Chaz Lightner is a die-hard Ford guy. If his '67 Shelby Mustang isn't a dead giveaway, the Bronco tattoo permanently inked on his skin should be. Lightner is a complicated man though. In addition to being a Ford fanatic, he also has a fondness for Cummins engines. If the name Chaz Lightner sounds familiar, it might be because we featured his orange '66 Bronco stuffed with a 4BT Cummins in "Black Smoke Bronco" (Sept. '07). Now Lightner is back with another Cummins-powered Ford creation--which is even wilder than his last.
Lightner's latest Ford is a '99 Super Duty 4x4 SuperCab shortbed truck that was a theft recovery. The thieves took the truck for a joyride and punched a hole in the fuel tank in the process. When the truck died (due to fuel starvation) the thieves ditched it, allowing the truck to be recovered. The 7.3L Power Stroke would not run due to the lack of fuel, but the wrecking yard misdiagnosed the problem as a bad engine. This allowed Lightner to virtually steal the truck for himself, and a new project was born. Once some clean fuel was supplied to the engine, the 7.3L ran fine, but Lightner had other plans in mind for his new purchase. The stock drivetrain was pulled and sold to finance the build he was formulating in his mind. Then the interior was completely stripped and the fenders and hood were removed and sold. With the truck stripped down to the rolling chassis, and Lightner now with money in his pocket from the parts he sold, he began turning his dream into diesel reality. If you think Lightner is lucky now, keep reading.
Heart Transplant
The heart of the build is a 5.9L Cummins 12-valve from Beck Racing Engines. "I've known Frank Beck for about twenty years now," Lightner casually mentioned, "and he really helped me out with this engine." Beck Racing engines bored and sleeved the block and balanced the Mahle 16:1 compression pistons and the stock rods and crank to within one tenth of a gram to allow Lightner to reliably spin the engine to 4,800 rpm. To breathe at that engine speed the head was ported, O-ringed, and fitted with stiffer valve springs by Ken Diaz at Turbo Auto Diesel. A set of ARP head studs was used to keep the head securely affixed to the block, even under triple-digit boost pressures.
Boost comes from combined B1 and B2 turbos from Turbo Auto Diesel. Since the truck was built to compete on the dragstrip, the intercooler was deleted in an effort to reduce weight and make the intake plumbing as short as possible for quick spooling. To keep the exhaust gas temperatures reasonable, a Snow Performance system injects water-methanol through three 625-milliliter-per-minute jets. Three stages of nitrous oxide from NOS are also injected into the engine. The first stage spools the turbos with a 0.040-inch jet, and the second and third stages provide additional oxygen to the engine and cool the intake charge. The second stage uses an 0.125-inch jet and comes on when the throttle position sensor indicates Lightner's foot is on the floor. The third stage uses a 0.090-inch jet that is engaged by a timer three seconds into the quarter-mile run.
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