A few months ago we were contacted by David Cote from Tennessee who was the owner of a black 2017 Camaro SS 1LE that he was looking to upgrade. After discussing several package options for the car, David had an end goal of a car that would ultimately make quite a bit more horsepower and torque than the newer ZL1 in an SS body as a bit of a modern day “sleeper” but all while still maintaining reliability as well as functionality on the street. David is no stranger to horsepower as he is the owner of a restoration and modification shop for older vehicles, but put his trust into the team here at Vengeance Racing to put together a package for his late model toy that he could enjoy both on the highway and at the track. David split his visits to us in two phases so that he could get a taste for modifying the car. The first phase included just a simple header, exhaust, and intake upgrade, followed by the second phase that included the much more comprehensive build.















The end combination for the car would be as follows:



· LME 377ci Forged Shortblock

· Vengeance Racing CNC Ported LT1 Cylinder Heads

· Vengeance Racing Stage 3 Camshaft Kit

· Whipple 2.9L Supercharger System

· Vengeance Racing Cold Air Intake

· Nick Williams 103mm Throttle Body

· Kooks Longtube Header System

· Stainless Works Axle-Back

· AlkyControl Dual Nozzle Methanol Injection System

· DSX Tuning Auxiliary Fuel System

· GM LT4 High Pressure Fuel Pump and Injectors

· RPS BC3 Triple Disc Clutch Kit

· Vengeance Racing Valve Covers and Coil Relocation

· Vengeance Racing Catch Can System





Much like all of our in-house builds David arrived on Monday morning for build date with a giant smile on his face anxiously awaiting what would be a very intense wait for the final phone call or email stating that his build was complete. Our tech laid out all the parts on his work bench and began the build. After pulling the OEM LT1 engine from the vehicle, our technician started by fitting the new forged LT1 shortblock with our CNC ported cylinder heads and full hydraulic camshaft and valvetrain package. Our customer was well aware of the known breaking points in the stock LT1’s under higher boost levels, so the LME shortblock was chosen to help fortify the engine and allow for more power handling capabilities and increased confidence in the combination as modifications continue. This particular build retained the VVT system in the engine, and utilized our more aggressive Stage III camshaft grind typically used in the LT4 ZL1’s to provide a heavy lope at idle and big peak RPM power, while still keeping a tight overlap for the supercharger. Before the engine made its way back into the car our tech also went ahead and installed the RPS triple-disc clutch kit and lightweight flywheel capable of over 1,200rwhp making it more than enough for this build.









After connecting the rest of the driveline back to the engine and fitting the exhaust, it was time to install the Whipple 2.9L supercharger system. This particular build retained the SS kit’s adjustable idler system, but we did convert the kit to use the ZL1 8-rib pulleys to run a large enough lower pulley to achieve proper belt wrap and eliminate slippage. To this supercharger we also mated a Nick Williams 103mm throttle body as well as our ZL1 cold air intake system to allow as much air flow as possible, as well as complete the “blacked out” look under the hood. Lastly, fueling was the next major concern as we would be running this car on both 93 octane and E85 fuels. The fuel system upgrades consisted of a GM LT4 high-pressure fuel pump and injector set as well as a DSX Tuning low-side auxiliary pump kit. Methanol injection was also added for both additional fueling and to help cool intake temperatures.















With the build process complete and break-in on the engine and clutch assembly finalized, we made our way over to our chassis dyno to finish WOT tuning on both fuels. The final result on E85 was a huge 846rwhp and 803rwtq at a modest 13psi boost level! This car was making far beyond the ZL1 power level that David wanted to push past all while being very manageable on the street until you lay into the throttle. Our team put in many hours of work putting together this combination that makes for an ultimate street sleeper that is ready to surprise any unsuspecting victim. After the build was complete the car made its way over to our friends at Glasslife Atlanta for a full ceramic coating and clear-bra application to help the car shine as much as it rumbles, and protect the beautiful black finish on the car.



















With the build complete David’s 1LE headed over to our friends at Glasslife for a full detail and ceramic coat!



















Check out more of our Feature Builds, Performance Packages and Products at our website https://vengeanceracing.net/index.html. We have a wide range of performance parts on our online store for your LS or LT build. Feel free to contact us with any questions at Sales@VengeanceRacing.net or by phone @ 678-513-7105. We look forward to hearing from you.


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