GOLD DIGGER

of compound turbos in a system he pieced together himself. The two-stage arrangement consists of a T6 flange Forced Inductions S488 SX-E atmospheric charger and a box Borgwarner S472 SX-E in the valley. Under full load, it takes a 100psi gauge to keep track of how much boost this duo brings to the table.

Competition-ready 7.3L

Surviving near-triple-digit boost meant the engine had to be built—and built right. For this, Hoover enlisted the help of nearby Crutchfield Machine, which handled all machine work performed on the block and heads. From the bottom up, the engine employs a Carson Stauffer girdle and ARP main studs, a partial block fill, Carrillo rods, cut and coated Mahle pistons, a Gearhead Automotive Performance Stage 2 cam, and a set of ported and polished heads. To keep the head gaskets alive at more than 80 psi of boost, both the block and heads were cut to accept fire rings, with ARP studs being used to clamp the high-flow heads to the block.

Fuel & Oil Demand

No stranger to the fact that it takes a sizeable injector to make big power in the 7.3L game, Hoover opted for a set of 450/400 hybrids from Full Force Diesel. With the potential to flow 450cc worth of fuel through a nozzle that measures 400 percent larger than stock, the 450/400s are no joke, but they do require big oil. To make sure the injectors’ high-pressure oil demands were met, Hoover mounted a Next-gen high-pressure oil pump (a joint effort between he and Crutchfield Machine) over a Dieselsite Adrenaline. A custom dualfeed fuel supply system—built around the use of an Aeromotive Eliminator pump and a regulated return— guarantees a consistent 70 psi of fuel pressure is always on tap for the big hybrids to use.

Billet 4R100, Custom Tuning

To hold up to 1,500 lb-ft (or more) of torque and regular abuse at the drag strip, Hoover had local friend and transmission guru, Jared Chriscoe of Brueilly Auto Repair Center, build the truck’s 4R100. It sports billet input, intermediate and output shafts, Red Eagle clutches and a triple-disc converter from Atlantic Torque Converter, another Asheboro-based company. As for taming the 450/400s for street use, Hoover relies on PCM tuning from DP Tuner, while more aggressive files from Jelibuilt Performance are used at the track.

 After playing with fire for a few years—in the form of running compound turbos and a set of 350/200 hybrids on a stock forged-rod bottom end—chris Hoover pulled out all the stops with the 7.3L Power Stroke that currently powers his late ’99 F-250....

 A Forced Inductions S488 SX-E serves as the atmosphere unit in Hoover’s compound turbo configuration. The setup forgoes the use of an air-to-air intercooler, as Hoover is in the process of adding a water-to-air unit. Providing a 200 to 400-degree...

 With a hungry set of Full Force Diesel 450/400 hybrid injectors to feed, Hoover went to great lengths to make sure the high-pressure oil side of the equation was never an issue. In conjunction with a Dieselsite Adrenaline (in the factory location), a...

 The 72mm, T4-flanged Borgwarner S472 SX-E is known as a fairly large turbo in the 7.3L segment, but Hoover uses one as the high-pressure charger in his compound arrangement. Nestled snugly beneath the cowl and at the back of the lifter valley, it...