Some believe this is when the history of fast cars was made, when GM put the Chevy 350 motor into the Chevy Camaro. 1967 is the year GM introduces the Chevy 350 motor during the might of the muscle car era. Originally this motor was used in the Chevy Camaro and next in the Nova, two years later. Since the days when we could hear the jingle- “Baseball, apple pie and Chevrolet”, Chevy has been the marquee of the General Motors Corporation. The Chevy 350 engine is a small block motor common to several models of Chevy by 1969. This is the motor which is responsible for ushering in the era of the crankshaft. It is by far, the most widely used small block of all time.
The Chevy 350 small block engine was not the original small block V8 created by Chevrolet. It takes its place at the front of a line of V8 motors originally designed as a series by the Chevrolet Division. They used the same basic engine block for many designs starting back in 1955 with the 265 cubic inch motor. The largest small block motor that developed was the 400 cubic inch motor which came out in 1970. By 1979, the Chevy 350 engine was introduced across the entire Chevrolet product line, eventually becoming a GM corporate standard. Now, every American General Motors division except Saturn uses the Chevy 350 engine or its derivative in their automobiles. Today, this motor is still being manufactured at the GM Toluca plant in Mexico. It is used in everything from cars, trucks and boats. In a highly modified version, the Chevy 350 engine is even used in some airplanes.
The Chevy 350 engine is sometimes referred to as a 5.7 liter engine by some. It owes its success to the V-shaped design which optimizes efficiency and sound. The V8 engine contains an equal number of cylinders positioned in a straight line on either side of the block. These cylinders share a common crankshaft. Chevy’s 350 cubic inch power- plant is able to produce 270 horsepower by means of its revolutionary two- bolt block design. It will yield 200 HP (horse power) at 4000 RPM’s (rotations per minute) from its 64 cc cast iron cylinder heads. The design allows for stronger durability and greater adaptability, making it a favorite among racing enthusiasts.
Today’s series the Chevrolet 350 motors enjoy the technology of performance driven engineering. The Chevy ZZ4 is GM’s most recent version of the original 350. This highly evolved example of engineering puts out 350 HP compared to its original 270 HP and delivers 400 ft- pounds of torque. This is made possible by the means of angle-plugged cylinder heads, roller cams and screw in rocker plugs with light weight valve retainer springs. The roller cam features a camshaft design that has.474″ intake and.510″ exhaust valve lift. Machined from high quality aluminum, the heads of this motor are a highlight of modern engineering. With 1.94 inch intake valves, 1.50 inch exhaust valves combined with 58 cc of combustion area, this engine generates an outstanding compression ratio of 10 to 1. These wonderfully engineered features combine together to enable this motor to yield 355 HP at 5,250 RPM’s.
GM did not cut corners when putting together the top of the Chevy 350 ZZ4. A HEI distributor offers an ignition timing advance that is built for performance. The engineers compliment the distributor with a dual-plane intake manifold built to receive a square bore carburetor. The water pump for the ZZ4 is crafted from high quality cast iron to accommodate the greater temperatures of the high performing motor. Other performance enhancing features include an 8″ harmonic balancer and a 12.75″ automatic transmission flex plate.
The real kicker in the deal is that all of this modern technology can be delivered right to your door- straight from the factory floor of General Motors! Who could ask for a better motor to place in the hot-rod that is just begging to leave your shop?
