DIY: Why buy a Chevrolet Camaro V8 engine when you can just 3D print one?
A running motor is not unlike a beating heart. Both are perfectly designed to bring life to an otherwise inanimate beast. And now both can be 3D printed. DIYer Eric Harrell, on the heels of his successful Subaru EJ20 flat-four engine build, has constructed a working Chevrolet Camaro V8 engine using 3D printed parts.
According to Chris Perkins for Popular Mechanics: "Builder Eric Harrell modeled every individual component of the LS3 from pictures, repair manuals, and CAD files from the internet. Harrell says it took 200 hours to print all the parts, including 72 hours just for the engine block. If you want, you can download all the files to 3D print an LS3 yourself, and Harrell will sell you all the extra hardware to make it work. If you don't have a 3D printer, he'll even send you a complete engine replica.
What's especially great is watching Harrell's build timelapse. It comes together exactly like a full-sized LS3, and when it's done, an electric "starter" motor makes it spin like one too."
About the Author
Alexis GajewskiAlexis Gajewski
Senior Content Strategist
Alexis Gajewski is a manufacturing writer and editor with nearly 20 years of experience covering the people, practices, and technologies that keep industrial facilities running. For more than a decade, she served as Senior Content Strategist for Plant Services, creating content for plant managers, engineers, and maintenance professionals on a variety of industrial topics.
During her tenure, Alexis worked to develop the brand’s digital strategy and helped launch and produce Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast. She also created The Lighter Side of Manufacturing, a weekly blog that explored the inventive and sometimes humorous side of the industry.
Alexis co-founded Influential Women in Manufacturing, a recognition program that honored 49 women in its first two years, earned an industry award for Best Product Launch, and received a proclamation from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and a commendation from U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
She also led newsroom operations and development at a large media company where she set editorial standards, developed training curriculum, and helped support AI adoption for more than 150 editors across 80+ brands spanning manufacturing, industrial processing, automation, and more.
Additionally, Alexis works as a freelance writer and editor, and her areas of interest include continuous improvement, the skilled workforce, and the role of emerging technology on the plant floor.
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