Orig Owner Tripblack 409/400 4spd Impala.

[novadude]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Lynn</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I remember doing tune work on a &quot;negative&quot; of this car in the early 70's.
Triple white 409 4 speed.
I was just thankful no one checked the rear tire tread depth for comparison after the test drive. And yes, I was young and stupid. </div></div>

In 1966 my uncle bought a Ermine white w/ white interior (blue dash and carpet) '64 SS 409/425 car. In 1969 he got tired of breaking rear ends and paying for the gas to feed the thirsty 409, so he sold the engine and replaced it with a 195hp/283 from a junkyard '65 Impala. He raced the car a LOT in 1969 with the 283 in NHRA pure stock class at Pittsburgh International Dragway, and he has a bunch of class win trophies and 2 top eliminator trophies from that year. The 283 was slow, but very consistent and it didn't break the fragile rear end.

I think he told me that in the 409 configuration, he broke 8 or 9 rear ends street racing the car. Ran anything from 3.08 to 4.88 gears. He said it was a real terror with the 4.88s. He claims that in his heavy street racing days, 396 Chevelles and GTOs were no challenge to the '09, but he would lose to 440 Mopars and 427 Corvettes.