Endless hours in the gym, batting practice till your hands bleed, repeating fielding drills, and the desire to never quit are key parts of a big league ball player's repertoire and if his/her heart is not fully committed to success, then there is no reason to leave the dugout. Heart is the "it" factor that so many Hollywood sports movies focus on and in this month's installment of project: The Show, we'll show you what kind of heart and muscle this '67 Chevy C10 will flex.
As the Angels' second basemen, Howie Kendrick is no stranger to having big league-sized heart and when it came time for his classic Chevy, having some serious rumble under the hood was a prerequisite. For insight into why and how the engine choice was made, we sat down with the man behind the build—Aaron Iha, of Chassis by Aaron Iha. Make no mistake about it, project: The Show will be able to steal home with speed that would make Willie Mays Hayes jealous.
Be sure to check out the engine install and don't miss next month when we'll begin the insane body mods. Think you've seen it all when it comes to a C10? We guarantee you next issue will have you scratching your head!
1. I see when you guys were placing the cab onto the new chassis, the factory firewall was cut out. Was that done to make the future engine swap easier and if not, why do it ahead of time? When it came time for project: The Show's driveline, did you talk over options with Howie first, or did you have a general idea of what was going to power it?
2. As we see Dale Thomas and Ben Dodd positioning the engine in between the framerails, tell us the specifics behind the engine and why you opted for a fuel-injected LS engine over a common 350 small-block?
3. Making roughly 345 hp stock, the engine is already pretty stout, so whose idea was it to add a MagnaCharger supercharger?
4. Why go with a MagnaCharger blower, rather than a centrifugal type or even a turbo? Did the 6.0L have any internal engine work done prior to the blower being bolted on?
5. Whose valve covers, which look great by the way, did you bolt on? When you decided to add the smoothed billet valve covers, did you have a plan for the LS-series coil location or mounting solution(s)?
6. Checking out Ben installing the shorty headers, did you run into any fitment issues since the frame is a one-off custom?
We already knew we were going...
We already knew we were going to put a new firewall in this truck, so it was pointless to trim just to make the motor fit. We cut the firewall along the edge where we were going to patch the new one in. Originally on the driveline we were just going to do a 9-inch rearend, but with the budget I had for that rearend I was able to design the independent. Howie was pretty open with all of my ideas. From the beginning Howie wanted to do the GM 6.0L crate engine from the factory, but I convinced him with that budget he should buy a used engine and completely go through it with high-performance parts.
The engine is a GEN III 6.0L...
The engine is a GEN III 6.0L small-block, which is commonly found in Escalades and Chevy 2500 trucks. We felt this engine would be better to use over a small-block 350 because this is a completely computer controlled engine and its base horsepower is equivalent to a mildly built 350 motor.
After Howie saw how the project...
After Howie saw how the project was coming, his enthusiasm quickly grew and he wanted to take the project to the next level. He decided to step it up and put the supercharger on. A certain truck editor may have influenced him a little bit too.
We preferred to use the MagnaCharger...
We preferred to use the MagnaCharger blower because the system replaces the entire intake manifold. It also has a water-to-air intercooler design. At the time, we had purchased the blower but the engine was stock. We were only using it for mock up at that time. After all the mock up was done we removed the engine and had it completely gone through by Steve Denunzio, a local engine builder for sand and river drag racing. He rebalanced the crank, honed the cylinders, installed JE pistons and rods, inserted a Comp cam, and bolted on GM Performance Parts Z06 heads. We also used a set of PRW roller rockers. To hold the engine together, Steve used ARP main bolts and head bolts.
The valve covers are Billet...
The valve covers are Billet Specialties and we used them because they look good and they are taller than stock, allowing us to use roller rockers. The coils will be mounted on a stainless bracket off the side of the engine. We're using an MSD ignition system. There are eight individual red coils that look pretty good and will be shown.
We used Edelbrock ceramic-coated...
We used Edelbrock ceramic-coated headers. Prior to designing the frame, I had purchased the headers and made sure the width of the engine, including the headers, would fit inside the framerails.