2005 GMC Sierra 2500HD Duramax Buildup - Overbuilt

Diesel engines lead a rough life They are expected to last forever and are built accordingly. So it should come as no surprise that diesel engine parts are surprisingly well adapted to racing. Diesel drag racing and sled pulling are hard on parts to be sure, but the engine only has to run for a few seconds. for an extreme test of diesel durability, we looked to another form of motorsports: land speed racing. In places such as the Bonneville Salt flats in utah, and the El Mirage dry lakebed in California, you'll find speed demons holding the throttle wide open for miles at a time, which is certainly a true durability test for any engine.

To get a good idea of what it takes to build a Duramax engine that can be held at peak power for minutes instead of seconds, we visited McRat Racing in Corona, California. Patrick "McRat" McSwain has been in the diesel performance industry for many years and is well-known for drag racing his '05 LLY Duramax, nicknamed Casper. If running 10-second quarter- miles is fun, running for five miles should be even more fun, right? The problem is, an engine that will survive at the dragstrip won't work in land speed racing.

1,000 Horsepower And 1,400 Degree EGTS
So how do you get an engine to make 1,000 horsepower at EGT levels slightly above towing temperatures? The answer is a lot of air, a lot of rpm, and some very precise fuel delivery. Believe it or not, the engine itself is surprisingly stock. The crankshaft, camshaft, and heads are all stock pieces, although Crower connecting rods were used since the stock rods tend to bend at high power levels. Also, SoCal Diesel modified a set of production pistons and supplied push rods and valvesprings for the engine. The engine's camshaft and timing gears were also keyed since the engine would be making big power at 4,500 rpm.

A tremendous amount of air is supplied courtesy of a prototype turbocharger kit from PPE, which features a Garrett GT42 turbo as the small, high-pressure turbo, and a mammoth Garrett GT55 as the large, low-pressure turbo. These two highly efficient, non-wastegated turbos combine to produce 60 psi of boost, while maintaining a boost-to-drive pressure ratio of about 1:1.

On the fuel side, a PPE lift pump keeps plenty of fuel coming to the set of Wicked Diesel stroker CP3 pumps, which keep rail pressure up, even at peak engine speed. Rounding out the fuel side of the equation are a set of custom injector nozzles from Dynomite Diesel Performance.