Automobile Magazine was invited into General Motors Performance Build Center to watch and lightly assist in the buildup of a ZR-1's internal combustion heart. It takes four-and-a-half hours of real time to go from a bare block to a fire-breathing, supercharged LS9, but through the magic of sped-up video, it only takes seven minutes of your life. You won't come away with anything productive for that time, unlike the people in the video, who get the pleasure of creating a small-block V8, but it's a neat picture of how it all comes together. We just hope that some other poor sucker gets the motor that the magazine intern fiddled with. Video posted after the jump.
[Source: Automobile]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Pavel @ Jul 16th 2008 4:14PM
And they need 2 people to assemble it because ... ??? No wonder GM is in trouble =)
Christian @ Jul 16th 2008 4:28PM
GM-PBC, Ford-SVT and Aston Martin do it this way & I think BMW Motorsport does too. Only a fool would trust the manufacture of something so complex, high performance and pricey, to one person (a la AMG).
Dan Roth @ Jul 16th 2008 4:29PM
Somebody didn't pay attention to what they read. The second person is from Automobile Magazine, note how the seasoned engine builder slows down and explains what he's doing and lets the newbie try it out?
Say it with me now: R-E-A-D-I-N-G C-O-M-P-R-E-H-E-N-S-I-O-N.
HotRodzNKustoms @ Jul 16th 2008 4:31PM
because you don't want to forget to torque a connecting rod bolt and send that rod flying through the side of the block
Brian @ Jul 16th 2008 6:15PM
They lost the assembly book. Now they have to look at the picture. LMAO
Keat @ Jul 16th 2008 4:26PM
I wish I could build LS engines for a living.
HotRodzNKustoms @ Jul 16th 2008 4:29PM
What's so silly is that for the past 50+ years not much for a GM small block has changed, even how they build it. You go through pretty much the same process to build the this as you would a 327 with a 471 blower. Long live the small block!
Dan Roth @ Jul 16th 2008 4:33PM
Uh, no.
The LS is an entirely different engine - while it's an evolution of the original small block, it's totally different. The engines that trace their lineage directly back to the 265 all share bore centers, among other details. The LS is a new design.
Dan Roth @ Jul 16th 2008 4:50PM
Though, now that I'm less cranky, the build process *IS* very similar, you just don't have to go down in the bilge and dig up that 4-71 and pay the machine shop to fix it up...
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jul 16th 2008 6:03PM
I'm with you HotRodz.
Yeah, as Dan points out, many of the actual parts have changed. But most of them look similar, and the process of putting it together is very similar.
Paullll @ Jul 16th 2008 4:46PM
too bad they didn't show them casting and machining the block and the heads.
This is kinda boring - just bolting crap together.
There is a video showing a ferrari v-12 being built - from molten metal to final product.
Much more interesting.
BlackCanary @ Jul 16th 2008 4:52PM
That was pretty cool. I love any "how things are made" type video.
Amber @ Jul 16th 2008 5:06PM
Can someone tell me why a 6.2 liter V8 is called a small block?
I mean even the 7.0 liter LS7 in the ZO6 is called small block.
If 7 liters is small block then what is the 4800 version of this engine called, mini block?
steve @ Jul 16th 2008 5:15PM
The block is the same size in all those engines, the only difference is the size of the holes in them.
Dan Roth @ Jul 16th 2008 5:19PM
Regardless of the total cylinder volume is (what the "liter" or "cubic inches" measurements denote), small blocks have a physically compact block. They're about as stripped down as you can get for an engine block, they're not even deep-skirted.
Engine size is different from engine displacement
Amber @ Jul 16th 2008 5:29PM
Ok Thanks.
But boy the 4.8 must be a very very strong engine then because of the huge spacing between pistons and the lining on the 7.0 must be very thin.
I wonder why the 4.8 receives so little love in GMs lineup. The latest ones put out 300hp in the Yukon.
Bah @ Jul 17th 2008 10:40AM
LS series engines are deep skirted.
Dan Roth @ Jul 17th 2008 10:46AM
You're right, the LS is deep skirted and cross-bolted. The original small blocks were not, if I recall correctly
Max @ Jul 16th 2008 5:27PM
what he is basically saying is 1960 called and they watn their engine back...push rods are old news...with the european and asian DOHC v8 doing better then our own we no longer make the best V8s anymore...look at the new M3 or the Q45...
Dan Roth @ Jul 16th 2008 6:15PM
overhead cams have been around pretty much as long as pushrods, they're not new tech, either. Your argument is equally tired and irrelevant. GM smallblocks are incredibly powerful, compact, and durable