My guess is that it comes down to the fact buying a car with a big or small block in it costs money to switch over. Even if you’re starting with a survivor 318 car, it still has a trans core, alternator brackets, distributor, motor mounts, k-frame, timing cover, water pump, etc… It takes very little to build a 408” long block, and re-use most of that stuff to drop it in.

If you’re starting from scratch with a /6 car, then it’s a different story.

If you took a pole, I would bet most small block racecars on this site are A-bodies for just that reason. Just the same way that most of the big block racecars on this site are B-bodies too.

Mine has a small block in it because the magnum manifolds flipped backwards for the turbo easily, the block was already a hydraulic roller, and my Dad and I had a crap load of old used small block stuff laying around to use up.

But you can bet I would have started with a low-deck BB if I was building NA again. I could have bought out of the box BB Eddy’s, and they would flow nearly what my CNC ported small block Eddy’s do.

The regular 10 second type small block build would have a tough time competing dollar for dollar with an Eddy headed BB build. 400” BB cores aren’t exactly holding their price in the weight of gold, so there isn’t a huge “core price” advantage there. Machine work, cam, intake, oil pans, headers, etc… are all about a wash. So you’re down to the price of the heads and rotating assy. Eddy BB heads are cheaper then any equivalently flowing SB head. Even if you compare the price of the ported SB heads to offset the price of the higher rotating ASSY cost of the BB, would you rather have a 300cfm head on a 500” motor, or a 300cfm head on a 400” motor? The 500” motor is going to take a lot less gear, cam, converter, etc… to make work.

By the way… why are we comparing the prices of used, hard to find deals on W8 motors, compared to new BB build prices. There are certainly good deals out there for BB stuff too, so we gotta compare apples to apples.