Editor’s Note: This series counts down the Top 10 engines of all time—see how the voting was done by reading our initial post.
The small block Chevrolet changed the hot rodding world forever.
It was the small block Chevrolet 265 that started the revolution back in 1955, but the Chevrolet 350 is the standard-bearer for this entire generation of engines, which also included notable engines like the 283, 327, and 400.
You chose the Chevrolet 350 as the #1 engine of all time.
Your Thoughts
Even though the small block Chevy vote was split among the various versions, the Chevy 350 still received the most votes out of any engine. Here’s sampling of why:
“350 sbc. Mass produced, simple design makes it easy to upgrade, parts are cheap, takes tons of abuse, puts out some decent power from stock. Hands down my fave.” –Scotty H.
“Gonna have to go with Chevy 350–easy to work on, reliable, and even ford guys like them.” –Rich L.
“Chevy 350. Most reliable, and I’m pretty sure it’s the most transplanted engine in automotive history. I’m willing to bet there are more Ford T-buckets powered by 350s out there than powered by Ford motors.” –Justin G.
“The 350 SBC is the best engine ever made. I believe it is one of the longest lasting engines that has stayed in production as well. I am even a Ford guy, but the 350 has proved itself for many years.”
–William D.“Chevy 350. Most versatile and used engine ever. Plus the most aftermarket support.” –David E.
“350 small block. It’s cheap and reliable an everyone always has parts for ’em in the rare case something goes wrong.” –Michael B.
“350 V8. Millions made, versatile, small yet powerful, easy to get replacement parts and performance parts, and cheap to work on. Soooo much of Chevy/GM success based off this engine!!!!” –Jason V.
History
The small block Chevrolet first appeared in 1955 when General Motors developed the engine for the Corvette. Using the same basic dimensions as the old Ford Flathead (although slightly heavier), the small block 265 V8 produced almost twice as much power.
The Flathead was effectively rendered obsolete, and a whole new hot rodding movement had begun.
Twelve years later, the Chevrolet 350 was introduced and “Mouse Mania” was at full throttle. The high-performance small block engine was developed for the Chevrolet Camaro and is often most associated with the muscle cars of the era. The 350 was available for the Chevrolet Nova the following year and became an option for all Chevrolet passenger cars in 1969.
The Chevrolet 350’s greatness isn’t limited to just Chevrolet vehicles, though. As Justin G. pointed out above, the Chevy 350 has become one of the most transplanted engines in hot rodding history. A favorite for engine swaps, the 350 is very easily modded because of the abundance of aftermarket parts. And because so many Chevy 350s have been produced, they’re affordable and easily attainable for swaps of all kinds.
You can find a Chevrolet 350 in just about anything—on land, sea, or air!
The Gen I small block was eventually replaced by the Gen II LT-based engines in the early 1990s. But the original Chevrolet 350 helped spawn General Motors’ modern 5.7L LT and LS (Gen III) engines. And the legend of the Chevrolet 350 lives on!
Specifications
Horsepower and torque ratings have changed over the years, but the original Chevrolet 350 was rated at 295 horsepower and 380 ft.-lbs. of torque. The 1968-69 version was then offered with four different options, producing up to 370 horsepower and 380 ft.-lbs. of torque.
Modifications
Lest you think we’re kidding about the amount of Chevrolet aftermarket parts, here are the most abundant items found on the Summit Racing website (total in parenthesis as of 1/24/14):
- Pistons (2,727)
- Headers (1,860)
- Camshafts (1,129)
- Radiators (845)
- Engine Rotating Kits (721)
- Rocker Arms (615)
- Camshaft and Lifter Kits (564)
- Valves (549)
Reference Books
- How to Build Max Performance Chevy Small Blocks on a Budget
- How to Rebuild the Small Block Chevrolet
- HP Books Small Block Chevy Engine Build-Ups Guide
- Motorbooks How to Build a Small Block Chevy for the Street
- SA Design High Performance Chevy Small Block Cams and Valvetrain
Editor’s Note: This series counts down the Top 10 engines of all time—see how the voting was done by reading our initial post.
I think I just threw up a little bit. This is the best you can come up with. The dime a dozen cookies cutter SBC is #1. I guess the bowtie lovers were out in force voting as usual.Just proves that On all Cylinders is just another irrelevant Chevy and Ford loyal site. What would you expect from a site that is in bed with Summit.A company who’s 300 plus page catalog has a whopping 4pages devoted to anything Mopar.I guess it is time to move on so the all the bowtie and blue oval fanboys can live in the fantasy world,you know the one.They had a buddy,brother,uncle,daddy with a SBF or SBC that was the Hemi,B,RB Mopar killer back in the day. Yeah ok whatever buddy. MOPAR OR NO CAR!!!
To all of the Chevy haters, it’s not our (the Chevy folks) fault that the Small Block Chevy is probably the most popular engine out there.
Fuck your mopar,god damn bunch of whinny fuck heads you do realize they state in the beginning of the summit catalog that they don’t show everything they sell in the catalog and that you have to go online to find it.And by the way your mopar shit isn’t worth anything that comes from summit anyways.
No suprise there!! I have had about 6 of them already. 305s and 350s mostly.
Well that’s a big yawn. It’s like saying the model “T” or the VW Bug was the best car cause they mass produced so many of the damn things. In the 1930’s Duesenburg was producing a 400hp supercharged motor that ran so smooth you could stand nickels up on the cars fender. Or how about the Ford 427 “Cammer”The damn thing produced so much HP Nascar banned it, and anything remotely like it to this day even though it came out in the 60’s!!
makes sense…never had one that didnt go over 200 k
I built a 350 and put it my 86 Monte ss you wouldn’t believe the power,it is great.
Can’t believe that moron said “Even Ford guys like it.” …. That’s utterly ridiculous and ignorant to say. I fucking hate the LS series and anything 305 or 350. And don’t even start talking shit to me if you have or like those sorry excuse for a V8 TBI or TPI (Toilet Paper Injection) engines either.
[…] some engines. blah blah blah. Chevy 350 made the top. Must have an eight year old web master. Top 10 Engines of All Time (#1): Small Block Chevrolet (Gen 1) 350 – OnAllCylinders __________________ Custom pinstriped Power Wheel. I started out with very little… I still […]
what is it that powers top fuelers and funny cars? Not chevy or ford! MOPAR!
best engine ever? a hamster running on his wheel. lol
Sounds pretty accurate to me lol
simply the number 1 engine in history , even in europe its got lots of builders using it , specially the ls series ones
I THINK THE 5.O & 4.6 SHOULD BE THERE IN TOP 3
You said it chuck
You guys are funny, 5.0 lol….
Which cars in England would the 350 fitt into without to much hassle
They’re really good and popular for replacing Jaguar v12
Got my first 350 in my first car, Nova built it to max ! Currently running a stock 78, 350 in my S-10 beat the living daylights out of it. 40 years of running 350s yes I love them.
I still prefer the large journal 327 over all
iam with you
Are you fricking kidding me? The Chrysler Hemi came out 4 years prior and still dominates top fuel drag racing today. It was outlawed from sanctioned racing at times because it worked so well. If you want to rate an engine based on the merits of its design, the Chevy small block doesn’t hold a candle. I know it’s more popular because it’s low cost and readily available, but let’s be objective here instead of politically correct.
yes thank you! what a disappointment, the hemi shoulda won by a mile with the treefiddy coming in at a fifth! this makes about as much sense as saying the mcdonalds mcdouble is a better burger than a whopper, just because there’s more of them and they’re cheaper. PFFT!! what a gyp, i want those twenty minutes back damnit..
I agree completely. Just because its cheap and common does not make it good. On top of that a stock Chevy 350 is a peice of junk, in order for it to be a decent engine you have to pour $1500 dollars in it at which point you would be better off just buying a Pontiac 400 that can more than hold its own against a 350.
You can use the stock bottom end of a 5.3 and push 17 lbs of boost and have a 600hp setup with turbo for under 800 bucks there guy and the 5.3 holds the record for the most hp on a stock bottom end and stock vortec pistons I’m sorry but that just can’t be beat even with 300k plus miles these ls based engines can be yanked and used as a race motor for years without touching them
Are you high the 5.3 and 5.7 are the longest lasting and most bulletproof engine ever made the hemi doesn’t compare when looking at quality plus you don’t see any hemi with over a million original miles
I think you might be high. Because I’d put a Ford 300 I6, or a old Toyota pickup against a 350 anyday If we’re talking durability.
The modern ls will outrun the hemi hands down
Small block Chevrolet beat the big Hemis in pro stock all the time
durability..? drag racing.. ? universal uses ? how to be judged..?…..or rated..??
The 1970 71 Chevy ls6 will run rings around the 426 hemi do your home work and then get back to me
number 1 in rebuilt kits being sold also!
The 350 sold over a billion and still producing
Got a gen 1 350 with AFR heads and stout roller. beat a hell cat by 3 car lengths. It’s in a 92 Chevy C1500
I just bought 1
My freinds 79 camaro has a 8.0l W16-Quad turbo (veyron engine) and it makes over 1010 hp
Where is two thur ten? All I have seen in this article is the number one engine on this top ten list. You must be the worst professionel writer on planet earth to have forgotten the last nine engines in your ten engine article.
They have been doing the countdown all week, each engine gets its own article
There gen 2 did not replace them gen one, they coexisted, in fact, there gen 2 was dropped after they 97 model year and gen 1 continued till I’m believe 2000.
I agree with David Jackson (above). I`m a big fan of the 350 Chevy. But this a promo, NOT a list. You suck. Thanks for nothing.
426 HEMI is the best engine by far. This list is a bunch of mess.
top motor should be ford 427 side oiler…….350 in vanilla
Street Hemi’s were no big deal. Never was beat by one. 1970 Buick Gran Sport Stage 1. Now the 426 Max Wedge was a different story.
I don’t think there isn’t a piece of rotating machinery the 350/SBC hasn’t been used in.. I’ll bet there is a washing machine powered by one in some corner if the globe….
Sorry but i grew up around lots of 350s in the 70s and 80s trucks as my grandfather preferred to buy them from another relative that owned a dealership.Those dam things were total junk.The rods would break,the cranks would break,cams would go flat,virtually everything in those engines would break easy.My uncle bought new in 79 a chevy shortbed 4×4 same year my dad bought a new 3/4 ton ford 4×4..he drove it about 3k miles and had enough of things breaking and going bad and got rid of it.I mean it was a new truck!.we still have the 79 ford and its never left us walking one time at 209,000 miles and most of those miles were working miles,pulling trailers,pulling logs etc.Its not much fun driving nowadays with its 4.11 gears but it was built to not come apart and it never did.Like everyone says though 350s are cheap to build but like i always tell people anything that breaks that easy should be cheap to build.I had a chevy guy tell me once yeah they break pretty easy from the factory but you put good aftermarket rods in them and a good aftermarket crank,uprade this and upgrade that,they will hold up pretty good,well i can take about any ford engine from 96 on back and not have to change anything in it and beat the crap out of it and not have the slightest worry about something breaking.They were build with good parts right from the start!When ford changed over to the modular motors, 4.6 5.4 etc they lost alot of reliablility and quality..I won’t have any of them.
yada yada yada ford lover chevy lover mine did this mine did that we all have our 300K miles stories carry on 🙂
2.9 Ford. POS.
I have a 1994 Ranger with the Ford 2.4 4 cylinder with the 5 speed and I say it’s probably the most reliable engine Ford has ever made. My Ranger has 628,637 miles in the original engine. It never has been rebuilt. The only part of the engine I’ve replaced are the spark plugs, coil packs, air filter and oil.
Short supply – but 392hemi tops my list
[…] is the 60th anniversary of the small block Chevy (but you already knew that, Chevy guy). What better way to celebrate than with this 1:6 scale […]
The only thing people really like about this engine is that they think other people like this engine. You get to feel included if you talk about how much you think a 350 belongs in every single car. It is the engine of the sheeple with no real engineering strong points.
From a mechanical stand point, it’s basic, uninspired, generic and boring. It was cheap and readily available so a lot of guys made a tacit agreement to pretend it was cool; just like the Honda Civic in the 90s. You can tell a lot about a guy that likes either of these things: they’re generally mindless followers.
Just to drive it home: Honda Civic, Small Block Chevy, same psychology.
You Sir, are a speaker of truth!
The real engineering strong point of the SBC is the fact that it is still the basic design since its inception. Unlike Ford who seems to make a new engine every year and none to compare to the SBC in any formidable respect. Yes, it is “basic”, “generic”; you just described the beauty of this engine. Reasonably priced, powerful, and reliable. Boring? Not hardly. Nothing is considered boring with the versatility, dependability, and longevity of this engine, and yes, it could go into every single car, with ease, and perform flawlessly for years to come. A small package that does everything and does it well. And that’s why the SBC is #1.
It is an engine designed with people in mind. What kind do you want? Its yours.
The best factory supported engines out there, where you don’t have to by aftermarket stuff. You could get it all, right over the counter. Cams, cranks, heads, Chevy had them allready. Allot cheaper.
Best engine ever, except it’s big brother the Rat. See ya later hemis…
Great story iv raced in julesbug.co.kearney neb.denver.colo.bandemire.boat racing.sprint car.there is no motor period that even comes close to the durability.and aftermarket for the small block chevy.ford’s oil system suck.unless modefied.Chrysler 440 and 426 run good but they blow up will not hold up. Car shows street racing chevys dominate 3 to 1.iv e racing for 30 years.I don’t hate ford’s or dodge just a fact.hennessy.callaway.lingfelter.will all tell u the same just a fact.
Possibly the greatest engine of all time would be the Jaguar straight six, or since I just realized that it did NOT state it had to be automotive based, there can only be ONE engine; the Rolls Royce Merlin (as well as the Allison repops)
Major piece of winning an entire World War.
Hey John–a bit of trivia: In addition to the Rolls Royce plant in the U.K., the Merlin was manufactured stateside by the Packard Motor Car Company, where it would go on to power the P-51 Mustang, and a host of other warplanes.
If fact, you can check this out: The Merlin: How Rolls-Royce Teamed up with Packard to Help End World War 2
1934 -37 Hudson Terraplane beat all others. It would do 0 – 60 in the 18 second time bracket and 20 yrs later the rest of the world was still working hard to beat it by more than 3 seconds. Plus they were the hottest things in NASCARs early days. The Merlins/Rolls Royce was another factory stock engine that didn’t need “aftermarket” parts to make it go fast. Right out of the box it was something to be reckoned with. If they made as many aftermarket parts for a Terraplane or a Merlin we would probably have gotten to the moon a couple of decades sooner.
Chevy LS V8’s. Simply the best.
Agree. Nothing else comes close.
I grew up driving Chevy small blocks from the 265ci to the fabulous 350ci. I can tell you that the small block Chevrolet didn’t have any major problems until the government stepped in and cut down the H.P. The 70’s was the destroyer of the small block with their low compression engines. They cut back on all the good internal parts and started putting cheaper weaker materials in them. From the heads to the oil pan. The small block Chevy engines were so interchangeable with each other that getting parts for it was very plentiful as well as cheaper. If you were lucky enough to have the high performance engine. A rebuild would cost half as much as their competitors, and that’s one of the reasons that made them so demanding. In todays time I love the big block Chevy engines. In my opinion the 396, 427, 454, are some bad ass engines. It all depends on what you are using them in, as to which one I’d choose. I’m building a 427 for my 1957 Chevy Belair.
[…] 350 cid (5.7L) Chevrolet V8 provides power. You’ll have no problem maintaining or improving the world’s most popular hot rod engine. Check out the excellent historical details on these and other Studebaker trucks at […]
Look at the conversation the 350 has spawned among us. The 350 is the choice for the lofty #1 trophy. While we can all have our opinions this engine and all its incarnations just can’t be denied as number one. As an owner of several fords , from the fabulous 429 and Lima 2.3; my 1988 gmc chassis cab 350 4 bolt with throttle body is just another amazing testimony to why the 350 is number one.
But… come on!! BMW and Mercedes or even Volvo makes better more efficient engines! we are not stuck in the ´60s
Briggs & Stratton hands down…… MIC DROP!!!
[…] of finest manufacturing unit engines of all time (as determined by its readers), the positioning On All Cylinders discovered that the Gen I SBC 350 made the highest of the […]
[…] Sources: On All Cylinders. […]
[…] introduced us to its small-block V8 and changed hot rodding forever. Nearly 60 years later, you STILL voted the small-block Chevy 350 as the auto industry’s top engine of all time. Chevy has built and sold more than 100 million small-blocks, with the 5.7-liter 350 being the […]
A SBC with 250,000 miles and uses standard rings and standard main and rod bearings? Sitting outside my place. Been driving it 25 years. DAILY. Before I got it it was in a 1988 Caprice cop car. I pulled it. Upon disassembly (175,000 cop maintained miles) I called the city where it lived and found an old mechanic. Mobil 1 Synthetic oil and filter every six months was the norm. About every 10k miles. The casting marks are for any TRUCK engine not a semi. Never available in ANY civilian car. Even the cops had to special order it. SO RARE!!
[…] in Australia well into the 1980s. In fact, the 351C has been as popular in Australia as the small block Chevy, which has significant meaning when you consider the legendary Chevy’s great success for […]
[…] the motor could have begun life in a school bus or plumbing van, but rebuilding or replacing OnAllCylinders‘ top engine of all time may be the easiest part of putting this classic back on the road. […]
greatest v8 ever. well how about the lamborghini v8? the lambo v8 came in 3, 3.5 and even 2.5 litres capacity.. originally built in 1953, yes 1953 it has quad overhead camshafts, sodium filled valves, double row timing chains, baffled sump, HEMISPHERICAL COMBUSION chambers..oh forget it. the greatest v8 ever is the Maserati v8. quad cam, quad weber, hemi style combustion chambers, ADJUSTABLE double row timing chains , baffled dry sump, and on and on. there was also a fuel injected version for racing AND, YES AND a Lamborghini made 4 valve head. yes from the factory, in the 60s!! yeah, american v8s do good burnouts. so what? they are dinosaur technology. 4 valve heads, from the factory, in the 60s!!
Everyone has their favorite motor but what makes the Chevy 350 so special is that it’s pretty good at everything. It’s durable, simple & very compact for a V8. I got into rods & customs in the mid-90s when I was in my 20s. I’m not, I confess, a gifted mechanic, but the SBC is such a forgiving engine & parts were (and are SO affordable.) Maintenance was easy and you could build it one as mild or wild as you wanted and your budget allowed. I only actually did one engine swap during my hot rod days & I caused myself a lot of extra headaches by NOT going with a SBC. I had a ‘61 LeSabre 4-door mild custom in 2001 with a dying 364 nailhead. I kinda wanted to keep it all Buick & I came across a classified ad for a low-ish mileage ‘69 Electra donor car with a stock 430/400. The owner only wanted $300 & he lived maybe an hour away. Great deal, right?
Well, sorta. There were just two of us doing the swap & our facilities were…primitive, even by Florida shade tree mechanic standards. The Buick engine & tranny were huge, we had to do a lot more surgery than I anticipated to get everything to fit right & the little costs just kept adding up & up & up—It became clear I’d been penny smart and pound foolish. We eventually got everything sorted & I was constantly dealing with annoying little issues.
Don’t get me wrong—I loved that big ‘ol Buford motor. It only had about 30k miles on it & it was a torque monster. The internals were in very good shape, which was fortunate, because if I’d had to tear it down (or, more realistically, have someone tear it down for me) it would have been VERY expensive to rebuild someone with my limited budget. We didn’t do to much to it except for a mild tune-up, new intake, new carb—That sort of thing.
(For shits and giggles we did plumb a baby nitrous shot into the system. Fifty HP, I think. It was small enough that I could fit it into my glove box, which I did. Very easy to service, that nitrous system. And it form me into the 13s.)
Point is I really did love that engine but if I could go back in time I would have rolled with a SBC. Woulda saved myself time and money in the long run & I reckon I wouldn’t have had to spend nearly as much time on late night emergency wrench sessions in the parking lot of the local Autozone.
The SBC isn’t elite at any one thing but it’s good at just about everything & it’s reliability & transplantability insured (and still insures) that auto enthusiasts with SBCs will never go wanting for parts—performance & otherwise. I had SBCs (mostly 350s) in my ‘67 Chevelle Wagon, my ‘48 Plymouth street rod & my ‘64 Nova Sedan Delivery custom & my ‘80 Malibu wagon (That one was stolen before it was finished. Still mad about that one.) I also had a mild custom ‘71 T-Bird w/ a 429, a ‘63 Dodge panel rat rod custom with a warmed over slant six (That was a nice engine, btw) & a few other projects that I never quite got sorted or had to part with for lack of funds. I loved ‘em all but when it comes to bang for the buck & reliability my SBC-powered rides were the best of the lot.
There are more interesting & more powerful hot rod motors than the 350 Chebbie, but if you’re an old school hot-rodder or custom guy & you want something with a reliable, powerful drive train that won’t give you headaches and/or break the bank you really can’t beat the 350 SBC.
(My runner-up award for top hot rod engine goes to the Ford 302/5.0, btw. I never owned a 302-powered rod myself but my I couldn’t fault my Ford-centric hot rod buddies for their engine of choice. )