General Engine Question

[montyhp]

Ahh, its not just the size that matters, but how you use it.

A lot of the difference in horse power is how the engine is aspirated. Two barrel carbs on old engines were not as efficient as four barrel carbs at getting fuel and air where it needed to be to get properly burned. Fuel injection is more efficient than either, and the way these new engines are injected is much better than they were even 5 years ago. Exhaust also has something to do with it (and I am reaching the limits of my knowledge here).

Chevy (and all the car companies for that matter) have done a great job of bringing power and fuel economy to small engines. (I much prefer to say my car is a 3.6L than a 217). ;-)

[suplex]

Originally Posted by GretchenGotGrowl

It is the technology that has changed, not the definition of a liter.

[Fiftydriver]

Originally Posted by lakersftbl69

327 is cubic inch like the ls3 6.2 liter if I'm not mistaken is either a 386 or 396 I'm not sure. Or like the old ls1 is a 5.7 liter it's a 350

The 6.2 liter is a 376 CI displacement. The Cubic Inch displacement is old school and for those modern guys that still like to talk about inches over liters, me included!!!

Rounded up, 1 liter has 61 cubic inches of displacement. Here are some examples, again rounded up, not exact:

4.8 liter.............293 CI
5.0 liter.............305 CI
5.3 liter.............323 CI
5.7 liter.............348 CI
6.0 liter.............366 CI
6.2 liter.............376 CI
6.6 liter.............402 CI
6.8 liter.............416 CI
7.0 liter.............427 CI
8.2 liter.............502 CI

[Coyotekiller]

Liter size x 61 = cubic inch displacement.

Cubic inch / 61 = liter size

Like the 6.2

6.2 x 61 = 378.2.
So the cubic inch size is a 378 roughly. This will get you close anyway.

[InfernoOrangeSS]

Originally Posted by v6

I've slowly been learning a lot about cars but i get confused when people say they have a 327 small block, etc. I'm used to hearing it in terms of Liters. What do those numbers mean? What would my 3.6L be considered in those numbers? is a small block for cars and a big block for trucks?

I hope my little jest wasn't taken the wrong way. Lord knows I have asked some silly questions in my time here, and no one should feel embarrassed for asking questions.
Sorry if it was taken the wrong way.

[ZED SLED]

OP, most of this info is in the wiki section from toolbar at top of page. Also, here are some previous threads on this topic

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64786

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151557

[RichGreene]

Chevys small block was known as the Mouse motor the big block Rat motor.

[Shooting Star]

These engines were all made possible by the genius engineering of Zora Duntov and Ed Cole director of GM engineering. Starting with the 265 cubic inch overhead valve V8 in 1955. Among Duntov's flagship accomplishments in 1957, was the first horsepower per cubic inch 283 fuel injected V8 along with the famous 097 high lift camshaft. He was also the chief architect of the modern day Corvette-starting with the 1963 Stingray. In 1958 the big blocks were released starting with the 348, and evolving to the 409 in 1962 and the 427 in 1970. Many good engines have followed this legacy-let's hope GM never forgets where it started.

[DGthe3]

And to expand on small block vs big block

it isn't the displacement that determines whether something is small block or big block -its the actual physical size of the engine block. For example, the current LS7 is a small block engine, and yet it has a displacement comperable to one of the most famous Chevy big blocks ever: the 427 (and this is also why GM has introduced the 427 special edition for the Corvette, using the LS7). The LSX Bowtie block also uses small block architecture and I think its upper limit is nearly 500 cubic inches -bigger than any production Chevrolet big block (although some specialty parts are needed to reach this displacement).

Nope, what it all comes down to is whats called bore spacing, and to a lesser extent deck height. Bore spacing is the distance from the centre of one cylinder to the centre of the next and ultimatley dictates the maximum possible diameter for a cylinder (though manufactureres tend not to push these limits very often). For GM, a Chevrolet small block has a bore spacing of 4.4". Their big blocks had a bore spacing of 4.84".

The deck height is the distance from the centreline of the crank to the outer surface of the block, along the path of the pistons. Deck height controls the maximum possible stroke. For production small blocks, the deck height has been 9.025", while on big blocks it was 9.8"

[Coyotekiller]

The 502 isn't a production GM motor?

Originally Posted by DGthe3

And to expand on small block vs big block

it isn't the displacement that determines whether something is small block or big block -its the actual physical size of the engine block. For example, the current LS7 is a small block engine, and yet it has a displacement comperable to one of the most famous Chevy big blocks ever: the 427 (and this is also why GM has introduced the 427 special edition for the Corvette, using the LS7). The LSX Bowtie block also uses small block architecture and I think its upper limit is nearly 500 cubic inches -bigger than any production Chevrolet big block (although some specialty parts are needed to reach this displacement).

Nope, what it all comes down to is whats called bore spacing, and to a lesser extent deck height. Bore spacing is the distance from the centre of one cylinder to the centre of the next and ultimatley dictates the maximum possible diameter for a cylinder (though manufactureres tend not to push these limits very often). For GM, a Chevrolet small block has a bore spacing of 4.4". Their big blocks had a bore spacing of 4.84".

The deck height is the distance from the centreline of the crank to the outer surface of the block, along the path of the pistons. Deck height controls the maximum possible stroke. For production small blocks, the deck height has been 9.025", while on big blocks it was 9.8"

[LOWDOWN]

502 is a GM Performance Parts crate engine, currently, along with the 572 (9.4L). There was a truck application-only 502 available late-'70s thru early-'90s.

The largest displacement "Big Block"-type Chev engine that was assembly-line-available, recently, was the HD 3/4-ton and 1-ton 8.1L (known as the Vortec 8100) which equaled roughly 494 cu. in., an engine size originally conceived in the late-'60s for CanAm road racing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Big-Block_engine

[demonspeed]

Gen III/IV engines are displaced as:

4.8 - 293
5.3 - 325
5.7 - 346
6.0 - 364
6.2 - 376
7.0 - 427

8.1 found in the early 2000's 3/4 and 1 ton trucks/SUV's had the common misconception of being a 502. It was actually a 496 and is not GEN III based. Rather, it was the last in the line of big blocks powering OE vehicles.

[DGthe3]

For some reason, I thought that the 454 was the biggest any of the Chevy big blocks got, at least in production form. I guess it isn't.

I guess the next time I say something like that, I'll change it to something like 'the LSX can displace up to about 500 cubic inches -roughly the size of the biggest production big blocks Chevrolet has sold'

[demonspeed]

You're correct if you're only referring to passenger vehicles and light duty trucks.