The Little Space Can Make A Big Difference

Some customers will come to us and ask, “why do I need a new intake manifold on my ISX? Isn’t stock good enough?” The short answer is, yes, the stock intake manifold is perfectly adequate… If you’re looking for stock performance! At Pittsburgh power, we offer the FullTilt manifold for ISX that will fit the 2011 to 2019 models, but what’s the big difference, I hear you say? The difference is in the way the manifold is manufactured. I did not believe the differences until we had a side-by-side comparison come into the shop.

A customer had just removed his stock manifold and brought it in for us to inspect. While inspecting the intake, we brought a FullTilt manifold out of curiosity and took a couple of pictures for reference. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and in this case, I believe that to be true. Simply by looking at them side by side, you can see a substantial difference in the manifold porting, almost half an inch. Not only is there now a difference in the amount of air reaching the cylinders but there are also additional measures taken by FullTilt to make sure that all cylinders get an equal amount of air as well as increase the velocity of that air. When being compared, you can distinctly see that the stock manifold is designed in such a way that lowers the efficiency of the engine. It is designed to make the airflow travel to the back of the manifold and return to reach the front two cylinders. Full Tilt has rectified this by adding an internal fin that reflows the air to reach all of the cylinders equally. With this design, FullTilt has increased efficiency by lowering restrictions and increasing the amount of clean air reaching the engine. During dyno testing has shown a reduction in emissions and potential increases in mileage and horsepower.

SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED

Please be careful when rebuilding or purchasing parts for the older Big Cam Cummins Engines; you must know the CPL (Control Parts List). There are seven different versions of the Big Cam engine, and many of the parts are NOT interchangeable. We are receiving many phone calls from owner operators that were trying to build one of these engines and have been given false information from someone who thought all Big Cams were the same. The oldest five employees at Pittsburgh Power have 158 years of experience with this engine, and we have many of the parts in stock. You can save yourself thousands of dollars of lost revenue if you call Pete, Brian, or Bruce before building one o these engines. There are many compression ratio pistons, different camshafts, injectors, fuel pump settings, the timing of the injectors, ceramic and Teflon coated pistons, and turbochargers available, and all must match to build a great running, smoke-free, and fuel-efficient engine.

Our average build is 550 to 600 horsepower; however, more horsepower is available; you, the operator, must be considerate of the aluminum pistons. For racing or sled pulling, 1000 or more horsepower is available.

Written by: Jordan Greathouse & Bruce Mallinson, Pittsburgh Power, 3600 South Noah Dr. Saxonburg, PA 16056 Phone (724) 360-4080