Well this sucks. Garage number two in Warrington has finally managed to pull the nearside head off <insert mandatory “ooh err missus” here> the engine &… pistons worn, cylinders scored blah blah so won’t attempt to rebuild it. Wonderful. Somehow it all sounds very similar to the message when the original engine was pulled apart by TopCats back in… 2006 (maybe?). Faced with the genuine prospect of actually having to replace the engine I leapt onto the internet & commenced lots of searching for ’96 Ford 4.6L Quad Cam blocks but… nothing crated available & very little (i.e. one) used on eBay. So with the garage telling me they need my car moved & the prospect of having the Mantis with no engine (think Flintstones car!) it’s decision time. Meanwhile you can see the LS3 stock 430 BHP specifications from Chevrolet here. Now I need to go away & do serious something thinking!… Wish me luck.