Sorry Andy but the factory spec for a sbc deck height is 9.025" not 9.060" like you said twice in the video.

I learned early in my career that I could build a MoPar engine with relatively stock components and a basic static balance getting good hp with long engine life. When building Chevy’s though if built the same as a MoPar it’s lifespan was considerably shorter in many cases if it was not dynamically balanced it would often not survive a 500 mile race at speed. Chevy’s were also more susceptible to overheating problems than MoPar’s. I did not have as much of an opportunity to work with Ford to any great degree since I spent the vast majority of my racing career working for the same team.

Thank you for this! Just like you said, most guys end up with their nose in one family of blocks. Would love to see one on the 360 AMC, 350 Olds, and 351 Ford Cleveland.

As always, really good stuff. I'm really lookin' forward to the 318 build, totally great idea.

Always nice to see you two guys talking real nice technicals like this, rarely done comparison👍

Nice comparison. Been a Mopar head for many moons, and built a couple LA engines. The best was a very streetable 420+ HP 360 back in the early 90's when that was not bad for an NA pump gas motor with excellent vacuum. It was my daily driver, and I sold it with over 50,000 miles on it (probably close to 100 of those were full-boogie laps at the drag strip). That being said, I never trash anyone else's favorite badge...they've all made jewels, and they've all made clunkers. Drive what ya' love!

Thank you gents! I really like the idea of chamfering the bottom edge of the cylinder bore to aid in airflow back into the cylinders as the piston goes up in the cylinders in the exhaust and compression strokes. I never considered airflow and pressures in the bottom end of the block. This makes me wonder what else I have not considered?

I love this kind of tech ! (especially when it includes Mopars).It brings back memories. Back around 1975 NASCAR mandated the use of small block engines in what is "Cup" today. When Maurice Petty built their first small block Mopar it had mostly Chevy internals !

I've got Chrysler, Ford and Chevy all in one project. Like this comparo, can't wait to see more.

In a nitrous class at the Engine Masters Challenge we had a 360 mopar with only a 2 bolt main and no girdle and a cast crank produce 849hp and 748lbft. Then put in a truck and ran naturally aspirated for another 5000 miles without any problems.

More Mopar builds would be very welcomed. I am really looking forward to this ,1 horsepower per 1cubic inch, Mopar 318 build.

I really enjoyed this video, it took me back to the late 1960s and 1970s. I used 350 Pontiac blocks, while my buddy used 350 Chevy blocks. The Pontiac had a camshaft end float keeper on the front of the block. The only thing holding the Chevy camshaft in was the timing chain itself. Also the Chevy camshafts tended to wear more as the block valley was solid over the camshaft. The Pontiac block valley was open in places, allowing more oil flowing over the camshaft. We used to remove the oil gallery core plugs, tap them and screw in threaded plugs. Crane Fireball camshafts and Rhoads Lifters, an early form of variable valve lift and timing. Oh happy days, many thanks again for the memories.

I would have never thought a small block chevy would be heavier than a 318. Great content Andy and David!!

Awesome content and information! This is the stuff I love!

Awesome video. I have always loved all small blocks and have been around them most of my life but my favorite will always be the original 351 Cleveland since I grew up around Bob Glidden and what he did with it in pro stock was just amazing I love its power potential with those huge heads that still flow just as well as most of the after market heads. I have had a few built Cleveland as well as 350 and 400 Chevy's and the cleveland's performance vs the others is just unreal.

every time I watch one of your videos, I learn something new. thanks for another great video gentlemen!

That was cool ! And no I've never personally had the chance to check the 3 manufacturer of engine blocks like that, thanks!

One important thing that wasn't mentioned is the higher amount of nickel used in Chrysler blocks . This , along with the fact that the head bolts are further away from the bore than chevy blocks , which results in less bore distortion . The Mopar block also uses bigger main cap bolts . As good as the 318 block is , the 340 and 360 have slightly more beef in the main webbing . The 360 block is stronger in the bottom end due to the larger main bearings , and the main caps are beefier and the bolts have a larger spread . The larger mains make for a stronger crank , especially with stroker builds .

Very informative! I'm a Mopar guy but I love learning about all of it! Thanks guys

Drinking this in gentlemen. Can't wait to see both your talents loosed onto these plentiful 318s. Back in the 70s we could care less about aftermarket support, as we had Direct Connection as close as our nearest Plymouth or Dodge dealer. We used to get the latest catalog religiously each year. The high compression engines were already the scourge of the tracks and streets back then anyway. 340s in light weight A-bodies could pretty much clean the streets back then. If that didn't do it, the 383s, 440s and 440 six packs took care of the rest, with the Hemi kept back as the ace in the hole. Truthfully it was no competition, back then, before modified rear suspensions for GMs. As crude as the super stock springs and factory pinion snubbers were, they hooked up much better than the factory GMs did stock. We never really warmed up the 318s, because 340s were plentiful. Later when they got scarcer and we started to understand the torque advantages and potential of 360s, it cost the same to build a 360, as it did a 318. Gotta say I'm very interested in this 318 build. Great video👍 Malcolm Ottawa Valley

Somewhat related as to blocks, I remember reading some years ago about the details of Chrysler's experiments with a smallblock PS car(Yellow Duster) full tube frame to compete with Grumpy Jenkin's tube frame Vega. Chevy had a lot of special parts that Chrysler didn't at the time(circa 1972) and Chrysler was using their TA blocks. They actually were making enough power to split the blocks in testing. The factory wasn't willing to spend the $ to cast new sturdier blocks that could handle the power level so the whole project got scrapped. I've collected quite a few photos of the car, the engines and the whole build/testing process.

Great video guys! I’m curious to hear yours and David’s opinion on the Chrysler heads, that the valves open into the widest part of the bore, and that the spark plug is located more toward the center of the chamber for a wedge. I always heard that these are good features but, we’ll see. Really looking forward to this series!

👍you guys have a lot of interesting stuff to sink in , can't wait to see what kind of stuff you pull out of your Hats . Good luck and stay Healthy

I'm a Ford guy, but would definitely like to see you guys do more Mopar builds than you do.

One critical thing that was overlooked but definitely worthy of consideration is how much larger the distance between the mopar's crank centreline and cam centreline is. Mopar's design moves the hollow cam tunnel up and away from the most stressed part of the bottom end. The Crank saddles. You don't have to be an engineer to see that this adds an enormous amount of strength and rigidity where it counts most.

I have a Blue Print engines sbc. It's similar to a Dart block which is advertised at 175lbs. Really nice piece.

At heat and high rpm on a continuous load, laps or stress of pulling, it's unreal of the stress on the lower part of the engine block, that's the reason the thicker/ heavier is better.

You two work well together. And so easy to understand. Thanks from Canada.

Very much enjoyed the video! Thank you gentlemen, well done!

Excellent exam 👍! Thank you!

thanks for the comparison!

Awesome information guys. Keep it up

I remember back in the late 60’s how popular the 327 Chevy was. Chevy guys raved about it all the time. But they were kinda discouraged when the small journal crank was replaced with the bigger journal crank. The loyalist stayed with the small journal 327. Small journal chevys 265,283 z/28 302 and 327 were great if you loved high high rpm. But the 350 Chevy pretty much replaced most of them unless you were loyal to the 327.

Great Tip's Thank you guys

Thank you for actually showing the subject material

I really need to watch more of your content. I love these videos.

Great to see the teen get some love. WISH someone would make a repro 340 block @ a reasonable price. Just my opinion but they would sell like hot cakes.

Great video guys, enjoy seeing the differences. Thanks for the vid

Good to see a video finally that shows the all important business end of the motor

I'd love to see you do a similar build with a 4v Cleveland engine like your doing with Tony's 318 build to see how much power U can get out of it using stock parts

Loved the Colabertion KEEP IT UP (THR EXELENT HELP)

My dad had always told me that one reason they didn't have a lot of Mopar aftermarket was because the factory parts were so good to start with. This seems to kind of back that up some. Though I'm surprised there still isn't more all these years later. Go to Summit or Jegs and look up cylinder heads and it's comical. There are dozens of pages for the Chevy and barely a page for Mopar. Harder to build when you just can't buy parts.

Love all of your tech. Knowledge is everything. Great videos.

There is nothing like good information and analysis. Thanks.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge

I’d like to make a few comments on the 289/302 - 5.0 Ford blocks. First of all Ford was the only one of the three to properly size the block to the intended cubic inch range and use case. For example the 8.2” deck engines are almost perfectly sized in deck height and journal sizes for about a 300 cubic inch V8. Moving up the Cleveland was a performance engine at 9.2” deck with a 2.75” main perfect for its high performance inclinations. The 351 Windsor was taller still at 9.5” of deck height allowing for a very relaxed rod/stroke ratio and the 3” main served very well in its more utilitarian duties. Finally the 429/460 which is really just a giant 351 Windsor with canted valves specs out at 10.32” deck height which would suffice all the way to the 500” displacement they were planning to challenge Cadillac with. All the Fords have high camshaft placement and the camshafts are larger in diameter. The .875” lifter is not the largest of the three but certainly a decent step up from the Chevs. Those cylinder extensions hanging down that Andy pointed out are showing you that Ford moves the upper part of the crankcase up and this this puts the lower support closer to the most stressed area of the cylinder wall. This allows for better cylinder wall strength even though Fords are thin wall. If you look at the racing statistics from the golden era of racing (1960’s) the sbc and bbc and some of the Mopars were more successful at the drag strip where super heavy duty blocks came in handy when running exotic fuels or power adders. Ford on the other hand had far more success in road racing and rallying. The 450 pound 289 V8 which could approach 400 horsepower in race trim was a deadly weapon in cars like the Cobra the GT350 Mustang the TVR Griffin and the Sunbeam Tiger. It gave everyone 90% of the power of a 327 Chevy but with close to 100 pound weight saving right over the front wheels.

Just found you guys Im a Chrysler guy. Love the comparisons. You guys taught me alot from just this video!! Thank you I Ill be loyal from here on out! From Ohio

with the price of SHP blocks being so low, it makes ZERO financial sense to build a stock block " high power engine" anything they're available for, unless there's a class rule.If the mopar block had siamesed bores, they'd be the king of the small blocks, especially if chrysler had developed the Poly heads, which were avaible in 1959 as the A engine, which became the LA engine later. The Poly heads just needed some port revisions, they would have been cleveland heads far earlier. the A engine in 1959, High cam distance, tall deck, splayed canted heads, 4.480 bore spacing. The A engine was turned into the LA engine to make it lighter and cheaper. What a shame, the Poly had all the right ingredients to make a ton of power.

I like corraberation between numerous channels. It's multiplying the knowledge. Thanks

Can you and DV do a modernized comparison with the LS, 3gen hemi ,and Fords Triton or Coyote blocks? Just wondering if it could be a talking piece. Nevertheless I absolutely love the nuggets of information and the many years of knowledge being put out on video for us modern high performance guys to fall back on. Thank you for your guys insight, always appreciated.

Nice video with some great information. I had never seen the splayed main caps before and had no idea what each block weighed.

I kept looking around your garage, looks really nice and clean 👍

The LA blocks can take very large stroker cranks also because of the tall deck nature of the block!

back in the late seventies when i started playing mechanic,i was told them numbers refer to tin and nickel content,i have seen in my day,020\020-010/020-and just a 010 and a 020 in the chain area.and i have only seen one 020\020 on a block. i also have 2 400 4 bolt blocks and one 2 bolt block. one 400 4 bolt is still original bore,the others have been bored,good luck on the 318 build,i was once a mopar man,but parts was rare and expensive then and now

That was really interesting, I didn't realize the 318 had floating pins, thought that was just a 340 thing.I have a SB Chev in the garage because it was cheap to put decent aftermarket heads on and the chassis has lots of aftermarket support, but I claim no allegiance to Chev. I'm interested in all brands, beyond the Big 3. As far as a swap goes, the SB Ford is often chosen for its front mount distributor and narrow width from the short deck. A BB Chev can be an enviable power maker but at what weight penalty? Looking forward to more of your collective efforts!

Really cool video. If it wasnt for the massive front timing cover And the wet intake, I would be playing with those instead of big block mopars 👍

Great video guys! Sounds like David may convert to Mopar soon! 😂 But really, I know the blocks and designs all have their strengths. Thanks for sharing. I learned something today

Thanks for bringing us the down home facts! 🤠

Good stuff Andy. Thanks David. Regards Greg

I think the biggest advantage of the sbc wasn't that it was introduced earlier.....but it's interchangeability and versatility. You can pop out a 262 and bolt a 400 in it's place. The other 2 can't get to 400ci with factory parts which was a big advantage before you could open up a summit catalog and buy whatever you wanted. With that said...400sbc ftw

Great video guys....whenever u compair...u learn...keep them comming...like 2 see a vid on the big 3's big blocks...namey the 427 chevy....thanks Andy & David.....reguards Brian

Great video guys 🤙🏼 Andy it must be warm where you guys are at, flip flops in winter 😂AWOO

I would like to see y’all put Davids header theory in this test to compare against off the shelf headers . It has the same firing order and would be cool to see on a small block.

A close friend of mine just passed on. He ran an engine service, including internal balancing. I worked for him nearly 50 years ago. He was very pragmatic, assessing short blocks by the following. Is it a structurally sound configuration? Is the oiling system adequate? Is the rod length to stroke ratio suitable for the target RPM range you are wanting? RPM suitability can be measured in feet per second of piston speed. A ton more comes into play. The heads and cam profile are a study in volumetric efficiency for mass flow. Bottom line, none are perfect, just do the engineering. We can all learn from people like Vizard, Bruce Crower, Ricard Bowman (of Speed-O-Motive fame) Ed Pink, Don Bass, Donovan, Keith Black, etc. Thank you to them all. You gave us a gift!

Thank You David Vizard

Great info..

Great Video Andy and David. I would not have guessed the Chevy was heavier thank the Mopar. All very interesting and thought provoking. Take care, Ed.

The first engine I worked on was an International "Blue Diamond". Old stuff and not common, so after that it's just whatever interests me, and frankly, what has parts available in the middle of nowhere Canada. I love my old Mopar but parts are a pain. When it came to getting a new car to tinker with, I really wanted a 396 Challenger Scat Pack but Dodge had tuning locked down and the aftermarket wasn't here with parts so I went with the Mustang. I've had a BMW, Porsches, Chevys, Cat, Massey, Cummins, Case. Doesn't matter to me, as long as it does the job I need it to do. That said, the older I get, the more I start tinkering with older stuff around the farm. I like the comparison of the blocks. From a race builders perspective, if given a blank slate and $10k to play with, which block or series of design blocks do you normally go with?

I think you guys are great! Im a pontiac guy but its all good. Thanks 🎯

Great video Andy! I’m branching out to a different brand currently for an engine build, well 3 engine builds

Im a Chevrolet man through and through. I bleed Chevrolet orange. But the truth is. Im also a small block guy and would love to play around with some small block ford and small block Chrysler stuff. I have a LA that’s been setting for a few years to the side I’ve been wanting to fool with

Really looking forward to the 318 build

Best part of the sbm is the rear of the lifter valley… No chance in hell it’ll hold oil like the other two. Oil drain back from lifter valley is like a 4 lane hwy lol. Only downside is it’s thinner cylinder walls… I have a 390 ci 4” crank .030 over bore sbm. In a 3800 lb Dakota with me, ran a 12.58 at 107

Makin' power isn't the problem. Keepin' it inside the block.... That's a whole new convo...

Good one! Like to see more of this. That was really cool cause I was always told got to have 4 bolt. On a mopar. Yeah

I'm not a "This Car" or "That Car" kind of guy. I'm an Andy guy! Thanks for your objectivity, variety, and leaving brand drama outside.

Great analysis

Not only the time frame of when the engine design was put into place, but you also have to keep in mind that when Ford went OHV it did so with the Y-block which really didn't set the word on fire. Not beating up the Y-block ,but it just didn't come out of the gate swinging for the fences. That put a slightly sour taste in performance minded drivers. Chrysler had the hemi but it was expensive to produce and not in the league with the small block chevy. Car companies are only as good as their previous design. Win on Sunday sell on Monday. Once you lose your customer it takes a lot to win them back.

Great video. Just subscribed.

The MoPar small block actually started life in 1956 in the Plymouth as a 277 ci, then 303 0r 301, then 318, and one year only as a 326 in a Dodge. The LA head was designed as a replacement for the poly head in 64 so that the engine could be fitted into the A body MoPars and to reduce manufacturing costs. That is the reason for the odd pushrod angularity at the lifter, the lifter bores were left in the old poly position. The poly engine had a valve layout similar to the chevy 396, 454 engines. The poly 318 & the LA 318 blocks are almost identical except for some oiling holes. MoPar small block engines that come out of trucks are made of high nickel iron and are very durable. Rod/ stroke ratio on the little 318 & the 340 has an advantage also. If you think the main web is thick on the little 318 you should see the main webs on a 340 TA block. A local shop has one of them with the 4 bolt splayed main caps. I can't understand why so many people are surprised about the potential of 318. The 340 is nothing more than an over bored 318. Same stroke, same crankshaft dimensions just a larger bore & better heads. On the Ford 5.0, one downfall is the extreme rod angularity when the crank pin is in the 90 deg position. It places a great deal of side pressure on the cylinder block at that position. The chevy has a big advantage because there are so many of them and the variety of go-fast stuff that is available. Good video & honest evaluations of the 3 designs.

The only thing that really held back the small block mopar was the lack of race oriented speed parts though that is starting to change

Remember as a kid my neighbor had a gigantic 38 foot RV popped the dog house one day and there was a tiny 318 under there with almost 2 feet clearance on all sides. Much respect, you will never hear me bad mouth a 318!

Ford’s further problem was they built so many engine families while Chevrolet stuck with one basic and a couple of big block derivatives for so long over the years. At the end of the production run, Ford was back to making performance packages around engines that weren’t particularly developed with performance in mind - ie the 302 and 351W. The 302 briefly had a 4V option in 68, the 351W in 69; while the Cleveland designs and derivatives were up and coming until emissions knocked them down. Wasn’t until the early 80s that performance started really coming of age for the small block Fords. Even the K-code 289 had small valves, and that it was a formidable race motor in endurance racing is a testament to the builders and teams. Didn’t realize the little Ford was so light and the Chevy so heavy.

Be interesting to see the Windsor and Cleveland blocks in this comparison

Excellent video guys

Another big reason Chevrolet small blocks got more popular was because of their rear sump oil pan set-up. Was a whole lot better in drag race situations than the Ford and Dodge center sumps were.

I like them all. But Chevrolet has less shortcomings than the others. That same thing applies to GM ignition systems compared to the others aswell as GM transmissions compared to the others

as someone that ran small block fords stock, i admired the 327 chevy engine because it was a really good street machine, all the makes had good engines if you put the work into them and ithingk the boss engines or clevland engines from ford were probably the most versatile for making power at the time since no one was using turbos etc like today

Kinda says a lot about the Chevy that it came 7-9 years before the others and not only lasted longer but also achieved the most success and largest displacement. It overall has very few flaws.

I had a machinist at the store I worked for that was cussing up,a storm about how long it was taking to bore out an International Block. I asked why he was so mad he said it was taking all day, and he could bore at least 3 SBC’s in that amount time. I asked why that was, and he said they were made of softer iron. After doing some research the only the factory performance engines got a decent amount of nickel, while engines like IHC, Pontiac and AMzC used high nickel casting for all their blocks. Fords used the same low content block in their Windsor series angina. The only exception to that being thenBoss 302. Their performance related FEs had the good stuff too. As for engine durability, going beyond just the blocks, I’ve seen all kinds of failures. Poor rebuild conditions and methods took out a lot of them. But the strangest thing I’ve ever seen was when I was working for a shop the rebuilt customers engines and R&R’d them. One day a dodge van pulled up running rough as hell. When we tore it down everyone was astonished to see what failed. Somehow the center main journal, which carried the thrust bearing in the block, was broke in half. But because it had broken at an angle, one half pushed the other around when the fron try,infers fired and vice versa, remember this engine brought the customer to the shop. Strange stuff, but true! Happy Building guys!

Long time Chevy fan. Have switched to Ford. Would like to see Ford builds. Thank Much. Jeff

Just swapped out a guys 1971 Satellite 318. Replaced his 318 with a rebuilt 318. I now have a 71 318 I am going to freshen up. I have some 340 parts hear to bolt on it. Don’t know what I will do with it. But just looking at it on the engine stand in the corner of my garage makes me smile.

Finally an explanation why chevy has been the most popular aftermarket engine that makes sense. What you said makes way more sense than uncle Tony's explanation.

Yeah, that was a fun video.

The stock 8.2 deck Ford is definitely not limited to 500hp, a stock bottom end 302 isn't even maxed at 500hp. Go check out Miss Midnight Mavericks channel if you dont believe me, or just search up Ugly Kid Racing Engines. Miss Midnight and Tony are at 600hp on a Procharger/nitrous setup on a completely stock bottom end.

Arcus Duntov made the GM performance program. Take the cheapest car make performance parts for it,and it will sell.

Also on small block Mopars quite I few came with steel cranks and all them had flaptop pistons witch is a plus

Great Information 👍🏻

Mopar small blocks are a really good engine, but like it was said, it started life a lot later than the Chevy SB, and of course, the sheer volume of Chevy vs. Mopar gave it a huge advantage as far as aftermarket development. That said, I have been running Mopar SBs for over 40 years and I love em and always will. I WAS quite surprised that the Mopar SB is actually lighter than the Chevy, especially since it was derived from the old Poly head A engine.

I've got a 2015 Ram 1500 . It has a 5.7 that I've modified with a mild cam . It does have the Eagle heads . I have heard that a stroker kit is available for this engine that would change the displacement to 6.2 . Is it worth the investment or should I go with the 6.4 intake? It already has longtube headers.