Diesel of the Week is presented by
Resto-mods are some of the coolest builds out there, and there’s no shortage of guys who will entirely deck out an previous-model car or truck or truck. Regardless of whether it be for pure nostalgia or aesthetic, they normally switch out fantastically and change the unique into something unbelievable. This sort of is the scenario of David Pilgrim’s 1954 Chevrolet 3100 that we received to test out at PRI final calendar year.
Pilgrim’s father very first acquired the truck new the 12 months it entered output as a get the job done truck, and drove it for close to 20 many years ahead of passing it on to his son. It then saw use hauling for the Harley-Davidson dealership Pilgrim started off and aided in his work in the Texas oil fields. By the late ’80s the Chevy entered storage for a couple a long time although Pilgrim started to emphasis on other areas of existence. Racing experienced often been a spouse and children enthusiasm although, and he understood he’d be saving it for later.
David and his wife Debbie started looking into drag racing right after attending an NHRA event, which inevitably led to the pair coming into the Bonneville Salt Flats scene. Pursuing a handful of turbocharged bike builds and a C5 Corvette that strike a most effective pace of 246.148 mph, he got the thought for the 3100.
The develop started off at Johnson’s Very hot Rod Shop in Gadsden, AL, wherever the chassis was engineered to maintain the rules-expected factory frame rails beneath the taxi. A number of other custom made touches let for the truck to be hyper aggressive even though nonetheless keeping its vintage body. The whole control bodyweight is somewhere around 7,700 lbs. so that Pilgrim can get sufficient traction on the strip.
The most amazing element of the develop is simply just that the 6.6L LBZ Duramax engine can healthy within just the body of the truck at all. At first, it touted a little 235 cid straight-6. Now the little-frame truck not only has to residence a enormous diesel motor, but also an spectacular quad-turbo set up with enough piping to blow your thoughts.
“It’s basically all in the tune-up,” Pilgrim reported. “It’s a de-stroked motor with a Winberg crank constructed by Automotive Specialists Racing Engines in Harmony, NC. It’s acquired Carrillo rods, Mahle 16.5:1 pistons, Edelbrock heads, and the intercoolers and very substantially almost everything else is personalized fabrication.”
Rick Squires and STS Turbo were paramount in the quad-turbo set up that separates the develop from competitors. It’s comprised of two sets of compound turbochargers that sit concerning the phase-sides of the first extensive mattress. The very first stage are Comp 62mm units, when the second phase is made up of Comp 72mm units.
“There’s 4 turbos and two intercoolers, a single in the entrance and 1 in the back again,” he says. “Air goes by way of the a person in the back soon after the initial turbos, then receives stepped on yet again and will come up front to get cooled.”
As for fueling, Pilgrim’s set up is supported by a variety of S&S Diesel Motorsport items that make improvements to performance, ability output and dependability. It has two big long-stroke pumps together with 250{49e09b23eae7466ccc7574c19ebb3019301c9a11d2999feff81a3526451546a5} above injectors that perform in conjunction with a Waterman raise pump.
Altogether, the LBZ tends to make a whopping 1,500 horsepower many thanks to all the effectiveness additions. That amount of electrical power was ample to propel Pilgrim and his 1954 Chevy to the land pace report in his course in 2021 with a pace of 220.226 mph.
Diesel of the 7 days is sponsored by AMSOIL. If you have an engine you’d like to emphasize in this collection, make sure you email Engine Builder Editor Greg Jones at [email protected]
