The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 348 big block

Just wondering if anyone knows what years and models of trucks used the 348? I'm building a 57 3100 as a kind of resto-rod and was kicking around the idea of using one. Thought it might be alot cooler than just another SBC. I also don't know how hard it will be to find one and how much I might have to spend to aquire one. What do you guys think?

1958-1965. Mainly 2 ton and larger. Expect it to be more costly than a smallblock, as parts are somewhat difficlt to find. Another option, and possibly easier to find, would be to look for a passenger car version, used '58-'61, or the 409, '61-'65. I came across one once at a Corvette show at McCormick place in Chicago. The asking price was $2500. That one was a 2X4bbl 425hp 409 out of an Impala SS.

It was mainly a truck engine like Longbox said. It was an option in non-trucks. It also is said to have been GM's biggest dog. I would run one only as an atypical engine; there are so many of us with 350 cid engines and difference = points when you’re showing off.

My dads had a bit of experience using them and he said they are monsters when it comes to creating torque. He also said they had a bad habit of blowing up at higher RPMs, if held steady at about 3000ish if I remember right. I think they are a very unique and neat looking engine, but I personally wouldnt want to dump money into one.

Jeff

1968 I had one in my impala with the 3 duce set up. I built it back close to stock and it was a "haint" for its time. Finally wrinkled it up real bad one night...wrinkled me to. Good engine if you don't try to get to fancy. I think it would make a nice conversation piece in a vehicle. I just sold an ealy 348 that I had torn down, vatted and few other things, to a guy in New Bern, N.C. for $425. I also gave him a new waterpump, intake for 2x4's and some other stuff. I just had to many projects...but now I sure wish I had held onto for my panel. Keep looking around. There are some out there. Maybe check out the 348/409 web site.

My interest was in fact due to its unique appearance, not to build it up to make monster power. Heck 1/2 of the people who would see it at a show wouldn't know what it is and the others would likely only remember "stories" about them. I had heard they were a bit of a dog too but for their day, compared to what else was available they were "the thing" to have. I'm going to keep looking for one that can be had for a reasonable price and just do a stock rebuild with the normal dress up stuff. For what little I plan on driving this truck (2-3000 miles a year maybe) I'm sure it will satisfy the "cost to cool ratio" for me!

Both the 348 and 409 powered racers were very strong in their day... on the drag strip but they didn't cut it on the banked ovals.

All of the major NHRA Super Stock titles went to 409's... can't recall that kind of detail on the 348s... a year or two before my time. But guys like Hayden Proffitt and Ronnie Sox were my heros... oh and Linda Vaughn, Miss Hurst Golden Shifter!

A moment of silence for the good old days, please

There were 3 displacements of the scalloped valve cover big blocks, 348, 409, and a very few NASCAR 427's. The big problem was the cylinder head design, which made the engines suceptible to swallowing valves above 5500 RPM. Keep one under 4,000 or so, and it will live for a long time. The 348 engine was on the drawing board, almost ready for production, as a medium-truck engine in 1957 when the supercharged Ford 312's started eating Chevy's lunch at the drag strip. Chevy came up with a solid-lifter camshaft and a 3X2 intake manifold, and dropped the engine into the 58 Impala. In 1962, the size went up to 409, and when the FIA set the maximum international race engine displacement at 7 liters, Ford and Chevy both upsized their engines to the max displacement. Chrysler already had a 426, and Pontiac decided not to upsize the 421, since it was close to maximum already. The 429 Cadillac engine was already too big, but Caddy hadn't participated in racing for some time anyhow.
Jerry

Wasn't the Nascar 427 actually the MK 2 Mystery Motor? I thought the W head 427 was only used in the Z 11 drag cars with the aluminum front end.

A nether thought for nostalgia would be a Nailhead Buick.

There is a Z-11 on display at the Gilmore Car Museum at Hickory Corners, MI. Quite impressive considering only 7 are thought to still exist. Glad I had the chance to at least see one. I guess thats part of the reason for my interest in a W motor for my 57 pickup project. Now all I have to do is find a 348 I can afford!

Nailheads are cool too and nearly as hard to find. I'd like to stay with the Chevy in the Chevy though. Also like to stick with the smaller 348 version of the W although if a 322 (I think that was the small nailhead) was available I might have to change my mind!

Old skool kool forever!

Longbox, I think that's right. Junior Johnson got a few of the "mystery" engines for the 63 Firecracker 400, and all of them scattered within a few laps of each other, with oil pump drive failures- - - - -too much oil pressure, which sheared off the pump drive shaft. The straight valve cover big blocks disappeared after that, until they showed up again as the 396 in the 65 Caprice.
Jerry

The 322 Nailhead was used as an option engine from '56-'59 in some 2 ton and larger models, and really only in school bus models after '58. So if you found one, it could be done with factory parts. GMC used Oldsmobile engines in similar applications.