Lucky Costa’s 1966 Chevelle
You’ve seen it on TV, you’ve seen it on MotorTrend+, you’ve seen it on the cover of Car Craft, on social media, and at various events in Southern California and the surrounding states. Lucky Costa’s ’66 Chevelle has been there, done that. He’s owned the car since 2012, and he’s constantly changing and refining it. At the time it was in Car Craft, Lucky’s Chevelle was powered by a junkyard 6.0L engine with a used T56 six-speed and Chassisworks control arms and Varishock coilovers.
In the intervening years, Lucky added a Magnuson supercharger, upgraded the two-piston Baer brakes for sexy six-piston calipers up front and a set of four-piston calipers on the rear, with drilled rotors all around. He also installed Ridetech’s full coilover suspension, opting for their HQ series triple-adjustable shocks in the process. The T56 transmission was upgraded to Rockland Standard Gear’s Tranzilla version of the T56, and for a while, he rowed the gears with an S1 sequential shifter.
Most recently, Lucky replaced the tired 6.0L engine with a fresh LS3 that sported an upgraded cam and AFR’s CNC-ported Mongoose cylinder heads. After driving it for a few months, Lucky decided that the engine’s output of nearly 500 hp to the wheels was still a little too tame. A supercharger guy at heart, when the opportunity to add boost to this already-potent LS3 presented itself, Lucky jumped at the chance.
Season 10 of HOT ROD Garage welcomed Alex Taylor as Lucky’s new co-host, and one of their early projects as a team was to add a Vortech supercharger to Lucky’s LS3. With the aid of a Holley Mid-Rise intake manifold that sandwiches a charge cooler from Tick Performance, this setup has the potential for significant power gains. We joined them in the shop to grab some pictures of the install, which is nearly complete as this is written. The engine starts and runs; it just needs a bit of tuning and a session on the chassis dyno, then the plan is for Alex and Lucky to race each other in
