Welcome to SilverFox MotorSports, the high performance division of Mid-City Auto Service in Lake Charles, La. We do GM LS-X, Vortec, and Duramax Diesel tuning and also Ford Powerstroke Diesel tuning and are an SCT Tuning DEALER. Give us a call for all your SCT needs.

2005 Dodge Viper Engine Rebuild

This 2005 Dodge Viper sports a  Novi 2000 Supercharger….eventually the stock bottom end gave up. This build will consist of forged pistons, connecting rods and ARP studs at a minimum, and possibly may include a custom grind camshaft and ported heads if customer budget will allow.


Drivers side sill panels removed to access the exhaust for disconnect…..


Passenger side before sill panel removal…


After removed…                                              Looking for the A/C Accumulator? Here it is…


This is where the exhaust runs through to the manifold… The business end…


Intake manifold removed…Like the LT-5 in the ZR-1 Vette, the coils are under the intake…We are going to remove the valve covers as well…


The service manual calls for removal of the cowl panel and wiper mechanism, but we’ve found if you remove the valve covers and use a rig like this one we created, the engine can be removed without cowl removal…and the motor is out.


We knew this is what we’d find…broken ring land on number 4…Here’s the chamber and spark plug with the smashed gap…The smashed gap was what told us we would find a broken piston…


Here’s a shot of the piston out…ARP 2000 rod bolts and powdered metal rods are factory…For 2005 Forged pistons are NOT! Factory forged pistons stopped in 1999 if I remember correctly.


Just like the Modular Fords and the GM LS motors, the 8.3 uses cross bolted main caps…The 8.3 uses a forged steel crankshaft…


We bag up all the hardware so it won’t walk off…here everything is laid out ready for cleaning, inspecting and measuring…


This this has lost power already…it’s down to 1 MP….(1 Matthew Power)…Matt is looking for a fastener we dropped and couldn’t find…better to find it now than have to hunt for it when we need it…


Hood is put back on and the car pushed over to the north shop for storage…Here it will rest until the engine is ready to reinstall…


Not much time for pictures, but just a summary. We used Ross custom pistons and Carrillo rods. The Carrillo rods clear the factory scraper with room to spare. Short block assembled.


Long block almost done.                                   A shot of all the baffling in the pan.


Tray back in the pan.                                      Heads back on coils bolted down, cam in and getting close to drop in


Going back in.


Done. This thing needs some serious suspension work. Even with the current boost level, it is nearly impossible to drive, and will kill a novice!

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