ok, I've wondered this forever, but no articles ever seemed to answer my question...whats the difference??? Is it that u can bore one out more than the other? Or is it the performance potential of each? or the starting size of the engine(in liters)? Do each have advantages and disadvantages? Or is the longblock some super awesome perfect engine? I honestly dont know anything about either so any info is nice

 

Shortblock is the engine block with pistons, rods, crank, cam and timing set (usually) and a longblock comes with the same block but includes heads and oil pump...basically the whole motor.

 

Thats it from my understanding, looks like danny was thinking more along the lines of 'smallblock vs. bigblock'

 

simply..

Shortblock: you still need a bunch of parts from your stock engine

Longblock: you can throw the entire stock engine away, and replace it with the new one

 

Pretty much except (most) longblocks don't include intake, fuel rails, injectors, etc...so don't throw everything away...I believe a crate engine will get you closer to a "plug and play" engine swap.

 

on the small block vs. big block just in case that was the question.

They're literally what their names say. A small block is a small iteration of any particular style of engine. The small size limits their displacement potential as they're normally a little shorter and less wide so every point is basically shrunk down from the big size used for bigger cars (normally). Small blocks will be lighter and generally used in sports cars, luxury cars and light trucks.

Big blocks are bigged-up versions of their diminuitive brethren. Usually there are some minor design changes even within a manufacturer (GM,Ford,Dodge, etc..) which are required to cope with casting things that big. Cylinders will be taller and usually wider. Cranks will be bigger and MUCH stronger, and they're usually too powerful to justify being placed in all but the largest light trucks and exotic sports cars for those with too much money.

As you increase the size of the engine block the size of the heads almost always jumps to match. Mo-bigguh heads = mo-bigguh flow and that means gobs more power potential. They're also kinda heavy and expensive to feed and fix.

Ford had a neato idea with the modular family. Make a single design and add deck height and cylinders as needed. So you have the 4.6, 5.4 (a tall deck 4.6), and 6.8 V10 (a 5.4 with 2 extra holes). Makes for easy parts interchangability and and easier transplanting into cars they weren't meant to be in... hehehe. There's no "big block"... they're all pretty much the same.

 

Long block is somewhat of a complete engine minus most of the wiring. It usually just includes the intake manifold/heads/and the main block. The short block is the bottom end of your car.....it allows you to put custom heads and **** like that on your car. If your just looking to replace your engine. LONG BLOCK.

(Spoken from experiences with both long/short block engines....Putting on heads/intake manifold is a bitch and it's alot nicer knowing that it is under factory warranty.