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Chevrolet’s Performance LS Engines in Kit Form The Chevrolet LS engine is ubiquitous in the 1:1 engine swap world. Introduced in the 1997 Corvette, it has become a cliche in all manner of car styles, but for good reason. Its ability to produce a lot of horsepower and the availability of parts has made it into something of a legendary engine. In the miniature world, there are a number of sources for most of the LS variants. The advent and increasing popularity of 3D printing has also increased the variety and availability. I haven’t always been that interested in small scale LS engines, but a recent building idea got me sidetracked into a bit of research and kit finding to see what kits had what LS variants and which were the best. So, follow along, add corrections or ideas as needed, and hopefully learn something as I did in the process. (Side note - I will not go into details of all the Gen III, IV and V small block engines - only the high performance, aluminum block LS engines. The Vortec truck engines are based on the generation III small block but are cast iron) I have examples of and will discuss the LS1, LS6, LS2, LS3 (L99), LS7 and LS9 engines. I may also throw in some aftermarket 3D printed options.

Recently, Salvinos J R Tooled up an LS nose for the NASCAR Monte Carlo kits. Since Stock Cars in the 80s hadn’t gotten completely away from their production counterparts yet, I thought I would test fit this nose on the most recent release of the Monte Carlo SS. Mounting it directly to the front fenders resulted in a nose pointing up. So I pulled the top away from the hood until the lower body line leveled out. I measured the gap at the top and transferred that measurement to the bottom. I placed a piece of tape from the measurement to the top corner and cut out a pie slice from each side. That pulled the whole nose into the fenders. The result matched what I found in the dealership brochure. I think this is going to work pretty well. I will have to scratch build a grill and headlights right now.

I started anothe truck build for another customer, this one is simple but gonna be nice as well

I need 1/12 scale parts. I purchased the 1/12 scale Foose 1969 Camaro and I am looking to purchase an LS engine for it with a supercharger and a Tremec. I'm also looking for an RS front grille with the hideaway headlight doors. I have pictures of what I'm looking for. Call or text me at (904) 826910 or email me at nfranklin.btbears2017@gmail.com. I will negotiate a fair price for these parts. I prefer unpainted resin parts; because those seem to be cheaper.

Okay, so I was working on a scale front placement conversion of the 4th generation 'vette LS V8 drivetrain, and came across/inspired by this article about some guys making a LS V12 engine from couple of V8s ....it's even easier for us to do in plastic, and so I figured why not? How cool would a V12 LS hot rod be!? going to work on the block next, but otherwise should use all the same ancillaries, only manifolds to construct otherwise