[WEAPON-X]

Howdy! My name is Ben and I own WEAPON-X Motorsports in Cincinnati, OH - follow us on facebook here for great builds, swag give away, sales etc . As a former engineer for GM and GE Aircraft, I'm always dabbling and designing things in my spare time from carbon aero kits, to various engine stuff, even to having our own forged wheel line. A little back story and shameless plug LOL, we have a new 10,000 SF facility in Cincinnati, OH and tackle all of your typical as well as your atypical builds. Our layout and capabilities are pretty impressive as most shops go including two in-house engineers, an AWD Mustang dyno with the max channels they offer tied to 20' wall projector for dyno runs , a Haas VF6 4 axis CNC mill, 36" x 36" 3D printer, full fabrication area, 6 lifts, and large warehouse. We're less than 2 years into this and already planning the next expansion with more CNC machines, an engine dyno, a larger fab/production shop, and four more lifts.



We have been very fortunate as a leader in the Cadillac performance world as I started with the LSA CTS V years ago and developed a lot of parts for that and created the world's only F1X Procharged CTS V laying down as much as 1,400whp at 7000rpm on high boost with ProEFI.

https://youtu.be/0rQgjIl9X4g

After that, I picked up a C7 Corvette and did the first LT 427 engine that made over 600whp on motor plus a 300 shot of nitrous, and added a very custom colored widebody making the 1,000HP C7, which is a wild ride. It's currently, undergoing a motor refresh, dropping the compression and also getting an F1X.

https://youtu.be/mU_kOnkKPEY

From there, I picked up a Cadillac ATS V and was first to run a 10 second pass with very minimal mods/tuning/exhaust. We have had a lot of success on that platform, even having the million dollar Ring Brothers built Rydell 48 Cadillac on the ATS V frames down here for our heads/cam/tuning/exhaust.
https://youtu.be/XcedpWeg1WY

Here was a red, white, and blue video we did for Labor Day that still makes me smile
https://youtu.be/DKL4uxDEQ6U

I had a CTS V gen 3 on order, but decided to hold off on it with the Camaro ZL1 around the corner since I was after new and something different, especially with the 10 speed. We had a lot of V3 customers lined up based on our V2 rapport and we laid out our staged packages and got Whipple's attention and ended up working closely with them on their LT4 Whipple testing. We started out with just a bolt on kit and ran it up from there. Our extensive experience with the DI systems from the C7 LT1 and LT4 world gave us a great start with what it takes to make the right combo, and to this day, we still have the highest HP Whipple charged LT4 at 920whp on a Mustang Dyno! That car is presently back in for some tweaks and will be making it's way south in February for the Cadillac Attack event in early February with an anticipated 1,000+whp boost only with our new port injection kit and rotor modification.

Like my ATS V oddly, I found what I was after back in TX. So, I flew out to pick up what would be dubbed the Demon Slayer and had it nearly fully optioned with the A10 trans. Out of the gate, I did a set of Forgestar CF10 wheels and had them black chromed. I lowered it using *BMR performance lowering springs*. I was pretty happy with the outcome thus far.

[WEAPON-X]

We added our WEAPON-X Carbon Fiber stage 1 intake on it and our custom in-house milled WEAPON-X billet valve covers in candy red as well. We're pretty proud of both of these! The intake picks up nearly 30whp UNTUNED and we've not only been doing these valve covers for ourselves, but also private labeling them for other great shops around the country.





We'll have some CAMARO and ZL1 LT4 ones ready soon as well for a more factory look. These turned out really cool on the CORVETTE ones we've done.

[WEAPON-X]

From there, we put in the DSX Flex Sensor kit, and our WEAPON-X Stage 1 DI kit including FIC +30% injectors, the LPE +10% pump, the Pump modulator, and retuned the car to a respectable 647whp/619wtq!

Run 1 was with our intake, stock tune
Run 2 was with our flex kit

[WEAPON-X]

From here, we did our WEAPON-X 103 ported blower with our WEAPON-X Griptec pulley but still a 2.5" stock size and the NW103mm throttle body and upgraded the intake to the WEAPON-X Stage 2 carbon air intake and we were pretty amazed without any additional pulley, we picked up over 30whp and 40wtq in the mid range RPM band and increased peak power to 670whp and 639wtq. This is without a cam, headers, or even any pulley change!

Run 2 - intake stage 1, flex sensor, injectors, hpfp, tune
Run 3 - intake stage 2, flex sensor, injectors, hpfp, ported blower, 103mm tb, tune

[WEAPON-X]

I started out with planning the "usual" 1,000HP build on my ZL1 but there is only one problem, and well, it's basically me. I can talk myself into about anything and since we had already done a dozen Whipple builds on the V3s/ZL1s and a lot of Procharger builds on the C7s, my gears started turning - what else could I do for big power. There is absolutely nothing wrong with either as I'm a huge proponent of both, but I wanted something unique that would showcase our shop and employees' capabilities! I fed my creative engineering mind looking at various rear mount kits since we have a C7 rear mount TT in the shop along with what else I would want to do this right. My employees will tell you, I have endless notepads with ideas and tasks scribbled all over, and I began laying out the architecture of what would inevitably be our 1,500whp enigma. My brain storming, along with our tech Kevin's extreme fab talent, our in-house engineer's R&D skills, resulted in a pretty phenomenal outcome thus far.

Like my C7, we used Darton sleeves in one of our signature LT 4.125 bore setups. The beefy Callies 4" Magnum crank, Callies Ultra rods, and custom Wiseco pistons will propel the power. This is actually the crank from my C7, so don't mind the dry sump nose as I'm sure some of you savvy guys will catch this

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Callies Performance - Magnum Crankshaft

Callies Performance Products began manufacturing high performance crankshafts in 1989. With many years of engineering and employee experience, Callies has grown to be the industry leader for innovative product design. We take pride in staying ahead of the competition with the latest high tech design and manufacturing advantages. By utilizing the latest in computer aided solid modeling and CNC machining centers, Callies is able to offer the best designed, highest quality crankshafts, connecting rods, andcamshaft cores available on the market today.

https://weaponxmotorsports.com/produ...t1-lt4-engines








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Callies Performance - Ultra Rods

Callies Performance Products began manufacturing high performance crankshafts in 1989. With many years of engineering and employee experience, Callies has grown to be the industry leader for innovative product design. We take pride in staying ahead of the competition with the latest high tech design and manufacturing advantages. By utilizing the latest in computer aided solid modeling and CNC machining centers, Callies is able to offer the best designed, highest quality crankshafts, connecting rods, andcamshaft cores available on the market today.

https://weaponxmotorsports.com/produ...ing-rods-ls-lt







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Wiseco pistons

Wiseco Pistons - custom spec pistons

https://weaponxmotorsports.com/produ...-cts-v-lt1-lt4

Wiseco leads the performance aftermarket by producing the highest quality forged pistons for domestic automobiles, sport compact and racing applications. Wiseco is unique because we forge all of our own pistons in house, and produce all of our own forge tooling. After nearly 70 years in the business, the name Wiseco has become synonymous with pistons, especially pistons for off-road racing and riding. Wiseco has attained that instant brand recognition by being one of the few manufacturers of forged pistons within the USA.





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WEAPON-X LT4X Big Valve Heads

These have custom Titanium 2.210" Intake and 1.650" SS Exhaust valves, custom PAC spring kit, and soon will feature the Jessel Roller Tip rocker setup! The current head flow numbers are over 405CFM now at .700 lift. These were the originals on the LT 427 in our C7 Corvette only in an LT1 N/A configuration.

https://weaponxmotorsports.com/produ...-z06-cts-v-lt4





SEXY!

















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Time for surgery!

The LT block began the honing process for the big bore









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With the block honed and sleeved, it was time to get down to business!

Darton sleeved LT block










Wiseco custom spec pistons with a pretty healthy CR


Callies Magnum crank






Mains








Gnarly compound boost cam


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wimpy wimpy wimpy... hefty hefty hefty!!!!

OEM hypereutectic 4.065" pistons and rods vs. Wiseco forged 4.125" pistons and Callies Ultra rods






































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Bolt on one of the Big Valve Super heads to check the PTV!















[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/bherndon2/weapon7%20build/IMG_2483_zpsd****33d.jpg[/IMG]

With everything well within specs for the LT1 427, next Brett begins loading up the pistons and rods.

[Harry76]

Weapon X has done the work on my car and I am very pleased with the work and the customer service.
I have the Weapon X CAI, 9.5 lower pulley, Weapon X intercoolers, Tony Mamo TB, ARH 2" headers with catless exhaust and 160 thermostat.

[waterman]

[Shorty45]

Pretty cool build!

[WEAPON-X]

Originally Posted by Harry76

Weapon X has done the work on my car and I am very pleased with the work and the customer service.
I have the Weapon X CAI, 9.5 lower pulley, Weapon X intercoolers, Tony Mamo TB, ARH 2" headers with catless exhaust and 160 thermostat.

Thanks Mike, your car picked up phenomenal power with just bolt ons!

[WEAPON-X]

WEAPON-X 15" kit with optional MT ET-R 325 Drag Radials

While we were waiting on the engine to get finished, another one of our great fabricating techs, John wrapped up our 15" kit. For our kits, we go above and beyond to make sure they're done right - including the adjustable suspension, slotted rotors, and even linke lock. I've seen a lot of inherent problems with the some of the other kits burning up quick and also the lack of line lock has caused one to catch fire during the burnout at the drag strip. Furthermore, my OCD can't stand when they don't match, so we have color matched all of the OEM powder coat colors so we color match our kits as well as include line lock for the non ZL1 models so you're not warping the smaller rotors, glazing the pads, and discoloring the calipers.



BMR suspension upgrades ready to go on



Got these on just in time for a local show

[beckham388]

Great to finally see a damn fine motorsports shop in my own backyard. Congrats!

[MR 45TH]

Great write up!

[soceur77]

AMAZING!!!!

[WEAPON-X]

I always try to focus on weight reduction wherever I can, especially when it comes to rotating mass and I'm adding some heavier components to the car with the turbo hardware and some of the other experimental gear, so with rotating mass being a 4 or 5:1 ratio depending on diameter, MOI, etc, that is a great place to make some gains. The front rotors are massive as we all know, so I had some light weight slotted rotors made to replace the heavy OEM discs. These heat treated slotted rotors are approx 16lbs which makes them just slightly over the Z28 carbon brake rotor weight! This saves about 20lbs of rotating mass, totaling the equivalent to dropping around 100lbs out of the front end! Couple that with light weight rims/tires, and the front wheels are going UP!



Welds inner barrels do not clear larger brake kits in 18" despite it being possible in a high end forged wheel. I can clear these rotors as well as the C7 Z06 Z07 CCBs with 18" Forgelines though, but of course then you have the mismatched front and rear issue which will drive me nuts. I'd test fit them on the same brakes with the CTS V3 prior but just to see, I threw my 18x6" Forgeline GA3Rs with MT 26x6r18 on the front. It's only a 26" tire, so it shows how much wider the front of the ZL1 is and the taller tire it needs.



Inevitably, I went with the setup we've done on the V3s already; however, I went with my own front spec vs. Weld's for a flush fender fit and also had the lips done in black. The look is nothing short of sinister! This is the 20" Weld S76 with a narrow Pirelli street tire. This saved another 30lbs of rotating mass, so between the wheels, tires, rotors, and ditching the front sway bar, we've saved an approx equivalent to about 250lbs off of the nose. We'll get back to what I added later though LOL.







I'll add some more pics soon. Photobucket is worse than usual today.