The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 348 V-8

i'm kicking back and forth this idea for my 70 chevy cst/10 keep the 350 and put tri-power on it or yank it out and put a 348 with tri-power in its place anyone running 348s or 409s in there trucks? i kinda like the idea of being apart from everyone else but it'd be a bit more money for the 348 since i have to find the block and everything else, but its just an idea for now and kinda wondering what everyone else thinks
thanks
Nate

I would think you will be going down a very pricey road on the wedges..you mite want to rethink...doc

I'd stay away from the 348, they're considered to be pretty good boat anchors though, a 409 is going to set you back mucho $$$$$. I'd stay with the 350 and a tri-power.

My wife's uncle is restoring his '58 Impala convertible and just had the original tri-power 348 rebuilt for the princely sum of $7000. ouch

The 348 is cool looking, but I'm not sure it belongs in a '70 truck. The 409 was last used in '65 if I remember right, the 348 might have been out of service a few years earlier.

If you have ready access to one you might grab it and save it for some future project. It would be perfect is a traditional hot rod '58 Apache or something like that.

oldironchevy, I may have had one of the few good ones back in the mid sixties but it was strong one for the time. It had the tri power and never gave one bit of trouble. After a lot of drag races it finally broke a ring. I rebuilt it and 40 years later I'm still caring the scars from a 2a.m. wreck that wrinklled it very bad. It had long been past the 120 and still getting up!! I put the engine in another 58 body, sold it and the fellow who bought it rolled that car. It later went into a 1960 coupe and the guy drove it for years. This guy still has THAT engine in his basement and will not part with it for love of money. SO, I had another 348 at my brothers machine shop torn down, ready to rebuild for a 40 chev. sedan project. I ended up selling the 40 sedan and then sold the 348 engine to a guy in New Bern, N.C. for $425 including an intake for one four, and an intake for 2x4's along with a new water pump and couple other goodies. I wish I had never sold it now. It would look darn good in the 52 panel project. The engines are still out there and maybe a bit pricey. I know you can rebuilt one very nice for a lot less than $7000 unless you just dump it off and come back later and pick it up at a machine shop. So, I vote put the 348 engine in it. It will look nice and a great conversation piece. Go for it.

I would go period correct and use a 402 (396) or maybe even a 427. 348's were neat, but they're still just an old truck engine,
Scott

i know a 348 isn't remotely close to what would be in a 70 chevy but i'm get more and more partial to the W engines the more i look into this Tri-power set up the 350 will stay in there with its 4 barrel for now but i still think a 348 would look cool
Nate

Had a 348 in a 58 Impala. Single 4 barrell. Good strong engine for it's time. Absolutely no problems. I say go for it if only for its uniqueness. 350s are a dime a dozen. Weeds

348 was a very good engine for its time,the original Chevy big block.A lot of streetrodders using them today for installs in 58 thru 61 Chevies.Very pricey to set up.You can get an awful lot of horses out of a 350 or 400 small block for a lot less money.Or stroke a 350 out to 383.Not that there is anything wrong with a 348,but its gonna cost a small fortune.

You ask a shop to bore out a 348 around here and start running backwards because of the setup to bore the w types .

I had a 63 half ton that a previous owner had put a 348 into. It had a lot more torque than a 350 has. I found it to be a perfect truck engine. If you could find one at a reasonable price it would not be correct but you would enjoy the heck out of it. I would'nt hesitate to go with a 348 if I found a good one.

In 1958, I bought 3 different Impala's...One
had a 283 small block, the other two had 348's and
was very strong, trouble free engines...1959 I owned
a 409 Biscayne with tri-power...1969 I bought a new
Chev. Camper special with a 396 in it...Never had a
problem with any big blocks...I had a 400 ci small
block in a 1978 GMC that I didn't care for much...It
started blowing smoke on start-up..(Valve seals) In
My estimation it was over-bored, causing the engine
to run hotter...I am a real fan of the 327's...I
had a 62 Impala SS coupe with 300 HP that was a
missile on wheels...Bill B

For a idea of what it would cost to build a 348 / 409 try www.dr409.com They list any part you would ever need, and they also provide full machine shop services. Definitely more expensive to rebuild than a small block, not much more than a big block though. And like you they are in Minnesota, New Ulm. I've been sitting on a 348 and a 2-4 barrel 425 horse 409 for 25 years. I've been contemplating the 409 for my 50 pickup. It would be different and fun.

John

I love my boat anker in my 60 sedan delivery.

I may add that the "later" 348 engine heads were a little better. I can't remember EXACTLY what it was so I want atempt to explain other than it had to do with the water jackets or cooling around the plugs...Bill_B: I had a regular 62 Impala with the 327 and yep, it was a missle on wheels. Most folks could not believe how it could be so big but run so strong. That was MY secret!! BUT, like the 58 Impala, I twisted the metal up on the 62 as well. My 3 brothers and I started a junk yard back then!!!

I remember my friend's dad had a 348 in a brand new 210 or Biscayne. It had a 3 speed on the column and ran like a spotted ape. We were in Jr. High and I would have given my left gonad for that car.
BTW I agree the 348 would be novel and my choice, but as I look out the window of my shop at the EXXON across the street, gas is 2.39 a gallon. That should be a consideration if you plan on this being a daily driver. I wonder what difference is in gas mileage between these two engines.

When I started teaching auto mechanics at the state trade school in Pulaski, Tennessee in 1985, there was a new-old-stock 1965 409 engine in the shop that had NEVER BEEN STARTED! It had been a donation from GM when the school was opened, and nobody could figure out how to dispose of it without sending it to scrap. GM won't allow any donated material to be sold, traded, or used for anything other than training purposes. I was offered thousands of dollars to "Take a coffee break, and there will be a 348 there when you get back". Nope, not worth losing my job! The engine, still unfired, disappeared from the shop after I moved on to another job in 1990, so I guess somebody gave in to temptation. We tore it down once, and it still had weight numbers on the tops of the pistons in felt-tip marker from a factory balancing job!
Jerry

those 348's sure could do a job on u-joints! i will admit i got pretty good at replacing them along the road in my 60' impala. but man what a smoke show those things had gobs of torque!

I had , in the late 60's , A 61 Chevy wagon w/ the 348 tri-power engine, always wondered why someone would want an otherwise stock wagon with a hi-po 348 ?
Also had a 62 SS 409 2-4bbl , 4-speed . What a car.
The best was a 64 chrysler 300-K with the 413 2 4-bbl. intake that went fender to fender , That was an awsome sight. Only wish I had the hindsight to keep them all. But when your 16 yrs. old .....

You had cars like that when you were 16 and you're still around to talk about them?

I think the only reason I'm still around is that all I had to drive were weazy old Stovebolts. I got into enough trouble with them!

Something else to think of is the 366 inch motor that were used in a lot of c-50 & c-60 trucks They are really strong and make tons of torque and a lot easier to find

Oldiornchevy
If you want something different go with an old Chrysler 392 hemi, that will really be an eye opener.
Gene

OOPs Sorry OldIronChevy.
Gene

I know where there is a 348 that was running when pulled, (smoked a little) and i have a 348 three two barrel intake that id sell with it? in kansas

So Fatweed, Are you saying it ran when you parked it?

Hi fatweed,

I might be interested in the 348, how much? How long ago was it pulled? A little more info please.

Thanks, John

Hey Gene,
I can't wrap my head around the idea that anyone would want to put any type of engine other than a Chevy in a Chevy truck. He said he wanted something cool! Besides that, Im sure he wants to make it home.

Chrysler :blat:
Ford :blat:

I'd really be rolling out the bucks for a 392 hemi
fatweed i'd be interested in that 348 and intake if you were closer kansas is a ways to drive for an engine and don't know if i'd wana drive that far with a 348 in the trunk of my car

My uncle want 500 for the 348, it was pulled about two years ago and stored in the back of a van, i can check later this weekend to make sure its not stuck which im pretty sure it wouldnt be stored inside, and id take 125 for the 3 duece intake manifold for a 348/409. the breather tube is messed up on the intake on the end,but those can be replaced easy or shortened, otherwise it looks good, factory cast iron numbers too. i can get pictures if interested...