How big the Chevy motors of yesteryear get their nicknames?

Question

I know that the Chevy big block 427 acquired the nickname "rat motor" and that term was used for other bow tie big blocks as well, along with the small blocks being called "mouse motors". So, how is it that this terms came into use?

Answer 1

It wasn't just the 427 that received that tag, it was all big block GM powerplants from around 1965 until the late 70's. The term rat motor was chosen initially by the lead designers for no other reason than to seperate out their big block and small block class engines. You'd have to interview the original designers to figure out why they chose rat and mouse, many have speculated this was a throw back to the "rat-rod", a small bucket chevy with a big block shoehorned in...looked like a rat.

Think of it in terms of the name plates of many new cars...I mean who the hell came up with Aveo, Tahoe, or terms like "Duramax", Triton V8, etc. It was merely a random term used to describe the powerplant. As far as I know (more years and experience working on Chevy's than I'd like to mention) nobody really knows exactly why they chose them. The terminology leaked out during the 60's Chevy racing hay day and caught on...although I haven't heard anyone reference a rat or mouse motor in many many years ;)

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Chevy Rat Motor

Answer 3

Ok, this is a bit of a story, but this is how I remember. It started with the small block being called the mouse motor. They were calling the 426 HEMI an elephant motor prior to (I think) the 300+ cubic inch motors came around. When these motors were tuned and put on a dragstrip, the had the ability to beat HEMIs in a race. The HEMI is an elephant motor, and they are scared of the small blocks like an elephant is scared of mice. The nickname is born.

Answer 4

The names came from drag racers & customizers, not from the factory, although no one really knows for sure.

It IS known that the "mouse" name didn't come into use until AFTER the "rat" name became common.

There was a customizer in the '60's who liked to paint pictures of a rat cartoon character as a satire of Disney's Micky Mouse. The rat was named Rat Fink and some people claim that the name was somehow applied to the Chevy big block.

The term "rat rod" is a modern invention from car magazine writers. Lots of the old terms, like "hot rod" and "drag race" are mysterious in origin and spark arguments among old geezers who don't have anything better to do than argue about their failing memories.

Answer 5

Under normal driving you probably won't notice any detonation because the engine is not building compression at low RPM. Where you would run into problems is if you really started pushing the engine, and under those circumstances you might not hear the detonation. I would definitely use octane boosters, 12.5 is more compression than can be handled by 93 octane.

Answer 6

Im with hall &oates 2 points rock on!!!

Answer 7

i don't know, though i drove my '69 390-hp rat-motor about 42,000 miles before [unfortunately] selling it... there's some interesting wikipedia info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Big-Block_engine ........ wikipedia refers to it as a "nickname," too, but doesn't answer your question, either, of "how it GOT the nickname..." ...... enjoy!

Answer 8

mrharris is right,

Answer 9

go with mr. harris...and car names ar thought up years ago, and the companies put patents on the names until they are used

Answer 10

I remember very distinctly in late1965 The Chevelle and Corvette was the very first car that GM dropped in the 375 horse 396 Rat Motor. The following year GM got serious and placed the first 427 in the Corvette.
It seemed that minutes later (1965) the Peterson Publishing Company sold a thick manual called: Complete Book Of Engines No.2 at new-stands every where. On the cover was a picture of the try-power Corvette Big Block. Not only was it called The Rat Motor but others named it The Semi Hemi because of the porcupine looking placement of the valves.
I would think that hot rodders in immediate locations of big publication companies hung monikers (names) on their favorite motors.
Please remenber, in 1963 Jr. Johnson, Smokey Unick and Hayhen Proffett among others had the little known " Chevrolet Mystery Motor" in the Biscayne used for drag racing and ove track use. The motor's offical name was: RPO Z33 MARK 11 Mystery Motor. This motor had an entirely different intake manifold. It stood very tall and two large Carter WCFB Carbuerators stood on top. The dual four carb set up was used for drag racing. Another tall intake was used for oval track racing.

I can speak from experience as I had a blue-printed 425 hp. 427 in a 69 Chevelle. The ride was scary as heck because of 4:11 gears and street tires weren't worth a hoot in those days. You couldn't get caught dead with M&H Racemasters on the streets because of the local cops. The transmission origionally was behind a 357 hp. 396. The 400 Turbo Hydro and it shifted right now at about 6,000 rpm's at full throttle. That's where things got trickey. The 1-2 and 2-3 shift always busted the rear wheels loose. The rear end would jump out behind you

Believe this or not. I could nail my dad in his 1970 Chevelle LS6. That's what a good through blue print job did. Decking the block, balancing, a super valve job, re-conditioning the rods, and after a .030 cylinder bore job a very fine hone job in the cylinders.