While Kurt has been working on the body, I’ve been doing a bit of work on the drivetrain. Because I want the reliability and drivability that modern fuel injected engines provide, I’ve always thought that when I build a car like this, I would use an LS motor of some sort. Then, Chevrolet released the new LT engines, which are incredible (direct injection, etc.)... I have a 2017 Camaro ZL1 with the 650 hp LT4 (same engine as the Z06 Corvette) and love that motor, but wanted the Nova to be naturally aspirated. I thought about using the new LT1 crate engine that Chevrolet has, but I would want more power than the base crate engine, and the aftermarket isn’t nearly as mature for the LT engines as it is for the LS engines. Also, an LT engine would likely require additional fabrication for motor mounts, headers, etc., whereas the LS engines are easy drop ins. So, I decided I would stick with an LS engine.
I’ve always been a huge fan of the LS7 - insane amounts of power and torque in a small package. The ability to rev to over 7,000 rpm and the nostalgia of it being a 427 sealed the deal for me, so I started thinking about my options for an LS7. I again considered a LS7 crate engine, but would want to make modifications to it (bigger cam, port heads, better intake manifold, etc). Also, I don’t want to run a dry sump in the Nova, so would have additional expense to convert it to wet sump if I went the GM Performance crate engine route. Also considered a crate engine from Mast Motorsports, but ended up building one from scratch.
I had read a lot over on the Corvette forum and LS forums about head, cam and intakes package that Tony Mamo offers through his company, Mamo Motorsports. Tony worked for years as the head of development at Air Flow Research before leaving to go out on his own a few years ago. I called him up and we discussed my project and my objectives and he helped me source some of the parts for my engine. I researched and purchased everything else and we ended up with the following: brand new LS7 block I acquired from GM Performance, Callies forged crank and rods, Wiseco forged pistons, King coated bearings, Mamo Motorsports LS7 heads (brand new castings from Trick Flow Specialties CNC ported by Tony and then hand finished), custom cam spec’d by Tony, Johnson short travel lifters, Yella Terra roller rockers custom made for Tony’s heads, custom length Manton push rods, MSD Atomic intake ported by Tony, Deutschwerks 60 lb injectors, Nick Williams 102mm drive by wire throttle body, etc.
Tony has dozens of these head, cam and intake packages in LS7s in C6 Z06 Corvettes across the country and they flat out make incredible power... usually around 625-640hp at the tire, depending on other mods (air intake, header size, etc). The heads flow over 400 cfm on the intake side, but do so through smaller ports than a stock LS7 head, so they are able to make power not only at high rpms, but also have incredible part throttle response, due to the efficient port design. Plus, the port velocity allows him to build with a higher static compression ratio and a bigger cam, yet still have good drivability. We spec’d mine for around 12:1 (we have 93 octane here in MN). We checked it with a Katech Whistler after assembled, and final compression ratio was 11.8:1
Attached are some pics of the heads...
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
Hybrid Mode
