Post your favorite Mopar Myth.

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Speaking of "Myths" what exactly is the Mopar 408? Was that built off a 360 block or am I wrong and its a whole design by itself, for crate motor offerings?

I'm still perplexed at that one! Would have been a GREAT 400+ CID offering in a car, even tho, couldn't you technically order that in a custom order car? Road legal that is.......?
 
" The 273 Commando will never make over 300 HP, & 400 ft# of torque at the wheels "
ahahahahahaha!!!
 
67 Power Wagon said:
Speaking of "Myths" what exactly is the Mopar 408? Was that built off a 360 block or am I wrong and its a whole design by itself, for crate motor offerings?

I'm still perplexed at that one! Would have been a GREAT 400+ CID offering in a car, even tho, couldn't you technically order that in a custom order car? Road legal that is.......?
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Mopar 360 (LA or Magnum) engine with bore of 4.030 (.030 overbore from stock 4.00 bore) and a crank with a stroke of 4.000 is a 408 (408.18 to be exact).
 
"They never made barracudas before 1970"

Or "your car is a Valiant because it says it on the rear end"

My Barracuda is a 64 so it has the factory Valiant badge on the rear valance, and I think it came with a Valiant manual in the glovebox. But still...
 
67 Power Wagon said:
The 396 is a big block but wasn't it done off what was the GM 400 block, just bored differently? INSTEAD of the full 400 CID it came out to 396, due to the stroke as well? I thought the 396 came out AFTER the 400 GM.....And that's why it was known as a "Big Block" Chevy. I could be wrong tho!
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No, the 396 and 400 Chevy are different blocks all together.

The 396 is the "smallest" of the big block Chevy.

The 400 was a small block 350 bored out to 400. It was known for thin cylinder walls and wasn't good for durability.

The 409's weren't durability engines. The piston skirts were too short and they had a problem with "piston ****" and excessive bore wear. Hard to get them over 100,000 miles. When they ran, they ran good, but not good for the long haul.
 
nerd racing said:
"They never made barracudas before 1970"
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Heard that a couple of times myself.

When in actuality they never made 'Cudas before 1970. The 'Cuda package on the E-body was like the R/T package on the Challenger, et al.

Not that it makes a difference. Even most Barracuda's, A- and E-bodies, are called 'Cudas simply because of the fact we're all too lazy to say the whole word. lol
 
krazykuda said:
The 409's weren't durability engines. The piston skirts were too short and they had a problem with "piston ****" and excessive bore wear. Hard to get them over 100,000 miles. When they ran, they ran good, but not good for the long haul.
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And most of 'em were known as track oilers.
 
"The slant six cars have a thicker torsion bar on the right side to counter the lean of the six"

"My mom had one just like it, but it was different"
 
Couple minor nits to pick-

'Cuda was available in '69. It's REAL fun explaining the A body Cuda to gm guys.

chevy 402 (with 396 badges* except in trucks) and 400 are different blocks.
 
The 396 is not the smallest chebbie big block. It's the 366 heavy duty truck engine. Also, the way I heard the older guys at the chebbie dealer where I worked say......In late 69, there were several thousand 396 blocks "accidentally" over bored. Thus, the 402 was born and it replaced the 396 for the 70 model year. In small (Camaro,Nova) Intermediate (Chevelle, Malibu) cars, it was still labeled as the 396, but in big cars and trucks, they got 400 badges. Still under the hood on the emissions decals it said "402 cubic inches".




krazykuda said:
No, the 396 and 400 Chevy are different blocks all together.

The 396 is the "smallest" of the big block Chevy.

The 400 was a small block 350 bored out to 400. It was known for thin cylinder walls and wasn't good for durability.

The 409's weren't durability engines. The piston skirts were too short and they had a problem with "piston ****" and excessive bore wear. Hard to get them over 100,000 miles. When they ran, they ran good, but not good for the long haul.
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I always thought that the smallest big block Chevy made was the 348, which was later bored out to make the 409.
I have also seen a 70 Monte Carlo with a factory 402, that had 402, emblems on the fender
 
348/409 is an older/different design block than what everyone thinks of as BBC.

Impala/Caprice w/400 badge had small block (after 70 IIRC).

Truck w/400 badge had 402 big block.

nova/camaro/malibu with 396 badge had 402 (after 69).

Why do I know this? I should have purged this a long time ago.
 
norton said:
I always thought that the smallest big block Chevy made was the 348, which was later bored out to make the 409.
I have also seen a 70 Monte Carlo with a factory 402, that had 402, emblems on the fender
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The 428 and 409 engines were the "W" series engines. The 366-454 were the Mark IV engines. They were different families.
 
RustyRatRod said:
The 396 is not the smallest chebbie big block. It's the 366 heavy duty truck engine. Also, the way I heard the older guys at the chebbie dealer where I worked say......In late 69, there were several thousand 396 blocks "accidentally" over bored. Thus, the 402 was born and it replaced the 396 for the 70 model year. In small (Camaro,Nova) Intermediate (Chevelle, Malibu) cars, it was still labeled as the 396, but in big cars and trucks, they got 400 badges. Still under the hood on the emissions decals it said "402 cubic inches".
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A friend has a '72 Malibu 400, has the "400" badges on the fenders. Underhood is the LS-3 402 inch big block and emissions decal showing 402 cubic inches.

It wasn't an accidental overbore, the 396 had suffered from valve shrouding with the bigger valve performance heads. Increasing the bore helped alleviate that problem, made it easier to lower compression, and also brought the engine back in line with comparable 400 inch B-O-P offerings.

RustyRatRod said:
The 428 and 409 engines were the "W" series engines. The 366-454 were the Mark IV engines. They were different families.
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You meant 348? 428 is a Pontiac or a Ford.




And to keep this on topic:

Favorite Mopar myth is that Chrysler invented the Hemi.

Hemi engines were designed and used in early Grand Prix cars in the early 1900's, well before Chrysler existed. One notable example was the 1907 Fiat 130:

(Yes that's right...Fiat was racing with hemis 18 years before Chrysler existed! :D )

 
Myth: "The Demon is NOT a Dart". This is often argued/discussed within the Mopar crowd. All the documentation I have ever seen from Chrysler refers to the Demon as a "Dart Demon".

Myth: "The 340 was an option in the 1972 Dart Swinger". In 1972 A bodies the 340 was only available in the Demon... errr... I mean the "Dart Demon".
 
451Cuda said:
A friend has a '72 Malibu 400, has the "400" badges on the fenders. Underhood is the LS-3 402 inch big block and emissions decal showing 402 cubic inches.

It wasn't an accidental overbore, the 396 had suffered from valve shrouding with the bigger valve performance heads. Increasing the bore helped alleviate that problem, made it easier to lower compression, and also brought the engine back in line with comparable 400 inch B-O-P offerings.



You meant 348? 428 is a Pontiac or a Ford.




And to keep this on topic:

Favorite Mopar myth is that Chrysler invented the Hemi.

Hemi engines were designed and used in early Grand Prix cars in the early 1900's, well before Chrysler existed. One notable example was the 1907 Fiat 130:

(Yes that's right...Fiat was racing with hemis 18 years before Chrysler existed! :D )

[URL="http://www.autoweek.com/storyimage/CW/20090615/CARNEWS/906159983/AR/0/AR-906159983.jpg"][/URL]
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Yup. Meant 348. Sorry bout that. Thanks for the insight in the 402. The other was the only explanation I had ever heard. It's funny though that they didn't realize the shrouding problem until after so long. The first year for the big block was actually 1964 as an experimental NASCAR engine, so they had a pretty good while to figure that out.
 
krazykuda said:
No, the 396 and 400 Chevy are different blocks all together.

The 396 is the "smallest" of the big block Chevy.

The 400 was a small block 350 bored out to 400. It was known for thin cylinder walls and wasn't good for durability.

The 409's weren't durability engines. The piston skirts were too short and they had a problem with "piston ****" and excessive bore wear. Hard to get them over 100,000 miles. When they ran, they ran good, but not good for the long haul.
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See I thought that GM made both, big and small block 400's. The small block 400 was the "junk" model and the 396 big block was also built off the same block as the big block 400....I am not sure why I thought that but. I know there has to be someplace I cross referenced it....

As far as the 409's, these were "you either got a good one, or you HAD a bad one" and to date EVERYONE I've seen, and I'll say quite a few, only 2 or 3 of them, were any good! They also had water jacket issues..... thin block casting, that heat would crack, interiorly of the block where it couldn't be seen or gotten too, between cylinders is one of the known locations. The 348 were a better block, if used as ment to be!

ramenth said:
Heard that a couple of times myself.

When in actuality they never made 'Cudas before 1970. The 'Cuda package on the E-body was like the R/T package on the Challenger, et al.

Not that it makes a difference. Even most Barracuda's, A- and E-bodies, are called 'Cudas simply because of the fact we're all too lazy to say the whole word. lol
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NOW, I have to say, the Barracuda and the 'cuda were in fact 2 separate cars? I just thought they got a series of serious face lifts and the 'cuda was a mere shortened labeling of the actual "Barracuda"............Again, I just learned something! Did I read that right?

I know that the Valiant was the basis to the car body, but still.....I thought the Barracuda and the 'cuda were like the 1969 Coronet, and the 1970 Coronet, same car, just a serious "face-lift" from one year to the following year.....
 
RustyRatRod said:
The 396 is not the smallest chebbie big block. It's the 366 heavy duty truck engine. Also, the way I heard the older guys at the chebbie dealer where I worked say......In late 69, there were several thousand 396 blocks "accidentally" over bored. Thus, the 402 was born and it replaced the 396 for the 70 model year. In small (Camaro,Nova) Intermediate (Chevelle, Malibu) cars, it was still labeled as the 396, but in big cars and trucks, they got 400 badges. Still under the hood on the emissions decals it said "402 cubic inches".
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And again, NOPE the smallest chebbie big block was the 348!!!!!! It was the same block used as the 409 AND the 427 "W" motors! Exactly the same block on the outside smaller bore on the inside, the 427 however, got a different crank.

The 366, was in fact wasn't a "big block" at all! It was a long block, tow package motor......I had one of them years ago.....Was the biggest POS I ever seen in a Chevy Cheyanne Super, badged as a 400! Needless to say the small block 400 that was original to the truck blew, and whoever had the truck before me, replaced it with a 366.....
 
67 Power Wagon said:
And again, NOPE the smallest chebbie big block was the 348!!!!!! It was the same block used as the 409 AND the 427 "W" motors! Exactly the same block on the outside smaller bore on the inside, the 427 however, got a different crank.

The 366, was in fact wasn't a "big block" at all! It was a long block, tow package motor......I had one of them years ago.....Was the biggest POS I ever seen in a Chevy Cheyanne Super, badged as a 400! Needless to say the small block 400 that was original to the truck blew, and whoever had the truck before me, replaced it with a 366.....
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The 348 and 409 were completely different engines than the Mark IV big block. They were the W series engine. Totally different. "I" was referring to the Mark IV engines that I assumed Karl was talking about. Besides, this is a Mopar forum. There are better things to do besides arguing about stupid chebbies.
 
RustyRatRod said:
The 348 and 409 were completely different engines than the Mark IV big block. They were the W series engine. Totally different. "I" was referring to the Mark IV engines that I assumed Karl was talking about. Besides, this is a Mopar forum. There are better things to do besides arguing about stupid chebbies.
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Yep.......
 
67 Power Wagon said:
What ya mean partial truths? The Ball-Stud Hemi was a Chrysler design, BUT the "Hemi" generalized, isn't........ IT was merely made famous by Chrysler, not totally designed by their team of engine designers!
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No offense, kind of out of the O.P's original intentions. I already know,about European influence, and the WW 2 engineering /aeronautical Chizzler development. Chrysler proposed this as an option, they determined it would fail E.P.A./C.A.R.B emissions standards.(I.E.,they pulled the plug..).If it was not offered,I consider it a partial truth... My statement, sticking to it.
 
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