Dressed For Success!

BY SCOTTY LACHENAUER IMAGES BY THE AUTHOR

here’s no doubt that Chevy’s LS engines are an excellent powerplant for any classic ride that you want to be able to hop in and drive without worrying about what’s going down under the hood. These modern mills can deliver care-free performance right out of the box, giving you the utmost confidence to drive your car, and lean on it hard, anywhere at any given time. Though we try and try again, we sometimes just don’t have that same conviction with some older, OEM engines … especially ones that haven’t been maintained properly or given enough attention over the years.

Though LS engines can be more dependable, to some, they lack that aura and classic vibe offered from the engines of the ’60s and ’70s. There’s nothing more aesthetically appealing than a fresh period-correct engine sittin’ pretty in its corresponding engine bay.

Fortunately, there are aftermarket companies that have developed parts and add-on kits that can be easily retrofitted to your LS engine to make it more appealing to the eye, especially to those classic car lovers out there.

At MAD Customs in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, proprietor Mark Denlinger and his Chevy-loving cohorts have transformed enough of these crate engines to turn the process into an art form. Using off-the-shelf aftermarket parts, clever detailing, and a few custom touches, they turn modern Chevy powerplants into vintage-looking mills that look right at home in a classic engine bay.

Follow along to see how the guys tackle this feisty LS3 and turn it into a mill that would work in any classic ride, knowing that its modern capabilities will take a load off the brain when doing some long-distance runs, cold weather exploring, or even some hot laps on the track.

2. MAD Custom’s technician Mark Alexander removes the stock oil pan to replace it with a Holley pan for better ground clearance. You can see here the LS has been stripped, prepped, and taped off for paint. All machined parts are blasted with aluminum oxide so the paint has something to grab onto.

5. Once finished in-house, the new valve covers are sprayed in the same Chevy Orange paint, then hand-lettered in gloss black by MAD Customs technician Brandon Wuchter.

6-7. Here’s our layout of parts for the build. As you can see, items such as the Holley water pump housing, valley cover, and the Holley intake are all sprayed in matching Chevy orange. Some parts get the appropriate black shade and finish.

9. O-ring seals are added to the prepped Holley singleplane EFI intake in preparation of installation.

11. The intake is torqued down to the correct specs to ensure proper installment.

13. The Holley supplied fuel rails are up next and set up on the injectors. MAD Customs keeps the color scheme here all orange and black for that vintage look.

15. To give it that total vintage vibe, MAD Customs decided on a Goodmark C10 reproduction four-barrel air cleaner to top the throttle body. This is an all-around great choice when trying to evoke that ’60s vibe.

17. Here the Billet Specialties valve cover adapter is fastened into place. This will accept the retro-styled valve cover and hide the coils out of sight and out of mind.

19. These AMD reproduction valve covers look right at home now that they’ve been painted and the small Chevrolet script has been hand lettered. Hiding the coils underneath is a big improvement to the engine’s overall appearance.

21. Up front, a Holley Mid-Mount Accessory Drive system is installed on the LS. The water pump housing is an integral part of the engine build as it’s designed to serve as a mounting point for several of the important parts of the engine makeover. It features a bracket-less design, which cleans up the overall look of the engine and makes installation of key parts a snap.

23. The Holley alternator is added next directly to the water pump housing, keeping with the color combination. It’s an LT1-based, 150-amp premium unit, and, like many of the accessories, was included in the Holley kit.

25. Last piece of the puzzle is the Holley-supplied Sanden SD7 compact A/C compressor, which handle the cool side of the HVAC system for our LS build.

27. The serpentine belt is next on the list and is included with the Holley accessory drive kit. Alexander adjusts the tensioner to get the belt to fit properly.

29. Installing the stainless steel heater hose fittings into the water pump housing.