Long block is an automotive term for an engine sub-assembly that consists of the assembled block, crankshaft, cylinder head, camshaft (usually), and valve train. A long block does not include fuel system, electrical, intake, and exhaust components, as well as other components (see below for a more complete list).
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one form of energy into mechanical energy. Heat engines, like the internal combustion engine, burn a fuel to create heat which is then used to do work. Electric motors convert electrical energy into mechanical motion, pneumatic motors use compressed air, and clockwork motors in wind-up toys use elastic energy. In biological systems, molecular motors, like myosins in muscles, use chemical energy to create forces and eventually motion.
A short block is an engine sub-assembly comprising the portion of the cylinder block below the head gasket but above the oil pan. An in-block cam engine includes the camshaft, timing gear, and any balance shafts. Overhead cam engines don't include those parts.
A crankshaft—related to crank—is a mechanical part able to perform a conversion between reciprocating motion and rotational motion. In a reciprocating engine, it translates reciprocating motion of the piston into rotational motion; whereas in a reciprocating compressor, it converts the rotational motion into reciprocating motion. In order to do the conversion between two motions, the crankshaft has "crank throws" or "crankpins", additional bearing surfaces whose axis is offset from that of the crank, to which the "big ends" of the connecting rods from each cylinder attach.
Short block. The long block is always a superset of the corresponding short block.
Cylinder head. A cylinder head assembly is installed with a head gasket and torqued to specification. Complete cylinder heads include valves, valve springs, valve guides (if applicable), valve seats (if applicable), valve locks, and valve keepers. Flathead engines include the valve train if it didn't come with the short block.
Camshaft in most engines. On many engines with timing gears, the camshaft is timed.
In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head sits above the cylinders on top of the cylinder block. It closes in the top of the cylinder, forming the combustion chamber. This joint is sealed by a head gasket. In most engines, the head also provides space for the passages that feed air and fuel to the cylinder, and that allow the exhaust to escape. The head can also be a place to mount the valves, spark plugs, and fuel injectors.
A gasket is a mechanical seal which fills the space between two or more mating surfaces, generally to prevent leakage from or into the joined objects while under compression.
A poppet valve is a valve typically used to control the timing and quantity of gas or vapour flow into an engine.
A carburetor or carburettor is a device that mixes air and fuel for internal combustion engines in the proper air–fuel ratio for combustion. It is sometimes colloquially shortened to carb in the UK and North America or carby in Australia. To carburate or carburet means to mix the air and fuel or to equip with a carburetor for that purpose.
Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector.
In automotive engineering, an exhaust manifold collects the exhaust gases from multiple cylinders into one pipe. The word manifold comes from the Old English word manigfeald and refers to the folding together of multiple inputs and outputs.
A camshaft is a shaft to which a cam is fastened or of which a cam forms an integral part.
Engine tuning is the adjustment or modification of the internal combustion engine or Engine Control Unit (ECU) to yield optimal performance and increase the engine's power output, economy, or durability. These goals may be mutually exclusive; an engine may be de-tuned with respect to output power in exchange for better economy or longer engine life due to lessened stress on engine components.
A crossflow cylinder head is a cylinder head that features the intake and exhaust ports on opposite sides. The gases can be thought to flow across the head. This is in contrast to reverse-flow cylinder head designs that have the ports on the same side.
The Ford 335 engine family was a group of engines built by the Ford Motor Company between 1969 and 1982. The "335" designation reflected Ford management's decision to produce an engine of that size with room for expansion during its development. This engine family began production in late 1969 with a 351 cu in (5.8 L) engine, commonly called the 351C. It later expanded to include a 400 cu in (6.6 L) engine which used a taller version of the engine block, commonly referred to as a tall deck engine block, a 351 cu in (5.8 L) tall deck variant, called the 351M, and a 302 cu in (4.9 L) engine which was exclusive to Australia.
In internal combustion engines, variable valve timing (VVT) is the process of altering the timing of a valve lift event, and is often used to improve performance, fuel economy or emissions. It is increasingly being used in combination with variable valve lift systems. There are many ways in which this can be achieved, ranging from mechanical devices to electro-hydraulic and camless systems. Increasingly strict emissions regulations are causing many automotive manufacturers to use VVT systems.
VVT-i, or Variable Valve Timing with intelligence, is an automobile variable valve timing technology developed by Toyota. The Toyota VVT-i system replaces the Toyota VVT offered starting in 1991 on the 5-valve per cylinder 4A-GE engine. The VVT system is a 2-stage hydraulically controlled cam phasing system.
The GM Ecotec engine, also known by its codename L850, is a family of all-aluminium inline-four engines, displacing between 1.4 and 2.5 litres. While these engines were based on the GM Family II engine, the architecture was substantially re-engineered for the new Ecotec application produced since 2000. This engine family replaced the GM Family II engine, the GM 122 engine, the Saab H engine, and the Quad 4 engine. It is manufactured in multiple locations, to include Spring Hill Manufacturing, in Spring Hill, Tennessee.
The LA engines are a family of pushrod OHV 90° V-configured gasoline engines built by Chrysler Corporation. It was factory-installed in passenger vehicles, trucks and vans, commercial vehicles, marine and industrial applications from 1964 through 2003. The combustion chambers are wedge-shaped, rather than the polyspherical combustion chambers in the predecessor A engine or the hemispherical combustion chambers in the Chrysler Hemi engine. All versions are made of cast iron, except for the Viper V10 which is aluminum. LA engines have the same 4.46 in (113 mm) bore spacing as the A engines. LA engines were made at Chrysler's Mound Road Engine plant in Detroit, Michigan, as well as plants in Canada and Mexico. The "LA" stands for "Light A", as the older "A" engine it was closely based on was nearly 50 pounds heavier. Willem Weertman, who later became Chief Engineer – Engine Design and Development, was in charge of the conversion. The basic design of the LA engine would go unchanged through the development of the "Magnum" upgrade (1992-1993) and into the 2000s with changes to enhance power and efficiency.
The Chrysler 1.8, 2.0, and 2.4 are inline-4 engines designed originally for the Dodge and Plymouth Neon compact car. These engines were loosely based on their predecessors, the Chrysler 2.2 & 2.5 engine, sharing the same 87.5 mm (3.44 in) bore. The DOHC head was developed by Chrysler with input from the Chrysler-Lamborghini team that developed the Chrysler/Lamborghini Formula 1 V12 engine in the early 1990s.
The Honda K-series engine is a line of four-cylinder four-stroke car engine introduced in 2001. The K-series engines are equipped with DOHC valvetrains and use roller rockers to reduce friction. The engines use a coil-on-plug, distributorless ignition system with a coil for each spark plug. This system forgoes the use of a conventional distributor-based ignition timing system in favor of a computer-controlled system that allows the ECU to control ignition timings based on various sensor inputs. The cylinders have cast iron sleeves similar to the B- and F-series engines, as opposed to the FRM cylinders found in the H- and newer F-series engines found only in the Honda S2000.
A crankcase is the housing for the crankshaft in a reciprocating internal combustion engine. The enclosure forms the largest cavity in the engine and is located below the cylinder(s), which in a multicylinder engine is usually integrated into one or several cylinder blocks. Crankcases have often been discrete parts, but more often they are integral with the cylinder bank(s), forming an engine block. Nevertheless, the area around the crankshaft is still usually called the crankcase. Crankcases and other basic engine structural components are typically made of cast iron or cast aluminium via sand casting. Today the foundry processes are usually highly automated, with a few skilled workers to manage the casting of thousands of parts.
The Toyota S Series engines are a family of straight-4 engines with displacement from 1.8 L to 2.2 L produced by Toyota Motor Corporation from January 1980 to August 2007. The series has cast iron engine blocks and alloy cylinder heads.
The Mitsubishi 4B1 engine is a range of all-alloy straight-4 piston engines built at Mitsubishi's Japanese "World Engine" powertrain plant in Shiga on the basis of the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance (GEMA). Although the basic designs of the various engines are the same, their exact specifications are individually tailored for each partner. The cylinder block and other basic structural parts of the engine were jointly developed by the GEMA companies, but the intake and exhaust manifolds, the cylinder head's intake and exhaust ports, and other elements related to engine tuning were independently developed by Mitsubishi.
The Mitsubishi 6B3 engine is a range of all-alloy piston V6 engines developed by Mitsubishi Motors. Currently, only one engine has been developed, a 3.0 L (2,998 cc) V6 first introduced in the North American version of the second generation Mitsubishi Outlander which debuted in October 2006.
The VR is a series of twin-turbo DOHC V6 automobile engines from Nissan with displacements varying from 3.0 to 3.8 L. An evolution of the widely successful VQ series, it also draws on developments from the VRH, JGTC, and Nissan R390 GT1 Le Mans racing engines.
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