[novadude]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Verne_Frantz</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: novadude</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Verne_Frantz</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I experienced a direct comparison with both a stock 2x4 409 and a stock L-78 in the same car with exactly the same set-up on the car. The ONLY difference was the L-78 ran a flex fan; the 409 ran the stock clutch fan. I had no problem shifting the L-78 at 6500 but I was more careful with the 409. 5800 shifts.
Best times:
L-78: 13.17
409: 13.31

Verne [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/flag.gif[/img] </div></div>

Cool. I always wondered about this. Why only 5800 rpm with the 409? Were they fragile, or did they just stop making power up top? </div></div>

They make good power over 6000 but I was being careful. Pistons weigh almost 2 lbs each! Good blocks are hard to come by.

Verne [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/scholar.gif[/img] </div></div>

Thanks. My Uncle (Mom's brother) had a 425/409 in a ermine white, white interior '64 SS back in 1966-1968. He said he used to almost bury the stock (likely inaccurate) 7000 rpm tach when powershifting on the street. He said he tore through 7 or 8 rear ends, but the '09 never broke. He ultimately sold the '09 and swapped the engine for a 195hp 283 so he could get better gas mielage on the daily commute and go class racing in 1969 without constantly breaking parts. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/eek.gif[/img]

He never had the '09 to the track, just street raced it. According to him, even in the late-60s, the 425hp '09 still was a fast car. He said he only would lose to 440 mopars and 427 vettes. He claims most GTOs and SS396s were no problem.