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May 30, 2023

Turbocharged 7.3L Powerstroke Engine

Diesel of the Week is presented by Corey Hurtts’ journey in the diesel world started with a humble service truck powered by a 7.3L Powerstroke engine – little did he know this would be the spark that

Diesel of the Week is presented by

Corey Hurtts’ journey in the diesel world started with a humble service truck powered by a 7.3L Powerstroke engine – little did he know this would be the spark that ignited his passion for welding and fabrication. As he bought and worked on his own 7.3L truck later in life, Corey’s interest in diesel engines grew, and he eventually delved into manufacturing and building performance engines.

We met him this year at the 2023 Ultimate Callout Challenge as we were walking past his business tent, CNC Fabrication. They’ve become synonymous with producing top-quality components for diesel engines – their research and development has led to innovative products that have taken the diesel community by storm.

“We do our own 7.3L injectors,” Hurtts says. “We’ve been doing that for a couple of years now along with some other components: high-pressure oil pumps for the 6.0L and 7.3L platforms, fuel systems, fuel line kits, etc. We have an engine machine shop too, so we do all of our engine machining in-house.”

To show off their know-how, Hurtts and the team put together a competition truck to showcase some of their parts on. “It’s got one of our 4140 tool steel bed plates, Carrillo rods, 450/400 hybrid injectors, and a really huge cam that was in our pull truck before,” he says. “It’s also fire-ringed and delipped.

“We’re hoping to break that 1,000-hp mark, which is really hard to do. Powerstrokes are known for their airflow issues and whatnot, but with nitrous, it’s pretty easy to get well north of a 1,000. We should be able to get 800-900 hp pretty easily on fuel once we get it dialed in.”

Corey’s attention to detail is evident in every aspect of his build, including the fuel and turbo setup. The team did all of their own work when it came to the fuel system. It’s a valley mounted, four-line feed with a Fuelab Prodigy pump in the rear. Instead of feeding two lines like most HEUI setups and then two out the front of the heads, the team at CNC Fabrication fed all four corners to keep everything nice and evenly pressurized.

As for the turbocharger, the team went with a Harts Turbo X275 1.23A/R T6, known for its performance and reliability.

While the engine is still in the testing phase, Corey has ambitious plans for the future. He envisions the truck competing in the 6.70 class initially, with the possibility of eventually stepping up to the more competitive 5.90 class.

Diesel of the Week is sponsored by AMSOIL. If you have an engine you would like to highlight in this series, please email Engine Builder magazine’s Editor, Greg Jones at [email protected].