Diesel of the Week is presented by
At the 2023 PRI Show, we always make an effort to swing by the Wagler Competition Products booth and visit with owner Jeremy Wagler. We do that for two reasons – one, We like talking to Jeremy and catching up on his newest developments, and two, we like seeing those newest developments and getting the full details.
At this past year’s PRI, Jeremy brought with him two billet engines that truly impressed. One was the new billet Duramax drag-and-drive engine that we previously featured, and the other was a diesel engine Jeremy calls the Wagler CX – an all-billet 6.7L Cummins-based engine for drag racing and sled pulling applications. Jeremy was kind enough to walk us through the development of the CX and what customers can expect from it.
“We just call it the Wagler CX billet engine,” Wagler says. “Basically, it’s a replica of a Cummins engine, but just built completely different. We tried to make sure for all the rules, we have to keep the same crank center line, the cam center line, and the bore spacing all the same as factory, but everything else has changed.
“Starting from the top, the cylinder head, you can put the cylinder head right onto a Cummins engine. It’s billet aluminum and still takes the factory-style rocker arms, the pushrods, everything on that part is the same. The block can be made in two different deck heights, but the sleeves have a larger diameter and they interlock into each other. You can pull them out and replace them at the track if you’d like to or if you have an issue.
“The engine also has Jesel roller lifters in it, Manton pushrods, Manton rockers, and a COMP Cams camshaft. Again, the center line from the crank to the cam has to stay in the factory location to meet a lot of the class rules. We can run a factory crankshaft as well, or a lot of guys run a Winberg billet crankshaft.
“The connecting rods we make both 1” over or standard length, and then pair them with Ross pistons and Trend pins. Everything will fit a factory block, but this one’s just built completely different with the mono block. Basically, the sleeves fit in a section. The center section houses the upper bore of the crankshaft, the camshaft, and then it has a bedplate instead of individual main caps that can walk around under a lot of load. We make a bedplate that locks in and make it out of a special aluminum.”
According to Wagler, it’s all very lightweight and takes on average about 100 hours of machine time to create. While there’s a lot of goodies inside this Wagler CX, the quality components don’t stop there.
“We made it to where you can run three pumps if you need to, but most guys running in drag racing use two 14mm pumps,” Wagler notes. “We have a gear drive, which we run a Peterson oil pump off the backside of it, so everything’s run off a gear drive, so no belts or anything.
“One thing we’ve changed was the aluminum oil pan. We were seeing a lot of warpage and stuff with the pans, so we came out with a billet pan and put the scavenge lines in the bottom. This combination has been working and making power and holding together.”
Helping the Wagler CX billet engine make some serious power are the various air and fuel combinations the shop can accommodate. The CX at PRI featured a Garrett-based turbo with a Stainless Diesel center section, which can help the engine reach 3,000 horsepower or more, depending on the application.
“They’ll perform just as well in pulling as what they do drag racing,” Wagler says of the CX. “These are all based for 3,000 horsepower. Most of the time in drag racing, they cannot get a vehicle to hook up beyond 3,000 horsepower. In the pulling world, they’re up closer to the 4,000-hp range.”
The CX has been in development for a while, so Jeremy was excited to get more of these engines out to customers for drag racing and pulling applications, and we can’t wait to see them in action as well.
Diesel of the Week is sponsored by AMSOIL. If you have an engine you’d like to highlight in this series, please email Engine Builder Editor Greg Jones at [email protected].
