This is a Chevrolet Performance LS7 V8 that was ordered as a long block and then built up by RPM Performance of Garner, North Carolina. The LS7 is a naturally aspirated 7.0 liter (427 cubic inch) V8 capable of over 500 bhp in stock trim.
This engine was planned to be installed into a 1969 Camaro, though it never was, and it remains in new, unused condition. It’s now being offered for sale out of Angier, North Carolina, and it comes with a Tremec T-56 6-speed manual transmission, a clutch and pressure plate, and additional parts.
This is a Chevrolet Performance LS7 V8 that was ordered as a long block and then built up by RPM Performance of Garner, North Carolina. The LS7 is a naturally aspirated 7.0 liter (427 cubic inch) V8 capable of over 500 bhp in stock trim.
The Chevrolet Performance LS7 Engine
Chevrolet unveiled the C6 Corvette Z06 in January of 2005, it was an historic car for a few reasons, but perhaps mostly because the Corvette was now back to the borderline mythical 427 cubic inch displacement level that had defined its 1960s big block heyday. Though this time in Gen IV small block form, with its aluminum block, forged steel and titanium internals, and power levels that made more than a few European automakers sit up and take notice.
This engine was the LS7, and it would go on to power some of the most laser-focused performance cars General Motors built in the early 21st century.
The LS7 drew heavily on lessons from the Pratt & Miller-built Corvette C5-R race program, which had taken class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2001, 2002, and 2004. The 7.0 liter C5-R race engine was bench-tested to help set targets for the production LS7, and a number of racing-derived lessons were integrated into the engine. The C6.R that succeeded the C5-R in 2005 ran a racing derivative called the LS7.R, which clearly underlined just how closely the road and race engines were related.
The production LS7 is a 7.0-liter (427-cubic inch) naturally-aspirated V8 built on GM’s Gen IV small-block platform. It keeps the family’s 90º bank angle and 4.400 inch bore centers, but almost everything else was reworked.
The aluminum block uses pressed-in cast iron cylinder liners for the engine’s 4.125 inch bores, and the deep-skirt casting carries six-bolt, doweled-in, forged-steel main bearing caps cradling a forged-steel crankshaft. The stroke is 4.000 inches, compression is 11.0:1, and the connecting rods are titanium – they’re 27% lighter than the steel rods in the 6.0 liter LS2.
The cylinder heads are CNC-ported aluminum units, with 70cc combustion chambers, 12º valve angles (down from 15º on the LS2), with titanium intake valves and sodium-filled exhaust valves for better heat transfer.
This engine was planned to be installed into a 1969 Camaro, though it never was, and it remains in new, unused condition. It’s now being offered for sale out of Angier, North Carolina, and it comes with a Tremec T-56 6-speed manual transmission, a clutch and pressure plate, and additional parts.
A 1.8:1 rocker ratio and hydraulic roller lifters complete the valvetrain, the intake manifold is a friction-welded composite with straight runners for high-velocity flow, and to keep oil where it needs to be under sustained cornering loads, the LS7 uses a racing-style dry-sump lubrication system with a dual-stage gerotor pump.
Every LS7 was hand-assembled by a single technician at GM’s Performance Build Center (first in Wixom, Michigan, then in Bowling Green, Kentucky after GM relocated the facility in early 2014) and each was balanced, heat-tested, and signed by its builder. It was a “one man, one engine” approach more common to AMG or Aston Martin than Chevrolet.
In the 2006 to 2013 Corvette Z06, the LS7 was rated at 505 bhp at 6,300 rpm and 470 lb ft of torque at 4,800 rpm, with a 7,000 rpm redline. It was paired exclusively with a Tremec 6-speed manual and gave the Z06 a 0 to 60 mph time of 3.7 seconds – that was a serious counterpunch to contemporaries like the Porsche 911 Turbo and Ferrari F430 at well under the price of either, and less than half what the Ferrari sold for off the showroom floor.
For 2013, the final year of C6 production, Chevrolet installed the LS7 in the Corvette 427 Convertible Collector Edition. This was a special launched for Corvette’s 60th anniversary and was available with the optional 60th Anniversary Design Package. It paired Z06 powertrain hardware with ZR1-style Cup wheels and Michelin PS2 tires, latest-generation Magnetic Selective Ride Control, and carbon fiber hood, fenders, and floor panels. It was the first time the engine had been offered in a Corvette convertible, and interestingly it brought the curb weight down to 3,355 lbs.
The LS7 was also used in the fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 for 2014 and 2015. It received unique induction and exhaust hardware that bumped torque to an SAE-certified 481 lb ft, with output holding at 505 bhp. Backed by a Tremec TR6060 manual, a Torsen helical limited-slip differential, Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes, and a curb weight 300 lbs lighter than the supercharged ZL1, the Z/28 was developed as a track car first and a road car second. Although some did use it as their daily, it was never really intended as such.
The engine also made an unexpected appearance Down Under. In 2008, Holden Special Vehicles dropped the LS7 into the VE Commodore-based W427, a limited-edition four-door built to celebrate HSV’s 20th anniversary. The W in the name honored Tom Walkinshaw, with 427 referencing the engine’s cubic-inch displacement. Output was quoted at 503 bhp and 472 lb ft, and HSV initially allowed for a run of up to 427 examples – but production ended at 137 cars, which has only made survivors more sought after today.
It started out as a Chevrolet Performance LS7 long block, which the seller bought in 2023 and had converted from dry-sump to wet-sump by RPM Performance of Garner, North Carolina. RPM also fitted a Mamo Motorsports ported MSD intake manifold, a Katech Engineering 103mm throttle body, Katech valve covers, a Katech coil relocation kit, and a Holley front accessory kit.
Production-car use of the LS7 ended with the Camaro Z/28 in 2015. Chevrolet Performance continued offering the LS7 as a crate engine after production-car use ended, and in 2020 added a wet-sump, higher-output variant called the LS427/570 – both were discontinued in early 2022.
The Chevrolet Performance LS7 Crate Engine Shown Here
This LS7 crate engine and Tremec T-56 transmission package was for a build that was never finished, and the seller reports that the engine hasn’t been started.
The engine started out as a Chevrolet Performance LS7 long block, which the seller bought in 2023 and had converted from dry-sump to wet-sump by RPM Performance of Garner, North Carolina. RPM also fitted a Mamo Motorsports ported MSD intake manifold, a Katech Engineering 103mm throttle body, Katech valve covers, a Katech coil relocation kit, and a Holley front accessory kit.
Additional hardware includes a Mast Motorsports cast oil pan, an Elite Engineering catch can, a starter, and MSD coil packs and plug wires. Per the seller, the Lemons 2″ long tube headers are jet-hot coated and were fabricated specifically to clear a Heidts Suspension front clip when paired with the LS7. An ECM and wiring harness are included.
This LS7 crate engine and Tremec T-56 transmission package was for a build that was never finished, and the seller reports that the engine hasn’t been started.
Behind the engine sits a Tremec T-56 6-speed manual transmission fitted with a Hurst shifter and a remote bleeder. The seller reports that the clutch and pressure plate setup is of the type used in a Corvette Z06.
The engine and gearbox are now being offered for sale out of Angier, North Carolina on Bring a Trailer, and you can visit the listing here if you’d like to read more about it ore register to bid.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
