Now in its second year, the Holley LS Fest West presented by Car Craft magazine hits The Strip At Las Vegas this weekend (May 4 – 6, 2018). The LS Fest phenomenon was started by Holley several years ago in Bowling Green, KY at Beech Bend Raceway and became so popular that Holley decided to expand to the West Coast in 2017. Naturally, we wanted to be a big part of that, given the overwhelming popularity of swapping LS engines—which now are commonly assumed to also include Gen 4 LS and Gen 5 LT-based powerplants of all stripes.
We didn’t get very far when we saw Peter Chitakian (Los Angeles) and his 1972 Olds Cutlass Supreme, which was built by Bones Fabrication. A Chevy Performance LSA crate motor calls this A-body home, as does a Global West suspension. We found it at the EFI101.com booth.
Holley and their constellation of brands (MSD, Racepak, Diablosport, NOS, and Hooker to name a few) got on board with the LS-swap phenomenon early, developing a whole line of products ranging from oil pans, headers, motor mounts, exhaust, accessory drives, carb conversions, ignition controllers, harnesses, and engine management systems. To the consternation of many purists, the LS swap has become ubiquitous, with many car crafters opting for the ease, low cost, and high output of an LS over rebuilding a stock engine.
For many, this rankles, but at the end of the day guys just want to go fast on the cheap, and the way you do that is with an LS—and of course Holley has the goods to make it happen in practically any vehicle.
This 1989 Pontiac Safari wagon was brought from Virginia by Three Pedals (www.threepedals.com; 571-707-4140). This sleeper has an LS3 transplant and Three Pedals’ signature T-56 Magnum swap kit.
Look closer: the 1989 Pontiac Safari wagon does not have 15-inch whitewalls, but 20-inch billet rims by Deluxe. The rims are painted black and have fake “sidewalls” with “whitewall” stripes! Look for the Three Pedals Safari Wagon in an up-coming feature.
To Holley’s credit, vendors of LS-swap wares are welcome to participate at LS Fest and LS Fest West, and they do so in great numbers. The manufacturer’s midway at Las Vegas is packed with companies that make the swap easier. Still other companies are dedicated to bringing the rest of these cars up to the same elevated level of performance in the handling, cornering, and braking departments. Yes indeed, the LS swap—and the corresponding onset of stupid amounts of power—has a way of quickly pointing out a car’s other areas that need to be improved!
This 1986 Buick Regal T-Type originally was home to a turbocharged and intercooled Buick 3.8L V6, but Sam Puleri of P2 Fabrications in Long Beach, CA swapped in a 454ci LSX with a 2.9L Whipple supercharger, bolted on a SpeedTech front suspension clip, and most curiously, installed a PPG sequential 6-speed transmission. Here, Sam is doing a down-and-dirty alignment before hitting the autocross for the car’s first session.
As we begin this weekend of all things LS, we expect to see a wide range of crazy activities at The Strip that go beyond the expected drag racing, autocrossing, burnout contest, and car show. There will be drifting, road course laps (LS Fest West is a qualifier for the Optima Ultimate Street Car Shootout), an off-road course for LS-equipped pre-runners, chassis dyno, the Chevy High Performance High-Noon Shootout, True Street competition, and the Hoonigan crew lighting up the tires in their own grandstand-equipped thunderdome. And get this: if you just feel like burning down the tires in anger, Holley has set up a barrier-enclosed “donut shop” so you can paint the asphalt with all the tire rubber you want—any time you want—without getting a ticket or getting kicked out.
Las Vegas Mobile Dyno has their Dynojet on hand for guys who want to check the pony count. Here, Joseph Gaffney makes a pull with his stock 2011 Cadillac CTS-V, which put down 443 hp to the tire.
We’re coming at you all weekend long with the action, so if you don’t see it here in this story, it’s on the way. And don’t forget to check out additional LS Fest West coverage at www.SuperChevy.com!
Cletus McFarland has quite the internet following with his 2001 Corvette. He made the trip all the way from Tampa, FL. (He says he had so much fun last year in Bowling Green that he just had to come to Vegas!) It’s got a bored-out 5.3L displacing 427ci, and it makes 1,300 hp thanks to twin turbos and a Holley Dominator EFI system. Cletus says he’ll be dragging it, drifting it, and autocrossing it this weekend. (It’s been 8.40 in the quarter mile at Orlando Speed World). And since you asked, it weighs just 2,800 lbs.
TorqStorm used LS Fest West to take the wraps off their sponsorship of Noah Michaels’ Formula Drift Nissan 240SX. Gone is the iron boat-anchor four pot, and in its place is a 5.3L LS with an intercooled TorqStorm supercharger. From left: Jeff Neibarger (TorqStorm marketing), Scott Oshinski (co-owner, TorqStorm), Chris Beardsley (TorqStorm sales), and Noah Michaels.
Sorry AMC guys, but this 1968 AMX has an LS7 crate engine! Owner Bob Gawlik had it built with a DSE front subframe and an Art Morrison IRS so he could compete in the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational. He also runs in the SCCA American Muscle class.
If it didn’t have vinyl graphicsor aftermarket wheels, Toby Anderson’s 1996 Impala SS (Newport Beach, CA) could be mistaken for a brand new stock one. It sports a Gen V LT1 with an MSD Air Force intake and one of Three Pedals’ T-56 Magnum six-speed swap kits. Holding power comes from a Ram dual-disc clutch; road holding is courtesy of a SpeedTech coilover suspension.
Incredibly, there were TWO LS-swap 1972 Olds Cutlasses in Vegas; this sport roof Cutlass S model is owned by James White of Los Angeles. It’s packed full of 6.0L LQ9, a UMI/Aldan coilover suspension, FiTech EFI, Black Widow exhaust, and has a Moser 12-bolt bringing up the rear. James says hit him up of FB and Instagram at @626chevelle.
Peter Milekovic is smiling because he’s got the ultimate set of tools that makes swapping/installing pulleys on any LS a snap. Onlookers were slack-jawed as Peter demonstrated in two minutes what it takes a seasoned swapper a half day to finish. If we can get back this weekend, we’ll drill deeper into Mechanics Mate “gotta-have” tool set for the LS swapper! (www.mechanicsm8.com)For those who like their LS reactor core to look tight, AVS introduced their speed cover kit in Vegas (AVSMotorsports.com). The kit effectively covers the entire top of the engine (intake & valve covers). It’s not cheap at $899 (starting price, kit), but the paintable high-impact polycarbonate covers, aluminum badge inserts, machined coil brackets/stand-offs, and stainless hardware will make you proud to pop that hood!You’ll see we have tons of photos in our Friday autocross coverage, but this twin-turbo LS pick-up (Instagram handle @stock_ish) had us cracking up with its lawn-mower-in-the-bed, landscape contractor look.
