Quite simply put "The nickname for the small block Chevrolet engine, named such because the big block was called a "Rat" and so the small engine must be a "mouse". "
That's the answer I've been getting, but it doesn't really answer the question, does it?
So, in order to satisfy my own curiosity, I did a bunch of research yesterday and got some really interesting information. If you are interested, I can post it here...
Thanks for the reply tho. This board has really slowed down, eh? One full day, one response and barely 20 views...
Mopar's Hemi was called the "elephant" motor because it made gobs of power back in the early sixties (easily 300 horses with the small motor because of superior head design). The 426 Hemi could easily hit 400 horses. GM's solution was the "mouse" motor, also known as the small block chevy. The "rat" for big block chevys was determined because it's still a rodent but is larger.
Actually the reverse is the situation here the small block was around a lot longer since 1955 and was called the mouse because of it's small size especially when you look at and compare it to the other V-8 engines of that era. The big block was named the rat because the small block was the mouse.
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