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We love when we get messages and comments on our social media pages from our audience telling us about a build they’re working on. The projects never cease to amaze us, and we recently got a note from Tanner Allison who hails from Iowa. Tanner has grown up around the farming industry, and thus, has a knack for diesel trucks and engines.
“I’ve always had an itch for the diesel engine being around it in farm equipment,” Allison told us via Instagram. “I bought my first diesel truck in high school at 17 years old. I’ve been hooked ever since. I’ve always had an enjoyment taking an engine apart and seeing how it works. I first started with taking 12v Cummins apart and making them go faster.”
That passion for diesel trucks and engines and Tanner’s need for speed has also lead him to want to compete at UCC someday. Tanner also favors the Ford Powerstroke platform over the Cummins or Duramax options, and wants to prove what the 6.7L Powerstroke can do.
“Today, I own a 2011 6.7L Powerstroke that has been through a few renditions,” he says. “I bought it back in 2021 and it was just tuned and deleted. I then slapped an S300 on it and drove that for a while. Then, I switched to a single S400, but didn’t like it. I ended up driving that around for a few months and then took the motor out.”
After debating what to do for a whole winter, in May 2023, Tanner decided to start a new engine build on the 6.7L Powerstroke. He started with a 2011 6.7L block and stock crank. Tanner added some Choate Engineering billet main caps and a girdle, as well as ARP main studs and head studs, Wagler Competition connecting rods, new aluminum pistons, a Fluidampr balancer, a Suncoast billet flexlate, H&S billet oil regulator, RCD billet oil pump gears, an RCD Stage 4 camshaft, RCD 110-lb. valve springs, RCD pushrods and lifters, new Inconel valves, factory rocker arms, and BD Diesel exhaust manifolds.
“The main caps and rod caps are both pinned so I don’t spin a bearing,” Allison told us. “The crank gear is welded and the crank was balanced. Plus, both the heads and the block are o-ringed.”
Additionally, Tanner says he got rid of the secondary cooling system, which means he took out the secondary radiator/factory trans cooler and factory fuel cooler and the factory intercooler. He now has one radiator for the primary system.
“With that being said, I had to come up with a way to cool everything and still make it work,” he says. “I replaced the fuel and trans cooler with Derale Performance coolers that are mounted in the bed. I also switched over to an air-to-air intercooler. These trucks run water-to-air intercoolers from the factory.”
For the turbo setup on his 6.7L Powerstroke, Tanner opted to go with a set of compounds. In the valley he has a PSR S488 and an On3Performance 107mm GT55 turbo.
“I had the pedestal from a previous turbo setup that got modified to fit the S400,” he says. “With it being a large frame S400 I made the entire piping kit and exhaust piping all on my own. For the On3Performance turbo, I made my own mounts to mount that turbo to the block. Between the chargers I am also running a PSR 45mm external wastegate that I have venting to the atmosphere in the fender.”
For the fuel side of things, Tanner took out all the factory fuel lines and fuel tank and mounted a 20-gallon fuel cell in the bed along with two FASS pumps.
“I am running dual fuelers on this engine with an H&S dual fuelers kit,” he says. “The FASS pumps are a FASS 240 feeding the CP4 and a FASS 290 feeding the CP3. The CP4 is an RCD 10.3mm 38% over stroker pump and the CP3 is an S&S 14mm high-speed 6.7L Cummins-based pump. The injectors are S&S 150% overs.”
Tanner’s Powerstroke engine is mated to a built-up 6R140 transmission, which has a quad-disc Goerend converter. He’s done this entire build over the course of the last year without the help of sponsors, and is proud of the work he’s done and what the build has become.
“My end goal is to beat the 6.7L horsepower record that is currently set, which is 1,819 horsepower on a chassis dyno,” Allison says.
Diesel of the Week is sponsored by AMSOIL. If you have an engine you’d like to highlight in this series, please email Engine Builder Editor Greg Jones at [email protected].
