Quote:
Originally Posted by AZCamaroFan
simply put it's the size of the engine block. A 409 and a 283 were completely different engines, with different size blocks. Same for the 327 and 427. The 454 was the last of the 'big blocks' at Chevrolet. The 427 in the current ZO6 Corvette is actually a 'small block'.
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Yup, the block in a big block is bigger than the block in a small block. Sounds obvious, but thats the basis for it.
For example, on Chevy's the bore spacing on a small block is 4.4" while its 4.84" for a big block. The deck height is 9" for a small block vs 9.8" to 10.2" on big blocks. These differences don't sound like much but it means the max displacement for a small block is about 7L while a big block can surpass 10L.