Not So Mellow

This LSX454-powered Jeep 1978 CJ-7 smokes the dunes.

- Bruce W. Smith

Friendly rivalries exist in every family that has a passion for Jeeps, but few reach the level Chet Kokkeler has with his brother-in-law. The two are always trying to out-do the other, be it tow rigs, sand toys, or in this case, CJs built for running Oregon’s massive coastal dune complex.

When brother-in-law started having his CJ customized and a bigger, faster V-8 installed, another unspoken challenge ensued. Chet hates getting beat, so he enlisted the help of his buddies at Dunks Performance in Springfield, Oregon, to strip his already nice 350-powered ’78 CJ-7 to the bare frame and build something that would be hard to beat during the heat of some serious sand battles.

Dunks yanked out the old carbureted 5.7L, replacing it with the vaunted GM Performance LSX454, which is a full race engine making 627 hp at 6,300 rpm. It’s built on the LS small-block but filled with 4340-forged crank and rods, forged 11:1 aluminum pistons, and capped off with a pair of deep-breathing LSX six-bolt cylinder heads.

Then they added a FAST 102mm intake manifold with matching EZ EFI 2.0 system and ignition so there’d never be a fuel delivery issue while taking on the steepest inclines or cruising the street. The fabricators at Jerry’s Muffler just down the street handled the 3-inch exhaust that runs from the Sanderson headers and is masterfully routed along the CJ’s smoothed frame rails.

Stout Powertrain