Dart Brings a Trio of Engine Blocks to the 2024 SEMA Show—Including a 2JZ & Gen. III Hemi!

It was a veritable Block Party in the Dart booth at the 2024 SEMA Show.

…And we’re not talking about forced small talk with your neighbors here, we’re talking high performance motors.

The Dart team has a solid reputation for building darn-near indestructible engine blocks—which is really important nowadays, where four-digit horsepower is getting increasingly common.

So we sat down with the experts at Dart to get the scoop on the three blocks it brought to the show.

Dart LS Next Engine Blocks

The block party (eyeroll) starts with the trusty Dart LS Next engine block family.

These LS Next Engine Blocks are available in a mix of configurations, but what caught our eye on the one in the booth was its accommodations for half-inch head studs. If you’re making big—like 2,000 hp big—horsepower, then those massive holes will undoubtedly come in handy.

Again, there are a ton of options in the Dart LS Next family and, yup, you can get a block that retains all the factory accessory mounting points. For that reason, the Dart team tells us that some of the blocks in the Super High Performance (SHP) line are really popular with the Cadillac folks who are building big power engines for their CTS-Vs—but still want all the creature comforts.

Dart 2JZ Engine Blocks & Rotating Assemblies

We’ve talked about the Dart 2JZ blocks before, but the Dart folks tell us that now in addition to the bare 2JZ blocks in both iron and aluminum, it now offers a series of 2JZ rotating assemblies, along with complete short blocks too.

Given how the Toyota crowd likes to boost 2JZs to the stratosphere, these new Dart 2JZ engine blocks are a smart foundation for a big twin-turbo build.

Dart Gen. III Hemi Engine Blocks

OK Mopar faithful, your time has come. Dart now has a lineup of Iron Eagle Mopar Gen III Cast Iron Bare Blocks to support all your Hemi-powered pursuits.

And like they always do, the Dart engineering team made some key improvements to the original design. Expect to see things like scalloped water jackets for better coolant flow and extra thick cylinder walls and deck. Dart also incorporates a priority main oiling system that improves upon the original lubrication system too.

You can get these blocks in a myriad of configurations, including both VVT and non-VVT options.

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You can check out all of our 2024 SEMA Show coverage here.