Rutherford & Co. Integrating People, Process & Technology

What do you think is the most important part of your truck, or any vehicle for that matter? To me it's the engine.  I can live with other minor problems of an older vehicle.  However, the engine must run strong, smooth, pull like a bear, and be reliable. I don't care how old my vehicles are, but they must be in great shape.With this thought in mind, many of you have called our shop after reading last month's article about the glider kits we are building with Fitzgerald Truck Sales out of Crossville, TN.  That article was written about the Signature Detroit engine we are building UP TO 850 hp. REMEMBER: YOU decide how much power you want and we will build it. The article also talked about the Freightliners with Detroits, but you Peterbilt/Cat owner-operators wanted to know why we are only doing Detroits in Freightliners.  Well, we will also build Signature Caterpillar and Cummins Engines, and YES!, we can build a Peterbilt Glider Kit. It is much easier and more economical to build the Peterbilt with a Caterpillar, ISX, or N-14 Cummins engine because the wiring harness is available. However, if you really want a Peterbilt with a DD4, we are willing to work around the wiring harness issue...

THE SIGNATURE CATERPILAR ENGINE for the Kevin Rutherford Signature Series Trucks:

The following is a list of everything we do to build a Signature Caterpillar Engine, and YES!, we can build one for your truck:  YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUY A NEW GLIDER KIT TO GET THE ENGINE.  Horsepower from 550 to 850, and you'd better have a good reason if you want me to build less than 550 hp!

The first step in building the Signature Engine is to inspect the parts as the engine is disassembled and cleaned.  Then it's off to the machine shop.  The crankshaft is then straightened.  That's right!  Most all cranks with miles on them are bent as much as .025".  So, after it's straightened, it's magnafluxed (checked for cracks), and then polished. The block is hot-tanked overnight to remove all of the dirt, paint, and oil. Then it's magnafluxed to check for cracks.  The main bearing caps are fitted to the block to make sure they are tight, then torqued and the line bore is honed to make sure it's straight.  The line bore is the cavity that holds the main bearings and the crankshaft. Then the engine block is resurfaced, with the upper counter bores "miked" and cut to obtain 0.006-0.007" liner protrusion. Liner protrusion is the amount the edge of the cylinder or liner sits above the block surface.  Too low of a liner protrusion and the engine will keep blowing head gaskets.  These procedures render the block BETTER THAN NEW because all of the warpage is out of the block casting.  The connecting rods are also magnafluxed and honed on the crankshaft end to make it perfectly round again. Did you know that connecting rods start to "egg-shape" around 300,000 miles, so when they have 700,000 miles or more on them, they really need to be reconditioned?  A new brass bushing is pressed into the wrist pin bore, and then honed to fit the piston pin.  Now it's time to weigh the six connecting rods on a shadow scale to make sure all of the rods are the same weight.  We have found six rods out of the same engine weighing as much as 110 grams (1/4lb.) from the lightest to the heaviest!  That is ridiculous!  The engine NEVER should have been built that way from the factory!  We get the rods within 10 grams of each other so the engine will run smoother. This process is called "balancing the rods."  Now it's time to ceramic-coat the piston domes and Teflon-coat the piston skirts.  The ceramic and Teflon coatings reduce the internal friction of the engine by 15 horsepower, which means your engine will have 15 additional hp over a stock engine, which becomes fuel mileage and engine life. A stock engine loses 75 hp due to internal friction, so we decrease that to a 60-hp. loss by coating the pistons and skirts.  The engine also runs quieter with the coated pistons.

Camshafts:  There are TWO camshafts available and the amount of horsepower we are building determines which camshaft we use and what flow we use for the injectors.  Please keep in mind that if you choose the higher horsepower camshaft AND the largest injectors, you MAY, at times, have more horsepower than you want.  We prefer to stay with the stock cam and injectors and make the additional horsepower with the Pittsburgh Power Cat Box.  That way, you have 7 power levels to choose from.

There is also a Competition Pittsburgh Power Cat Box and it will add an additional 300 hp.  A stock 550 Cat will produce up to 850 hp. with the competition box.  If you're a drag racer or sled puller, then you just might want all of the high performance parts available.  However, you WILL be over 1000 hp.

The ECM of our Signature engines is free of all of the garbage that comes with new engines and we give you plenty of RPM to use.New silicone-filled crankshaft dampers MADE IN THE USA are installed on every engine along with our Mercury-Filled Engine Balancer.  Caterpillar gets their dampers form China and India because they are cheaper.  This engine will run smooth, pull like a bear, and obtain great fuel mileage!Now for the exhaust system:  We use a ported and Jet Hot coated,40%-larger-than-a stock manifold and it WON'T burn out! This manifold will run 125 degrees cooler on the exhaust side and give the truck an additional0.25 mpg.  The horsepower and altitude where this engine will be running will determine the turbocharger.  Most of the Signature Engines will have the Holset Turbocharger with the polished compressor wheel. This wheel adds 2 to 3 psi of turbo boost over a stock wheel. Every pound of turbo boost we can add will drop the exhaust temperature by 25 degrees, so the polished wheel and the ported exhaust manifold will lower the EGT by about 200 degrees.  All of the Kevin Rutherford Signature Series glider kits built will have our mufflers on them, which allow the engine to breathe.  These mufflers also reduce soot and iron content in the oil by eliminating backpressure.

The FASS Fuel System will also be installed on every truck to eliminate the air present in diesel fuel.  This alone gains the engine 30 hp., a more consistent pull, and a smoother running engine.  Can you see why this engine will obtain better fuel mileage with all of the items we are installing that will allow this engine to run free?Now for the oil:  An OPS-1 bypass oil cleaning system will also be included. By keeping the oil clean, you will have less wear particles in the oil and the engine will run longer between rebuilds. You may never wear out this engine!

We will be writing more next month about the Kevin Rutherford Signature Series Trucks being built by Fitzgerald Truck Sales, Freightliners and Peterbilts, built the way you want YOUR truck to be! If you so desire, we'll even add the chrome, lights, and stainless! Guess what?!  This truck will even be less money than a standard 2009 from the factory that won't perform!  It's your choice:  Have it YOUR way or THEIR way.

Written by Bruce Mallinson, Pittsburgh Power, Inc., 3600 S. Noah Dr., Saxonburg, Pa. 16056.

Phone 724-360-4080. Email: bruce@pittsburghpower.com or jerryray@pittsburghpower.com