Big thanks to RPM Motors for the LS7 in my '69 Camaro
01-18-2012, 10:17 PM
#1
Big thanks to RPM Motors for the LS7 in my '69 Camaro
Huge thanks to Charlie Williams and his team at RPM Motors in Santa Clarita, CA. Thanks Charlie for building exactly the LS7 I was looking for!
Some time back I got with Charlie at RPM to build me an LS7 for my ’69 Camaro (still being built at the time). I had heard of Charlie and his reputation on this forum for building and tuning some stout LS motors. RPM are almost in my back yard at only a couple hours north of me and I insisted that my engine builder be “local” and be my tuner also. I arrived with an LS7 and a bunch of parts. Charlie sat me down and asked me what I wanted to do with the engine when done. I wanted to use the 427 LS7 as a base (paying homage to the original powertrain back in the day), it had to remain normally aspirated, sound like a muscle car if at all possible but without being an absolute pig to drive on the street. Plus torque was way more important than any peak HP numbers.
Charlie built the engine and gave me a base tune to get me started. They also built my T56 6sp in-house to match.
The car itself was recently completed and last weekend I finally got the chance to take the car back up to RPM to put it on the dyno for a final tune. I had been babying the car for the first few hundred miles as absolutely everything on the car is brand new. Every nut, bolt and screw. We had worked through some cooling issues and lately some fuel issues (all external to the engine) and I had barely been to 5,000rpm.
It was a busy Saturday at RPM with lots of tuning going on all afternoon after a morning Corvette gathering. Austin, Oscar and Charlie stayed well into the night to make sure the car got dialed in. Oscar helped take care of a few things on the car before we hit the dyno. Austin and I went for a drive to gather up some data. Then the fun really began. Under Charlie’s watchful eye, Austin pulled multiple runs on the dyno, tweaking here and there. He said the tune was pretty close to start with but he managed to tune out a couple small issues and find another 20+ hp. The car idles better and even sounds better! I got to hear what she sounds like at 6,800rpm!
By design, it’s not the super high horsepower mill that one finds in most of the cars populating Charlie’s shop but he built exactly what I asked for. It drives great, sounds great and goes like a bat out of hell when pressed.
Let me tell you what impresses me about Charlie – I recall our initial conversation where I pressed him for what he thought we could build given the criteria. With this dyno session the best part of 2yrs later - he was right on the money! The guy knows his stuff and I have no hesitation recommending him and his team. Austin is quite the master tuner and does not hesitate to give a full and detailed answer to anything relating to these engines. Thanks for answering all my questions guys and the BBQ was a great wrap-up to the day (well, that and the ride back to the shop ;-))
Awesome job - Thanks guys!
Gregg
Some time back I got with Charlie at RPM to build me an LS7 for my ’69 Camaro (still being built at the time). I had heard of Charlie and his reputation on this forum for building and tuning some stout LS motors. RPM are almost in my back yard at only a couple hours north of me and I insisted that my engine builder be “local” and be my tuner also. I arrived with an LS7 and a bunch of parts. Charlie sat me down and asked me what I wanted to do with the engine when done. I wanted to use the 427 LS7 as a base (paying homage to the original powertrain back in the day), it had to remain normally aspirated, sound like a muscle car if at all possible but without being an absolute pig to drive on the street. Plus torque was way more important than any peak HP numbers.
Charlie built the engine and gave me a base tune to get me started. They also built my T56 6sp in-house to match.
The car itself was recently completed and last weekend I finally got the chance to take the car back up to RPM to put it on the dyno for a final tune. I had been babying the car for the first few hundred miles as absolutely everything on the car is brand new. Every nut, bolt and screw. We had worked through some cooling issues and lately some fuel issues (all external to the engine) and I had barely been to 5,000rpm.
It was a busy Saturday at RPM with lots of tuning going on all afternoon after a morning Corvette gathering. Austin, Oscar and Charlie stayed well into the night to make sure the car got dialed in. Oscar helped take care of a few things on the car before we hit the dyno. Austin and I went for a drive to gather up some data. Then the fun really began. Under Charlie’s watchful eye, Austin pulled multiple runs on the dyno, tweaking here and there. He said the tune was pretty close to start with but he managed to tune out a couple small issues and find another 20+ hp. The car idles better and even sounds better! I got to hear what she sounds like at 6,800rpm!
By design, it’s not the super high horsepower mill that one finds in most of the cars populating Charlie’s shop but he built exactly what I asked for. It drives great, sounds great and goes like a bat out of hell when pressed.
Let me tell you what impresses me about Charlie – I recall our initial conversation where I pressed him for what he thought we could build given the criteria. With this dyno session the best part of 2yrs later - he was right on the money! The guy knows his stuff and I have no hesitation recommending him and his team. Austin is quite the master tuner and does not hesitate to give a full and detailed answer to anything relating to these engines. Thanks for answering all my questions guys and the BBQ was a great wrap-up to the day (well, that and the ride back to the shop ;-))
Awesome job - Thanks guys!
Gregg
Last edited by gandalf1969; 01-19-2012 at 12:31 PM.
C6 CORVETTE SECTION?
01-18-2012, 10:56 PM
#4
I just wanted to share with those who might benefit from knowing a decent tuner/builder in SoCal. Sorry if this is not the right section of the forum - moderators please move or delete if appropriate.
Last edited by gandalf1969; 01-18-2012 at 11:26 PM.
01-18-2012, 11:15 PM
#6
Moved to Z06 section to keep everyone happy - pictures posted.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-z...o-results.html
G.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-z...o-results.html
G.
