7.3 Powerstroke Build Recipe

[Do Kieu]

Getthe power you dream of from your 1999-2003 FordWe get a lot of calls asking, "What do I need to do to my truck to attain a certain horsepower level?" If you've been wondering the same, below are... read more

We get a lot of calls asking, "What do I need to do to my truck to attain a certain horsepower level?" If you've been wondering the same, below are various "recipes" of parts that are needed to reach certain power levels along with any companion parts that you'll need to ensure the overall drivability and integrity of your truck. For example, you could grab the highest setting on your programmer to make 450HP on a dyno run but for longevity sake, you will need and would be better off with a cold air intake, exhaust, upgraded HPOP, and a few other other things. Or we will recommend upgrading your valve springs once you've reached a power level where we have found it to be necessary. We are going to mention a lot of specific products, and these are products that we prefer through our experience. There are, of course, many other options available that can get the job done, as well.

Bear in mind that even though Ford says your truck is 275HP, they are quoting flywheel horsepower, not rear wheel horsepower. On a dyno, the actual rear wheel horsepower for these trucks is about 240HP. Please don't get sucked into the trap of adding all of the manufacturer stated horsepower gains for the individual products together to estimate your horsepower. This will only lead to disappointment! There is typically a substantial amount of overlap when combining products, but this is a necessary evil.

Every diesel driver wants to push his pickup to the highest level of performance possible. A lot of these drivers move from one performance part to another in search of higher gains in horsepower and torque. In this endless pursuit, tens of thousands of dollars are invested, leaving most drivers with mere pocket change. For Kyle Spain, of Rapid City, S.D., a YouTube video was all it took to find the perfect performance recipe for his 2008 6.4L Power Stroke. The recipe nearly doubled both his horsepower and torque, also keeping Spain from emptying his bank account on excessive performance upgrades. If one thing is true about this deceptively powerful build, it's that power doesn't always mean a complete parts overhaul.

The 2008 6.4L Power Stroke boasts roughly 350 horsepower with 650 foot pounds of torque when completely stock. These numbers are nothing to sniff at. Anyone who's looking for a powerful truck out of the gate has no need to look further. This kind of power was exactly what Spain was looking for in his daily driver. Being a diesel mechanic at Dixon Brother's Trucking in Rapid City, Spain has spent the last seven years of his life learning all there is to know about diesel engines.

Being inherently powerful, the Ford is temptation incarnate. Spain's practical buy was the result of a YouTube video posted by Rudy's Diesel Performance in Durham, N.C. In the video, taken during Rudy's Diesel Day event, a 2008 6.4L was showcased on the dyno pumping out huge numbers. Spain knew he had to have the truck he saw in the video and the first drive was all it took for Spain's hunger for power to grow.

Being a little on the conservative side, Spain didn't begin to throw higher performance into the Power Stroke until it became absolutely necessary. By chance, and possibly by a bit of fate, the overburdened stock engine gave Spain the perfect reason to begin his build.

The Power Stroke was completely torn down and Spain began rebuilding everything from the cam bearing to the pistons. To mitigate the possibility of another piston from stretching past its tolerance, Spain removed the sharp lip built into each of them during manufacture, which made it more reliable and less prone to situations that could lead to cracking and ultimately failure.

When it came time to replace the heads, Spain used Elite Diesel head studs to allow the engine to expand while heated without cracking the stock bolts. With the engine completely rebuilt and reinforced, the next and equally important item to address was the Ford's transmission. Spain sent the tranny over to Elite Diesel Engineering to have it undergo a custom Stage 3 rebuild. With the introduction of billet parts, the transmission became virtually unbreakable and strong enough to take on whatever Spain could throw at it.

After the engine and transmission were rebuilt and ready to rock, Spain went after the stock twin turbos that had been spooling up since the Power Stroke rolled off the lot. Turbochargers can be a game-changing upgrade for any vehicle and Spain knew it. Deciding to go big, he bought a set of Industrial Injection's Phatshaft compounds to replace the inferior stock twins. With the first drive down the street, it became clear that the turbo swap played a key role in cranking up the horsepower and taking the Ford up a few powerful steps. With the new turbos in place, Spain's next step was to get a little more control out of his truck.

To take care of his less than adequate rail pressure, Spain picked up a Fuelab 200GPH lift pump and utilizing his skills as a diesel technician, custom fabricated and routed the lines from the pump to the engine. After the pump was installed, the Power Stroke was back in the game and more powerful than anticipated. Spain then headed south to Colorado in August to participate in the ATS Dyno event, which is part of the Diesels On The Mountain weekend each summer. After a run on the dyno, Spain's 6.4L Ford racked up an incredible 655 horsepower with 1296 foot pounds of torque. Not much was needed to take the already powerful pickup and turn it into a high horsepower dynamo. Pleased with everything that the truck was able to accomplish, Spain could only think of one other thing to do to make the truck exclusively his own.

Spain's brother, Eric, owner of Eric's Auto in Rapid City, has a professional paint booth at the shop; Spain had the Power Stroke custom painted tan. With a set of Bushwacker fender flares and 35x12.5-inch Toyo's wrapped around a set of Mazzi Hulk wheels from The Wheel Group that were already on the truck when he bought it, the paint was the perfect finishing touch that Spain was looking for. His ability to take a few key ingredients and nearly double the horsepower and torque of his Ford showed everyone that he had the perfect recipe for power and his staggering 655 horsepower on the dyno proved it. With all of that power at the tip of his hands, there was nothing left for Spain to do but enjoy his masterpiece and give the endless line of hungry onlookers a taste of what his Power Stroke could do.

The Evans EMAD 2 just works. Add the Evans pillow to sufficiently dampen the drum. Tune heads to lowest resonant frequencies. Watch for wrinkles and make sure both heads are just tight enough to remove all wrinkles.

This snare recipe produces a tone that fits perfectly into the mix. A deep fundamental frequency combined with the snap of a 42 stand snare wire allows us to bring the snare forward in the mix while carving out a space for our vocal.

Be sure to replace both the top and bottom heads. Bottom heads are often neglected but they are core to tone of the drum. Tune both heads to match each other. Go low. Add the evans ring to dampen just the right amount.

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i adore blending frozen bananas. tastes like ice cream, doesn't it? i love the combination of blueberry and banana too. Thank you SO much for the shout out on facebook! loving your blog more and more everyday. ?

I received a 2000 Chevy Blazer that has poor heat output. The coolant temp only reached 140 so I replaced the Thermostat. Now the coolant temp reaches 195-200. The heater is still very weak. When the Thermostat was out I could see a lot of scale or deposits . My plan is to drain the old coolant and fill the system with vinegar or water and CLR. Then run it around town until I get good heat . Is my plan sound or a recipe for heartbreak and suffering?

I like the idea of doing the heater core by itself, but I don't think I'd let the vinegar sit in there, better for it to circulate. I'd do it like a tankless water heater descale -- 5 gallon bucket, 2-3 gallons of white vinegar, a pond pump from the hardware store, and a couple pieces of hose. Pump the vinegar through for an hour or so.

Update. I opened the petcock on the radiator and stained it. I have about 5 or 6 quarts of white vinegar in the system. After 20 miles around town it is noticeably warmer. I intend to drive to the other side of the county for dinner and see what happens. If I turn the temperature knob to cold it blows cold (35 degrees F outdoors). I might have a mixing valve problem but it ain't my only problem. I did not mention this blazer has 306,450 miles on it. A lady friend that I used to live with bought it new and has maintained it very well. However it has hardly been driven in the past 6 or 7 years. Changing the Thermostat I broke a stud on the Thermostat housing. This is my temporary repair. I tightened it as much as possible by hand then put 4 full turns on it utilizing pliers .

Given your truck's tendency to leak at the intake manifold, I might suspect that someone threw in a few bottles of copper stop leak. That exact thing happened with my Fordzda Branger. A coolant flush revealed what I thought was rust, but it ended up being stop leak. About the only thing you can do for that (if that's what it is) is rig up a closed-circuit solvent bath. Hook up a fuel pump to a bucket of some solvent with a relatively low evap temp like mineral spirits, isopropyl alcohol, etc, and flush the heater core for a couple hours. Flush it out with water for a while, and anything that might be left of the solvent will evaporate with the hot coolant. Alcohol is miscible in water, so it's pretty safe. A petroleum product like Mineral spirits might not play well with some coolants

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