This is a highly-modified Cummins 5.9 liter turbodiesel engine that has been rebuilt with an Industrial Injection PhatShaft modified BorgWarner turbocharger, a custom-ground camshaft, and a slew of other modifications to boost its power significantly over stock configuration.
Cummins B-Series Engines
Known as the Cummins B-series, the six-cylinder Cummins 5.9 debuted in 1984 and was first used in Dodge Pickups in 1989 – this was arguably its most famous application.
This Cummins 5.9 liter was rebuilt by the team at Simplex Machine in Providence, Rhode Island.
The B-series engines would remain in production from their inception to the modern day with regular updates over time to upgrade them, increase their fuel economy, and improve its power output and emissions.
Both inline-four and inline-six versions were made, the latter inline-sixes remain by far the most common and they’ve been used for everything from powering double decker London busses to American school busses, as well as the ever popular Dodge Pickup.
When it was first released in inline-six cylinder form in 1989, the Cummins 5.9 liter was producing 160 bhp at 2,500 rpm with 400 lb ft of torque at 1,600 rpm.
Over the course of its production run the engine family would be built in 12 valve and later in 24 valve form, and the displacement increased from 5.9 liters to 6.7 liters in 2007.
This custom-made engine stand has a steering system up front and a removable handle allowing it to be easily repositioned when needed.
Later versions of the engine would produce as much as 385 bhp and 865 lb ft of torque direct from the factory. A thriving aftermarket industry has grown around the B-series and it’s now possible to rebuild them and vastly improve power output – including on those earlier engines.
The Modified Cummins 5.9 Liter Shown Here
The engine you see here is an earlier 12 valve version that’s believed to have been built between 1994 and 1998.
More recently it was sent off to Simplex Machine in Providence, Rhode Island for a complete rebuild to better-than-new specification.
The engine now has an O-ringed cylinder head, a custom-ground camshaft, Hamilton valve springs, ARP cylinder head studs, a Seth Farrell 13mm injection pump, and 5x.020 fuel injectors.
This is accompanied by an Industrial Injection PhatShaft modified BorgWarner turbocharger, a Horschel Motorsports viscous harmonic damper, an electric water pump, a Fleece braided coolant bypass line, a power steering pump, an oil pressure gauge, and a Woodward solenoid.
The engine is now being offered for sale in running condition on a custom-built engine trolley. It’s being sold out of Seekonk, Massachusetts on Bring a Trailer and you can visit the listing here if you’d like to read more about it or place a bid.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
