In our July '08 issue we featured Steve Turley's '98 Camaro, which was easily one of the fastest LS-powered vehicles at the 2007 LSX Shootout. Given the potential of the new LSX block as well as the other aftermarket blocks on the market, seven-second timeslips are becoming more and more common. However, amazingly enough Steve managed this feat with a factory GM LS2 block thanks to the crew at ERL Performance. As the result, I became curious as to how ERL managed to make a factory aluminum block live in a turbocharged 7-second racecar where others have failed.
Jeff Leibert of ERL sent me this picture of Steve's LS2 block, which ERL converted to its Superdeck I design. Jeff said when they received the block it had already been pushed beyond the capacity of the stock sleeves to the point of cracking the sleeves and the aluminum can. "The cracks along the area where the cylinder attaches to the stock block side wall is common in high horsepower applications showing the need for our truss design. We converted that block to our design which Steve ran all last year. This winter we inspected the block and found everything to be in excellent condition requiring a light cylinder hone to freshen for this year. While it was here we added the bosses for the 6-bolt heads that they will be running this year to go ever faster."