Editor’s Note: Mike Mavrigian has been building engines almost as long as there has been internal combustion. Mike’s shop, Birchwood Automotive, specializes in street performance and racing engines and vehicle restoration. As you’ll see in this article series, he includes a wealth of information on his engine builds. NOTE: Updated 5/2/18 with oil pump intermediate driveshaft images,
Update, Friday, March 13: You know how these things go. The Ridetech crew has been hard at work transforming a 1972 Corvette into a road race and autocross monster for the last three days, and is now into a fourth day. According to RideTech’s Brett Voelkel, the Corvette has been more complicated than the 48-hour Camaro,
You already know we’ve chosen the powerful and compact LS3 for this build, but which LS3? We went right to the top and got the LS376/525 crate engine. It’s the most powerful production-based crate engine in the Chevrolet Performance portfolio: 6.2 liters, 525 horsepower at 6,300 rpm and 489 ft.-lbs. of torque at 4,400 rpm.
What’s in a name? In the case of Kiwi Classics and Customs‘ KSV9000 Mustang, there are 557 cubic inches packed into the name. The KSV9000 Mustang got its name from the big block Ford under the hood—557 cubic inches is just over 9,000cc, or nine liters. The radical 1966 Mustang made a big splash when
In part one of Project Thunderbolt, we laid out the plans to stuff a GM LS3 V8 in to a 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata. In this update we’re finishing the teardown of our 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata’s chassis. We’ll do the same to our stock Miata four-cylinder drivetrain by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable pieces.
Editor’s Note: Mike Mavrigian has been building engines almost as long as there has been internal combustion. Mike’s shop, Birchwood Automotive, specializes in street performance and racing engines and vehicle restoration. As you’ll see in this article series, he includes a wealth of information on his engine builds. [portfolio_slideshow id=39615] This engine build starts where they
[portfolio_slideshow id=38154] Light car + big engine = silly go-fast fun. Back in the 1940s and ‘50s it was Ford flathead, Olds, and Caddy V8s in Model As. Pontiac stuffed a 389 in a mid-size Tempest and ushered in the musclecar era with the 1964 GTO. Carroll Shelby’s 427-powered Cobras terrorized the competition (and probably
[portfolio_slideshow id=36308] Marc Sorger is a diehard racer. At age 13, he and his dad built a 1957 Chevy with a tunnel-rammed 301 small block and 5.13 gears (“I won a bunch of races and money with that car,” Marc recalled). He is licensed in NHRA’s Motorcycle, Super Street, Super Gas, Super Comp, Top Dragster,
[portfolio_slideshow id=35291] For the third year running, Trick Flow Specialties is building the engine that will be part of the prize package awarded to the IHRA’s Summit Racing SuperSeries Top Class Champion. Trick Flow’s first two engines—a 565 cubic inch big block Chevy in 2012 and a 598 cubic inch 460 Ford in 2013—each made
[portfolio_slideshow id=31209] Josh Hauck was 13 years old when he bought his 1966 Ford Mustang for $350 just a decade ago. “Let me tell you, man. $350 when you’re 13 years old? That’s a lot of lawn mowing,” Hauck said. The Mustang was in the crush line at the local Aurora, CO junk yard. It
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