To celebrate HOT ROD's 75th anniversary, we teamed up with CASTROL GTX to bring you some of the stories that exemplify the core of what HOT ROD is and reflect the brand's influence on America's car ...

Back in 1955, General Motors gave birth to one of America's most iconic engines, the Chevy small-block V8. Among these, the LS series, also known as the third and fourth generations of small block V8, ...

We've been getting a ton of mail with questions about how and when to modify the Vortec small-block iron heads—so much mail that we decided to condense all the Vortec information into one concise ...

Any engine builder will tell you how important cylinder heads are to power and performance, so enthusiasts looking to spruce up their budget Chevy 305 small-block (SBC), or the larger and more popular ...

Chevy's Vortec 8100 — AKA the L18, AKA the Vortec 8.1 — was the last of The General's big block V8s, a line of engines that traced its lineage clear back to the fire-breathing muscle cars of the '60s ...

There's no denying the popularity of GM's line of LS engines and their many variants. And onof the most prevalent, and popular, would be the 5.3L LM7 Vortec. There are hundreds of thousands of these ...

Chevrolet's Vortec series of engines is hugely popular. Designed with trucks in mind, Vortec engines prioritize low-end torque and durability over high compression ratios and high horsepower, unlike ...

Ever since the small-block Chevy was introduced 50 years ago, engineers, racers, and backyard hot rodders have delved into its cylinder heads in the quest for more power. Chevrolet did an admirable ...

With the launch of Chevy's small-block V8 in 1955, General Motors introduced an engine family that would make its way into millions of vehicles across the world. It was especially known as a mainstay ...

The Vortec 5.3L V8 LMG was an engine produced by General Motors for full-size SUVs. Displacing 5.3 liters in a V8 configuration, the LMG was part of the Vortec (Generation IV Small Block) engine ...

While GMC’s Blue Chip series (which is similar to Chevy’s Task Force models) timeline starts way back in 1955, this particular example’s heartwarming tale “only” begins some years later, around 1968.