It's not been a secret that Bill Mitchell's World Products of New York and Lamar Walden's Walden Automotive of Georgia have been combining their amazing talents to modify Mitchell's Chevy big-block to it could accept 409 cylinder heads. On the first day of the Performance Racing Industry trade show in Orlando, the early result of their collaboration was on display in the World booth.

There is still some work to be done, but they are getting close. If you wanted to see some of the biggest crowds at PRI, all you had to do was go to the World booth. People were crowding around the hybrid all day, smiling, taking pictures and marveling at what they saw.

One of the biggest problems with building a 409 these days is finding a suitable block. This is the hurdle they are trying to alleviate. The R&D should be done some time in mid 2009.

Both Walden's street and race heads will work on the block. Super Chevy is planning on being there when the first engines are built so stay tuned.

If this program is successful, it is not a huge step to do a high-deck block, which could lead to W-engines of significantly more than 500 cubic inches, according to Rob Walden.