Slithering_Joe
Founding Member
GTGunner said:Modular motors are physically 'wider' due to the 90 degree angle formed by the right and left sides of the block in relation to the crankshaft. In other words, the 'V' of the V8 on a modular motor is a 90 degree angle, whereas the angle of the 'V' on the older Ford small blocks (260, 289, 302 and 351W) is more along the lines of a 60-70 degree angle. Therefore, even though the displacement on the 4.6 is smaller, the 90 degree angle makes it wider than the older Ford small blocks that sported larger displacements. Also, stock DOHC and SOHC heads are wider than the stock heads that came on old Ford small blocks.
Regards,
GTGunner
The mod motors are wide because the height of the heads are huge since the cams sit on top.
The V8's you speak of above from Ford are ALL 90 degrees. In fact, I can't think of any V8 (Ford, GM, Chrysler...) that isn't 90 deg. Not sure about the small V8s like the SHO and the LS for example.
The term "big block" and "smal block" are old school terms and really don't apply to the modular motors.