Diesel of the Week is presented by
We see it time and time again: when a guy grows up around a particular engine platform, they’re usually hooked on it for life. It seems this trend is particularly strong in the diesel world. The guys we talk to who swear by either Cummins, Duramax or Powerstroke are the real deal. We wouldn’t go as far as to call them “purists,” but they definitely have a lot of passion.
Eric McMichael is one of those guys who grew up watching his dad drive Ford trucks and then kept up Blue Oval legacy once he got older.
“I bought my first 6.0L about nine years ago to go dirt racing here and there and quickly realized that it was pretty competitive, and I really enjoyed it,” says Eric McMichael. “I was one of the first couple people at Rudy’s to go in the 9s with a stock engine. After that, I really wanted to see what it was capable of.”
Today, Eric owns his own business dealing with Powerstroke trucks every day – a shop called McMichael’s Diesel Performance. The Lancaster, PA-based shop is a fairly small operation with only three technicians and 3,200 sq.-ft. of space, but it’s made a name for itself in the Powerstroke community. The business doesn’t even have a website, but McMichael says he gets more than enough business from social media and word of mouth.
The shop gained popularity for its super-reliably built 5r110, e40d, and 4r100 transmissions, which Michael says stand up to some of the other great builders like Jesse Warren and Sam Wyse. His transmission work came about when he couldn’t find a reliable transmission builder for his own endeavors in his area.
“I’ve been influenced by and worked with Jesse [Warren] for the past couple years, and he’s really stepped up my builds, that’s where my new one started, McMichael says.”
McMichael’s Diesel Performance also does general repair work and custom tuning. The spotlight of Eric’s work shines brightly on his latest project – a 2004 F-250 equipped with a formidable compound-turbo 6.0L Powerstroke engine paired with an in-house built 5r110 transmission.
“There’s only a handful of people who can consistently get several years out of a 5r at 800+ horsepower,” he says. “It really comes down to Warren Diesel, a few other guys, and our shop. They hold up and I got it paired with a Warren engine to prove it.”
With a shorty chassis and a desire to compete in dirt races, Eric initially outfitted the truck with injectors and a turbo on a stock engine, but that wasn’t enough. The truck features a 6.0L Warren Diesel short block with Callies Ultra Assassin forged steel rods and stock pistons. A Stage 2 camshaft and Warren’s ported cylinder heads further enhance performance.
McMichael runs two sets of injectors for different scenarios – 430/150s for dirt racing and 500/400s for dyno pulls. Fuel delivery is managed by dual FAST 290 pumps, ensuring ample supply to the hungry engine.
The compound turbo setup consists of a Bullseye S467/1.10 in the valley and the fender charger is a Forced Inductions S494 105mm providing the airflow needed to achieve Eric’s horsepower goals.
“We were originally running a single charger, but it wasn’t quite cutting it, and the compound setup added around 200 horsepower,” he says. “The truck’s got dual Precision wastegates on it. Then, I also got dual high-pressure oil pumps on it with a mechanical IPR set up.”
McMichael also has two kits of nitrous and two lightning solenoids on board for an additional couple hundred horsepower or so, but he has yet to test the truck with any tunes. On fuel alone, the Powerstroke engine makes 1,200 horsepower.
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].
