How Many Of These Monster GM Engines Do You Remember?

[Gorehamj]

John Goreham
Contributing Writer, GM-Trucks.com
3/18/2016

General Motors has produced some massive engines over the years. How many of these do you remember? Click to enlarge the graphic.

Graphic courtesy of Spork Marketing and GMPartsCenter.net

[grampadirt]

I've had three 454s,one currently in my Burb.Those Caddy engines filled the engine bay even on an FWD Eldorado,they were massive.The first one(just guessing cuz I can't read it well)I would imagine found it's way into a WWII tank.

Edited March 19, 2016 by grampadirt

[barry G]

the chronology is missing...

454 was elusive.

having 3 of them must have been a rich dude.

 

the 455 whooped all their asses for years, even in a 2 door coupe delta royale from 1976 with some stupid 4 to 1 compression (ok exaggerated)..

they somehow worked with small air and kept going peacefully...all the way to a hood ornament whistling as it layed over at a buried 120mph speedo.

 

the 454 was not happy...aftermarket made that engine good. Even more elusive than the 454: a person that built it right.

 

the 500 caddy and 472 was other difficult ones. Could not veer off what they built. They always got left alone.

 

I remember the first 502 I saw, it was summer 1996. Very troubled, like the old 454, like the air fuel did not ever exist right. It was nice to hear the big stroke again..

 

another something amazing I remember..

1996 was the vortec, spider injection.

 

the 305 got bigger than the 350, and all of gm history combined..

the rest is history...

bouncing around 5 liters.

 

..all the way to a koenigsegg.

 

the big block today is most welcome, computing fixed all of them. the last hoorah for me personally was a 1959 hemi in engine masters challenge that won in the old school way competing with modern.

 

I stay wet sleeve small block... GM. (it does exist)

great list, it is every big memory.

Edited March 23, 2016 by barry G

[muddkatt]

That list is not accurate. The 454 was produced and installed in cars up until the end of 1976. After that it was available in 3/4 ton trucks into the 80's that I know of.

 

And if they want to talk about the BIG engines, how about the GMC 637 V-8 and the GMC 702 V-12?

[Doug_Scott]

For some reason I thought they meant the biggest selling engines or the best engines. I only read the headline, not the sub-line after it. Don't think they should include the crate engines on this list.

[Mad Max]

I thought there was a 505 too

[70 W-30]

I have 3 #4s in my garage right now! ?

[Formulabruce]

That Pontiac picture sucks, and is the WRONG COLOR. RED?, seriously , I need to fix this .

[doverarjim]

My brother and I are Big Block fans right now we have over 40 complete 396, 402, 454 engines and a few 427's also we have some tall block 366's & 427's. And could more than likely put 10-15 more together out of parts and then have a whole stack of stuff left over. All of them are from 67-79 models.

[grampadirt]

That list is not accurate. The 454 was produced and installed in cars up until the end of 1976. After that it was available in 3/4 ton trucks into the 80's that I know of.

 

And if they want to talk about the BIG engines, how about the GMC 637 V-8 and the GMC 702 V-12?

Yep,that 702 was two v-6s

 

[grampadirt]

Wanna good read? Check this out...

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GM_engines

[grampadirt]

My brother and I are Big Block fans right now we have over 40 complete 396, 402, 454 engines and a few 427's also we have some tall block 366's & 427's. And could more than likely put 10-15 more together out of parts and then have a whole stack of stuff left over. All of them are from 67-79 models.

You probably remember when GM's pickup trucks were advertised as 396s but were actually 402s.

[grampadirt]

You probably remember when GM's pickup trucks were advertised as 396s but were actually 402s.Also,wasn't there a 400 small block and a 400(maybe advertised as a 402 )big block?

Don't know what happened,was quoting Doverarjim.

Edited March 24, 2016 by grampadirt

[Doug_Scott]

Don't recall ever seeing a vehicle marked from the factory as being a 402. They used that engine in just about anything that came with a 396 I think. GM did have a 400 small block Chev engine that came in both cars and trucks. I have seen pics of cars with the 400 tag on the fender, but it had a 402 big block in it, and also seen a 400 tag on same make/model car with a 400 small block in it. The small block one I saw was an actual car, not just a pic. Found this on Wikipedia

 

"Introduced in 1970, the 402-cubic-inch (6.6 L) was a 396-cubic-inch bored out by 0.030 in (0.76 mm). Despite the fact that it was 6 cubic inches (98 cc) larger, Chevrolet continued marketing it under the popular "396" label in the smaller cars while at the same time labeling it "Turbo-Jet 400" in the full-size cars. The 402 label was used in light pickup trucks."

 

"The 400 saw extensive use in full-size Chevrolet and GMC trucks; K5 Blazer/Jimmy, 1/2-ton, 3/4-ton, 1-ton, and even larger 'medium duty' trucks had an option to be equipped with a 400. The engine was available in midsize A-Body and full-size B-Body passenger cars until the end of the 1976 model year. Early models produced 265 horsepower with a two-barrel carburetor. All 400s came with a two-barrel carburetor with a four-barrel carburetor option becoming available in 1974."

 

I remember at the time that the 400 small block was treated like the 307 was, something to avoid if you were going to modify the engine.

[grampadirt]

Don't recall ever seeing a vehicle marked from the factory as being a 402. They used that engine in just about anything that came with a 396 I think. GM did have a 400 small block Chev engine that came in both cars and trucks. I have seen pics of cars with the 400 tag on the fender, but it had a 402 big block in it, and also seen a 400 tag on same make/model car with a 400 small block in it. The small block one I saw was an actual car, not just a pic. Found this on Wikipedia

 

"Introduced in 1970, the 402-cubic-inch (6.6 L) was a 396-cubic-inch bored out by 0.030 in (0.76 mm). Despite the fact that it was 6 cubic inches (98 cc) larger, Chevrolet continued marketing it under the popular "396" label in the smaller cars while at the same time labeling it "Turbo-Jet 400" in the full-size cars. The 402 label was used in light pickup trucks."

 

"The 400 saw extensive use in full-size Chevrolet and GMC trucks; K5 Blazer/Jimmy, 1/2-ton, 3/4-ton, 1-ton, and even larger 'medium duty' trucks had an option to be equipped with a 400. The engine was available in midsize A-Body and full-size B-Body passenger cars until the end of the 1976 model year. Early models produced 265 horsepower with a two-barrel carburetor. All 400s came with a two-barrel carburetor with a four-barrel carburetor option becoming available in 1974."

 

I remember at the time that the 400 small block was treated like the 307 was, something to avoid if you were going to modify the engine.

That's what I was trying to remember lol

Edited March 24, 2016 by grampadirt