i am new here so hello all. I am looking for around 300 hp

[roxxx]

I just bought a 1992 1/2 LE ¾ ton, 4X4 reg cab 5 speed intercooled with 232k on the speedo Which still works, I am not positive about it being a 1992 ½ yet . I have a 2 gen and 3 gen quad cab but not familiar with the first gens so please be patient. Anyway it is bone stock and this is going to be my daily driver in 10 months from now. So I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction on the forums, I am wondering if it is possible to get 300 hp on a daily driver of this truck? or is this pushing the envelope. Oh and sorry if this is the wrong place to post this Thank you all

[Begle1]

It's pretty easy to start knocking on the door of 400 HP (especially with a clutch), but the VE more-or-less hits a brick wall after that.

300 HP can be had with some New Era 370 injectors ($400) and pump tweaks.
To support it you're looking for a 12 cm w/g housing (since you have a manual- $200 used) and a pyrometer so you don't melt anything ($150). Lot's of little things will really improve driveability, like a 3200 RPM governor spring to increase top end ($20), a boost gauge to give you shift points ($50), an HTT turbo compressor upgrade to increase spool up at speed ($175-500), a BHAF intake and 4-inch exhaust to help EGT's a bit ($30 for the filter/ $350 for the exhaust) and you should be saving your pennies for when the stock clutch gets too bad to be driven.

[roxxx]

Wow thanks for the reply. 400 hp would be almost too much I think ( I know never TO MUCH never hp)
one question would a 14 cm w/g housing be better than a 12 cm housing ? 400hp would be nice but I think might stress the motor too much. I might haul medium trailer but that’s it . I am lucky that I am in no rush, so I plan on doing air in w/g and compressor The fuel pump has me a bit worried (I have never Had to play with the send Gen or Third gen pumps) I also plan on taking the fan off and putting electric fans on plus the air out probably 4 inch. Like I said I am worried about the pump because I have never played with one before, I relies this is where these motors make most of the hp to so guess this will be a learning curve oh yes is there any members in western Canada? thank you all.

[Begle1]

The horsepower figures on these trucks are of a different breed than on gasoline vehicles; when one of our trucks is making 400 HP, you can only get to there after your floor-boarded for a couple seconds waiting for the turbo to spool, otherwise the engine is only making enough power to deal with the load that's on it. Diesel's retain a lot more driveability at power levels than gasoline engines, in exchange for having no throttle response (or even a throttle, for that matter).

A 14 cm w/g housing would be a much better option for an H1C running 350-400 HP, which is where one would need the extra top-end exhaust clearance. But with only 300 HP and an intercooler the 12 cm w/g shouldn't be too restrictive on the top end while towing, and it will have a slightly better spool up in between shifts than a 14 cm. I think it'd be worth living with the slightly higher drive pressures and EGT's since 12 cm's cost half as much as 14 cm's, but if you find a good priced 14 cm you'd be happy with it and it would be a more conservative of a towing turbo. A 12 cm would be a bit on the hot-rod end of things.

There are two fuel pumps on the truck; the expensive one that you tweak for power is the injection pump on the top of the engine, the one down on the bottom of the engine is the lift pump. (And on a side note, it is a good idea to replace the lift pump with a Genuine Cummins piston lift pump, which costs around $200 by the time you buy all the stuff needed for conversion.) Tweaking the injection pump is really easy to do if you follow the guide, and even eaisier if you can find somebody in your area with experience.

[roxxx]

Thank you for the fyi lol I am Very familiar with second gen injection pump and lift pump problems, so I will be all over that and thank you for the link i have being lurking on their pages for years to thank you again

[dpuckett]

Add a fuel pressure gauge to your line up, as I firmly believe this is what killed the VEs that tried to break 300HP back in the day (2001 and earlier). You need to keep the fuel pressure (from the lift pump) above 5psi at all times to be safe and not starve the injector pump for fuel, cooling, or lube.

Daniel

[roxxx]

So i have had same type of problem with the sec gen. How about a carter eletric pump to be safe ? That seemed to help the eth 6 speed ? Like i said not to sure about first gens reading a whole lot trying to get up to speed on them thanks for the info to though

[PToombs]

You must have a 24 valve 2nd gen? 12 valve 2nd gens didn't have much lift pump problems.
Use a stock piston pump. You can't put much over 16 psi in to the VE or you will blow out the front seal.

I just knocked off 366 hp with a HTT stage IV kit on my H1C, a 16cm housing, 370's, big I/C, 3200 spring and turning the screws on the pump.
If you are going to tow, go with a 16 cm housing, and keep the fan. A 12 or 14 housing is too restrictive if you are going to feed it lots of fuel. I've read that on a daily driver, electric is ok. When you start towing, they don't pull enough cfm's to cool the truck down.

I haven't hooked up my trailer since I put in the 370's. I don't think I have enough air to pull much weight. It was running between 1100 and 1200* with about 10k on the trailer before.

[dpuckett]

Heck, run 'er up to 1500, and pucker up!! I have hit 1450 towing hard up a hill, but that was in my 91, and backing out of it took it immediately down to around 1200. I dont see how the 370s would add more than 100-150 deg EGT- still safe. Bordering on danger, but still safe. I keep 1300 as my max (30sec +) sustained EGT.

DP

[PToombs]

With the 370's I can hit 1550 on a hard pull in 4th, no trailer.
Pucker up? I almost shat myself 1st time I saw it! I was watching boost and tach, not paying attention to the "big money" gauge.