Making big power with the help of forced induction or giggle juice is almost too easy these days. There’s something to be said about making an insane amount of power, without the aid of a power adder. Being able to produce over 1,000 horsepower out of a small block, have the motor be reliable, and run at the front of the class is no easy task.
The crew down at the School of Automotive Machinists (SAM) has been there, done that, and has the hardware to prove they are the kingpin team of LSX all motor racing.
The Chevrolet Performance LSX Challenge Series brings together the best LSX based cars in the country, and one of the premier heads-up categories is the All Motor Class. All Motor Class is set up for any LSX powered car or truck with a limit of 470 cubic inches. Adding to the cool factor of this class is that the interiors can’t be totally gutted, and require two seats to be in the stock locations.
The SAM’s 1999 Camaro has been the big orange gorilla of the LSX All Motor Class for some time. Over the past four years the team has won the LSX Shootout and virtually every other event they’ve attended. The car uses a GM LSX block with 435 cubic inches of displacement. Cylinder heads on a combination like this are important, and a set of GM C5R heads were tapped for the build. The heads have been worked over by SAM as a class project to get maximum horsepower. A custom Beck Mechanical sheet metal intake and a pair of Holley throttle bodies top off this motor. All of these parts mix together to produce a tire-melting 1,064 horsepower at 9,000 RPM.
At the 2012 NMCA Lone Star Shootout in Houston, the SAM team didn’t raise the bar, they broke it over their knee. With SAM’s Judson Massingill at the wheel, the team won the 10.5 N/A class and set a new record with an 8.01 at 171 mph pass. This was done on stock suspension, naturally aspirated, and on a 10.5 inch tire. Check out the video of the record pass and hear this LSX motor sing while the car dances down the track.