Chrysler Big or Small block?

[dst]

Just wanted to get an idea of the Mopar knowledge here.

How do you tell the difference between a Chrysler big block and a small block? From an overhead point of view, (open hood).

[badjuju342]

Well , I'm not that sharp with the Chrysler crowd but here's what I do know:
1. Small Chryslers were referred to as A and LA engines, the common late 60s and early 70s were 318 , 340, 360 , I believe there was a smaller V8 than these but the C.I . escapes me right now.(273, maybe?)
2. The big engines were the B and RB engines which were 383 , that godawful 400 LeanBurn I had in a '76 Cordoba ( and yes , it did have the rich Corinthian leather) 413, 426 ( in a hemi and Max Wedge version ) and the 440.My grandpa had a '65 Fury with a 383 Commando and later a '72 New port with a 440 . He loved the dem big ol' Chryslers. The Hemi has the biggest valve covers known to man with the plug wires coming right out of the center of 'em. If you don't know what a 426 Hemi looks like , you're not a true gearhead.

[dst]

Did that 400 have a ThermoQuad carb?

I sent you a PM.

[badjuju342]

I had that car over 20 years ago so my memory is just a tad faded. As I said over on Moparchat , I can remember my uncle pulling up in a brand new bright yellow '70 Roadrunner . Man was that car sharp! I must have drew a 100 pictures of it. He put black TorqueThrusts on it. It had a black vinyl top and was a 383 / 4speed car. I can also remember in the 6th grade a fellow classmate invited me to his house to show a car him and his dad were working on. Sure enough, another '70 Roadrunner. This one was purple with a roadrunner cartoon decal running down the side of with his dust trail as the stripe. I can remember some huge chrome valve covers with 4 holes in the middle of them.It clicked a while later what that motor was. That car would be worth a fortune today , no matter what kind of shape it was in. Always wanted one of those.
My dad bought '69 green Coronet with a black vinyl top new . He keep saying how great the 318 was. One on my first cars was a '74 Charger that had seen it's better days. It ended in the junkyard after I finished with it.my dad passed away a few yearsago but my stepmother still has his prized (albeit thoroughly rusted out ) '77 Ramcharger he bought new. Quite the tank it is. She never could bring herself to sell it.

[5.0 bird]

Originally posted by Badjuju
(273, maybe?) Yep that's it. There was also a 350 and a 361 B big block.

I was very lucky growing up because my family was into old cars. One of them was a 1970 Challenger 440-6. It was a panther pink (FM3) automatic shaker hood (N96) with no power brakes, power steering, or a/c. It had a sure grip with 3.55s. My dad bought it from a salvage yard. He basically completely restored it. It was repainted red since we never cared for the pink color even though it was correct. :rrofl: It was sold at a Kruse auction in 1990 at the height of the investment boom. The current owner contacted me about 5 years ago and we still keep in touch. Somewhere along the line it was repainted pink. He's had it in the Nov 2002 issue of mopar muscle. I'm hoping someday I'll be able to buy it back. Here's some pics:

As it was bought
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a38/cb400f75/1970DodgeChallengerasbought.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a38/cb400f75/70challengerright.jpg

[5.0 bird]

These were taken when it was almost done. The correct center caps hadn't been installed yet.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a38/cb400f75/Challenger2.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a38/cb400f75/Challenger1.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a38/cb400f75/440-6engine.jpg

[5.0 bird]

These are some pics the current owner sent
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a38/cb400f75/Leftfront.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a38/cb400f75/rightsideebay.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a38/cb400f75/interior2ebay.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a38/cb400f75/hoodopen2ebay.jpg

[dst]

I think they called that Panther Pink, right?

Beautiful restoration! ^_^

I don't think anybody answered my original question. heh

[5.0 bird]

Distributor is on the back of a small block and it's on the front of a big block.

[Challenger]

^^^ That's the quick and easy way to tell