Increasing HorsePower -- What You Need To Know

[Samsquantch84]

(08-14-2017 )Unilevers Wrote:  10 thou is too low, honestly it just wont last. it will go for awhile but you will being doing it sooner than if it would have been at 14 or 15. it will also take very little shi#t and abuse before going quicker. ive gone as high as 18, but that was a specific thing.

if your there cut em to 14 and be done with it. im so sick of hearing "its within spec" from dealerships/shops. i dont see a "its within spec" on cummins engine specs. 90% of shops wouldnt cut em and just let it roll and you will be back again later.

my 0.02c

P.S. - i recently just fire ringed a ISX with Cryogenic Bolts. Being the first ISX i did it turned out great and honestly that setup is stout and if i owned my personal truck i would do it to it. much beefier than OEM fire rings and the install was easy and very inexpensive. maybe 1000 bucks more than stock. time will tell how it holds up but from just the materials used and my general opinon on the install i believe it will eliminate most head gasket issues on a ISX. just food for thought

Yea, I love this, CAT reman is infamous for this, spec says .0024" .0071", ehh they're all at .0024" and one is at .001" let's only cut one hole. It's ludicrous that people don't understand what wear is. This is a wear specification. It means that the gasket can tolerate a variation in tolerances and be ok. If you are rebuilding your engine chances are your engine lasted 500,000 plus. I'm sure when CAT built the engine it wasn't at .0024". So that means it wore down to that measurement. So when you pull your head and everything measures at .0024" and is "in spec" and you don't refresh your counterbores, what do you think is going to happen in 200,000 miles. The liner seats are worn, the block is worn, which is going to increase vibration. So please for the love of god. If you are spending money on an overhaul, which by the way there is no cheap way around this, cut your counterbores and protect your investment. Which, by the way, our fleet and our repair shop will never, ever buy at CAT reman engine. Also the top edge of the spec isn't always the best. I'm not familiar as much with Cummins or Detroit but if you are running a higher horsepower engine the top edge of the spec overcrimps the gasket and makes it to thin., which is fine on a 450 or 475 hp engine, but with a 550 or 600 hp tune .0045" - .005" seems to bee the sweet spot on CAT. The other thing that people constantly never think about is the water jacket seals and the oil passages. CAT blocks are always fretted in these areas. So if you set the spec on the upper edge it doesn't put enough pressure on those seals. So your headgasket may be fine but you'll eventually see coolant or oil weeping around from the spacer plate. Another thing with CAT is always replace the spacer plate. Also always measure your new spacer plate. We have had a few where there was a .001" difference between the driver side and passenger side of the plate. So you don't cut your counterbores, use a crooked spacer plate, and try to cheap you're way through an investment to keep making money and you are only asking for trouble. If you are bringing you're engine to a shop always ask if the shop if they are checking you're liner protrusion, ask if they are measuring your new spacer plate, an ask if they are checking you're liner flange thickness. These are absolute crucial into making sure you're engine is going to last.