Building my truck. Would appreciate some guidance!

Ok, some of you may have seen my earlier thread, Miss at idle Blow-by from valve cover!.

So, in light of the fact that I need to freshen up/rebuild my bottom end, I have decided to take it to the next level.

I am fairly new to the Diesel scene, but have an in-depth understanding of engine dynamics in general.

What I would like to know from the guys who have traveled this path before is the following. What are the "best bang for the buck" mods when building a solid foundation?

Here's what I'm looking at right now. Please advise if I have anything unnecessary, or if I have left something out:
-Ceramic coated pistons (probably .010" overbore if I can get away with it)
-Balanced bottom end
-Shot peen the rods
-Upgrade Bottom and Top end fasteners
-Aftermarket camshaft
-Stiffer valve springs (I'll be running Smarty TNT/R, turning 4k rpm)
-Stiffer/thicker Pushrods
-90HP injector nozzles
-CP3 upgrade (at the least a "bag of parts")
-Possibly a side feed ZZFabrications Intake Manifold
-Ported cylinder head
-Custom lift pump/fuel system (Stainless braided -8 feed line from tank to -CP3, Mitsua belt-drive pump, BF1212 water separator, CAT 1R 0750 fuel filter - Built by myself)

Is there anything in this mod list that doesn't make sense, or that would be considered unnecessary? I know stock rods are plenty strong, but for the price, it seems shot peening them would be worthwhile.

Is any other work needed on the crankshaft, other than simple balancing?

How about a bottom end girdle? At what power level/RPM would this be worthwhile/cost effective?

Current mods are in my signature. I will eventually be looking into a compound turbo setup, something along the lines of what LoveFab has done for the 6.7L trucks.

Coming from the sport compact racing scene, I am a little more geared toward making power through volumetric efficiency (airflow volume) rather than simply just "turning up the boost". I enjoy things like tubular turbo manifolds, and custom sheet metal intake manifolds.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

- Chuck

Also, forgot to mention I will be looking at Fire Ringing the head, along with some head studs.

On the subject of head studs, does anyone know much in regards to the A1 H11 head studs? They seem to be an intermediate stud between the ARP L19 studs, and the ARP 625+ studs which are big money!

HeadStud options:
ARP L19 12mm studs (advertised up to 80psi - mid $400 range)
A1 H11 12mm studs (advertised to 80+ psi - mid $700 range)
ARP 625+ 12mm studs (guessing they are good for80+ psi also? BIG BUCKS!!! - $1200 range)

The thing I would change is to o-ring the block vs. firerings. O-rings are more forgiving in a Daily driver that goes through many heat cycles. ARP L19 studs with o-rings seem to work really well for street engines, but If you want to spend the extra money, guess it wouldn't hurt.

If you want GREAT information on building a bulletproof engine, call Josh Woodruff - 937-798-2177

Lavon

Dont bother with the ceramic coatings, worthless.

Go with the H11 studs, good for 80+ and tq to 150 #'s

I also say use orings instead of fire rings just use a hard material like ss or inconel for your rings not copper.

Get you some older 24v vp motor rods, much better then the cr rods and upgrade them with A1 bolts and cryo wouldnt hurt. Balancing is a good thing.

Defintly get a cam and springs, I dont think push tubes are necessary for what you are doing.

ZZ manifold and ported head is probably way unnecessary for your build unless you plan to go much bigger later.

That fuel system would work well.

I agree with bean. Coated pistons are a waste of time and money. He pretty much hit the nail on the head on all of the other stuff too. No need for a high $$$ cylinder head for a mild street truck unless you do plan to go bigger. But then again as the old saying goes, you never have enough HP, and more is always better..... I would go with a bigger set of injectors and CP3, but thats just me.

Ok, so O-ring it is. I thought there was a difference between the 2. A buddy of mine was trying to tell me it was just in who you talked to, as if they were the same thing, but called by different names.

Now, in regards to ceramic coating the pistons and it being a waste, what's the reasoning behind that? I know it's a fairly common thing to do with gassers in order to keep heat from soaking into the pistons which prevents hot spots and detonation.

I know diesels are not prone to detonation, but it certainly seems that ceramic coating the pistons would give you an extra margin of safety when EGT's get a little warm. It should reduce the amount of thermal expansion, as well as prevent melting a hole in one (at it won't melt as quickly, anyway).

Thanks again, guys!

I believe with an O-ring it puts extra pressure on the fire ring of the gasket and fire ringing they actually cut out and replace the fire ring in the gasket.

dont fire ring it, do orings, i have a 12v, i know a different engine, but i had 2 fire ring setups fail driving on the street in less than 20k miles. i now have a oringed head, and am glad that i did it this way the 3rd time around. if you are goind to do the build up like you said, i would definatley port the head, and throw a zzfab intake, you can never have too much air flow, now too much fuel, different story, i think what you have listed is the makings for a killer street engine, wish i could do something like that with my 12v, i have a knowledge, and tools to do it, just not the money..... good luck with your build, it sure sounds sweet.

wes

wdimig said:

dont fire ring it, do orings, i have a 12v, i know a different engine, but i had 2 fire ring setups fail driving on the street in less than 20k miles. i now have a oringed head, and am glad that i did it this way the 3rd time around. if you are goind to do the build up like you said, i would definatley port the head, and throw a zzfab intake, you can never have too much air flow, now too much fuel, different story, i think what you have listed is the makings for a killer street engine, wish i could do something like that with my 12v, i have a knowledge, and tools to do it, just not the money..... good luck with your build, it sure sounds sweet.

wes

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Yeah, O-ring sounds like the way to go. And I agree. Airflow is where making power is at! Sure, cranking up the boost will create more power, but usually at the expense of longevity. If you can make the same power with less pressure, you know you have a more efficient and durable setup at that point.

However, after getting off the phone with Industrial Injection, it seems that the ZZfab intake manifold along with the head porting and machine work required to make it all work is going to be a bit out of my price range at this point. Kind of makes me feel sad.

Ceramic is a waste of money IMO cause if you have something wrong the cermaic coating will go right out the exhaust along with the tops of the pistons, been there done that. As long as you have everything right with your injs and timming on the tune the pistons will be fine, if something gets off it could melt the front of a space shuttle.

Spend your money on twin turbos before you spend it on porting and billet steel camshafts. The great advantage of the diesel is that it doesn't have detonation problems so crank up the boost. Much cheaper way to get good air flow.

One place you should not go cheap on a common rail is the fuel filtration system. Clean fuel is very important for the 25,000 psi fuel system.

Big Blue24 said:

Spend your money on twin turbos before you spend it on porting and billet steel camshafts. The great advantage of the diesel is that it doesn't have detonation problems so crank up the boost. Much cheaper way to get good air flow.

One place you should not go cheap on a common rail is the fuel filtration system. Clean fuel is very important for the 25,000 psi fuel system.

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For sure! The CAT 1R 0750 filter is rated at 2-Micron ABSOLUTE, and the BF1212 water separator is rated at 90%+ free and emulsified water separation! I will be doing this fuel system while the truck is down.

boost is j/ a measure of restriction... if you have it down, port and polish...then later you can do the twins if need be...a good flowing head will make a world of difference.... j/ my $.02

UPDATE

The final plans have been made in regards to the build. The block was taken to Industrial Injection, and is currently being machined. Here's what the build is to include:

Block/Internal modifications
*Cylinders Machined .020" over w/use of deckplate.
*Crankshaft balanced and polished.
*Mains line honed.
*Mains re-tapped to 14mm for studs and girdle.
*12valve rods - shot peened, and polished.
*Taper-top pistons - ceramic coated + poly-moly skirt coating.
*ARP 625+ head studs.
*Diesel Pros Stage 1 camshaft.
*Stronger pushrods (matched to cam + 4k RPM use).
*110# dual valve springs (matched to cam + 4K RPM use).
*Electric Water pump - to avoid blowing freeze plugs at high RPM.

Fuel system modifications
*DragonFire CP3 (85% more flow over stock).
*100 HP injector nozzles.
*Raptor 150gph pump.
*Vulcan DrawStraw V pick-up.
*-8 feed line w/BF1212 F/W separator, and CAT 1R 0750 filter.

Unfortunately the top-end build (Ported head, side feed intake) is going to have to wait. I'm already way more into this build than I originally planned. But maybe in the future, I'll have a chance to do some port work and a side feed intake.

nice, whats it costing ya?

Bjans said:

nice, whats it costing ya?

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A whole lot! Let's just say that if you were to think 10k would be enough to fit the bill, you'd be wrong!

what turbo?

I have a S364 on it currently. In the future, if things work out, I may throw one of LoveFabs compound tubular manifold setups on there.

If I end up not being able to do that, I'll put some squeeze to it!

Just figured I'd throw some photo-updates in here. Got the motor back from II, and am slapping everything together.






I'll be installing the motor into the truck tomorrow. I'm still waiting on the injectors. I decided to go up to 125 HP sticks.

I also bought a PDI exhaust manifold to open up the rear two cylinders a bit, and in preparation for a compound kit in the future (thinking 62/71/14 + S476 combo...any input?).

Should run decent