1969 Chevelle Features a Stout 740hp LSX 454

Zach Archer spent years chasing the perfect classic muscle car before a friend at DI Motorwerkz simply built one for him. The result is a 1969 Chevelle carrying a version of GM’s modern LSX454 crate big-block, pushed well past its 627-horsepower factory rating. Here’s what that engine is built from — and how it gets to 740 horsepower.

“For the past few years I’ve been trying to find the perfect, classic muscle car,†proclaimed Zach Archer. “I’ve tried [vintage] Corvettes, Camaros, and Mustangs, and even the current models. After many disappointments trying to find something that made me happy, my buddy Javier Leclerc from DI Motorwerkz got tired of advising me on what to buy or not to buy.â€

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Full article: https://goo.gl/VTt0ab

Zach Archer said he’d tried everything — vintage Corvettes, Camaros, Mustangs, even brand-new metal — and none of it stuck. Then a friend from DI Motorwerkz got tired of playing consultant and decided to just build the car instead of talking about it. The result rides on a 1969 Chevelle body, but there’s nothing stock lurking under that hood. GM’s crate-engine catalog tops out with a big-block built for exactly this kind of project, and this particular build reportedly pushes it well past its factory rating. How do you coax that much power out of an engine that already leaves the box angry?

The LSX454: GM’s Modern Answer to Big-Block Muscle

Chevrolet Performance’s LSX454 isn’t a vintage big-block at all — it’s a modern 7.4-liter (454 cubic inch) crate engine built around the LSX cast-iron block, with 6-bolt cross-bolted main caps, a forged 4340 steel crankshaft and rods, and forged aluminum pistons squeezed to an 11.0:1 compression ratio. Topped with aluminum LS7-style rectangular-port heads and a hydraulic roller cam with .635 inches of lift, the crate engine ships rated at 627 horsepower and 586 lb-ft of torque on 92-octane pump gas — numbers that already outgun most factory big-blocks from the muscle car era.

Squeezing 740 Horsepower From a 627-Horsepower Crate

Getting from the LSX454’s factory 627-horsepower rating to the 740 horsepower claimed for this Chevelle means further work beyond what leaves GM’s crate-engine facility — typically a combination of camshaft, induction, and exhaust upgrades layered on top of an already stout forged bottom end built to handle the abuse. Dropped into a 1969 Chevelle chassis that weighs a fraction of what modern performance cars carry, that kind of power swings the car firmly into serious-muscle territory, closer to a modern supercar’s power-to-weight ratio than anything Chevrolet ever sold new.

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