenzie]

Hi Tom! Welcome! You don't say where you are located or where the car is. You don't have to give an exact address on either count but knowing what part of the world this car is in could help with getting you some help. There are a number of tell tails to indicate that you have an original car but a lot of counterfeiting can be done.

 

[Tom Kochtanek]

Tom:

If it's an original 1962 409 car, there are a few things to look at first. First, they would almost always be a four speed car. Not an automatic. Second, the engine casting will end in "068" and the stamp on the front of the engine would either end with a "QA" or a "QB". The former is the single quad setup, the QB is the dual quad. You can't tell , much from the VIN other that it's an 8 cylinder or a six cylinder. Then I would use this site to decipher the cowl tag to estimate the "born on date of your vehicle" then check the date code on the 409 block to see that the engine was made/assembled prior to the vehicle (generally within a few weeks, but that varies).

I believe the 409s from 1962 all had a tachometer on the column and an EB9A unit mounted on the driver's side fender well.

If you get that far, then others might have some additional details you would want to validate. As noted, it's pretty easy to clone one of these, as there is no definitive encoding that specifies the 409 for that year.

Good luck!

TomK

 

[pvs409]

Tom,
As Dick said we need to know where you are located, to help. I can help you. TomK has noted some important items.
The starter wiring harness on all 62 409's will have a ballast resistor mounted just behind the drivers side engine head. All 409 cars will have deep groove upper and lower pulleys, and a 409 fan shroud and 2 1/2" cast iron exhaust manifolds. It also should have a 409 radiator. Some of these items could have been changed on the car ( I have seen this sometimes). The engine block and date code on the block are hard to see since they are on the back side of the block next to the firewall. I see lots of 409 cars that are conversions with incorrect fan shroud, wrong pulleys, wrong radiator.

As Tom notes it is easy to clone a 409 car, and hard to document an original without some paper work, original pictures prior to restoration (if the car has been restored).

Paul Stensland
Sergeant Bluff, Iowa