American Muscle Car- Chevy 409 Engine

American Muscle Car: Chevy's first big engine was the legendary 409. When this engine was introduced in 1961 the racing industry took this hold and ran with it! SPEEDtv.com the motorsports authority for NASCAR, Formula 1, auto racing, moto racing.

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Autos & Vehicles

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• American
• Muscle
• Car-
• Chevy
• 409
• Engine
• iangenet
• iangenet29

[Greenhornet270]

had a 58 chevy 348 with 3 2's.....broke TWO driveshafts!! lol

[Sarcasticscum]

@daviddpb75

Yea, and that was nice until in 1969 the Ford BOSS engines kicked the shit out of both engines! :P

[kolbpilot]

@TheOrleansLasVegas I noticed the exhaust too, nothing wrong with it, some carbon though. A pretty looking V8 with lines from the '50s.

[vinylknaster]

@hammerogod

I tried to find the article on Hot Rod´s page but did´nt find anything that says something about the HP.

Anyway i have searched all over now and most pages says 425hp at 6200 rpm with the 2X4 setup, 11.25:1 compression and a solid lifter camshaft. Either way it´s a great engine.

[hammerogod]

@vinylknaster

I am a Pontiac guy too.

But, I have seen Dyno results that are not on YT.

Underating HP was common before the Muscle Car era got a good start...then HP became a big selling point.

Hot Rod magazine did an article (or articles, plural) on the 409 and they always (well, not always) show some Dyno data.

Anyway.

Hot Rod is the source of my data.

They claim that the 409s put out closer to 500 HP than the advertised 400+.

You may debate it with them.

Either way the 409 was the Beast.

[vinylknaster]

@hammerogod

I like the 409, even if im a Pontiac guy. But the 406 did not put out 500 hp. Check out this video...

/watch?v=gNg569agwiU

[prebooomer]

@fluffykittynoodles Yeah boy it was by the beach boys or Jan & Dean called shes real sweet shes my 409!!!!

[hammerogod]

For Insurance purposes the 409s HP was underrated...on the Dyno a factory fresh stock 409 would produce somewhere around 500 HP.

I think you can find verification of this on Wikipedia and several other sources.

They were a beast on the street...I guess those who are lucky enough to own one will say they are still a beast.

In the super light weight '61 and '62 chevys it was almost impossible to get tires that would hold the HP on the ground.

3rd gear fishtails were common.

[slowride55]

My 4 speed, dual quad, posi-traction 409 :)

[fluffykittynoodles]

@Sarcasticscum i never heard any songs about those motors!

[FATMIKED5183]

Mopar was giving that motor a run for it's money already with the long ram 383s,and 413,&426 max wedge motors.