i was just wondering how much it would cost to get head work done on a 24v? i dunno if i want to make my truck that hot or not. ( well of course i want to, just dont have the 'funds' at the moment) What would it cost to do head work to run about 60 psi max?

 

nobody??

 

No one in 5 short hours? You gotta give us a chance to see the post!

Well, the advantage of porting and polishing is to improve airflow (you'll actually see less boost). Improving airflow allows you to run less EGT for a given amount of fuel. The amount of boost that you see is actually a measurement of how much restriction is present between the turbo and intake valve. How much boost it can handle isn't related to how much the head is ported.

There are a few different retailers that can port your stock 24v head. Piers, Schieds, Haisley and DonM are a few that come to mind. On a direct comparison with the same turbos, fuel pump and injectors, Piers head work produced ~5psi more restriction than DonM's. This indicated to me that Don's head flowed a little more than Piers. The EGT's were roughly 20F less with Don's head, but that could just be the differences in gauges.

Unless you're going for the high HP records, I wouldn't consider 24v head work because of the costs involved (>$1000 for ~15-35HP). 12v is a different story.

bradnon.

 

sorry bout the re post. i wasent really looking into it for the horsepower, but just to keep the head on the block so i can pull over 50 psi of boost safer. Thanks again

 

OOOOH! You mean o-rings or fire-rings! And head studs! I gotcha now. When I think of head work, I think of porting. When I think of head fasteners, I think of improving the stock head gasket. I understand what you're asking now. Do a search for o-rings or fire rings on DTR using the google link at the bottom of this page. Notice how the Haisley name often comes up when mention of firerings is made because they introduced this process to the sled pulling community. Costs vary from $300 to $550 from what I've seen. The fire rings require a special gasket as opposed to a normal, off-the-shelf head gasket for orings.

Both require a super flat deck surface to work effectively. Measurements of up to .002" are generally agreed upon as allowable. Cummins recommends no more than .006" distortion for the stock 20psi of boost. Either option should be available to do on either the block or head. Most choose head since the block normally needs to be remvoed to preform the rings. I was very happy using orings in the head and ARP head studs at a max of 76psi for my daily driver. Using orings with stock head bolts was a different story.

brandon.

 

Brandon,

Are you saying the amount posted includes new studs or just the head work?

Regards,
Gene

 

yeah thats sounds like a good deal.... i was expectin a couple grand.

 

Like Brandon said, it's really not worth it for a 24V. To support the higher boost fire rings and studs are it. You would be in the $1000 range if you pull the head yourself.

When you get into new springs, keepers, valve job, port/polish, the cost goes up significantly. Figure at least $3000. A good port and polish job on a 24V could probably take 12+ hours. I don't know personally, but it would be a fair amount of work.

 

i wasent wanting anything more than to hold more boost. i wasent wanting horsepower from it. all i would do to my head was fire rings and studs.

 

I would still recommend having the head decked (levelled). or at least checked. The 24v heads on the CTD are somewhat notorious for being less than level. Their ok for 22 psi stock boost but not for much more. I have heard of new heads ordered from Dodge/Cummins that were .012-.017" out from perfectly level.

RJ

 

well i ment that i would install studs and fire rings with all of the nesessary prep work to make my time worth while.

 

Around what kind of boost will the stock gasket hold with studs?

Eric

 

Just the machine work for the o-rings or fire rings, excluding the new headgasket. The studs are an extra $4-450.

Tim's holding 65+ psi on ARP studs. It just depends how lucky you feel and if you're running any power adders besides #2 diesel (nitrous or meth). Both of those will kill a headgasket faster since they 'hit' hard and raise cylinder pressure much harder than just boost coming on gently.

brandon.

 

I ran 60+ for about 6 months before my HG let go. When it does blow under boost it makes a huge mess.

I choose to run Haisely studs and fire rings. I think I am into my setup about $1200, thats with me doing all the labor.

If you are planning on running right at 50, I would just replace the head bolts one at a time with studs. That way you do not have to remove the head.

Brandon is dead on about injected stuff...

I saw a HG blow at only 35 psi on the dyno. The truck was running a comp stacked with a super chips tuner. It would pop and crackle and blow white smoke. It had way too much timing. (Increased cylinder pressure)


Justin