Big Block Nick Name
08-11-2017, 07:34 PM
#21
Racer
I had a 66 Chevelle SS with a 396 4-speed in 1972-1973. It was a awesome car in those days. It doesn't hold a candle to my 2016 Z06 but it was a badazz car for an 18 year old. I always heard Big Bocks called Rat Motors and Small Blocks called Mouse Motors.
08-11-2017, 07:57 PM
#22
Race Director
I made a grown man scream and flail his arms around trying to find something to grab ahold of in 2nd gear with my BB back in the late 80s. Took him by surprise. 
Haven't hammered on it like that in a long time.
Haven't hammered on it like that in a long time.
08-11-2017, 10:00 PM
#23
Race Director
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2020 C2 of the Year - Modified Winner
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The only thing better than a 327 at 7000 RPM is a 427 at 7500!!
Or a 496/540/572/632 etc etc.
Sure a radical small block can outrun a mild big block...but built equally the only variable will be traction and driver.
JIM
Or a 496/540/572/632 etc etc.
Sure a radical small block can outrun a mild big block...but built equally the only variable will be traction and driver.
JIM
nothing like the sound of a high winding bbc
08-12-2017, 10:34 AM
#26
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"Grab the 8-track tape, sometimes it flies out when I hit 2nd": a sentence that will never be uttered by a Millennial.
CLASSIC!
CLASSIC!
08-12-2017, 10:37 AM
#27
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08-12-2017, 10:39 AM
#29
Safety Car
Last night at our club meeting we always have a Corvette triva question.. Last night the question was, what was the 396 BB call in the '65 Corvette. The answer was supposedly Porcupine, but I had a '66 and I know it was always referred to (beside big block) a Rat motor. My understanding is the the porcupine referred to the heads on the BB's. Which is correct.
The design of the heads was not nearly as well thought out as that of the mousemotor. They were more suitable to low RPM (truck) duty and would not hold up to high RPM operation as well as the venerable mousemotor would. They were prone to valve system problems, especially the early ones before some design fixes helped somewhat. The odd, splayed valve angles are not nearly as stout as the in-line design used on the SBC. The BBC head design would have benefited tremendously if it were DOHC.
Last edited by 65tripleblack; 08-12-2017 at 10:48 AM.
08-12-2017, 11:04 AM
#31
Safety Car
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Cubic inch + RPM'S = HP in the day. In the mid 60'S no other engine could come close to the Hemi's. That is why they had classes in NHRA.
08-12-2017, 12:25 PM
#33
Burning Brakes
In Super Stock the Hemi's always won versus the Ford and Chevy full sized cars with 427 engines.
08-12-2017, 12:41 PM
#34
Safety Car
I call my almost bone stock L72 "obsolete." It squeezes out 450 hp on the dyno, but very mildly built 5.7 and 6 liter LS motors stomp it flat. Not to mention idle smoothly, don't run hot, get good gas mileage and easily run 150,000 miles between rebuilds.
08-12-2017, 01:13 PM
#35
Burning Brakes
It would be interesting to see if back in the days a stock 1965 FI 375 HP versus a 400 HP 427. Both stock I would bet on the 375 FI car. The 390 HP and the 400 HP while being 427 blocks were not high performance 427's. Corvette high performance 427's in 1967 were the L71 and of course the rare L88. Different heads, higher compression, and solid lifter cams!
08-12-2017, 01:52 PM
#36
Le Mans Master
08-12-2017, 02:14 PM
#37
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It would be interesting to see if back in the days a stock 1965 FI 375 HP versus a 400 HP 427. Both stock I would bet on the 375 FI car. The 390 HP and the 400 HP while being 427 blocks were not high performance 427's. Corvette high performance 427's in 1967 were the L71 and of course the rare L88. Different heads, higher compression, and solid lifter cams!
BTW, my 66 Hemi Coronet was built/blueprinted to NHRA stock class and 4.56 Detroit Locker and runs high tens.
08-12-2017, 02:49 PM
#38
Melting Slicks
Yup me too...and never heard of a porcupine anything related to cars...?
08-12-2017, 02:58 PM
#39
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The name "Porcupine head" for the BBC engine didn't originate with the MK IV in 1965. It was coined with the intro of the MK II in 1963.
Very similar head design.
Very similar head design.
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Stan's Customs (08-12-2017)
08-12-2017, 04:32 PM
#40
Burning Brakes
They were fast in their day but stock only ran low 14 seconds. Lots of stock 12 second or faster cars today. The old cars suffered from low traction tires and not breathing very well. Thus, the day two cars got header, distributor work and wheels.
BTW, my 66 Hemi Coronet was built/blueprinted to NHRA stock class and 4.56 Detroit Locker and runs high tens.
BTW, my 66 Hemi Coronet was built/blueprinted to NHRA stock class and 4.56 Detroit Locker and runs high tens.