Bigblock? Smallblock?

My advice is to ck with a dealer for pricing on a 350 "replacement engine and compare that to a junk yard 350. You will still have to get an intake manifold but they are cheap. That should cost you $1200-$1500, so you can decide if you are going to keep the car for a long time and if the rest of the car is worth it. As for me, I've owned my '70 Blazer since '78 and will go to the grave when they pry my cold dead fingers off-----wait a minute---That's for my guns, not my Blazer!

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On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 17:29:10 -0500, "LD" wrote something wonderfully witty:

Exactly what he needs can be found brand spankin new for $1,469.90

The 10067353 universal 4 Bolt main block 350 is a brand new long block used to cover most GM applications from ?1970-1985. It is our lowest priced 350 and is great as a small block replacement or V-8 retrofit into any vehicle. This brand new crate engine comes with a GM nation wide warranty and is covered for 3 years or 50,000 miles when used in applicable GM vehicles. Check out our Warranty Information for full details. The specs of the motor are as follows: ·(4) Bolt main block with a (2) piece rear main seal. ·Cast Iron Crank. ·LT/LT4 Powdered Metal connecting rods. ·Cast Pistons, (dished). ·Hydraulic flat tappet cam, (.383? intake / .401? exhaust) and a 112-degree lobe separation. ·Cast Iron Cylinder heads with a 76cc combustion chamber. (Non vortec design) ·8.5:1 compression ratio. ·Left or Right hand dipstick. ·(4) Quart oil pan. ·Timing tabs for a 6 ¾? or an 8? balancer.

Now that being said; if I was keeping the car and had an extra 2-grand to throw at it I would go with a ZZ4 350CI 355HP HO Engine with Aluminum Heads for $3,779.00. This can be found at the following URL

I opted for #12355345, 300hp motor, that cost around $2200 cus I wanted more power (but not so much that I had to buy premium gas)! I am VERY pleased, one of my better moves. Although my 70 blazer looks stock, I have "upgraded" a 78 disc brake front end, power booster, the 300hp crate motor, 700R4 trans, ltd slip rear and

40gal gas tank. I did the engine and trans at the same time ('98) and was able to keep the drive shafts the same by moving the tc back 5/8-3/4 and the engine mts 1" forward. I had to drill 18 new holes in the frame but otherwise, I'd had to change both frt and rear drive shafts and relocate my 4wd shifter and console. It works real well and again, I'd highly recommend the replacement "crate motor" to anyone who's keeping the vehicle for some time. LD

366 is a big block. Commonly used in industrial trucks, like beer and soda deliver trucks. (Been there, done that)

HDS

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I did the same for my 89 Chevy, but went ahead with the standard 350, and changed it over to a roller cam/roller rockers and a compcam, for about the same price. Figure I got around 300 hp. It was so easy to do (with some minor knuckle busting here and there), that I'm surprised more people don't do it. As long as your ride is in great shape, you would still be way a'head of the game if you had to have a shop do it. A 2005 version of my truck is in the 45,000.00 range for Pete's sake! With a new interior and paint job, it would still be cheaper by thousands.

HDS

Hi, Sorry about your engine. What a mess. Your engine or any other engine from 400 cu in on down is a small block. 400s are rare. A short block is one without the heads and intake. Big blocks are from old 396's up. The bb block is a huge motor in appearence. The heads are about twice the size of the small block. There is no mistaking them. Big blocks seem hard to find. There is an abundance of 350's in many places. Check your local news paper for engines. Make sure that the heads or block are not cracked. Over heating on a sb Chevy can easily crack heads. Get a reciept from the seller stating that the blocks or heads are not cracked. This way you can get your money back if they are. Pretty much all the small blocks parts are interchangable. For a good rebuilder engine you should pay around $50.00 and up. A good source is your "thrifty ads" or equivalent. These are the ads that people run to sell personal and odd stuff usually under $500.00. Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays are your best bet. Good luck to you. Jessie

BadBow99S10 wrote:

"Jessie Herrera" wrote: > Hi, > Sorry about your engine. What a mess. Your engine or any > other engine > from 400 cu in on down is a small block. 400s are rare. A > short block is > one without the heads and intake. Big blocks are from old > 396's up. The > bb block is a huge motor in appearence. The heads are about > twice the > size of the small block. There is no mistaking them. Big > blocks seem > hard to find. There is an abundance of 350's in many places. > Check your > local news paper for engines. Make sure that the heads or > block are not > cracked. Over heating on a sb Chevy can easily crack heads. > Get a > reciept from the seller stating that the blocks or heads are > not > cracked. This way you can get your money back if they are. > Pretty much > all the small blocks parts are interchangable. For a good > rebuilder > engine you should pay around $50.00 and up. A good source is > your > "thrifty ads" or equivalent. These are the ads that people run > to sell > personal and odd stuff usually under $500.00. Fridays, > Saturdays, and > Sundays are your best bet. Good luck to you. > Jessie > > > BadBow99S10 wrote: > > > I have a 1990 Chevy Caprice. It has a 5.0 liter 305 > according to the > > VIN and the block. Unfortunately, It doesn?t say if its a BB > or SB. I > > was wondering if it would be a short block or big block. > Finding parts > > on online auctions is difficult when you don?t know. Also > considering > > upgrading to the 5.7L 350. From what I hear, it should work. > The old > > engine is probably in too poor of condition to be rebuilt. > What do > > you think? > > > > The car ran fine until one day I put the pedal to the > metal. The > > sound of breaking metal and slipping timing was followed by > silence. > > I coasted about 3 blocks before I used the parking brake to > stop. > > Before that, it only made a slight ticking noise. I found > out later > > that the ticking was the crankshaft hitting a broken rod. It > wasn?t a > > tapping valve like people suggested. I also found a > brownish-black > > sludge in the cylinder with the broken rod. > > > > It?s old over-heated coolant mixed with carbon buildup. I > haven?t > > taken the entire engine out yet. The pistons, cam, crank, > pan, and > > rods are the only thing attached to the block(besides the > tranny). The > > engine is still in the car. It is actually sitting on the > frame. Both > > mounts? rubber is completely gone. The only things that > might be > > salvageable would be the block(if not cracked), the > pistons(if not > > broken), valve springs and retainers, and the heads(if not > cracked). > > > > Things wrong with the 305 5.0L: cracked intake manifold, > bent rods > > (due to broken rod), possible cracked head, possibly had a > blown head > > gasket, 1 broke rod (pushed it down about 2 1/2" with finger > while > > other pistons stayed in place), 7 seized pistons(8th was > completely > > broken from crank months before, apparently), stretched > timing chain, > > cam timing off by 90 degrees, shattered cam thrust washer > plate(don?t > > know the actual name. I?ts the bolted on plate behind the > cam gear.), > > found about 4 1/2 quarts of pure coolant and water in oil > pan(about 5 > > 1/2 quarts of oil also found in the oil pan.) > >

Thanks. That answers my question. I already have my 350 block on the way. I?ve already paid $107.50($227.50 after shipping) for my block. I think I?m going to use SB 350 caprice heads(modified) and the intake as well. I might decide to get another vehicle in the next few days. If I do, I might take my time and make the 350 .030 motor into a 383. Thank you everyone.

Now, there's a contradiction for you.

Hi, It's not a contradiction. They made them that way. I'm not a chevy engineer. Small blocks are 262, 283, 327, 302, 305, 350, and Small block

400 (they look just like the 350.) The 302 was >

I'm no expert on this either, but wasn't the first small block in '55 a 265, not a 262? And you've listed the 409 as a big block. I believe it was part of the engine family that started with the 348 in '58. My memory is getting fainter about all this, but I believe I'm right on those two points.

Garrett Fulton

there also was a 262 V8... they also forgot the 307. and the 366 was also a truck block. you're right about the 409 W motor.. different era completely.

-Bret

Lets not forget the 348W, with out which there wouldn't have been a 409 for the beach boys to sing about., or the very first Chevy v-8 90 degree over head valve engine, the 288 cid.

Whitelightning

Hey, thanks for mentioning the 288. I didn't know about that one and was skeptical till I looked it up. Way before my time. Still, both W engines and the 288 are irrelevant in a Bigblock-Smallblock discussion. H

Bigblock-Smallblock

Garrett I just did a quick search on it and this was all I came up with.

THE FIRST CHEVROLET V-8: If asked, most people would say that Chevy introduced its first V-8 in 1955. They only missed it by nearly 40 years. In late 1917, Chevy introduced the Series D equipped with a 288 cu. in. V-8. Only 2781 of the Series D's were built when production ended in early 1919. It would be 1955 before a V-8 reappeared in Chevrolets.

H

Thanks, Hairy. That's a nice bit of history there.

Garrett

Like I said, I'm not a Chevy engineer. Why they do the things they do I don't know. I will say though that I am very impressed by some of the user's knowledge of Chevy history. That's what these boards are all about. There were some very good responses. I learned something by reading all responses. Some good, some bad. I am also let down about some user's lack of knowledge or the uninformed/misinformed users. I have a K5 Blazer and a Cheyenne C20 4x4 (350-350). I also have a Dodge Power Wagon (440-435) and an Attex Super Chief 500 6 wheeler that is also amphibious. I also have a 1981 Porsche 911 with a big bore kit and a 67 Sunbeam sportscar with the small block Ford (very fast). Any way, Thanks for the input. Keep the faith. Look forward to reading all your input in the future. Jessie