It’s one thing to modify your car’s engine to make more horsepower. It’s another to do it all over again after that motor floats a valve and craps out.
“LS1Tech member cadivette is a patient man” is an understatement. The first power plant he twin-turboed in his 2005 Cadillac CTS-V went the way of the dodo in 2008. A couple of years later, he busted out his wrenches again.
His V’s new mechanical beating heart still has two Turbonetics snails, but it also incorporates a Callies Compstar 4″ stroke crank, Compstar rods, Wiseco pistons, a Melling 10296 oil pump and tweaked LS6 heads. “Twin Walbro 255 pumps” and 80-pound injectors handle the job of feeding the V8 plenty of gasoline. cadivette also installed a differential girdle to beef up the rear end.
After a ton of parts, some help from Texas Speed and a little custom fabrication, he hoped (in 2010) to make 650 horsepower. Quite the improvement over the stock 400. Kudos, sir!
Check out the product of a metric assload of determination in the gallery below. The links under it go to the entire cache of photos that cadivette was kind – and patient – enough to take.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
