Hey all. I'm like a lot of you, in that I am doing the mods to my truck step by step, by step. I can't afford to do everything I wanted to do all at once, so like most guys, I am building the truck one step at a time.

With this in mind, I'm starting a new thread for the purposes of tracking the results of the modifications I am making to my truck step by step. We will go one mod at a time (as much as possible) and track the modifications and their results one step at a time. I'm doing this on a somewhat limited budget so I have to be reasonable here, but I thought this would be a cool way to track the results of making one mod at a time. My thoughts are as follows. Start with as much a stock setup as possible, add one mod at a time and track the results by hitching to the same load, and pulling it over the same course and watching the results. I will track boost numbers, EGT, and log data with the Torque Pro app so we can dig into the data as much as possible. I won't be tracking fuel mileage with these tests because it seems to me there are too many variables that go into affecting these numbers.

The baseline of this test will be my '97 F-350 CCLB 4x4, manual.





The transmission is the ZF-S547, run through a LUK stock replacement clutch, and into a 3.55 gearset. It's got highway legs, so towing is a good workout for it. I will try to weigh the truck alone (I think it weighs in around 6990 empty) and the truck/trailer combo so we know what the test is all about. I'd like to have 7-8k behind it for a good test.

The truck is already inter-cooled (6.0 plastic tank IC) and has e-fuel (DIY kit with a Super Duty Pump) already. I can eliminate the inter-cooler and run a set of tests with that configuration if anyone wants to see those results.

Exhaust currently is the stock 3.5" system fed through the stock turbo (EBPV intact) and a 3" downpipe. Actually, I think I have the stock cobra head DP lying around somewhere (in one piece). If I could get that back in there without jacking up the cab, it would be cool to document those results too if anybody wanted to see them. I think I also have a stock cat (not on the truck) that I could put on there if someone wanted to see what effect that has.

Intake / air is a 6637 filter and the stock turbo with a stock wheel. If somebody has a stock airbox and filter they want to send me to try, I'd be happy to run that as well and report the numbers.

More or less, I can make this as close to a stock truck as possible except for the fuel system (which won't really have an effect on the performance at stock levels).

PCM calibration as of right now is stock.

The end results of this process (current goal) will be:
-Rosewood Diesel Stage 1 160/0 injectors
-Hydra Programmer with custom tunes for stage 1's from Andrew Arthur
-Diamond eye 4 or 5" straight pipe exhaust (with a 3" downpipe)
-Stock Turbo (for now) with a Riffraff Diesel GenII Billet wheel and the stock housing

I think the best course of action would be to take the truck from as close to stock as possible through the following progression:
-Add 6637 filter
-Add Straight pipe exhaust
-?Possibly add mild tune for stock injectors
-Add intercooler
-Add billet turbo wheel
-Add 17* Super Duty High Pressure Oil Pump
-Add Stage 1 injectors and Tunes
-Turn it up until we either start to overspool the stock turbo or the clutch slips.

I also may have a lead on an upgraded single disk clutch to test if clutch slippage becomes an issue, but I am not sure that's going to be a consideration.

In the interest of full disclosure this mill is not the most healthy out there, but it should be a good representation of a typical truck of this age. Compression is suffering (330-360 PSI) and it has some blowby. I acquired the truck in September 2013 and it was pretty poorly maintained when I picked it up. It was a work truck and had right around 201,000 miles on it. It was filthy dirty, but rust free (we drove to GA for it) and was equipped the way I wanted (CCLB, 4x4, ZF5). It's come a long way and we have more plans in store for it.

For the whole backstory on the truck here is a link to the "build thread" (and I do use that term loosely.

I guess I should also state that the intent for this truck is not to be a sled puller or a drag truck. The intent here is to build a reliable work truck. We use this truck on our 11 acre mini-farm and to tow our travel trailer in the summer for family camping trips. We're building it on a budget and the end desire is for it to be a reliable work truck that I can load my family into, hook up to the trailer and go without worrying that it's going to leave us stranded somewhere. It's got to be reliable or the build will be considered a bust. We're looking for a reliable, affordable truck that can keep up with the newer stuff on the highway and do it in classic OBS style. That's the goal.

So that's the plan. What do you guys think? Are there any other things you would like to see tested as a part of this progression? This is not some "sponsored by..." paid programming; I don't have anyone paying for this project and I'll be doing all the work myself. I don't have any problem telling you guys what I think about the results.

 

Thats going to be a HARD and INTERESTING work. Congrats.
subscribed.

 

Gracias, Jose. I'll be some work, but I enjoy it (most of the time) and I'm happy to share the journey.

 

This will be good. Following along!

 

Should have a lot of interesting results in there Nate. Good luck and have fun with it.

 

Sounds like a solid plan, enjoy working on the truck.

 

Following along Nate, this should be interesting!

 

Just a quick update guys, a few parts are starting to roll in for this, so I hope to be turning wrenches in the near future. I'm also planning to video this process and I'll post links here to the videos (so long as it's not an issue with the rules here) so you can follow the progress.

Also, I updated my first post, but I got permission from my tuner to use his name, so I added that in. Andrew Arthur will be doing my tuning and so far he seems to be a really good guy to work with. Andrew is who Aaron was working with for tunes (for Clifford) and he recommended him. So far, I can definitely see why, he seems to be a stand-up character.

That's it for now. Pics will be forthcoming.

 

lets get motivated sir! Tunes for the win!!

 

Looking forward to seeing the results. Have fun!

 

Spent a couple hours rolling around under the truck last night and made a little progress (actually regressed, a little). Put the stock catalytic converter back on the truck. I tried to get a stock DP in there, but I couldn't get it to go. I think you'd have to unbolt the cab and jack it up, or drop the transmission crossmember to get it in place. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that it was a waste of time. I think the major restriction will come from the cat, not from the DP. So.... one step closer.

....And one step back wards. I discovered while I was under there that my exhaust manifolds are leaking at the head. Several broken off bolt heads and sooty spots on the heads. So now I guess I have that to add to the list. That could do a lot to explain my lack of low-end boost, I guess. Now I have to debate whether to pull them off now and make the repairs or put it off. Also have the internal debate about whether to have the manifolds machined and run no gasket or to check them out, clean them up, slap a gasket in there and torque them down again. There seems to be no consensus on this issue. Ah, well... I needed something else to work on anyway.

A bit of encouragement though, I had this waiting for me at home when I got there.






The little box on top is the stainless steel band clamps I ordered. Looks like a well-made system and I can't wait to get it on the truck, but everything in due time.

 

I don't think you'll have any issues with the clutch slipping. You're basically headed to where my truck is (except the HPOP) and I haven't had any issues with the LUK clutch all the way up to 30+ psi of boost.

 

That's good to hear, Darin. I like this clutch as it's pretty easy driving, I hope it holds the power well. I think the turbo will be the limiting factor for me right now, but we will see.

 

I'm sure glad I'm done with all of that. (mostly)

 

manifold leaks can mean low boost