Myth?

[68gmcjon]

Is it true that the plant that makes the 396 big blocks flooded one year so they took the blocks and bored them to 402's. I heard this somewhere once and would like to know since i have a 396. Thankx

[mikep]

I like the "they didnt want a small block bigger than their big block " theory in reference to the small block 400 that came out the same year.


I had never heard the flood theory until a few months ago.

[Longhorn Man]

I think the flood is as crazy a story as the fire which caused the fire ment o hose it all down...resulting in rusted blocks.
I had always heard the small block being bigger than the big block thing myself.
The 400 came out in 70,a nd the 396 grew to a 402 in the same year. I think it is the same inhouse politics that dictate the Corvette has to have the highest out put engine of all the cars. In some of the older models, it had the same internals...cam and all...so they rated it lower in the 'other' cars and said it was restrictive exhaust....
I hate politics...esp where they don't belong.

[GreenMystChevy]

Never heard the flood story either, just the one about not being outdone by a little 'ol mouse engine. They just kept the same name in '70 and later because it sold the car.

[67/72junkie]

Not wanting to have a bigger small block than the smallest big block in 1970 is the correct answer.I read this in a book filled with casting #s and engine specs several years back.It was a GM chevy power catolog of somekind that belonged to my stepfather who was a mechanic a our local chevy dealership.I wish I still had it.It had a ton of info about swapping factory parts to make unique engine combinations for class racers.I took a small journal 327 and installed a 283 crank in it to make a 302 this way.That baby would rev until the small rod bolts gave up.

[72shadetree]

never heard the fire story

[70 Jimmy]

On the Big Block vs Small Block theory; Why were the cars (Chevelle etc.) still badged 396? That contadicts that line of thinking. I work in high tech manufacturing which leads me to believe that they were just covering up a screw up by boring out the blocks. Damn good job of covering it up!

[Longhorn Man]

If yu have an engine that is selling like mad becouse of it's history and 'bad boy immage'...why chanige a good thing?
Look at how the hot rodders didn't accept the 4.6 mod in the Mustang...it put out the same power, and torque, but it wasn't accepted at first.
In the Muscle car times, if you were on top one day, a small chainge like that could slap you to the bottom of the sales chart...and posably never to recover.