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265 Turbo-Fire V-8
The 265 made 162 horsepower and 257 lb-ft in base form with a two-barrel carburetor. An optional Power Pack added a four-barrel carburetor taking power up to 180 horsepower and an even 260 lb-ft of torque. When fitted to the Corvette, the 265 made 195 horsepower through a dual exhaust system. Later in the year Chevrolet added a Super Power Pack option to the Bel Air, taking it to Corvette power levels. -
283 Turbo-Fire V-8
The 283, or the Super Turbo-Fire, came with a choice of a carburetion or mechanical fuel injection. It made 185 horsepower with an 8.5:1 compression ratio and two-barrel carburetor; 220 horsepower with 9.5:1 compression and four-barrel carburetor; and 245 or 270 horsepower when fitted with dual four-barrel carburetors and the higher compression ratio. -
327
By 1962, a 170-horsepower version of the 283 became Chevy's base V-8, but optional small-block V-8s received a full 4.00-inch bore and a longer stroke at 3.25 inches for a total displacement of 327 cubic inches. The optional 327 was available with 250, 300, or 340 horsepower, depending on the four-barrel carburetor and compression ratio. The Corvette was still available with mechanical fuel injection, which pumped out 360 horsepower with an 11.25:1 compression ratio. Read more: http://www.motor -
302
The 302 was created by combining the 327's engine block casting (4.00-inch bore) with the 283's crankshaft (3.00-inch stroke). This engine was built for competition and featured plenty of race-car kit, including an 11:1 compression ratio; four bolt main caps; a solid-lifter camshaft and solid valve lifters; high-rise intake manifold topped with an 800 CFM Holley four-barrel carburetor; high-capacity oil pump and baffled oil pan and a 2.25-inch dual exhaust system. -
350
The 1967 Camaro also brought the world the first 350-cubic-inch small-block Chevy V-8. This engine would eventually be used in passenger cars and trucks in nearly every imaginable level of tune. Like the 302, it was based on the 327 block, but the 350 had an all-new crankshaft with a 3.48-inch stroke. The first version, dubbed the L-48, produced 295 horsepower and 380 lb-ft of torque. Power fluctuated during the 1970s fuel crisis, and many versions of the 350 emerged. -
400
The largest version of the Generation I small-block was the 400 (6.6 liter). It was the only engine available with both the 4.125-inch bore and the 3.75-inch stroke crankshaft. It debuted in 1970 and was produced for 10 years. It featured Siamesed cylinders for greater strength, with the large bore and a larger 2.65 inch rod journal. Early models produced 265 horsepower with a two-barrel carburetor. A four-barrel carburetor option became available in 1974. In its darkest hour it only made 145 hp -
LT1
The Corvette has always been a test bed for Chevrolet's latest technologies -- and the 1992 model with the Generation II LT small-block was no different. While many parts were interchangeable between Gen I and Gen II engines, the LT used a new block and head design with "reverse flow" cooling system that sent coolant through the cylinder heads first before flowing down through the engine block. The heads and combustion chamber stayed consistently cooler. This was first year for fuel injection -
LS1
GM's Generation III engine first hit the scene in 1997 in the all-new C5 Corvette. The LS series engines had little in common with the first two generations of the small-block Chevy, but still used 4.4-inch bore spacing. Most truck versions of the Gen III engine family had an iron block and aluminum heads, but the performance engines had aluminum blocks with six-bolt main caps. In the Corvette, the LS1 made 345 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque. It arrived in the F-body twins a year later. -
LS6
In 2001, the Corvette Z06 was introduced with a higher-performance 5.7-liter called the LS6. Power was bumped to 385 horsepower and 385 lb-ft of torque. The next year it received another bump in power to 405 horsepower and an even 400 lb-ft of torque. The LS6 was used in the Corvette Z06 until the C5 was replaced by the C6 in 2005. Cadillac used the LS6 in the first-generation CTS V from 2004-2005. -
LS7
The Generation IV small-block Chevy V-8 hit the streets in 2005 and is based on the Generation III but was redesigned to utilize displacement on demand and variable valve timing technologies. The LS7 is the largest factory-installed small-block Chevy V-8 ever, displacing 427.8 cubic inches or just over 7.0 liters. It featured the same bore as the 1970s 400-cubic-inch engine of 4.125 inches (104.8 mm), but unlike the 400, the LS7 got a full 4.00-inch (102 mm) stroke crankshaft. -
LS9/LSA
The top dog in the small-block V-8's history would have to be the Generation IV LS9 engine: a 6.2-liter (376-cubic-inch) engine topped with an Eaton four-lobe Roots type 2300 TVS supercharger. The LS7 was considered for the base engine, but the smaller bore and thicker cylinder walls of the LS3 engine were required for durability under boost. Bore is 4.06 inches (103 mm) and stroke is 3.62 inches (92 mm). Power is rated at 638 horsepower at 6500 rpm and 604 lb-ft of torque at 3800 rpm. -
Gen 5 LT1
The C7’s LT1 engine has the same 4.065-inch bore and 3.62-inch stroke of the current LS3, it still has the traditional 4.4-inch bore spacing that small-blocks have had since day one, and it will still use pushrods and two valves per cylinder—but it has a host of technological updates and race-bred improvements to ensure the Chevrolet V8 remains the go-to engine for hot rodders in the future. While the LT1 looks very much like a revision of the LS3, it’s 99.9 percent new.
