The Stealth BOMB'r is under the knife

[Cumminalong]

So, it's been a bit busy lately, but we finally got time to start tearing into my truck.

I've been wanting to build the bottom end on the motor and do a bunch of other things for a while now and finally have the time to do it.

The truck already make 742 HP and 1492 ft/lbs, but the goal is 800 - 850 on motor and 1000 on nitorus. So for that, we have to do a few things.

1 - Motor and trans are out. Motor is getting built, trans is getting freshened.

2 - Motor is getting 12V connecting rods, a new cam, heads are getting ringed, mains are getting studded, and all new bearings and seals.

3 - Batteries are getting moved from the engine bay back to were the spare tire used to be.

4 - The water / meth solenoids are getting moved up under the wiper cowl to keep them out of sight.

5 - It's getting a TS Performance Power Fool 2 nitrous system.

6 - The OEM fan is coming off and it's getting a set of dual Flex-A-Lite electric fans.

7 - EVERYTHING is getting rewired and replumbed. I HATE ugly wiring.

8 - The block is getting cleaned up and honed (if necessary). Once it's back, it'll get painted.

Here's the progress so far. Long ways to go.

 

[12ga diesel]

Very cool Rich! I can't wait to follow the progress of this and see you turn this thing in to even a badder MF'er!!

Question though; why the 12v connecting rods? What makes them better then the connecting rods from your CR?

 

[BoostN]

A fast truck that will be faster. Sounds good! :thumbsup:

 

[Ozzie]

I just love it when you talk like that...:thumbsup:

 

[Cumminalong]

Question though; why the 12v connecting rods? What makes them better then the connecting rods from your CR?

The rods in the 12V's and 24V's were MUCH better.

The 12V rods were forged and shot peened from the factory.They have been know to easily handle 5500 RPM's, huge amounts of boost, nitrous, racing, etc., and not miss a beat.

The CR rods are the worst of the bunch. 800 HP is about their limit and I was just under that before the build.....actually a little over that at the crank, closer to 815 hp....so they were on borrowed time.

The CR rods are those powered metal type and the end caps aren't solid, they're what's called a cracked cap design. They're cut on either side of the end cap and it makes them kinda weak and it doesn't do any good to put heavy duty rod bolts in as the caps give up before the bolts do.

That and the 04.5 - 07 pistons in the CR's are not the best either. The 03 - 04 pistons are much better material.

Combine the 03 - 04 pistons with the 12 connecting rods and she'll be good to hook. Depending on how mine look when I pull them out, they'll either be getting coated or replaced. If they're in good condition, they're getting sent up to Haisley Machine to get ceramic top coated and teflon skirts.

:thumbsup:

 

[12ga diesel]

That's why I ask you Rich, you always have a very well detailed answer. So I guess mine being an early '04, when I get to the point you are at, I'll be half way there as I have the better pistons, just need to get ahold of the 12V connecting rods. But that is well off in the distant future...

And as like Ozzie said... I love when you talk dirty about a diesel engine... LOL ):h

 

[btfarm]

I better get outa here before I get wood.

 

[searstractorfan]

How the heck do you get all that power to the ground??? I have trouble on a rainy day holding my stock 305 hp, let alone 700hp!!!!and ur single rear wheel, im a dually!! man!!! Id let ya play with my truck like this!! hehe we all wish we could get free upgrades!!

 

[Cumminalong]

That's why I ask you Rich, you always have a very well detailed answer. So I guess mine being an early '04, when I get to the point you are at, I'll be half way there as I have the better pistons, just need to get ahold of the 12V connecting rods. But that is well off in the distant future...

And as like Ozzie said... I love when you talk dirty about a diesel engine... LOL ):h

Right, the best thing you could do, if you decided to do something like this, is take those 03 - 04 CR pistons and get them ceramic coated on top and teflon coated on the skirts.

Add in the 12V connecting rods, stud the mains, get the crank balanced and it'll be up for damn near anything you can think of.

 

[Cumminalong]

How the heck do you get all that power to the ground??? I have trouble on a rainy day holding my stock 305 hp, let alone 700hp!!!!and ur single rear wheel, im a dually!! man!!! Id let ya play with my truck like this!! hehe we all wish we could get free upgrades!!

When I race it, it's in 4WD. 2WD is completely useless; it'll blow through all 4 gears and torque converter lock and still be spinning.

Even in 4WD, if I come off the line with more than 20 psi of boost (15 - 17 usually), the truck comes unglued. When it does, I'm usually fighting it well past the 300 foot mark.

My truck, under normal conditions, is actually pretty tame. I mean you can roll into the throttle with no real problems. Yeah, it certainly accelerates a bit faster than a stock truck and you gotta be careful on the pedal, but it's really not too bad.

Now, it does react a bit differently than a stock truck. The throttle response is more like a gas truck. If you get deep into the throttle from a stop, like you normally do on a stock truck, you'll end up with a few lanes of black and white smoke and a set of tracks behind ya.

):h

 

[Cumminalong]

Not a whole lot of progress yesterday.

Spent a good part of the morning running around to Grainger and the hardware stores picking up stuff to make the engine dolly.

After that, got back and buttoned everything up in the truck so it was ready to roll outside.

Then spent the next few hours organizing parts and such. Got a big pile of parts sitting here to go in when the block and head come back.....cam, main studs, electric fans, fluidampr. Can't really order any more internals until I get 'er torn apart and see what condition everything is in. Don't want to order the connecting rods, until I see the pistons. No sense in order the rods, then having to order a set of pistons, when I can order a balanced set right out of the gate.

Gotta get the rebuild kit for the trans. Gonna redo all the clutch packs with Red Alto's (right now they're all Kolene stels and frictions), all the seals, band, and other soft parts.

So, here's where she sits for the time being......

 

[Cumminalong]

hehe we all wish we could get free upgrades!!

Even I don't get free upgrades brother.

There isn't a SINGLE sponsored part on this truck. Every part on it has come out of my wallet.

Now, don't get me wrong......I would GLADLY accept a tire sponsor.

):h

If I had to pay the labor for someone to do all the crap done to this truck, I wouldn't have half of the stuff on it that I do. The labor is the killer. Example: swapping the cam....cam costs $649.....for me to install it, it'll run you an additional $600. Head studs: head studs are around $400 or so.....it'll run you $300 to install the studs. Single turbo: you're looking at a $300 install.

Those are prices on a Cummins.......you outta see the prices on a Duramax or a PowerStroke (not really applicable, because I refuse to work on PSD's). Example: head studs. Book rate to replaces studs on a CTD is about 5 - 6 hours, a Duramax is 22 hours, a PowerStroke is 33 - 34 hours.

Do it yourself, it only costs you time.......IF you have all the tooling. Now, one advantage I have in that department is I can make my own tooling, as we have a digital mill, lathe, all the welding BS, etc. That and my partner Tom is a tool and die maker by trade. So, take something like a fan clutch wrench. I didn't feel like spending $30 on a fan clutch wrench, so I grabbed a spare piece of plate and made one.....

Same thing as I'm doing today. Instead of spending nearly $1000 on an engine dolly to support 1500 lbs worth of motor and acccesories, I just hit up Grainger and picked up 450 lb capacity casters and some 1/4" angle and I'll make the dolly exactly how I want it.

One thing that stops a lot of guys is they get too nervous to tear into something; think it's too much for them. Somethings....yeah, maybe....but for the most part, if you have a service manual or a good tech manual, you can do 90% of this crap yourself. That's why I do a lot of pictures and DIY articles on the site.....so guys can see what they're in for and make a decision as to whether they can handle a project themselves or need to pay someone.

The 2 best pieces advice I can give anyone that wants to tackle a project themselves is:

1 - BUY A FACTORY SERVICE MANUAL OR CD. No if, and's, or but's.....this IS a TOOL. It'll save you a lot of time if you're a DIY kinda person.

2 - If you tackle a project that you haven't done before, take LOTS of pictures. If you take off bolts.....take a picture! If you remove a part.....take a picture! Even if you've done it before.....TAKE A PICTURE! I take pictures from every angle possible....it's free, why not give yourself (and the next guy) a good reference. Don't, even for a second, tell yourself, "Yeah, I'll rember that...", 'cuz you won't.

Here's what I mean, this is the passenger side of my engine. Most of this stuff I've had on and off, is getting modified, or cut, or it's simply not going back on when the engine goes back in. Give yourself a good reference to where everything goes and how it's arranged. It saves you a TON of time on the reassembly.

As soon as start tearing the trans apart, I'll do a DIY article on that as most guys are scared to death of breaking down and auto.....it's not that bad.

 

[towboattrash34]

i would rather pay you to do it.....lol i'll stick with wrenching on my Harley alot less parts..

 

[searstractorfan]

No sponsors!!! How can you afford it??? MAN!!! Glad you can do all this as YES it helps us(hehe people like me!!!) that cant or wont do it because of the lack of info....You run stock street tires or you run slicks when drag racing?

 

[Cumminalong]

Well, here's todays progress.......

 

[Cumminalong]

No sponsors!!! How can you afford it??? MAN!!! Glad you can do all this as YES it helps us(hehe people like me!!!) that cant or wont do it because of the lack of info....You run stock street tires or you run slicks when drag racing?

It's been 4 years of building on this truck brother.

No slicks, I run the same tires that I tow the trailer to the track with.....305/65/17 ProComp Xtreme AT's.

Could I use a better set of tires?.....sure.

I'm sure once this is back together and at the power level I want, the street tires ain't gonna cut it anymore.

):h

 

[BigBlueChevy]

damn Rich your really tearing into this thing but good. I'm grabbing a bag of popcorn and watching this one with great interest.

Great work so far :thumbsup: Have you considered getting parts like even the 12V connecting rods Cryo'd for improved strength?

 

[3500GMC]

Do it yourself, it only costs you time.......IF you have all the tooling.

:iagree:

After this, then your own brain is the limit. In other words, the possibilities are endless.

 

[randomid25]

how does that engine stand like holding the weight of the cummins? mine would probably wad up like aluminum foil. It doesn't like for a 6.2 to be on it.

 

[Cumminalong]

damn Rich your really tearing into this thing but good. I'm grabbing a bag of popcorn and watching this one with great interest.

Great work so far :thumbsup: Have you considered getting parts like even the 12V connecting rods Cryo'd for improved strength?

Yup, it's getting forged, shot peened and stress relieved 12V rods that are good for 5500 RPM's and have held up under the weight of Mahle's monotherm pistons.....it's only going to be turning 4200 RPM's, so I'll be good there.

:thumbsup: