Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Need some modern help on a 500 hp build

[ENafziger]

Short preface: I'm reasonably comfortable with 1st Gen and 3rd Gen trucks, and have done extensive modifications to both. I have little experience with the early 2nd Gens. I've spent hours searching multiple forums, without much success. Alot of links are broken due to threads being written 5+ years ago, and it's generally just hard to find a straight forward answer to questions.

My situation: I recently got a '03 Ford Excursion with a '97 Cummins that has been swapped into it. It's going to be a family rig, that will also see plenty of time towing. I'm looking for a moderate HP daily driver that the wife won't have to watch the gauges too closely to keep things from melting down. I also don't want to be trailing black smoke everywhere.

Current mods...HX35/S475 twins, head O-Ringed, ARP studs, 60# exhaust valve springs, Spearco intercooler, 100 plate and 4k gov spring, and Bosch 230 hp injectors, timing set at 16.5°, and Air Dog lift pump.

The engine will make 70 psi boost pretty quickly, runs clean, maintains ~37 psi fuel pressure, and will not get too hot. I understand though that the injectors are a 155° angle meant for a marine application. I need recommendations on a good quality injector that will net good fuel mileage, run clean, and be the correct pattern.

Also, with the above mods, what else is needed to reach ~500-600 hp? The pump is supposedly untouched, other than the 100 plate and 4k gov kit.

The current transmission is a 5R110W with a PCS controller. I'm in the process of converting to a ZF6 and NP271F with a South Bend 3250 multi-friction double disc clutch.

Thanks guys!!!

--Eric

 

[ENafziger]

Any advice? I tried searching, and have not had much luck. Most threads with the question, "How do I make 500, 600, 700 hp?" are only met with sarcasm, comments like, "you better have deep pockets", "do your transmission first", "do you have gauges?", etc. And in the end, no body gives hardly any useful information.

Does anyone know a good recipe for a reliable 500 - 600 hp on these engines for my application? Is this a reasonable goal to have?

Can anyone speak to the detriment of having a 155° cone angle injector vs the 145°?

Thanks in advance, Eric

 

[jgillott]

The biggest issue with modding the 12-valves back then wasn't the ability to make power, but the ability to do it keeping egt's under control, not producing excessive smoke, being streetable, etc. It sounds like you already have an engine that is well on it's way to doing just that. All we used to do on street driven 12-valve trucks was a plate, gov. springs, injectors, turbo/turbo's to keep the combo cool enough to work and then, studs and fire rings or o-rings. You already have all of that in place in a combo that sounds like it works well.

I am out of touch with what is available in the area of 12-valve injector choices, but that is the only thing that I would look in to at this point. Every thing else is real solid.

On edit: It is a 215 pump correct?

 

[MLee]

As a reminder and not wanting to get off the subject, the 97's were noted for the KDP working lose. has it been taken care of?
I'm with Jgillott looks like you about there not to Heep on the HP thing, Joe D done good on his 97 with less than yours, I think.

 

[moparguy]

I guess my first question would be, what's it making now? Knowing that, I'd check some of the easly located injector vendors, call em up and ask the approriate questions. Lastly, I'd shoot a plea to Joe D. He's the 12v man as far as I'm concerned. He'll be your best TDR source of no BS advise on head work, cams that'll make good realworld working hp, and P7100 pump info.

If you're lucky, he'll chime in.

 

[KBurgoyne]

DFI ducky fuel injection formerly SDX makes great injectors at a great price with correct spray angle. http://www.dfi-performance.com/cummins-94-98/
with the above mods you probably are over 500 especially if its a 215 pump. you may want larger delivery valves and a rack plug though.

 

[jclark5810]

Looking forward to following this thread, we plan on doing the same thing (Excursion conversion).

 

[ENafziger]

Thanks guys. I'm not really sure what it's making for hp now. It supposedly had just had the transmission built to hold 750 hp when I bought it. However, that is definitely not the case; it didn't even have a deeper pan on it, or any signs of even having been out of the vehicle. I only got on it a few times on the interstate, and it had no problem making 70 psi boost. By the general rule of thumb of 10 hp per psi boost, you'd think it would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 - 700 hp. That being said, it doesn't feel anywhere close to my '06 that is probably at 675 hp. It very well could be though that the slushbox automatic that I quickly blew through didn't allow me to "feel" the power like I would've expected. The ZF6 and South Bend DD should take care of that.

I'll try to get in touch with Joe D. with regard to injector choice and pump tuning. The KDP has been tabbed. Thanks for the reminder!

I've never been a Ford guy at all, and actually kind of despised them from working in Auto Repair for awhile. However, I've been slightly impressed with the Excursion thus far. I have taken some considerable time to remove the Ford influence and emphasize the Cummins aspect though.

#ad


For anyone that may be interested, I'm installing a ZF S6-750 transmission. It's the higher torque rated version of the ZF6. One unique feature of the ZF6s, is that while it's an aluminum case transmission like the Dodge G56, it incorporates massive amounts of gusseting to eliminate the case flex that has been the downfall of many a G56 (including the one in my '06). It also features an internal oil pump for pressurized lubrication, and allows the use (recommended) of an external cooler and filter. I'm also going to use a NP271F transfer case, which is the manual shift version. For those who may not be familiar with the NP numbering system, the "2" indicates a 2 speed gearbox, the "7" is an indicator of the case and component strength, and the "1" means manual shift. The "F" designates a Ford application. As far as I know, the "7" series are the strongest available production units...older ones being 241s, 205s, etc. The indicator for an electric shift case would be "3" as the last number.

Also, Peter at South Bend, and Brian (his brother) are very familiar with the Ford/Cummins applications. They offer a 3250 plate load diaphragm clutch that utilizes the new multi-friction dual disc technology. The flywheel has a Cummins crank bolt pattern, and is machined for the Ford ZF pilot bearing. The clutch discs are splined for the ZF as well. The part number for this is F/CSDD3250-6.0.

--Eric

 

[MLee]

For your questions on smoke and timing read Scotts article in the current issue of TDR on RED RIDER that he is doing Mods on.

 

[ENafziger]

^^^ Thanks for the tip. It looks like it's not available in the TDR Digital Magazine files for some reason. I don't recall if I got the hard copy in the mail or not. That'll give me something to look for this weekend.