Introduction
When a 2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 came to us after an unfortunate high RPM event, we knew it was time to work our magic. The LS7 engine had sustained significant damage, and the car was in desperate need of a performance boost. In this blog post, we’ll walk you through the entire rebuild process, from the sad story to the impressive dyno results after installing GPI LS7 Cylinder Heads and a GPI LS7 Camshaft.
The Sad Story
This Corvette Z06 was brought to us all the way from “Mexico”, but it arrived in a dire state. The internals of the LS7 engine appeared to have gone through a Blendtec blender – a clear indication that the motor was in need of some serious GPI love.
The LS7 was the original factory engine, and aside from an intake and a set of headers, it was virtually untouched. Before the unfortunate incident, the car had produced 480 rear-wheel horsepower (rwhp) on the dyno, which we’ll use as our baseline for comparison.
The LS7 Rebuild
To begin the rebuild, we sourced an LS7 short block and installed a GPI LS7 Camshaft and a set of GPI Cylinder Heads. We then reinstalled the Airaid Intake and the Kooks headers that were on the car when we received it. After a few days of assembly and installation, we took the Z06 to the dyno to dial in the tune and see what kind of gains we could achieve with a simple cam and heads upgrade on an LS7 engine.
Impressive Dyno Results
The results speak for themselves! This Corvette Z06 now retains nearly stock driveability while offering incredible durability as a naturally aspirated powerplant. When comparing the results back to back, the GPI Cylinder Heads and GPI Camshaft combo added a remarkable 90 RWHP. This dramatic increase has completely transformed the overall character of the car.
Conclusion
The owner is thrilled to have his beloved Corvette Z06 back in action, and we’re proud to have successfully breathed new life into this LS7 engine with our GPI Cylinder Heads and Camshaft combo. It’s time for us to move on to our next project, but we’ll always remember the fantastic outcome of this LS7 failure recovery story.
