engine

What is the difference between a small block and big block engines?
ty

one is small and one is bigger. lol

it depends on the manufacturer, back in ye olden days, most manufacturers had 2 families of V8's, the ones with larger displacement and generally larger everything were the big blocks and the ones with smaller blocks were small blocks. However, displacement isn't the sheer determiner for whats a big block and whats a small block, for example the Ford 351-Windsor is a small block and the 351-Cleveland is a big block even though they had the same displacement.

it depends on the manufacturer, back in ye olden days, most manufacturers had 2 families of V8's, the ones with larger displacement and generally larger everything were the big blocks and the ones with smaller blocks were small blocks. However, displacement isn't the sheer determiner for whats a big block and whats a small block, for example the Ford 351-Windsor is a small block and the 351-Cleveland is a big block even though they had the same displacement.

Thanks or the info. Just a question that has bugged me for years.
Richard

At the risk of being contrary, a Cleveland is a small block. It takes the same bellhousing flange as 221, 260, 289, 302 and 351W, and has the "short" deck height. The "M" series (351M and 400) are a mix of the two. They use the bellhousing flange of the 429/460, and the heads from the Cleveland, and the deck height is taller than the C. The 429/460 is what we currently call a "big block" Ford. The old FE engines (332, 352, 360, 390, 427, 428 (plus a few more) are the "old" Ford big block.
Just keeping things straight...