Re: Did Chevy consider Packard V8 BB Design?

Posted by PackardV8 On 2008/9/29 20:17:55

THe "W" engines 348 and 409 were specifically designed for heavy truck use. YES, they were also used in passenger car but were never intended for passenger car. Correct me if i'm wrong but the "W" was never offered in Corvette. IIRC the valve cover is more like an "M" rather than "W" unless standing on ones head. "W" is just WIDE engine.

The very early 348's were real bad about breaking crankshafts. IIRC it had something to do with manufacturing process of the crank. Ed Rinke and MAthew-Hargreaves CHev Dealers of Detroit area sold a rather large fleet of 58 Chev Dumps to a local contractor. Nearly all of them broke cranks within a week or month of delivery.

The 454's were also never intended for passenger car use. They were intended for TRUCKS. Chevy built so damned many of them for some reason that they didn't know what to do. So, they put them in passnger car and Corvette.

The BIG BLOCKS regardless of ANY vintage or ANY manufacturer are grossly misunderstood engines. They are TRUCK engines or just plain drag racing engines. THEY are sprinters!!! Trucks and dragsters are not expected to have any longevity or endurance. They only have to deliver the load and in a rather short period of time.

One thing is for sure, the "W" (if they could keep cranks in them) were far superior (in power) to the glorified 235 Blue Flame that was used in the 54's and earlier trucks or even the Industrial Ford flat head version in Ford trucks.

The "W" was only a transition-of-era engine for TRUCKS. And basically a piece of shit on a par with Vega engines.

Enter the new era of Diesel for trucks a few years later.