10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

December 2006 - Performance Zone
POWER & PERFECTION
By Performance Specialist Bruce C. Mallinson

How perfect is perfect? According to Webster, “Perfection is the state or quality of being perfect; the highest degree of excellence; the act or process of perfecting.” I have had the privilege of working with someone who has done things darn-near perfect for over 20 years.

In January of 1984, a man named Pat Sharp came to Diesel Injection, after graduating from Rosedale Technical School in Pittsburgh, PA, looking for employment. He was very neat and clean cut, and his car was spotless (I liked that). This young man also spoke very well and did not smoke. After he completed an employment application I called his professors from the school and they all had praise for Pat. One of my questions to the teachers was, “Is his work neat?” Their reply was, “It is perfect.” Needless to say, I hired him, and within a few weeks he was helping me rebuild fuel pumps, injectors, turbochargers, water pumps, oil coolers, aftercoolers and oil pumps.

After a few days, I noticed that he always cleaned his work area after each job and always kept the entire component rebuilding area clean. Several years later, when he was married, I asked his wife if he was as clean at home. Her reply was, “When he mops the floors, he gets down on his hands and knees and completes the job with a damp towel.” After only a few months, I no longer had to do any of the rebuilding – Pat did it all – and I think he was more perfect than even me (and I am often accused of being a perfectionist). I now know I’m not as perfect as Pat Sharp; he is a tough act to follow!

Well, now its 22 years later and Pat Sharp has completely rebuilt 4,818 Cummins PT fuel pumps and has performed several thousand “clean and check” fuel pump jobs. The “clean and check” is what we do to a pump that is not worn out but has some minor problems. He did not keep count of the thousands of injectors he has rebuilt and calibrated, along with all of the other Cummins components and turbochargers for Macks, Caterpillars, Detroits and even automotive turbochargers. His workmanship is superb; everything is beautifully painted and all of the necessary gaskets and o-rings needed to install the component are carefully placed in a plastic bag when being prepared for shipment.

Many times during the past 22 years I have questioned him on some of his procedures, but in the end he is always correct. His work area is right on the other side of my office wall and I always know what he is building because of the sound. When he was off for six weeks because of a double hernia, there was silence in the component room. It was then that I realized just how much I appreciate the great job he does for our company and you, the owner-operators he has helped. It’s always a pleasure to receive the phone calls I get from happy owner-operators complementing Mr. Sharp’s fuel pumps.

Two years after hiring Pat, his twin brother Pete came to work with us, and today he is the Vice President. Pete is a very busy man. Not only is he the shop foreman, but he also takes phone calls during the day answering technical questions, meets with owner-operators to discuss their horsepower requirements, and helps in the designing of our new high performance products. Pete also works all of the truck shows with me and does most of the driving. It has been a privilege working with the Sharp Brothers for the past 22 years and, being they are only 42 years old now, I’m looking forward to another 22 years with both of them. Between Pat, Pete, Gary, Brian and myself there is 115 years of high performance diesel engine building experience.

And speaking of our high performance products, we now have the Pittsburgh Power Performance Computer ready for the DD5 EGR Detroit Diesel engine. We recently installed the third DD5 power computer on a Western Star and have had great results. The owner complained of rough idling and said that when the EGR system turned on, going across the level highway, it felt as though the brakes were being applied. Because of the rough idle, we installed the FASS Fuel System to remove the air from the fuel, and now the engine is extremely smooth. The computer gave this truck a real boost of power – so much, in fact, we are going to cut it back slightly.

This Western Star, on its first run with our computer, was running with a 550 Cat that also had our computer. The two owner-operators decided to compare power settings on the hills, and the Detroit was able to run with the older Cat on the same power settings. Keep in mind, the Cat has a longer stroke, is one liter larger in displacement, and does not have an EGR system, so you would think the Cat would run away from the Detroit. Not so. When the owner of the Detroit put the computer on Power Level 9, he ran away from the Cat. This is one bad Detroit 14-liter EGR engine! And everything on the engine is stock, including the mufflers, and you know how I feel about those. The next time this truck is in our shop, those mufflers will be replaced with straight-through mufflers.

Successful owner-operators are always looking for ways to improve their trucks, their bottom line, their freight rates and their lives. My newest favorite saying goes like this: “Successful people are willing to do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do.” Many of the owner-operators I speak to also have other high performance vehicles in their garage; racecars, sand rails, motorcycles, snowmobiles, and even high performance diesel powered pick-ups. Perfection and performance is truly a way of life, and those of us that love it never grow old. If you have any questions or comments, call me at (724) 274-4080 or send me an e-mail to bruce@pittsburghpower.com today.