HUMMIN' CUMMINS

A 1,000-HP DIESEL IN A MILITARY WRAPPER

- JASON SANDS

Steve Ortner, of Belleville, Michigan always wanted a Hummer. When he did finally get the chance to buy a ‘94 Civilian-spec Hummer H1 he was quite overjoyed. But, there was a problem. “The Hummer had a naturally-aspirated 6.2L engine in it, and it was so, so slow.” says Steve. “There were times on hills you didn’t think it would make it up to the speed limit!” laughs Steve. For sure he had the vehicle he’d always wanted, but it was powered by the wrong engine.

Performing a Cummins swap is hard enough, but Steve went the extra mile and built his 5.9L 12-valve for monster power. The engine makes an estimated 1,000 hp and 1,700 lb-ft of torque through a GM 4L80E to the Hummer’s all-wheel-drive system.

12V TRANSPLANT

“I’d always liked stuff with power and reliability, so the 5.9L 12-valve Cummins was an obvious choice,” says Steve. After acquiring an engine from a Fed-Ex truck, he was off to the races. Since Steve knew he wanted a lot of power, he started with the engine block and worked his way up. The Cummins block was fitted with 14mm ARP main studs and a girdle that is based on a Industrial Injection Gorilla Girdle but was modified at Steve’s machine shop, Mountain Machine. He kept the factory crank, but added connecting rods from Wagler Competition Products, along with Diamond pistons. A 188/220 camshaft from Hamilton Cams was added, and the block was machined to accept 14mm head studs. After the bottom end was assembled, Steve opened up the Hamilton Cams catalog again for one of their Street heads, along with a valve spring package, and pushrods.

COMPOUNDS