1. Despite building thousands of engines a year, BluePrint Engines, as a rule, only uses new components. That means no re-machined blocks. So, to be able to control their own destiny, they’ve made the commitment to create their own LS block castings for all future LS-based builds

BY Jeff HuneycuttImages Courtesy of the Manufacturer

luePrint Engines sits in a unique spot in the performance automotive world. The organization builds thousands of engines every year, which makes them a major manufacturer. But they aren’t churning out run-of-the-mill stock replacement engines built to a minimum viable price point and little regard for performance.

But neither is BluePrint a typical custom engine shop where parts don’t get ordered until you put down cash and where waiting time to get your engine can be months or even more than a year. It’s true. We’ve heard the horror stories of working with some shops.

Based out of Kearney, Nebraska, BluePrint Engines has set up an entire ecosystem that allows it to build high-performance crate engines on a massive scale that is unmatched in the industry. Unlike an engine remanufacturer, every part is brand new and sourced to spec. And unlike a low-volume pure custom shop, you can order up a high-performance engine that’s been dyno-tested and have it delivered to your door in just a few days. Plus, because of the volumes they work with, the value for what you get is at the top of the charts as well.

One of the most interesting things about BluePrint’s operation is that in order to maximize both quality control and parts availability, the company has many different components manufactured to their specs. They control the design, the quality, and the supply. This includes everything from intake manifolds to oil pans. There are also cylinder heads, main caps, crankshafts, and connecting rods. They even have their own head bolts.

And the list is constantly growing. One of the most popular engines that BluePrint builds is the LS Compatible. They have many different versions of the LS Compatible, displacing either 376 to 427 ci and producing as much as 800 hp. Plus, every one comes with a new block casting. Until now all those blocks came from GM, but that’s changing. By the time you read this, BluePrint Engines will be shipping all its LS Compatible crate engines complete with their own blocks.

Recently, we had the opportunity to sit down with BluePrint Engines’ director of product development, Chris Larson, to talk about the development of their new LS Compatible block. This isn’t the first time BluePrint has developed their own block casting; they also have their own Chevy-compatible small- and big-blocks. It turns out there is a lot more to making your own casting than pouring molten metal.

“There are only so many new blocks out there you can manufacture a new engine with,” he explains. “Obviously, with the volume of engines we are producing for our customers, we have a good idea of where the numbers are trending. The LS Compatible platform is incredibly popular and depending on GM to supply the block castings when they must take care of their own needs isn’t the best way to control your own destiny. So, we made the decision to go out and tool up for a block and make sure that we could always offer an LS Compatible block or an LS Compatible engine package and not be at the mercy of other suppliers to make sure we could.”

Larson says that the process of coming up with the LS Compatible block requires over two years of work. You probably could do it much more quickly than that if you farmed out the design and took other shortcuts. But when you sell an 800hp crate engine with a 30-month/50,000-mile warranty you definitely want to make sure you eliminate any weak spots.

“We took the opportunity to make changes we felt would benefit in terms of power and durability,” Larson says. “What we did was benchmark against what everyone else was doing with their block designs. So, we got in one of all the different performance and OEM blocks on the market for the LS Compatible platform to see how they performed. Then we compared that to what we came up with to make sure our design captures what the customer is looking for and stands up well against the best of what the rest of the market has to offer.”

The BluePrint block is a newer-generation LS3 Compatible–style block with the camshaft position sensor at the front of the engine on the timing cover. The block can, however, accept either a 24- or 58-tooth reluctor on the crankshaft for added flexibility.

But the changes from stock are numerous. “We extended the cylinder skirts,” Larson says. “With the GM LS3 design they are only 5.5 inches long. We extended ours to 5.75 inches. That allows for longer strokes and better piston stability at BDC. We made a wide range of bore sizes to fit a variety of different displacements. We can go from a 4.0-inch bore all the way up to 4.185. We made it to where we can be a short deck or a tall deck, so I think we can safely go up to 481 ci. And it might be a bit bigger than that.

“We’ve also got the thicker decks and main webbings to be able to withstand boost from either turbos or a supercharger. The water jackets are also improved for better cooling. There were other things we did. For example, for most applications we’ve got traditional press-in freeze plugs, but we’ve got customers who operate in extreme performance markets who want screw-in freeze plugs. So, we’ve left enough material around the freeze plug bosses that we can machine them for screw-in plugs. Just more options depending on what our customers want.”

With current environmental regulations, very few castings are produced in the United States anymore. Just about everything automotive has moved to other countries. That’s also true for BluePrint, but instead of going to a location known for depressed wages and bottom-dollar results, they chose to go with a company in Germany known for absolute quality with their casting processes. The raw block castings are then shipped back to the United States where all the machining processes are completed in-house in BluePrint’s facilities in Nebraska.

“Everything’s been really good,” Larson says of the results. “When we go to develop a new product, we do extensive durability testing to make sure everything we put on the market is going to be a high-quality part. This LS Compatible block is no different. We’ve got it in five or six different types of builds. We’ve got them in vehicles. We’ve got durability testing going on that’s extremely extensive that the blocks have got to be able to handle with no sweat before we even launch it.

“We’ve done all that and it did really well. I think people are really going to love this.”

3. Thick decks not only add strength but also mean BluePrint can build both tall- and short-deck block combos to fit a variety of needs.

5. And while we’re at it, you can also quickly identify a BluePrint block by the “BPE” cast in just above the oil pan rail.

7. BluePrint also casts and machines their own aluminum cylinder heads. For high-horsepower applications both the heads and block can be machined to accept the six-head bolt arrangement, meaning there are six fasteners surrounding each cylinder bore versus the stock four, for extra clamping strength.