I was wondering was the 71 and 72 chevelles with the 396/402 engine still called an SS 396 or were they called SS 402?

since it was just a .030 over 396, and they had already spent all the effort on advertising the "SS 396" package, they kept calling it the 396.

The air cleaner decal stated "396" for the 402 however after '70 the fender emblems dropped the "396" and just had the "SS" for all engines BB/SB except for the 454 which was still on the fender.

what sounds (rolls of the touq) better
396 or
402
396 thats why they kept it.

The air cleaner decal stated "396" for the 402 however after '70 the fender emblems dropped the "396" and just had the "SS" for all engines BB/SB except for the 454 which was still on the fender.

Mike, I was wondering what they had on the air cleaner, as I was thinking of buying just a plain chrome open element air cleaner and putting the cross flag decal on, and have seen a 402 and 396 decal

Shawn, '71 was unique in that it did not have the crossed flags like '70 and '72. The correct decal was large rounded numbers that were silver and white with "396" and "300 horsepower" below that. I have the correct decal on mine and I think you can see it if you go to my showroom pictures.

For 71 and 72 they were called an SS, unless you had the 454.

Also of note for 71 the 396 was called a 400, and then you had another 400 which was the small block 400, which was confusing as hell if you didn't know any better.

Aside from size the only other way to differentiate them was by the fact the sbc version had the 2 bbl carb standard and the bbc version came with a 4 bbl carb.

For 72, the 396 became known as a 402.

Keep in mind the actual .030 over 396 to make the 402 started in mid 69 IIRC.