Is a Modern Hemi a big block or a small block?

[Blown7]

Back in the 1960'same it was based on bore spacing.
Hence a small block could never achieve a spacing equal to a big block without running into the water jackets.
All Gen 3Hemi are small block by "Old definition "

However it doesn't matter today because we only have one block to work with.

 

[BULL]

However it doesn't matter today because we only have one block to work with.

 

[Markp]

I’m staring at it in my office as I type this. It is definitely a small block. I also just realized my bookcase needs a dusting.

 

[2fast4u]

Mopar big blocks

B series
350, 361, 383, 400

RB (raised block)
383, 413, 426, 440

Mopar small blocks

LA series
273, 318, 340, 360

Poly series
318


I'm 100% positive the mopar big block and small block are determined by physical dimensions. I went through my old mopar performance books and thats how they referred to them also .

The gen 3 Hemi has physical dimensions similar to the LA small block so I'm calling it a small block .

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@Hpindy...there was no 383 RB that I am aware of, all were "B" blocks. If you ever tried to fit an intake from a "RB" to a "B" you will quickly understand the difference.

 

[HellcatMatt]

So does the BGE (Big Gas Engine) mean anything or just a name they give it?

 

[Hpindy]

@Hpindy...there was no 383 RB that I am aware of, all were "B" blocks. If you ever tried to fit an intake from a "RB" to a "B" you will quickly understand the difference.

I'm positive there was a RB 383 . It was only produced in 1959-1960 in the Chryslers and had long cross ram on it .




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I just found this

 

[2fast4u]

Learn something new every day, I stand corrected!

 

[Hpindy]

Learn something new every day, I stand corrected!

It's always good to learn something new every day .

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[MiHiHemi]

 

[Blown7]

I watched thisome vid...
However this guy wasn't alive in the big block/small block days..and only describes chevy as he understands it.

It still goes back to block bore spacing. .
Where is Smokey Yunick when you need him?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokey_Yunick

 

[Blown7]

Yah I knew Smokey

 

[Hickster]

Ok,,,,,, what's next???

 

[SilverBillet]

I agree. A small block it is. Especially since a small block bell housing mates up.

 

[Magnified]

All these years my understanding has always been that big block vs small block refers to the displacement only (for the most part) though everyone has their own rule of thumb (big block has to have 4 bolt main, small block a 2), (big block has to be over 400 cubic inches), blah blah blah.... I believe the difference is irrelevant at this point for the most part.

 

[Magnified]

Don’t we have hemispherical combustion chambers? I don’t think it’s the pistons. It’s the heads. The pistons can’t be domed with the compression we have. If they are not wedge shaped chambers then it is a Hemi.

Nope.... the hemi is marketing only now (and the hemispherical heads were found to not be that efficient anyway - thanks to more modern modeling and computers)

 

[Confuzed1]

There really is no "small and "big" block V8's anymore in my mind. It visually applied to the old SBC and Big Block gen 1 engines (and other makes like Dodge, Ford etc. I think that went out years ago with the advent of modular engines etc. Nowadays, I think engines are sort of like the old Buick, Olds, Pontiac (BOP) - they had neither a big or small block...they were all externally pretty much identical from the 350 to the 455..till around the early 80's when they began just running the GM corporate blocks.

 

[BULL]

I found a thread over "there" from Dec 2015

"Hellcat displacement..."


I'll not honor them with a link though...

 

[DemonSRT]

I don’t remember ever discussing a 350 Mopar back in the day. The 361 and 383 were both B motors but a 383 was considered a big block by those Chevy guys. I thought that was funny but those SBC guys always used it as an excuse for losing to my 383 Road Runner! I never quite put it in the same category as a 413/440/426 even though I beat many of those. I’m just saying we always called them big blocks and a 273, 318 or 340 was a small block.

A Mopar 350 was a one year only engine-1958

 

[DemonSRT]

@Hpindy...there was no 383 RB that I am aware of, all were "B" blocks. If you ever tried to fit an intake from a "RB" to a "B" you will quickly understand the difference.

Actually there was a RB version of the 383.

Not to be confused with the 383 B engine, the 383 RB had a 4 1⁄32-inch (102.4 mm) bore (with the long stroke of 3 3⁄4-inch (95.3 mm)) for a displacement of 383 cu in (6.3 L). It was only available in 1959 and 1960 on the US-built Chrysler Windsors and Saratogas; one of Trenton Engine's lines had been converted to the new RB engine (to make the 413), and demand for the 383 B engine was too high for the remaining line. The solution was to create a 383 RB to fill the gap until the plant figured out how to quickly switch from one block to the other.

 

[Hpindy]

Actually there was a RB version of the 383.

Not to be confused with the 383 B engine, the 383 RB had a 4 1⁄32-inch (102.4 mm) bore (with the long stroke of 3 3⁄4-inch (95.3 mm)) for a displacement of 383 cu in (6.3 L). It was only available in 1959 and 1960 on the US-built Chrysler Windsors and Saratogas; one of Trenton Engine's lines had been converted to the new RB engine (to make the 413), and demand for the 383 B engine was too high for the remaining line. The solution was to create a 383 RB to fill the gap until the plant figured out how to quickly switch from one block to the other.

I found this

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