Dumb question..."Rat?"
Race Director
Joined: Apr 1999
Posts: 11,520
Likes: 13
From: CORVETTE 77 385 C.I. TEXAS
Re: Dumb question..."Rat?" (Grinchia)
BB Chevy.
The story is that in the beginning (55) the SBC was called a mouse motor due to size. After shutting everyone down it was called Mighty Mouse. So any SBC is a Mighty Mouse shortened to Mouse w/ the Mighty understood.
Even much later had an interesting reaction. After shutting down everyone in Galveston (they did not know me there :cool: ) w/ my cousin riding, she said she had to see the engine. She was accustomed to fast cars, drove fast, had a boyfriend w/ a modified GTO, etc. She was shocked at the small size of Mighty Mouse.
So the bigger BBC is a rat motor.
The story is that in the beginning (55) the SBC was called a mouse motor due to size. After shutting everyone down it was called Mighty Mouse. So any SBC is a Mighty Mouse shortened to Mouse w/ the Mighty understood.
Even much later had an interesting reaction. After shutting down everyone in Galveston (they did not know me there :cool: ) w/ my cousin riding, she said she had to see the engine. She was accustomed to fast cars, drove fast, had a boyfriend w/ a modified GTO, etc. She was shocked at the small size of Mighty Mouse.
So the bigger BBC is a rat motor.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 3,023
Likes: 2
From: TEXASTEXASTEXASTEXAS TEXASTEXASTEXASTEXAS
St. Jude Contributor
Re: Dumb question..."Rat?" (Grinchia)
See the plate in the avatar, man!:D
The story I'd heard about the Rat name had to do with the valve stems sticking out at angles so they looked like porcupine quills (where the small block ones stood up straight) , and porcupine sounded stupid so it became rat.
Now that I write it down, the mighty mouse story makes a hell of lot more sense. :D
JB
The story I'd heard about the Rat name had to do with the valve stems sticking out at angles so they looked like porcupine quills (where the small block ones stood up straight) , and porcupine sounded stupid so it became rat.
Now that I write it down, the mighty mouse story makes a hell of lot more sense. :D
JB
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,909
Likes: 26
From: Clymer PA
Re: Dumb question..."Rat?" (JB)
The heads are known as porcupine heads or semi-hemi heads due to the staggered and splayed valves. Basically a rat is just a slang term for a big block and a mouse is a slang term for a small block due to the obvious difference in size.
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