Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) rebuilding a 12 valve

[rlambert94]

I have a 94 12 valve that in the future will become a second vehicle (not the main form of trans. ). It has 4. 10's and is a single cab dually 4x4 and was used to tow an 850 Case dozer. I want to keep with the tow theme. I want to make it a monster tow rig, just gobs of torque and hp, but not so much as to be a pain to drive on the street or use to tow a small trailer. I thought about getting the motor rebuilt to have a fresh start. It has 204,000 on it. I plan on dual turbo setup, performance head, FASS fuel system or equivalent, big injectors, head studs, performance cam etc. . This will be a project truck, lots of $$$$, so not all at once. I am confused though on who makes the best of these parts and if rebuilding the engine is necessary. I know about Industrial Injection and ATS and thought about using those two for most of it. I am also struggling with the 5 spd or 6 spd. I have a stock NV4500 that has been rebuilt. Anyway, any thoughts would be great.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Hi rlambert, well I think if the engine has been taken care of and is tight then I see no point in rebuilding it, but sounds like you're going for quite a bit of power. I have exactly double your miles on my '96 and it tows fine, it's had a valve job is all.

If you're going to tow heavy and have usable power then you're not going to want to go too big with injectors & fueling, a big HP/performance truck often doesn't make it a good performer with good driving manners as a tow vehicle. If you keep it to about 400hp max with the right combination of pieces and tuned properly you could probably get what you're going after.

Other vendors to check out are High Tech Turbo, Dynomite Diesel Peformance, PDR Performance, Peak Diesel Performance, BD Power, Diesel Dynamics. . . these are in the NW and West. Not sure where you're at, there's other good ones throughout the country.

Vaughn

 

[12V Ford]

Vaugh is pretty much right on with his comments. If I was going twins, I'd use the 35/(3b or s400) or the htbg/(3b or s400). Anything bigger than that and pulling heavy will suck. Even with my setup, I still pull in valet mode because it has plenty of power, I don't have to worry about getting hot, and it is easier on parts. I dynoed in valet mode and I think it was right around 375-400hp. My Brother has the exact same setup but with a 175 pump and 215 injectors, and he dynoed right around 425 hp and his is right on the edge of needing a valet switch to cut power when he is maxed out on GCW.



I mostly use PDR for all my stuff and they are great. HTT also seems good. I think I would try the stock lift pump before doing a FASS. I don't think a rebuild would be necessary yet. I would do a towing cam, ported head would be good, exhaust brake for sure, I hear that an upgraded intercooler would work good for towing, 100 hp injectors like 370's or stage 3 DDP would be good, and a strong clutch.