Last year, the Holley LS Fest Engine Swap Challenge took a mere 31 minutes, 57 seconds. After the rules were tightened up and more engine assembly was included for the 2011 year, the smart money was on a time somewhere in the 45 minute to 1 hour range. Apparently, nobody told the students at the School of Automotive Machinists, because they managed to take the title this year and nearly eclipse the old record with a winning time of 38:32.
What can you do in 38 minutes? Change your oil, rotate your tires, maybe even replace your shocks, but what about pulling out your existing carbureted small block Chevy engine and dropping in a GM Performance Parts LS crate engine equipped with a Holley High Ram intake manifold along with the Holley EFI system, then drive it on a 5 mile test cruise. Sounds impossible right? Well not for the four man team consisting of students from the School of Automotive Machinists, which was led by Chris Bennett an instructor for the school, who was only allowed to watch and cheer as the SAM team went on to dominate this competition. Justin Beard from Texas, Logun Smolik from Nebraska, Ahmad Hudson from Georgia, and Matt Grissom from Missouri, managed to accomplish the impossible this past weekend at the Holley LS Fest with an official time of 38:32. The School of Automotive Machinists would like to give a very big thanks to Mike Kurtz of Century Automotive for allowing them to use his immaculate 1983 Monte Carlo, which he has owned since it was new.