Demise of 348 Engine?

[Terry R.]

Re: Demise of 348 Engine?

Chuck,
I don't know where you got your information but I respectfully disagree. I have personally owned a 58 Del ray , Bel Air, and Nomad wagon all with the original factory installed 348 engines. Attached are pages from the 58 New Product Info specs and also a page from the Parts and Accessories Catalog listing the various 348 engines with suffix codes and model availability.

Not a '58 but I had a '59 El Camino with a 348 and a Turbo Glide ( GR was a great gear).

[Hal E.]

Re: Demise of 348 Engine?

I was bored last night so I thumbed through my 1961 Chevy passenger car service manual. I got a good look at the 348 engine which seems to be an odd duck but an interesting engine just the same. The heads were particularly unusual looking.

Does anyone know the history of the engine and why it didn't last very long in the line up? Just curious.

The 348 or W series engine was originally a truck and bus unit. Grew to the famous 409 in 1961-62
Lasted thru 1964. From 1958-60 or 61 348 was available with a 4 bbl at 250 HP and with 3x2 at 300?. 409 was available as 340 HP and 425 HP from 62-64. 409 was replaced by "Mark IV" 396 in 65 rated at 325, 375?, 425 HP in various configurations in different Chevrolet platforms Nova, Impala, Corvette. Not sure how long the W family of engines soldiered on in trucks and buses.
Thought this was fairly common knowledge among Chevy fans

[Joe L.]

Re: Demise of 348 Engine?

The 348 or W series engine was originally a truck and bus unit. Grew to the famous 409 in 1961-62
Lasted thru 1964. From 1958-60 or 61 348 was available with a 4 bbl at 250 HP and with 3x2 at 300?. 409 was available as 340 HP and 425 HP from 62-64. 409 was replaced by "Mark IV" 396 in 65 rated at 325, 375?, 425 HP in various configurations in different Chevrolet platforms Nova, Impala, Corvette. Not sure how long the W family of engines soldiered on in trucks and buses.
Thought this was fairly common knowledge among Chevy fans

Hal-------


The 348 engine was rated at a various horsepowers during the 1958-61 period. For 1958 the 4 barrel version was rated at 250 HP and the 3X2 version was 280 HP. By 1961 there were 250, 305, and 340 HP 4 barrel versions and 280 and 350 HP versions with 3X2.

The 409 actually ran from 1961-65. It was used in some 1965 full size Chevrolets before the 396 was available later in the 1965 model year. As I recall, the 409 was discontinued about the time the 396 was released. The only year for the 425 HP 409 was 1963.

As far as I know, the 348/409 was discontinued for trucks in 1965 and replaced by the 396 (and, later, 366 and 427)

[Mike M.]

Re: Demise of 348 Engine?

in 61, a 348ci, 350HP engine was available in full size Chevys. got one I'd like to part with. mike

[Joe L.]

Re: Demise of 348 Engine?

All------


By the way, if one wishes, one can build a brand new, all-aluminum 409. The block and heads are available from Edelbrock. All the other parts are available from other high performance aftermarket sources.

The engine could be built to appear virtually identical to the original engines except for the fact that the block and heads are aluminum. Even then, the engine could be painted Chevrolet orange. The engine would probably weigh less than a cast iron small block so there would be no weight penalty if one swapped out a small block. And, it will be 100% brand new.

[Paul Y.]

Re: Demise of 348 Engine?

Beautiful John, thank you.

[Mark E.]

Re: Demise of 348 Engine?

All------


By the way, if one wishes, one can build a brand new, all-aluminum 409. The block and heads are available from Edelbrock. All the other parts are available from other high performance aftermarket sources.

The engine could be built to appear virtually identical to the original engines except for the fact that the block and heads are aluminum. Even then, the engine could be painted Chevrolet orange. The engine would probably weigh less than a cast iron small block so there would be no weight penalty if one swapped out a small block. And, it will be 100% brand new.

Be cool to see a '62 Corvette 409. I wonder if Chevy ever considered it?

[Hank D.]

Re: Demise of 348 Engine?

No question the ensuing Chevy big blocks were of an improved design with better performance, but the 409 really looks great under the hood. I miss my '62 Impala 409 SS.

[Hank D.]

Re: Demise of 348 Engine?

No question the ensuing Chevy big blocks were of an improved design with better performance, but the 409 really looks great under the hood. I miss my '62 Impala 409 SS.

[Michael J.]

Re: Demise of 348 Engine?

I have always wanted a '63 425HP 409 Impala SS 4 speed convertible.......

[Roger W.]

Re: Demise of 348 Engine?

My friend had a 65 Impala SS with the 400 HP 409. He dragged another 62 Impala SS with a 396 and got beat a couple of times. Not real bad but the 396 definetly seemed to have more power.

[Ray K.]

Re: Demise of 348 Engine?

All,

The " W " series 348 engine was developed to replace the Buick 322 cu in engines as used in the Chev H-D trucks of that time period.

Chevrolet also built the 409 engine in a 380HP & 400HP with the use of a single large 4 barrel carb. same engine as supplied with the dual 4 barrel carbs. The single carb engine was a Carter AFB "D" series, where as the dual carbs used were Carter AFB " C " series. The "D" was a larger carb than the "C" but still used the same mounting bolt pattern

Ray