I’ve commented on the Pontiac 400 cubic inch V8, and the
Chevrolet 305 V8. Now I want to ease
back and give you bigger picture.
Pull the cord on a gas-powered lawn mower, and you’ve got
a single cylinder gas engine spinning a blade around to cut your lawn. Look under the hood of a Citroen Deux Chevaux
(DCV) and you’ll see a flat two cylinder engine. Most economy cars have 4 cylinder engines, mostly inline, with Saab, VW and Porsche making flat 4s, and V4s exclusively in motorcycles. Their upscale brethren can usually be found with six cylinder engines: straight six (favored by BMW), V6s (most of
the others), and flat sixes (Subaru and Porsche). But the most epic of these is the V8. Eight cylinders, two banks of four, generally
90 degrees apart. The V8 replaced the
straight (inline) 8, which lasted until the mid 1950s.
Despite the advent of modern electric motors, gasoline V8s
are still around and will be for some time.
Even if electric cars completely replace ICE (internal combustion
engines) on showroom floors, that does nothing about the millions of existing
gas powered vehicles which won’t be magically transformed into electric cars
overnight – if ever. That being the
case, they are still relevant, and thus V8s are still relevant as well.
Straight Eights. While
the V configuration (two banks of 4 cylinders at a 90 degree angle) is most
common – and I haven’t seen a flat (horizontally opposed) 8 (Porsche used one in racing cars, but no production cars) – inline 8 cylinder
engines were popular in the 1930s, 40s, and into the 50s before being phased
out in favor of V8s. Most American
companies made straight eights, though Cadillac stuck with V8s, V12s and even
V16s. Buick’s straight eight was
distinctive for using a more modern overhead valve format, while the rest of
the straight eights used flathead (L head) engines.
Flathead vs. overhead valve vs. overhead cam. Flathead engines have the valves (intake and
exhaust) in the block itself, leaving the cylinder head little more than a cover
through which the spark plugs poke into the combustion chamber. OHV and OHC engines have the valves in the cylinder
heads. OHV engines locate the camshaft,
which opens and closes the valves, in the block, linked to the valves by
lifters, pushrods, and rocker arms. OHC
engines put the camshaft(s) in the cylinder head itself, directly opening and
closing the valves. Although the OHC
system is marginally superior, Chevrolet still uses the OHV format for its
current LS engines.
Ford Flathead
(1932). While Chevrolet had an ill-fated
V8 in 1916, the first popular V8 was the Ford Flathead, debuting in 1932. Instead of being a luxury car engine, this
was mass-produced, so most Americans could drive a car with this V8. Not only were the cars themselves popular,
but the V8 started the trend of hot-rodding, birthing the performance
aftermarket. The main two displacements
were 221 (3.6L) and 239 (3.9L), maxing out at 85 HP. Although Cadillac (1948) and Oldsmobile
(1949) came out with their overhead valve (OHV) (modern style) V8s earlier, it
was the Small Block Chevy V8 (1955) which toppled the Ford Flathead from the throne. Ford phased out the flathead in 1953, replacing
it with its Y block (OHV) series in 1954.
Small Block Chevy 1955. Introduced in 1955 in 265 cubic inches, later
growing to 283 (1958), 327 (1962), 350 (1967), and 400 (1970), with the 305 (5.0L) coming into the picture in 1976 as a fuel-economy variant. The 400 was never very popular, leaving the
350 (5.7L) as the optimal size for performance.
The SBC went into Novas, Camaros (in which the 350 debuted), Chevelles,
Corvettes, Bel Airs, station wagons, vans, and pickup trucks – plus marine
versions as well. By 1998 the LS engines
took over and are now the favored hot rod engines. But while the SBC is no longer under the hood
of anything you can go into a GM dealer and buy today, it’s still available as
a crate engine from GM (as is the LS).
Innovations of the SBC:
very light – even lighter than the stovebolt (Chevrolet) straight six; well
breathing cylinder heads with stud-mounted rocker arms (though it was Pontiac
which invented this innovation); and a one piece intake manifold which also
covered the lifter valley (contrast with Pontiac’s two piece manifold). Mass produced with excellent power for its
weight, the small block Chevy knocked the Ford flathead off its throne.
The Big Three.
That would be General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. GM consists of Chevrolet, Pontiac,
Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac. Ford
includes Mercury, Edsel, and Lincoln.
Chrysler also includes Dodge and Plymouth (also known as"MOPAR").
Other, defunct car companies also made their own V8s; of
these, American Motors (AMC) lasted the longest. Popular displacements included 304, 343, 360, 390,
and the largest, the 401. Like many V8s
of a given series, they were the same size externally; like Pontiac, AMC did
not have “big blocks” or “small blocks”.
Oddball AMC models like the Gremlin and Pacer could be purchased with
the 304 – and hotrodded with the 401, which would otherwise be in the Javelin
(muscle car) or full size models. Studebaker,
Packard, and International Harvester also made their own V8s.
Hot Rodding. An
engine’s “displacement” is the cubic volume of its cylinders (leaving aside
rotary engines, only made by Mazda, for the purpose of this discussion). A cylinder has a height (stroke) and diameter
(bore). An engine makes power by bringing
in air, mixing that with a specific ratio – 14.7:1 (stoichiometric) – of fuel,
and igniting that mixture with a spark plug.
The larger the cylinder, the more air can be thus processed, and thus more
power. However, the bore and stroke are
internal dimensions; the external dimensions generally remain the same.
Although Pontiac, unlike other GM divisions, did not have
“small” and “big” blocks, it stratified its V8s into three parallel
series. The smaller engines, the 326 and
350, served as entry level. The larger
engines, the 389 and 400, were mid-level, and the larger engines, the 421, 428,
and 455, were reserved for the full size cars – the Bonneville and Catalina. However, all these engines are the same size
externally. One Saturday morning back in
1963, the Pontiac techs and engineers, led by John DeLorean, realized that the
389 V8 would drop into the entry-level sized LeMans in place of the 326 it was
being sold with. The 389-equipped LeMans
was much faster and more fun to drive.
“Pity we can’t sell it with that engine,” they thought. “Well, we can – as an option” – the GTO. An instant success!
GM vs. the others.
With Ford/Mercury and Chrysler, the corporate family shared engines
across divisions. Cadillac and Lincoln
make their own engines, which have more in common with each other than with their
division brothers. GM, until 1982, had
each division making its own, which caused some confusion. Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick all had
350 cubic inch V8s, all four being completely different. All four had a 400 cubic V8, again all
completely different. Chevrolet’s
largest big block was a 454, while Buick, Olds and Pontiac (“BOP”) all had a
455 – and all were different.
I have to laugh at this.
In the early 70s, GM started switching around V8s in its different
divisions, without telling the customers, assuming they didn’t know or
care – and many of them didn’t. Until…one
Oldsmobile customer (Joseph Siwek) brought his brand new 1977 Olds Delta 88
into the local Olds dealer for service.
The tech gave him back his Olds V8 parts, telling him the Chevrolet (not
Oldsmobile) 350 V8 in his new car didn’t need them. “Chevrolet V8? But I bought an Oldsmobile!” Tech shrugs, “I guess they’re putting
Chevrolet V8s in Oldsmobiles now.” This
irate customer sued GM for false advertising and won. They didn’t stop the policy, but the court
ordered that they add a fine print disclaimer to the sales material warning
customers that their GM vehicle might be equipped with an engine made by a
different division of GM. Automotive
History: The 1977 Oldsmobile Chevrolet Engine Scandal – There’s No Rocket In My
88’s Pocket | Curbside Classic
The most pertinent example of this was when Pontiac
stopped making V8s in 1981, and all 1982- (third and fourth) generation
Firebirds wound up with a Chevrolet V8 under the hood. This was even more tragic because until the
350 became available in 1987, the best Chevrolet V8 you could get in a Firebird
was a 305, most of which struggled to reach 200 HP. In addition to putting out considerably more horsepower
than the 305, the 350 also puts out far more torque and responds much better to
performance modifications, which is why it remains the most popular displacement
of the classic small block Chevy V8.
GM has a pecking order of its divisions. The basic idea is that a GM customer would
start out with a Chevrolet, and progressively upgrade to the other divisions as
he/she got better jobs. Trade your
Chevrolet in for a Pontiac, trade your Pontiac in for an Oldsmobile, trade your
Oldsmobile in for a Buick, and finally upgrade to a Cadillac. Failing the last, most hearses (station
wagons used to transport coffins) are made by Cadillac, meaning your last ride
is likely to be in a Cadillac, even if you’re not alive to enjoy it.
Chevrolet. I’ve already described the revolutionary
small block. In addition, there are two
big block series. The first was the W
block variety, from 1958-64, in 348, 409, and 427 cubic inch displacements. The 409 features in the Beach Boys’ song of
the same name: “my four speed dual quad positraction 409”. The valve covers look like inverted W’s, but
the heads didn’t flow nearly well enough.
So they started from scratch with the big block (1965-76 in passenger
cars), in 396/402, 427, and 454 displacements.
The big block remains in existence as a crate engine, a monster 632
cubic inch, 1000 HP behemoth, which will presumably drop in where a 396, 427 or
454 used to be.
LS Engines. With the notable exception of the ZL1 427,
all Chevrolet V8s have iron blocks.
Corvettes received aluminum cylinder heads on its TPI engines, but the
block itself remained iron. In between
the Tuned Port Injected 350 (L98) in Firebirds, Camaros and Corvettes was the LT1
V8, with aluminum cylinder heads, reverse flow cooling, and Optispark ignition,
bringing power from 240 (L98) to 275 (LT1).
But GM started from scratch with an aluminum block for the LS engines,
the current standard V8s. 4.8, 5.3 and 6.0L
displacements are in trucks, 5.7L and 6.0L in Camaros and Corvettes, all the
way up to 7.0L for its most powerful versions.
Pontiac. Its three series of V8s are noted above. Add to this the 265/301 from 1980-81, a
last-ditch effort, including turbocharging the 301 in Trans Ams and Formulas. Pontiac brought its V8 out in 1955, the same
year as Chevrolet. As noted, Pontiac is
closest to Chevrolet in the pecking order.
Oddly, when it came time to make the F body (Camaro and Firebird),
Oldsmobile wanted in, but GM thought a third variant would thin the market out
too much. So they thew Olds the bone of
allowing them to jazz up the Cutlass with the Hurst/Olds model in 1968, silver
and black with the 455 V8. Imagine an
alternate universe where you have Oldsmobile F-bodies in 1967-69, 1970-81,
1982-92, and 1993-2002. Mind. Blown.
As noted, Pontiac doesn’t have big or small blocks, and
its V8s range from 326 to 455. In
addition to the small block, Chevy has the big block, generally in 396, 427,
and 454 displacements. Pontiac dropped
455s in Firebird Formulas and Trans Ams in the 1970s, from 1971-76, while Chevrolet
never did the same with Camaros – and it phased out the 396 after 1972. Dealers like Yenko (in Pennsylvania) or
Baldwin-Motion (on Long Island) may have dropped 427s and 454s into Chevys
themselves.
Pontiac cylinder heads.
The standard heads have semi-circular exhaust ports, so-called “D”
port. The Ram Air II, IV, 455HO and
SD455 heads have round ports. The round
port heads flow much better than the D ports, which is why those engines are
the top Pontiac V8s. When Edelbrock
decided to make aluminum versions of Pontiac cylinder heads, they used the Ram
Air IV heads as a starting point, although their aluminum heads actually have D
ports – but the “D” is on its side.
My closest experience with Pontiac V8s came in 1998, when
I purchased a 400 out of a Trans Am which had gone bad. I put it on a stand in my parents’ garage and
gradually broke it down to the block itself.
The machine shop confirmed that the block and crank were history, so
they went into the trash. The heads were
“6X”, a later D-port variant (no Firebirds after 1974 have round port
heads). I took out all 16 valves and
cleaned them, later having some of the parts bead blasted and painted. I still have some of the parts (oil filler
tube guide).
Oh, and Pontiac is named after a famous Native American
chief from the Detroit area. Its earlier
logo was an Indian head, and later switched to a down-pointing red
arrowhead.
Oldsmobile. Oldsmobile was second, after Cadillac, to
produce an OHV V8 (1949). Small blocks
include the 330, 350, and 403. The 403
replaced the Pontiac 400 in 1979 Trans Am automatic transmission applications
(“6.6 Litre”) for 185 HP, vs. the 4 speed manual Pontiac 400 (“T/A 6.6”) with
220 HP. Big blocks include the 400, 425, and 455. Someone put an Olds 455 from a 1972 F-85 in
my 76 Firebird. Someday I might even
get it running. Olds V8s have rear
mounted distributors and an oil filler tower in the front of the engine, as
opposed to simply a cap on the valve covers most V8s use.
Oldsmobile’s logo features an uprising rocket, with
“Rocket” frequently invoked in the name.
[Clutch: “My Rocket 88, fastest in the land, crucial, crucial,
VELOCITY!”].
Buick. Small blocks range from their aluminum 215,
all the way up to 350. Big blocks
include 400, 430, and 455. Somewhat
confusingly, the big block series replaced the first V8 series (1953-64) (the
Nailhead, due to small valves) which ranged from 264 to 425 cubic inches,
including a 401 cubic inch variant.
Buick V8s have front mounted distributors.
Cadillac. The first GM division to produce an OHV V8,
in 1948. This series lasted all the way
the 1970s, ranging from 331 cubic inches all the way to 500 cubic inches, the
largest displacement V8 engine ever available in a US car. And since the Cadillac V8 isn’t much larger
than any other, some hot rodders will drop a Cadillac 500 into another
car.
Northstar and Blackwing. While the non-Chevrolet V8s – except for Oldsmobile
diesel V8s – died in 1982, Cadillac, being GM’s luxury division, kept their own
V8s. For awhile these were the Northstar
engines (1993-2011): all aluminum, shared with Oldsmobile, and capable of running
without coolant. The newest Cadillac V8
is a new design, the Blackwing, a 4.2L twin turbo OHC V8, from 2018-2020.
Moving off from General Motors…
Ford. Ford eventually phased out its flathead V8
and joined the rest. Then it came up
with a variety of different families and displacements. 302 (5.0L) is probably the most popular,
winding up with a carburetor and then EFI in 1979-93 Fox body Mustangs, often
with the 5 speed manual (5.0 5 speed).
The 351 can either be a 351 Windsor (same family as the 302) or
Cleveland (different family). For larger
engines, there’s the 427, the 428 (including the 428 Cobra Jet), 429 (Cobra Jet
and BOSS), and the 460. Then they phased
out the 5.0L in favor of a new design 4.6L, and then went back to 5.0L
displacement for a new version of the engine.
To be honest, I’ve never been much of a fan of Mustangs.
Ford V8s – Post Flathead.
Part 1: Y Block (1954-64). As
noted, the Flathead was retired in 1953, replaced with the Y block, which was a
more modern OHV design. The Y blocks
have a strange intake setup where the ports are on top of each other rather
than side by side. The lifter design,
solid lifters adjusted by the rocker arms, was the most troublesome part of the
design.
Part 2: Windsor/90
Degree (1964 – present). 260, 289, 302,
351W. Of these the 289 was common in the
first Mustangs, and the 302 more common in Fox body Mustangs as the “5.0L”.
Part 3. 335 Series
(1970-75). 351 and 400, with the 351
Cleveland (named after the factory they were made in) the most popular.
Part 4. FE Series
(1958-76). 390, 427, and 428 are the most
famous examples. And the most famous of
these is the 428 Cobra Jet, arguably the best street V8 Ford made in the muscle
car era (1964-75).
Part 5. 385 Series
(1968-75). 429 and 460. The largest engines Ford made. These include the Boss 429, the closest thing
to a hemi engine Ford made.
Chrysler. Small blocks:
318 (5.2L), 340, 360 (5.9L) are the most popular displacements. The small block Mopar V8 can be recognized by
its rear-mounted distributor. Big
blocks: 383, 413, 426, and 440 are the most popular displacements. These
include the 440 Six Pack (three two barrel carburetors) and the 426 Hemi. A 360 will drop in place of a 318, a 440 in
place of a 383, but the Hemi heads are so much larger and the engine so much
wider, that fitting a Hemi in car that didn’t come with it is not an easy
task. There was actually an earlier Hemi
V8 in the 1950s, distinguished by its rear mounted distributor; the 66-71 Hemi
has its distributor in the front.
In 2006 MOPAR resurrected the Hemi as a modern, fuel injected
engine in 5.7L and 6.1L (later 6.4L) displacements in the Magnum, Charger R/T,
Challenger R/T, and Chrysler 300. All
have two spark plugs per cylinder with individual coils on each cylinder. I had a 2009 Charger R/T from 2015 to
2020, which had the standard 5.7L Hemi (370 HP). The SRT8 version, in 6.1L, had 420 HP. Then they upped the ante with a supercharger,
the Hellcat, putting out 700 HP. Although
MOPAR has announced the end of gas engine Chargers and Challengers, the Hellcat
V8 is available as a crate engine – should you have the $$$.
Again, the trend seems to be to phase out ICE engines for electric
motors, but given the extremely limited recharging infrastructure and length of
time necessary to recharge – compared to filling up your gas tank in 5 minutes –
the full transition is years down the road, so to speak, if ever. And crate engines suffice if we need to replace
an older V8 with a new one. LS swaps
have become more common and popular among GM owners, as the LS engine is light
(all aluminum), reliable, and not only powerful in stock form, but respond well
to a richly developed aftermarket.
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