VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions 62 impala convertible -409 how many

was looking for my high school car 62 impala convertible honduras maroon with fawn beige interior so far no luck with something in my price range that needs some work and am amazed at how many 62-409's are for sale there cant be that many out there or am i wrong. how many with a 409 did come off the assembly line
ps. mine was a 327 (340 HP put a different cam in it )4-speed with bench seat white top have not seen one like it.some body came down my street back in 1967 and liked driving 2 cars at once hit the drivers side from the tail lights to front of door bent the frame beyond repair wish i still had it well how many 409's were actually made in 62

Here' a link showing 8,900 409" motors were placed into 1962 automobiles:


http://www.superchevy.com/features/sucp-0808-chevy-muscle-cars



I have owned a '62 409" that I purchased from the second owner, whose friend owned the car. It was not the
original motor as the first motor was blown up, and he just couldn't remember what the original motor that was in
it was. He was not selling it as an original 409", but it did have all of the correct "indicators" when I got it home
and looked it over. I sold it, but did not represent it as an original 409".

I currently have a '64 Bel Air that I did a cloned 409", and you cannot tell it from an original. I still would not sell it as such.
Having dealt with 409's for almost 15yrs., like any car, they can be faked and many are.

Bobalouie

I think it would be difficult to find a 1962 409 with the original engine as many blew up when over reved due to valves hitting the pistons.

Gene, for sure that is correct. Exactly what happened to my first 409" in the '64. I knew it threw a rod thru the pan when
oil sprayed all over, but I thought, 'Well, that's not too bad..might be able to save it....". The oil was then followed by a
steady stream of antifreeze which was not good...two cylinder walls gone. But, it did sound great just before it blew, haha.

Bobalouie

so when it comes down to it there were only 8900 cars made with a 409 the rest of the engines were replacement blocks in case of failure i understand all that ,but on the other hand if the engine malfunctioned and you bought a dealer replacement wouldnt you still have a numbers correct engine for your car , its not your fault the engine failed under warranty . only reason asked question was a lot 0f 409's are out there i just want to find my high school car or something close thanks

The actual production number for '62 409s is 8909. And yes, it is very hard to find one that still has it's original engine in it. While there is a large interest in '62 409 cars, there doesn't seem to be much interest in finding a real one. As long as the car has the engine with the funny shaped valve covers and fender emblems, it will attract buyers.
Don't be misled by ads that say "matching numbers". That term really has no real meaning anymore because it includes restamps and "put together" cars. Cars created out of thin air.
One of my cars was ordered with a 409, but the engine was replaced two times under warranty and a third time after that at a local shop. I have since replaced the engine with a real '62 409, but the car is no longer an original 409 car. It was originally a 409 car.

Verne

Do you mean like this Gene?


Due to an aftermarket cam and a timing set installed with the cam retarded 10degs, this one eventually took out #5 cylinder and required a sleeve. (not my doing).

Verne

When over reved the valve would float and hit the piston. This would knck the valve keepers off of the valve stem, the valve would "fall in" and the piston would break and the connecting rod poke ot the side of the block.
The same thing happened on 1957 283 engines with Power Pac. The solid lifter engines had valve reliefs cut into the top of te pistons to prevent this. All 283 engines in 1958 had the valve relief cuts after that. Seemed to happen only on stick shift engines as Power Glide owners did not tend to rev them up as high in manual low.