The 409 has seen a bit of a revival of late with Edelbrock’s introduction of new aluminum heads and World Products following up shortly after that with an aluminum Merlin 409. Our 409 build is meant to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. We kept an original cast iron block and mated that with Edelbrock’s much more capable heads that will be disguised to look like stock, then stroked it for a total of 440 cubic inches. There are a few more surprises in store, but you will have to follow along with the videos of the build to find out what they are. We will, however, give you a hint at the final product so you can decide for yourself if it’s worth your time: 505 horsepower at a manageable 5,600 rpm and 507 ft/lbs or torque.
Best of all, there’s nothing exotic in this build. Original 409 heads may be impossible to find, but the rarest component of this build is the 348 cast iron block, which is still easy to locate and fairly affordable. Everything else is right off the shelf, and we’re showing you all of it so you can reproduce this beast from water pump to flywheel if you like.
In the first part (above) we start by detailing our plans and the short block buildup.
Part Two
Finishing up the engine build including cylinder heads, valvetrain, and the sweet dual-quad induction system.
Part Three
Finally, it’s time to have some fun. The engine is finished and we get the opportunity to hear a wide-open-throttle run on the engine dyno.
Please don’t forget to let us know what you think in the comments. Thanks
View the downloadable dyno sheet.
And if you enjoyed that, check out this turbo Buick engine build video:
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