567chevys
07-15-2011, 12:58 PM
Believe it or not,the initial design and groundwork for the small block Chevy was started in 1951. Development really started to take off when Ed Cole became chief engineer of the design team in 1952 and scrapped the first designs that came about. Making the new V-8 from Chevrolet as compact and light weight as possible was the goal. Now,the small block Chevy is by far the most popular engine of all time. No other engine has been built and installed in so many applications that the small block Chev.
Ford had had it's V-8 out for almost 20 years at the time the idea of a V-8 Chevrolet came along. Olds,Cadillac,Chrysler,DeSoto and Dodge all had V-8's before Chevy. However,the innovations that came along with the new V-8 revolutionized the industry. And with it,a few new automotive terms would be coined,such as "small block" and "big block". The very first Chevy V-8 was the 265 CID. The block dimensions would remain basically unchanged for 30 years with only minor changes here and there. And believe it or not,almost everyone maintained a 4.4 inch bore center. so it comes as no surprise that every increase in displacement came as a serious engineering break through. The Block was 21 3/4" inches long and had a 9 inch deck height. Another thing that may be a bit surprising is that the main focus of building the V-8 was not for fuel economy or any type of efficiency but,performance and durability. One of the ways this was accomplished was reducing the amount of molds required for casting the block and other engine components. That allows for much greater precision when casting the block and reduces cost. It also helped to reduce weight,the complete machined V-8 block tipped the scales at 147 lbs. A full 16 lbs lighter than the inline 6 block. The fully assembled SBC weighed 531 lbs and was a full 41 lbs lighter than the fully assembled inline 6. The engine produced 162 horsepower with a 2 barrel and 180 with a 4 barrel carb. Remember that these horsepower ratings were gross and not net as the S.A.E. requires them to be now.
The engine was also installed in a complete re-designed car for 1955 but,were talkin engines here and now cars,there will be enough of that soon enough. However back then a well known magazine tested the new Chevy and it did 0-60 in 9.7,considered very quick for the day. The debut of the small block brought Chevy to the top of the NASCAR short tract points as well. And of course this became a selling feature touted by the dealerships to gain sales and it worked. The next year of production marked the introduction of a canister type oil filter. An increase in both cam lift and compression helped the 1956 265 to produce 205 horsepower. Another option available was called a 4 barrel Power Pak that increased power to 225 HP. Even with the success of the 265 work was already started on larger displacement small block.
Now given that fact that the more power you have,the more you want it was only natural for some evolution to take place. The 265 block had plenty of cylinder wall so boring it .125 was easy. And along came the 283. Now if you think about it,the 283 does not sound like much given today's standards. At the time though it was state of the art technology and it also helped to bring us to where we are today in regards to the most popular engine ever. The 283 was an instant hit,so much so that 1957 was the last year of production for the 265. Now the 283 had a bore of 3.875 inches and maintained the 3 inch stroke. It produced 185 horsepower with a 2 barrel and 220 with the 4 barrel carburetor. The "Corvette V-8" was offered with a dual 4 barrel set up that produced 245 horsepower and 270 horsepower respectively. Ram Jet Fuel injection was also introduced in 1957 and the 283 produced one horsepower per cubic inch! The fuel injection design was also referred to as a "Dog House" system. Ordering one of these was very difficult but,when a very popular magazine finally did get to test the Corvette with the fuel injection they called it an "absolute jewel" and "instantly transformable into a roaring brute when pushed hard". They attributed this to the instant throttle response and drivability around town. The car did 0-60 in 5.7 seconds and ripped the quarter mile in 14.3 proving to be equal to larger displacement engines rated at 325 horsepower. In fact it beat the 392 hemi for times that year.
The introduction of the 348 "big block" Chevy in 1958 required a few new terms be added to the vocabulary of enthusiast for obvious reasons. The new block was not based on the original small block platform and was more than 100 lbs heavier. Some of the updates to the small block were changing to side mount engine mounts and cylinder walls were made thicker.The same basic options for the 283 remained for 1959 with the exception of the Ram Jet 283 producing 290 horsepower that year. Not to mention that for the past few years the small block Chevy had been proving it's self on the drag strip. Little did the designers know when they came up with the small block that they would create an engine that would be the starting point of millions of engine build ups over the next 50 years.
Ford had had it's V-8 out for almost 20 years at the time the idea of a V-8 Chevrolet came along. Olds,Cadillac,Chrysler,DeSoto and Dodge all had V-8's before Chevy. However,the innovations that came along with the new V-8 revolutionized the industry. And with it,a few new automotive terms would be coined,such as "small block" and "big block". The very first Chevy V-8 was the 265 CID. The block dimensions would remain basically unchanged for 30 years with only minor changes here and there. And believe it or not,almost everyone maintained a 4.4 inch bore center. so it comes as no surprise that every increase in displacement came as a serious engineering break through. The Block was 21 3/4" inches long and had a 9 inch deck height. Another thing that may be a bit surprising is that the main focus of building the V-8 was not for fuel economy or any type of efficiency but,performance and durability. One of the ways this was accomplished was reducing the amount of molds required for casting the block and other engine components. That allows for much greater precision when casting the block and reduces cost. It also helped to reduce weight,the complete machined V-8 block tipped the scales at 147 lbs. A full 16 lbs lighter than the inline 6 block. The fully assembled SBC weighed 531 lbs and was a full 41 lbs lighter than the fully assembled inline 6. The engine produced 162 horsepower with a 2 barrel and 180 with a 4 barrel carb. Remember that these horsepower ratings were gross and not net as the S.A.E. requires them to be now.
The engine was also installed in a complete re-designed car for 1955 but,were talkin engines here and now cars,there will be enough of that soon enough. However back then a well known magazine tested the new Chevy and it did 0-60 in 9.7,considered very quick for the day. The debut of the small block brought Chevy to the top of the NASCAR short tract points as well. And of course this became a selling feature touted by the dealerships to gain sales and it worked. The next year of production marked the introduction of a canister type oil filter. An increase in both cam lift and compression helped the 1956 265 to produce 205 horsepower. Another option available was called a 4 barrel Power Pak that increased power to 225 HP. Even with the success of the 265 work was already started on larger displacement small block.
Now given that fact that the more power you have,the more you want it was only natural for some evolution to take place. The 265 block had plenty of cylinder wall so boring it .125 was easy. And along came the 283. Now if you think about it,the 283 does not sound like much given today's standards. At the time though it was state of the art technology and it also helped to bring us to where we are today in regards to the most popular engine ever. The 283 was an instant hit,so much so that 1957 was the last year of production for the 265. Now the 283 had a bore of 3.875 inches and maintained the 3 inch stroke. It produced 185 horsepower with a 2 barrel and 220 with the 4 barrel carburetor. The "Corvette V-8" was offered with a dual 4 barrel set up that produced 245 horsepower and 270 horsepower respectively. Ram Jet Fuel injection was also introduced in 1957 and the 283 produced one horsepower per cubic inch! The fuel injection design was also referred to as a "Dog House" system. Ordering one of these was very difficult but,when a very popular magazine finally did get to test the Corvette with the fuel injection they called it an "absolute jewel" and "instantly transformable into a roaring brute when pushed hard". They attributed this to the instant throttle response and drivability around town. The car did 0-60 in 5.7 seconds and ripped the quarter mile in 14.3 proving to be equal to larger displacement engines rated at 325 horsepower. In fact it beat the 392 hemi for times that year.
The introduction of the 348 "big block" Chevy in 1958 required a few new terms be added to the vocabulary of enthusiast for obvious reasons. The new block was not based on the original small block platform and was more than 100 lbs heavier. Some of the updates to the small block were changing to side mount engine mounts and cylinder walls were made thicker.The same basic options for the 283 remained for 1959 with the exception of the Ram Jet 283 producing 290 horsepower that year. Not to mention that for the past few years the small block Chevy had been proving it's self on the drag strip. Little did the designers know when they came up with the small block that they would create an engine that would be the starting point of millions of engine build ups over the next 50 years.