History The last Chevy big block .... :-(

No more 7.0 liters in corvettes??

 

It really ****s that they are stopping production on the BBC. So how many people are they going to put out of work this time?

 

usually when something is to good you have to stop making it, if you make it too go it will last forever and youd never have to buy another, that would be bad for the big corporate companies, like many products in todays world, they are throw away, drills for instance, do you think they were better 40 years ago, yes, that why i have an olds wards powercraft 1/2 drill, my new one **** out on me, its a year old, i dont even know how old the powercraft one is but its old.

But on the other hand, after 100k to 150k miles a bbc is worn out, and the new motors definatly seem to last long and stay in better shape than the old design motors, but that surely doesnt mean i dont like em!

JEFF

 

Some of you guys could **** up a wet dream...

Farewell old friend.

Sam

 

OK, to clarify: There are always multiple points of view on any subject. But the points you are making are from a view other than that of a traditional hot rodder's. Hot rodders were not happy when the production of the flat-head ended, and some probably still aren't, even though it may have been good for progress/the industry/what have you. Same for the big-block Chevy engine. This is the p***ing of another iconic component of hot rodding, and from the admittedly narrow point of view of traditional hot rodders everywhere, and our "small percentage of the m***es", we are en***led to grieve its demise, without being pointed to "what's necessary from a sales objective".
To be fair, the only thing "good" about this for hot rodders may be that as time goes by, these engines will become more rare and unique, making them even cooler. If the flathead was still in production, it would of course not be as rare and unique and cool as it is. And even though there may be "plenty of big blocks around" at present, the same will not be true in fifty years.
Gee.........I wonder if in fifty years, someone will find a stash of French-made big block Chevy engines?

 

Yes, it's as simple as that. As Sam said, "Farewell old friend".
​

 

I have no earthly idea what Goverment Motors is doing!
Was it the BBCs time?
I know guys at Tonawanda, they say its gonna be 25 to 30% job losses.
Known people in and out of the Company for years and I have friends who moved from GM Calif to work at Saturn here in Tenn,,,,, gonna close....I have a couple friends who work at the Trollhattan Sweden Saab plant, not for long! Cant find a buyer they say?
Those guys are flipping out! Telling me GM would rather take the loss on paper and close than sell it?

Its more of a Farewell of old friendS.

 

I'm REALLY sad to hear the demise of the BBC as a production engine. It was a matter of the writing on the wall for several years with the gov't mandated milage/emissions ********. We were racing a 396/425hp/4spd Biscayne before they were a familiar site on the dealer showroom floors. It was cool to have some factory inside pull at the time. But....time moves on. The fact that I've got over 20 blocks (most 4bolt main) in my stash will allow me to indulge my Big Block fetish for the rest of my hot rod days. Hell, I've got more small blocks than big blocks so even if that big block torque gets to be too much I'll still be able to play. Even if all of this goes away I can selll boat anchors for everything from a fishing skiff to a 40 cabin cruiser.

Frank

 

Long they lived, and will still live longer than whomever reads this post.

 

Somehow saying "bigblocks were never really nessesary in cars" seems akin to saying something along the lines of "testicles aren't really necessary to be a man" ...

 

Even as a life long Mopar guy, I'm sorry to see the Rat's production days come to an end. On the flip side, Chrysler stopped production of the B/RB engine waaaaay back in '78, and judging by the 440 core engines that keep piling up in my garage, the end of m*** production does not equal scarcity.
As for ultimate application of these engines (Mopar and Chevy alike) the aftermarket has had that covered for years. It's pretty safe to say that for the rest of your lives, somebody, somewhere will be pouring fresh metal into the sand cores of a Big Block something.

 

Dear Santa I've been good. Please send me one of these for Christmas. It's only $23,500 and they're cast in the original molds as the 69 ZL-1 engines.....

 

You guys keep on ******* on each other! I'm perfectly happy with those big valve covers peeking out from under the hood of the grease*******!
Obsolete, necessary or not!!

 

You know, I love big-blocks... but it's kind of BECAUSE they're so unneccesary and excessive. There's a kind of beautiful insanity to the idea of building something with enough torque to move a ****ing mountain, and putting it into service moving you and just over one ton of 75 year old iron. In a world of Toyota Camrys, it makes me smile that this exists... But the fact that they're not making them anymore is so UNsurprising, I don't really find myself frowning at it. It's clear that it makes sense, it's rational, it's the way it is, it's good business... And the idea of hot rodding is to embody a sort of wise-***, contrarian response to that sort of thinking: Life is not only about being rational... But really, I wouldn't WANT GM to think continuing with the big block was a good idea, because they'd be wrong, and the once great American auto industry would be in even worse **** than it's in now.

 

If big blocks weren't nescessary the Beach Boys would have sang "Hey yippie my 283" not "Shes so fine my 409".

 

A Hundy-thou is too many. Hipiie tree-huggers can get bent. There is no replacement for displacement. Now, I need to go for a ride in my 429in Caddy and use a fe gallons of high-test. Hippies ****.

 

All rationale aside, I believe what gives the big block that ooohhhh aura is because they ARE so in your face. They make a statement like all big motors that we really don't care about gas mileage.

 

Had lotsa fun in "rat" motored chevies! 396's,402's and of course the 454's! Necessary or not, a rat with headers at full throttle ****in' gas through a Q jet makes a sound like NO other motor! I'll miss the BBC but the faithful will keep the legacy alive!
Tim

 

GM doesn't build hotrods, the big block has only been used in big trucks and boats for many years. But some people equate business decisions with their hobby's limited influence on a much larger industry. An LS motor with a 5 speed auto will outperform a big block and a muncie. Period.

 

Roughly speaking, how many of the BBC were made over the years? Quite a few, I'm sure. I expect that it'll be a very, very long time before they become scarce, especially given that there have been companies building clones of the things for years and who will likely continue to do so for quite a while. For example:

Bill Mitchell ******** Racing: Engine Blocks > Big Block Chevrolet Blocks

 

OK, to further clarify:

1) i believe, until i recieve information otherwise, that the "production bigblock," meaning for pickups, medium dutys (that's another division gm tried to get rid of) and marine apps is being discontinued; This is the funky 8.1/ 496 CID (yum!) electronic version----not the carb version you(we?) "traditional hotrodders" know and love.

In other words, GMPP IS (until further notice) still producing the 454 big block. So the question is moot. You all got all worked up for nothing. GM still does and will produce the chevy big block.


They just meant that the tonowanda plant, which, apparently was the only gm plant that was producing the "production" big block is discontinuing production of this engine. Again, apparently "production" meaning it's going to be installed in a vehicle from the factory. Or going in a boat?
a) i wonder why they just didn't build ALL bigblocks in mexico? Possibly union rules? But i digress....
(P.S. yesterday was the last day for tonowanda)

2) i think the problem is that i'm not making myself clear; i'm under time constraints as i had to go off hastily to work. i'm back now.

Let's picture a chevelle or tempest/lemans or better yet a nova. Do you mean to tell me that a 3500 lb car NEEDS 454 cubes to adequately move it thru traffic or power it along at 65mph? The nova is probably under 3200lbs. No thank you; i've driven all the above with 350 cubes and less and it was certainly very adequate and more.

a) Notice i did not say Chevelle SS, GTO or nova SS. i wanted to talk about the actual ch***is that these models are based on. So, bigblock in those performance models--- Desireable ,yes. Nessesary, no.

Now, let's picture a 3 ton dump truck, from the same era as above, that will run locally for the city and forget about diesel for now. i would say big block yes, very nessesary.

Now since todays 6's are producing numbers the small blocks recently produced and todays 8's are producing former big block numbers all while producing excellent mpg respectively, i feel that for production cars the bigblock is further unessesary.

i did not say that big blocks were unessesary for drag racing or hot rodding. Quite the opposite; i know there is no replacement for displacement. If the technology used on the LS engines were applied to big blocks..............

So what i meant to infer was that a nova DOES NOT need a big block to drive decently; You could not put a briggs and stratton engine in a chevelle and expect it to run decently; in this case the 250 inline six is/was nessesary.

Big blocks were never nessesary for production cars.

 

ever seen a 8100 head?

Anyways...yeah, it's sad they're ending production. I doubt it's gonna affect us much, aside from the guys losing their jobs. The newest big block I have was made near the end of the Mark IV run, that's 20 years ago.

I have half a dozen or so in various states of disrepair. I'll hang on to them.

Paul--nice motor/trans for sale, my guess is it's not so easy for folks to come up with that much money.

 

I am truly suprised that they were still producing them. I have been collecting them since I was 16. Found an Impala wagon with a 427. Best $250 I ever spent. I have over 20 right now and I will buy any reasonable one I can find. A true Chevrolet legend, even the mid 70s smog motors respond very well to mods, cam intake headers. Once you run a big block the small blocks are just a dissapointment from a performance standpoint. my2cents

 

Well for that matter, V8s were never NECESSARY for production cars.

How can a Hot Rodder make a statement like that? More power is ALWAYS better.

 

You can stop posting at any time, every time you post the hole just keeps getting deeper....


Forgive me, but your lack of grief exposes the fact that you are entirely missing the point.

I am way grieved that here in America we are down to one automaker, the demise of the BBC is just another sad symptom of this awful disease.

 

Thats Obama Motors for you. Whats next?

 

did it ever dawn on you that there is no longer a reason to produce them?

sure we like out big blocks (I've owned several), but when was the last time someone here really bought a new GM vehicle with one?

as stated earlier, Bill Mitchell, and others will still produce a version of them, although you're better off price-wise to build one yourself from a used block.
These blocks and parts are going to be readily found for a long time to come and they are still inexpensive, all things considered.

 

Yeah I guess not. Chevy has been out of the big work horse pickup market for some time now. Who would own one when you can have a Ford.

 

I honestly don't know the answer, but I know you guys would know...

What vehicle is still built with a BB? I can't imagine a that fully loaded Suburban purchased new today doesn't have one, but I haven't a clue.
Are BB's still going into full-sized pickups???

So, anyone know what will replace the BB...???