ok I'm going to sound like an idiot but here goes..


what is the difference between a long block and a short block?

please no flames.. just gathering info

 

if I'm not mistaken long block is everything like head and bottom end were as a short block is just the bottom end minus the head

 

short block is the block + bottom end, long block is the block + bottom end + head + valvetrain, sometimes a manifold if you are lucky. This is a old skool muscle car term though, why the interest?

 

I was interested because some people were throwing around terms like short black and long block and I was getting confused... started think a b16 came in 2 sizes..

 

it's got nothing to do with the physical size of a block. In VW world there is such a thing as a 2 liter tall block that requires a longer downpipe, but that's just a pet name to distinguish between two different 2 liter blocks. Here, we speak of first and second generation B16As since most of us don't know the actual and correct code for the engines that came out of certain cars, in addition to which JDM engines only come with this designation.