Official Release:
More than 1.8 HP per Cubic Inch – Kurt Anderson’s LS3 Kurt Anderson’s 1969 Chevrolet Camaro
We don’t often publish press releases on our racers and their highly efficient engines, but every once in a while, one pops up on our radar that is just flat out impressive. Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to introduce you to Kurt Anderson and his 1969 Camaro equipped with a 416 c.i. LS3. Kurt, who owns Autokraft Racecars & Restorations, has owned over 20 Camaros during his lifetime, but we think it’s safe to say he is having the time of his life with the one he is currently racing in NMCA competition.Kurt’s engine makes big power out of very little displacement. How?Let’s start with the block. The magic begins with a factory GM LS3/L92 6.2L bare block. The same direct replacement block that you would find in an 09-15 Camaro SS or Chevrolet Corvette. Kurt had Wegner automotive work their final touch on the bores. Then he added an Eagle Crank bringing this LS3’s final engine displacement up to 416 cubic inches. Kurt stayed the course with Eagle rods and chose to pair them with a set of Mahle Motorsports pistons.This LS3 breathes life through a Fast 4-barrel 4500 billet throttle body that flows 2000 CFM, which leads into a ported Mast two-piece intake manifold. This particular combination runs on VP C12, which flows through a set of massive fuel injectors. To top off his short block, Kurt used a set of hand ported OEM 6.2L Cylinder Heads. The intake and exhaust ports were hand-ported along with polished combustion chambers. Titanium valves of an undisclosed size were fitted into the head and PSI valve springs kept them in check. Kurt chose an off-the-shelf grind, Hydraulic Roller camshaft from Bullet Racing Cams to control the valves. Through testing on our flow bench, we know production LS3 heads flow as much as 315 cfm right out of the box. Not long ago it took a pretty serious 23-degree small-block head to achieve these same flow numbers, offered by the stock LS3. Despite flow figures that suggest supporting over 600 HP, Kurt knew that he could find additional flow with proper porting. When all was said and done Kurt was able to get his OE heads to flow 356 Peak CFM @.650” Lift.
LS3 6.2L Cylinder Head – Ported356 CFM INTAKE @ .650”236 CFM EXHAUST @ .650”62 CC Chamber265 Intake port Volume90-91 Exhaust port volume Producing 705 HP @ 7200 RPM, and 561 ft. lbs of torque @ 5700 RPM.
After the engine was proven on the dyno, it proved itself on the track as well. Anderson won several bracket races and eventually captured his first NMCA championship in 2017 when he sealed the deal in NMCA LME Street King. Kurt returned in 2018 and was dominant, capturing series titles in LME Street King as well as MagnaFuel Open Comp. 2019 wasn’t as eventful but Kurt managed to come back and take home a fourth series when he earned the 2020 LME Street King Championship. Winning a championship is the crowning moment of achievement within any sport. It is often easier to reach the pinnacle than to stay there. When you’re on top of the heap, opposing racers seek to dethrone the “champ” and will do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal. Kurt clearly knows his way around the Christmas tree and has a very well-built car that does its job – even under the demands of racing two classes at the same event – but when the champ noticed that many of his competitors were going faster and faster he knew he had to do something different with his combination to find some extra horsepower.Over the winter, Anderson contacted us about obtaining a new set of LS3 Mongoose cylinder heads to replace his current ported OE LS3 heads. Kurt expressed his desire to run in the quicker F, G & H index classes and after an in-depth conversation, we were confident that our 12-degree Mongoose cylinder head was more than capable of the task. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to have his Wegner-built, 13.5:1 compression 416ci LS3 engine buttoned up in time for the first NMCA event of the 2021 season, but Kurt let us know it was all worth the wait! The engine made an additional 55 HP and 30 ft. lbs. of torque on the dyno at Wegner Automotive.
AFR 12 Degree LS3 Mongoose Cylinder Head384 CFM INTAKE @ .700”255 CFM EXHAUST @ .700”69 CC Chamber260 Intake port Volume95 Exhaust port volume Producing 760 HP @ 7200 RPM and 600 ft. lbs. of torque @ 6300 RPM
“I can’t tell you how impressed I am on these cylinder heads, that is a huge gain over the CNC LS3 heads I was running! I’m so stoked!” – said Kurt Anderson. If you do the math, that makes the engine’s output right at 760 horsepower or 1.8 horsepower-per-cubic-inch. When looking at the technological aspect of this engine project and how many over-the-counter parts are used compared to the performance achieved, this LS3, naturally aspirated eight-cylinder combination is genuinely an impressive engine. Kurt knew the extra power wasn’t going to just apply itself to the racetrack, so he scheduled some testing for a Thursday afternoon. “I was getting a little worried, during testing last Thursday before the race. I spent most of the day making chassis and shock adjustments trying to keep it from blowing the tires off. I finally found a setting that it liked and now it’s back to leaving at a 45-degree angle.” Kurt carried that energy and momentum right into the NMCA Power Festival’s winner circle where he also took home the #1 qualifier award and the points lead. “It’s crazy how much this thing pulls over my previous combo, the slip is up 4mph at the eighth and 7mph in the quarter. I have it dialed back to run on a 9.75 index and the car is just deadly. I just Index race it, but on Saturday I decided to pull the weight out and see what it could run. The track was not quite there because of all the street cars, I spun and still ran a 9.28!”. Kurt carried a 280-point lead into the NMCA World Street Finals in Indianapolis and didn’t relinquish a single one. Kurt dominated at the NMCA World Street Finals and captured his 4th NMCA Street King class championship.” “I’m so happy for Kurt and his entire team,” Alex George of AFR said. “This is a huge milestone for Kurt and a historic win for us. From the day we first spoke, we knew Kurt had the talent to win it all and we could not be more proud of him. Let’s go!”
You can follow Kurt on Facebook and find him competing at the NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem event in Bradenton, FL on March 17-20 2022.
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