LSX Engine Build - To The Extreme

Jesel .937-inch solid roller lifters were chosen for their reliability; this particular model has a slot on the sides to allow oil to pass through.

It's pretty safe to say that the eT Performance Canted Valve heads are the best on the market for top dollar gen III/ IVs, so its no surprise Kempf chose them for his 1,500+ horsepower turbo motor. With a 310cc intake runner, 04cc exhaust, 62cc combustion chamber, 2.220 intake and 1.57 exhaust valves, it's ideal for an all-out turbo motor. These heads flow an amazing 422 cfm at .900-inch lift and 402 cfm at .600-inch; far superior to even his previous set of Etp heads.

he main advantage or feature of these heads is a varied (or canted) valve angle-the intake valves are at 8.5, while the exhaust is at 11. This is partially responsible for the incredible flow numbers.

Unlike even the LS7 heads, these have an even higher intake runner location, in addition to being oval instead of rectangular. The exhaust ports also do not espouse either the traditional LS1 round port or even a d-shaped port-but an oval shape like the intake. The only downside is that these port shapes required a special intake manifold and some modification to the turbo headers.

A special set of Jesel 1.7-ratio rockers (CaaaS75 intake, hhdL75 exhaust) is also required for the canted valves, but considering how hard boosted motors are on the valvetrain, having Jesel on your side is not a bad thing. Smith Brothers 9.550-inch intake and 9.400- inch exhaust pushrods with a 3/8-inch diameter are also crucial to actuating the solid roller's commands. PSI triple valvesprings with 450 pounds of seat pressure help as well.

Piston-to-valve clearance was the last thing that needed to be checked before the rest of the top end could be bolted up. Thankfully 165-inch on the intake and .280-inch on the exhaust was more than adequate.

ET Performance fabricated an intake manifold (to accompany the heads) out of billet aluminum with optimized plenum volume and runner length that would work in the tight engine bay of Tom's Camaro. Using a mammoth 105mm throttle body fed by the air-to-water cooler riding shotgun, the new combo was estimated at over 1,500 horsepower. a dailey 5-stage dry sump oiling system with an are pan are essential at this level.

Using an otherwise identical setup, including a 101mm Precision turbo and Stenod Performance hot parts, Tom Kempf's Camaro went from a best of 8.01 at 174 mph to 7.82 at 186 mph (at the LSX Shootout spec weight of 3,490 lbs) at 30 psi. With more tuning to go, as well as an upgrade to a 106mm turbo, there's still plenty more left in this combination.