April 2009 - Performance Zone
HAVE IT YOUR WAY
By Performance Specialist Bruce C. Mallinson
What do you think is the most important part of your truck, or any vehicle for that matter? To me, it’s the engine. I can live with other minor problems of an older vehicle. However, the engine must run strong, smooth, pull like a bear and be reliable. I don’t care how old my vehicles are, but they must be in great shape.
With this thought in mind, many readers called our shop after reading last month’s article about the glider kits we are building with Fitzgerald Truck Sales of Crossville, TN. That article discussed the Signature Detroit engines we are building that will have up to 850 horsepower (you decide how much power you want and we build it). The article also talked a lot about Freightliners, but many Cat-powered Peterbilt owners wanted to know if that is all we are going to build. No! We will also be building Signature Caterpillar and Cummins engines as well, and yes, we can build a Peterbilt Glider Kit. These custom engines will include many upgrades, but you do not have to buy a new glider kit truck to get one – we can build an engine for you with 550-850 horsepower.
The first step in building a Signature engine is to inspect the parts as the engine is disassembled and cleaned. Then, it’s off to the machine shop. The crankshaft is then straightened. That’s right! Most all cranks with miles on them are bent as much as .025 inches. After the crank is straightened it is checked for cracks and then polished. The block is hot-tanked overnight to remove all of the dirt, paint and oil, and then it’s checked for cracks. The main bearing caps are fitted to the block to make sure they are tight, then they are torqued down and the line bore is honed to make sure it’s straight. The line bore is the cavity which holds the main bearings and the crankshaft. Then, the block is resurfaced and the upper counter bores are cut to obtain .006 to .007 inch liner protrusion. If the liner protrusion is set too low, the engine will blow head gaskets. These procedures render the block “better than new” because all of the warpage has been removed from the block casting. Now we can start reassembling the engine.
The connecting rods are magnafluxed and honed on the crankshaft end to make them perfectly round again. Did you know that connecting rods start to “egg-shape” around 300,000 miles? When they have 700,000 miles or more on them, they really need to be reconditioned! A new brass bushing is pressed into the wrist pin bore, and then honed to fit the piston pin. Next, we weigh the six connecting rods to make sure they are all the same. We have found six rods out of the same engine weighing as much as 110 grams (1/4 lb.) from the lightest to the heaviest. That is ridiculous! An engine like that should have never left the factory. We get the rods within 10 grams of each other so the engine runs smooth. Next, we ceramic coat the piston domes and Teflon coat the piston skirts. The ceramic and Teflon coatings reduce the internal friction of the engine and give it 15 additional horsepower over a stock engine. A stock engine loses up to 75 horsepower due to internal friction, so we decrease that loss to 60. Engines also run quieter with coated pistons.
Depending on the exactamount of horsepower you order, there are a few different camshafts and injectors available. If you choose the higher horsepower camshaft and the larger injectors, you may, at times, have more horsepower than you want. We prefer to stay with the stock cam and injectors and make the additional horsepower with the Pittsburgh Power Cat Box. There is also a Competition Pittsburgh Power Cat Box that will add an additional 300 hp. A stock 550 Cat will produce up to 850 hp with the competition box. If you’re a drag racer or sled puller, then you just might want all of the high performance parts available, but watch out – you’ll have over 1,000 horsepower!
The ECM of our Signature engine is free of all the garbage that comes with new engines and we give you plenty of RPM to use. New silicone-filled crankshaft dampers (made in the USA) are installed on every engine, along with our mercury-filled engine balancer. A FASS fuel system will also be installed on every truck to eliminate the air present in diesel fuel, as well as an OPS-1 bypass oil cleaning system. By keeping the oil clean, you will have less wear particles in the engine and it will run longer between rebuilds. This engine will run smooth, last a long time, pull like a bear and obtain great fuel mileage!
Last but not least, each engine will be fitted with a ported and Jet Hot coated, 40% larger-than-stock manifold that won’t burn out! This manifold will run 125 degrees cooler on the exhaust side and give the truck an additional .25 mpg. The horsepower and altitude where this engine will be running will determine the turbocharger. Most of the engines will get a Holset turbocharger with a polished compressor wheel, which adds 2 to 3 psi of turbo boost over a stock wheel. Every pound of turbo boost we can add will drop the exhaust temperature by 25 degrees, so the polished wheel and the ported exhaust manifold will lower the exhaust gas temperature by about 200 degrees. All of Kevin’s Signature Series trucks will have our mufflers on them which reduce soot and iron content in the oil by eliminating back pressure.
I am very excited about this new venture. I will be writing more about the Kevin Rutherford Signature Series trucks being built by Fitzgerald Truck Sales, which are new Freightliners and Peterbilts, built the way you want. If you so desire, we’ll even add the chrome, lights and stainless! Guess what? This truck will even be less money than a standard 2009 from the factory! It’s your choice – have it YOUR way or have it THEIR way. For more details, call Pittsburgh Power Inc. in Saxonburg, PA at (724) 360-4080 or e-mail me at bruce@pittsburghpower.com.