Madison Co. Virginia | Schuerman Farms - 2/8/2019 12:33
GM has way more than two small block designs in the last 50 years... The count is 5+
If you actually want to count how many different block and head combos were available from gm, I'm betting the number would be in the thousands. Realistically though, there's been the classic SBC, and the LS engines.
The gen 1 went from '55 to the early 00's. The gen 2 was a strange beast, but was only seen in several cars in the mid 90's. It was never offered in a pickup. Gen 3 and 4 only varied in the engine control systems, primarily variable valve timing and active fuel management. Gen 5 moved to direct injection, which is a pretty big step. Still though, I think the bottom end is very similar to the gen 3 and 4.
Bellhousings have been practically the same from '55 till now, including big blocks. Some bolts don't line up between the SBC(gen 1, and gen 2?) and the LS engines(gen 3 and up), but enough of the bolts do that it works. Crankshaft/flywheel spacing changed around a little during the initial startup of the LS engines, but has standardized now. Engine mounts were standard for the SBC, and then again for the LS engines. Basically, the gm small blocks have been very intelligently designed, with backward compatibility being a key feature.
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Ford announces big block gas. Hats off to them!
