Whether you're spinning your very first set of wrenches or tuning engines for a Pro Stock team, there's no denying that the beginning of any engine buildup is the cylinder block. Let's review its ...

The first Iron Age flickered out a millennium or two ago, but its automotive equivalent is still going strong. Well, if not strong, it's at least still going. Dodge, Ram, and other automakers still ...

Need a heartier foundation for your Ford small-block build? Blueprint Engines created stronger bare 302 and 351 blocks.

Cracked block? There aren't many two-word combinations that send a shiver up a car guy's spine. In most cases that means the block is DOA, and it's worth its weight in scrap only. Sometimes there is ...

Just like a solid foundation is important for a sturdy house, a well-prepped engine block is critical for a motor make big power—and do it more than once. A professional engine builder offered to show ...

Hot rodders played with blocks as kids, and still play with them as adults. This vast level of experience notwithstanding, enthusiasts often insist on monkeying around with production blocks. They ...

Its roots can be traced way back to the '50s.

There are many ways that automakers, particularly American ones, categorize the V8 engines they produce. They can essentially be put into one of two categories: big-block engines and small-block ...

During an era when a cast iron block was the main ingredient for building mass-produced internal combustion engines, General Motors' Buick division unleased an all-aluminum V8 that revolutionized the ...

Big-block engines have always traded on mythology as much as on dyno sheets, yet some of the most imposing cast-iron V8s deliver surprisingly modest output once you look past the badge. When I line up ...

The LM7 engine, found in Chevy Tahoes and Cadillac Escalades, can be transformed into a high-performance powerhouse capable ...

I started learning to work on cars in the late 1970s by helping my stepdad turn salvaged mid-1960s Chevy Chevelles into street-stock-class race cars. Throughout that period, I had my hands on a number ...