[Don]

The C6 Z06 427 engine is hand assembled at a separate GM facility, which does not assemble the standard Corvette engine:

http://www.superchevy.com/technical/...09sc_assembly/

" Just as interesting as the LS7's specifi-cations is its assembly process at the new GM Performance Build Center (PBC), in the industrial 'burbs of Detroit. A single technician builds each engine by hand. It's a process that marches 180 degrees away from GM's typical mass-production methods.

The V-8 plant at St. Catharines, Ontario, for example, will produce thousands of engines in a day; the PBC might build 100. Indeed, it's a more intimate procedure, with a small, hand-selected group of experienced enthusiasts performing the assembly duties.

We toured the facility recently to watch--and help with--the assembly of an LS7 engine. At 100,000 square feet (and not all of it currently utilized), the PBC's shop floor is downright miniscule compared to other GM large-scale manufacturing operations. While we've been through other GM plants, and were surprised by the cleanliness and brightness of the assembly area, the PBC ratchets those qualities up several notches. It's more like the setting of a high-end Indy car or NASCAR race shop.

You'll see the LS7's build process unfold in the accompanying photos, but here's a quick rundown of the overall assembly procedure: Each engine is hand-assembled by a single technician who builds it from start to finish. (There's even a plaque with the builder's name affixed to the engine after the final inspections are completed.) He or she starts with a bare, cleaned block and begins the build by installing bearings--just like you would on an at-home build. "