Rare find 62 Belair wagon w/409

Hi Folks,
Hopefully this website will provide useful information and a few new friends. I purchased the 62 Belair 409 wagon that was displayed on Bangshift.com. I had her shipped from Milwaukee to her new home in Tucson, Arizona. She has done well at car shows and the positive public response came as a suprise to me. Thanks, Red Ripper

 

Welcome redripper, how 'bout some pictures of that beauty!

 

Welcome Redripper! Great to have you join us here!

 

to the forum. Yep not all of us saw your fine 409. Pictures work wonders. We might even be your friend!
You're off to a good start by driving and showing it.
My daughter and husband, plus our son and wife are out there now. Son-in-law doing some heavy duty off road equipment weighing for a month. The rest just killing time.

 

Welcome.

This your car?

http://bangshift.com/blog/racingjun...-1962-chevy-bel-air-wagon-with-409-power.html

Very nice.

 

New friends...no problem...useful information...hmmmm...


There are those around here that believe if they can't see it they don't believe it...but not me. I believe alot of things I can't see, take some of the folks around here, I can't see them but the expectation is that I should believe them.


Glad you found us aboard.

 

aboard!
I'd love to see some pics of your '62 409 wagon.
Is it a 4-spd car with factory gauge pac? Dual quad or 4bbl.?

Jack

 

Story from BangShift::

This is one hell of a cool wagon and it is a survivor with a 409ci twist. The body, paint, interior, gauges, etc, are all 100% as delivered 50 years ago from Chevrolet. The transmission, a three speed manual shifted on the column is also a 100% original piece, but the 409ci single four barrel, 380hp engine isn’t. The car was delivered from the factory with an inline six, but an owner of the car in 1998 made the right call in our book and installed W-motor greatness under the vast hood of the gold Chevy. It kind of begs a question though. Is a car with an engine swap still considered a survivor?

Don’t get us wrong, we’re loving the 409 far more than we would the six cylinder but it does make us look at the car a little differently knowing that it was swapped in later as opposed to being factory equipment. Looking at the rest of the car is a pretty amazing trip through exactly what Chevy delivered in 1962. The factory color of the car is Autumn Gold and it still carries a pretty nice shine after 50 years. The fact that the body is completely ding free and that all of the original chrome is free of pits, dents, and all of the other stuff that normally kills bright work after five decades is an automotive miracle.

The same goes for the interior that appears to have never been used, but is again, factory original. In the ad, the seller claims that the cargo bay of the car does not appear to have ever been used before! The wagon had 46,000 miles put on it by the original owner who was probably the most tyrannical, anal, car owner in America circa the early 1960s. This baby was treated like a clean room at a bomb factory!

So what do you think. Does the 409ci engine swap change the “survivor” status of the car? Would it change your buying decision to find that out the engine was not factory original?

 

Advert from RacingJunk ::

1962 Chevy Bel Air 409/380hp 6-passenger stationwagon, 3-speed manual transmission, manual steering, manual brakes. Unrestored survivor. Current original mileage is 53000. I am the third owner of this wagon.

50 year old factory original Autumn Gold paint, never repainted, still has a nice shine.

50 year old factory original sheet metal, never any bodywork, no dents, no scrapes, not even one door ding. All exterior trim and chrome is in like new condition with no pitting, no corrosion, no weathering, no fading, no dents, no dings, no scrapes.

50 year old factory original Fawn interior... cloth seats, door panels, headliner, dashboard, cargo area are all like new and spotless. Windows/glass are crystal clear. Side windows and tailgate window are tight and roll down effortlessly, with all window channels and door weatherstrips in excellent condition. Cargo area floor is perfect... it looks like nothing was ever hauled in the back of this wagon. Only the floor carpeting shows a little wear.

This station wagon was very well cared for by its first owner, who died in 1978 after putting 46000 miles on the car. The family put the car into storage where it sat unused for 20 years.

Born with a 6-cylinder engine and 3-speed manual transmission, as incredibly well-preserved and unmolested as this wagon was when purchased by its second owner in 1998, when a 1962 QA 409/380hp engine was located he removed the 6-cylinder engine and replaced it with the 409.

All 409 engine components are correct 1962 and pre-date the build date of the car:
block # 3788068 engine pad stamping: T0126QA

heads # 3814690

dual point distributor # 1110919

exhaust manifolds # 3814682 RH # 3814683 LH

intake manifold # 3814678

Carter AFB 4-bbl carburetor # 3345SA (recently rebuilt)

35 amp generator # 1102268

bellhousing # 3779553

water pump # 3755797

Included are the correct 409 radiator, fan shroud, dual-snorkel air cleaner, pulleys, idler pulley, 3/8" fuel line, correct redline column-mounted factory tachometer with sender mounted on the left inner fender (tach works), and NOS GM Chevrolet dual exhaust including resonators and tailpipes. Clutch is 10 1/2" with a 168-tooth flywheel, both standard for 1962 409. Transmission is the original manual 3-speed that came with the car. The clutch, transmission, and column gear shift all work well.

Rear coil springs have been replaced with new OEM-type coils, while the front coils are the originals that came with the car.

The braking system is stock 4-wheel drum. All brake components (shoes, wheel cylinders, hoses, etc.) have been replaced except for the master cylinder, using currently available brand names such as Wagner. The brakes work very well.

This wagon is manual steering, manual brakes, and radio delete from the factory. Rear axle ratio is 3.55 open.

This wagon was undercoated at the factory and the underside is unrestored, showing a 50-year-old "patina". The 2 front outer floor braces underneath the car show some rust-through, and this is the only rust perforation concern on this car. There are no rust holes, and there has never been any rust repair, on any of the following: the other floor braces, the floor pans, the trunk floor, the spare tire well, the frame, the rocker panels and dog legs, and the body sheet metal. The driver's side rear quarter panel shows some specks of surface rust down low, and it is my guess that this was due to exhaust gases exiting the single tail pipe when the car was a 6-cylinder.

Included with this wagon are a vintage fawn-colored genuine GM Chevrolet accessory full-width front floor mat and a vintage genuine GM accessory mat covering the rear cargo area floor. All 5 original 14x6 factory steel wheels are still with the wagon along with the small dog dish hub caps.

All in all, a remarkable unrestored survivor car that runs and drives well.

"It is unrestored only once."

$29,000/offer.

This car is used and is sold "as is".

I have a clear Wisconsin title in my name for this car. I will not release the car or the title until I am satisfied that the funds have cleared.

The cost to transport this vehicle is the responsibility of the buyer and is not included in the purchase price. I will assist with transport as best as I can.

If you have any questions, feel free to call me at (262) 797-9736.


( link ) http://www.racingjunk.com/Chevrolet/2608593/1962-BelAir-409-Wagon-Unrestored-Survivor-.html

 

Welcome redripper!

 

Very nice car - congrats on the find and purchase!
Careful of that weak 3-speed though, and a floor shifter makes them worse!
Went through about 3 with a 265, 5 with a 283, and another 3 with a 301, and they were no-torque motors!
It's the synchro design that's the weak spot.
Finally went to a Muncie - never had another problem.

 

Howdy, neighbor!
Bill

 

Awesome wagon! I love the color. I figured it to be a factory installed 409.
The swap looks to be done very nicely. Nice find!

I too think a Muncie 4-spd in that would be the way to go...or drive it easy.
What a great sleeper.

Good luck with it!

 

Nice, neat wagon. Congratulations, and welcome.

 

Sleeper eye candy



This would look nice in there, if you could only find it:

http://bestofthebest.superchevy.com...st-Full-Size+Lou-Small-1962-Impala-SS-409.jpg