With the arrival of the C6 Z06 in late 2005, owners of modified Corvettes were faced with a conundrum. Chevrolet had released an extremely potent car with daily-driver usability as well as a full warranty. For Riverview, Florida's Mark Dickie, whose '01 Z06 saw duty as both a daily driver and a track-day warrior, the thought of upgrading to the newest bad-boy Vette formed a tempting proposition. Counterbalancing that temptation was the considerable untapped potential Dickie saw in his own Z. "I had to make the decision of whether to buy a C6 Z06 or build a monster," he says.
Mark Dickie's '01 Z06 sees double-duty as a track-day car and a daily driver with over 116,000 miles.
Fortunately for us, he decided to pursue the latter route. To execute his monstrous vision, Dickie sought the assistance of Greg Lovell at AntiVenom in Seffner, Florida. Together, the two concocted a plan to outperform the C6 Z's 505hp 427 without using forced induction. "I see way too many guys blowing up their engines with forced induction. It really puts a strain on the components," Dickie says. The final strategy was to build an exceptional big-inch powerplant with an emphasis on durability.
The resulting 454-cube motor is based on a GM Performance Parts LSX iron block. Its innards consist of a Scat crankshaft, along with Callies rods and forged pistons. The engine's compression ratio is set at 11.25:1. While Dickie was forthright about most of the intimate details regarding his 454 mill, he felt it was best to leave the specifics of his camshaft under wraps.
Atop the engine are a pair of LS7 cylinder heads outfitted with Del West titanium valves. These are fed by an LS7 intake manifold and throttle body combination attached to an AntiVenom air intake. Exhaust gases are expelled through American Racing headers and a Borla Stinger exhaust system with quad four-inch tips.
With its formidable arsenal of high-performance parts, the big motor needed a fortified support system capable of meeting its fueling and engine-management needs. To keep the fires stoked, the fuel system received Comtech Performance rails and Motorsports 42 lb/hr injectors. The 454 is controlled with a stock LS6 PCM tuned by AntiVenom.
The AntiVenom-built, 454ci LSX engine produces 525 hp and 475 lb-ft torque at the wheels. Those numbers equate to around 620/560 at the flywheel.
The combined efforts of the foregoing hardware produce 525 hp and 475 lb-ft of torque at the wheels. If Dickie had any doubts about his decision to stick with natural aspiration, they were promptly quelled on the day he picked up the finished car. During the drive home, he was challenged by a supercharged C6, which he soundly defeated. "Right then I knew I had made the right choice in building this," he says.
Even with so much power, the drivetrain needed only minor upgrades. The original transmission was replaced with a fresh T56 six-speed from an '04 Vette. An LS7 clutch and flywheel were installed, and the stock 3.42 rearend was improved with C6 Z06 output shafts.
With Dickie's proclivity for track days, he made sure not to neglect the suspension during the upgrade process. Underneath the Z06 the factory "oxcart" springs were swapped in favor of a Pfadt adjustable coilover system. Pfadt sway bars were also installed front and rear to tighten up the car. With this setup and gummy Toyo Proxes T1-R tires, Dickie's Z06 sticks to the track like peanut butter to the roof of your mouth. The factory binders have been replaced with C6 Z06 brakes at all four corners.