BY MIKE MCGLOTHLIN
Pushing the limits of a stock engine is what diesel performance is all about. Unfortunately, some of us find out sooner rather than later exactly how much abuse a factory rotating assembly can handle. With a set of big hybrid injectors and an S369 SX-E bearing down on it, the 190,000-mile, stock, bottom-end 7.3L Power Stroke in David Keyser’s ‘97 F-250 decided it’d had enough just eight minutes after being started. But instead of throwing in the towel, David decided to pull the engine, overbuild it, and enjoy his horsepower upgrades reliably.