Video of “Big” Mike Harrah’s 24V71 Detroit Diesel engine has been making the internet rounds for the last several months. The gargantuan engine is going to be stuffed into a modified Peterbuilt truck and it certainly looks all kinds of bad ass running on the test stand and dyno. As cool as those videos are, this photo gallery showing the engine, construction of the big manifold on top of it, and the work being done on the Peterbuilt it is destined for is true behind the scenes stuff.
Doing some forensic photo viewing, it seems that the gaggle of blowers mounted high atop the engine are all there for show and don’t actually move any air. The reason we say that goes back to the big manifold they are all mounted on. Those holes cut for the belts to pass through (the rear blowers are turned with a jackshaft) may be slightly leaky with respect to boost. Looking again, you’ll say that the belts are in their own bulkhead, separate from where the blower would discharge. We get that, but there are also “windows” at the base of those bulkheads that would cause the big boost leaks.
The engine will still make incredible power and torque like a cruise ship, so we’re not trying to put it down at all, just pointing out something we saw that is definitely relevant to you gearhead BangShifty readers.
Ironically, there was another engine that struck us as even cooler than the on in the videos. That 24V71 sports a bunch of turbos! Now that’s the one we would stuff into the big ‘Pete! Both of these engines apparently came out of a huge yacht.
Hit the link below to see the photos. These truly are neat engines and that Peterbuilt is going to be one crazy machine.
Huge Diesel Photo Link: “Big Mike” Harrah’s 24V71 Detroit Diesel
