Diesel motorsports is still in its infancy, and as such, it is constantly evolving. This is part of its appeal-there is still plenty of room for innovation with diesel powerplants. So it should come as no surprise that many of the vehicles featured in the pages of Diesel Power have undergone changes by the time the magazine hits your doorstep. One such truck is Newly Tolf's '04 Chevy Silverado 2500HD, which we featured almost two years ago ("Worked Truck," May '08). At that time, we marveled at how hard Newly was able to beat on his 170,000-mile Duramax with ARP head studs as the only internal modification.
Total Destruction
Well, a lot has changed since that time. The first thing Newly did was change the look of the truck with 22-inch KMC Rockstar rims and 305/40R22 Nitto Dune Grappler tires. The black rims were complemented with a black fuel door, black body molding, and a black exhaust tip on the 5-inch MBRP turbo-back exhaust. Newly also ditched the 80-gallon transfer tank in the bed and added a tonneau cover for less weight and wind resistance. He kept flogging the truck, though, until the LB7 engine finally gave up after 220,000 hard miles. The stock engine could have been fixed after the injector hold-down broke and pushed the injector out of the cylinder, but instead he saw it as a great opportunity to upgrade.
More Power
"I wanted to build an engine for a while, but it took a lot to kill the stock Duramax," Newly admits. He had already purchased another block before the stock engine grenaded, so little time was lost. He took the block to ATS, which worked its magic on the bottom end with a cryogenically treated crank and LB7 pistons that were cut and coated for lower compression and reduced friction. Crower rods were selected and the rotating assembly was balanced to allow the engine to spin to more than 4,500 rpm. A custom-ground ATS camshaft was installed along with a SoCal Diesel vibration damper. SoCal Diesel was also tapped for its Stage 2 cylinder heads, which feature oversized valves, five-axis porting, and beehive valvesprings. The whole crew at ATS spent many late nights helping Newly get the engine built. In fact, he is so tight with Clint Cannon and his staff, that he had the block powdercoated in ATS' distinctive purple.
-
After 220,000 hard miles, the original engine finally gave Newly the excuse he was looking
-
A huge ATS Aurora 6000 turbo feeds the Duramax with 65 psi of boost. The single turbocharg
-
A second, belt-driven CP3 injection pump from ATS was added to prevent pressure loss durin
-
The newest items Newly is testing on his truck are these cast-iron ATS exhaust manifolds.
-
The FASS 150-gph pump provides plenty of clean diesel fuel to the twin CP3 injection pumps
-
...put the 753 hp down to the Nitto Dune Grapplers.