A 500-Horsepower Grocery Getter?

How many vehicles do you need if you want a daily driver, tow rig, drag racer, off-roader and something to get you and seven others back and forth across the country time and time again? If you’re Nick Blendow, you only need one. Blendow’s 2004 Ford Excursion, motivated by a 6.0L Power Stroke, has proven itself a capable Jack-of-all-trades, which was exactly how he planned it. But how did this 20-year-old diesel mechanic and Alamo, California, native get his Excursion project started?

The Blendow family picked up the Excursion new off the lot with only 10 miles on the clock back in 2004. It served the family well for years in stock form, hauling the family around as a daily driver, across the country for road trips and regularly towing an 11,000-pound work trailer. Then, in 2010, Nick bought it from his parents to use as his daily driver and race truck. With some basic but solid upgrades (an upgraded turbo and performance tuning) he raced the truck in many diesel events across the country in Arizona, California, Oregon and Tennessee. They also drove the truck across the country to attend the Riffraff East diesel event three times over the years, including the most recent event when we caught up to it with our cameras.

After years of driving the truck pretty much stock, Blendow decided to go all out with some serious upgrades before hitting the 2013 Riffraff East event in Newport, Tennessee. The problem was that he only had three weeks to get it done and make sure it was solid enough to drive from California to Tennessee and back without any issues. For the next three weeks, the Excursion would undergo an aggressive facelift paired with some serious engine mods. Blendow, with help from his dad Bob Blendow and friends Nik Becker and Randy Rex, would tackle the ambitious project themselves.

To start the job, they pulled off the front clip of the Excursion to pull the engine and begin breaking it down. Blendow pulled the heads and swapped out the head gaskets, then built the top end with ARP head studs, Smith Brothers push rods, and Elite stage-1 valve springs. To continue the engine upgrades, they installed Full Force diesel 190-cc injectors with 75% over nozzles to deliver plenty of fuel to the engine. To get the #2 to the injectors, Blendow relies on an AirDog II 165 fuel pump and filter system feeding into a Sinister Diesel regulated return set at 65 psi to increase fuel flow and efficiency.

With fuel flow taken care of, next was time to focus on the other important aspect of the diesel engine… airflow. Outside air is channeled through an S&B cold air intake then handed off to the turbo. To compress the air and force it into the engine, he opted for a Garrett Powermax turbo with a Riffraff Diesel billet compressor wheel that feeds the intake charge into a Mishimoto aluminum intercooler. After the intake charge is cooled, it’s directed into the engine through an S&B intake elbow and a Diesel Dr.’s ported intake manifold to distribute the high-pressure charge into the heads. Spent gasses are expelled through an MBRP 5-inch exhaust system culminating in a 6-inch black tip that exits the Excursion in the stock location.

To further refine and control the 6.0L Power Stroke engine, Blendow outfitted the ECU with an SCT X3 downloader, Innovative Diesel FICM tuner and a Bullet Proof Diesel FICM 58-volt system. The engine is topped off with a set of Riffraff’s intercooler boots and a Bullet Proof billet water pump. He employed a Sinister Diesel coolant filter to further enhance the cooling system.

Once the finely tuned and highly bolstered engine was bolted back into place between the frame rails, Blendow still had more work ahead to make his daily driver merge with his dream. The original front clip was the first to go in favor of a complete 2007 front end consisting of the more aggressive looking bumper, grille and headlights. Then he installed new side mirrors from a 2008 Ford Super Duty along with Recon smoked lenses for the integrated running lights/turn signals. Blendow also updated the rear with a King Ranch bumper from an ’08 painted to match the rest of the well-maintained mineral gray paint job.

Moving to the interior of the big SUV, Blendow installed a trio of ISSPRO Performax gauges in an overhead pod near the rear view mirror to monitor the engine’s boost, EGT and fuel pressure. He also has access to almost every other engine data measurement through the touchscreen display of the SCT Livewire TS mounted to the windshield above the factory instrument cluster. While the factory beige leather interior is plenty comfortable, to make long road trips even more comfortable he installed Kenwood three-way speakers in the factory speaker locations throughout the rig. Rear seat passengers can also enjoy the factory DVD player and integrated LCD monitor.

The next logical step for the ultimate machine was the chassis and suspension, which would have to be upgraded to trek off-road trails and ride the streets with equal ferocity. Bilstein shocks were installed to tame both the front and rear axles. They also installed new Riffraff Diesel cast aluminum differential covers on both the front and rear differentials. To further improve handling, Blendow installed Hellwig sway bars and One Up Offroad adjustable short gusset traction bars. The build team also installed a Redhead Steering Gears steering box to take the slop out of the factory unit and keep the big SUV pointed straight down the road.

Keeping the SUV’s work and towing capability in mind, Blendow installed Firestone air bags in the rear for load leveling as well as an Eckhart Expert series hitch rated at 20,000 pounds. To help his stock rotors slow the beast, he installed EBC Green Stuff brake pads. With more power, better braking and tighter suspension, Blendow needed to improve the contact surface to complete the transformation. He did it by installing a set of 20×10-inch BMF Novakane wheels wrapped in massive 305/50R20 Nitto NT420S tires. The combination would definitely do the job of holding to whatever surface he sought out.

With its three-week overhaul at a close, the Excursion was reborn—and born to drive! Immediately after the remodel, Blendow successfully drove his Excursion across the country for the Riffraff East event. While at the event he ran it on the No Limit Tuning & Design chassis dyno and put down 523 horse-power and 1,100 lb/ft of torque! Not bad at all for a 6.0L Power Stroke. He also enters the rig in most of the NHRDA drag races around the West Coast, running a best 1/4-mile pass of 13.1 seconds at 101 mph, not bad at all for a rig that weighs nearly 10,000 pounds. He also regularly enters Norcal Black Smoke sled pull events.

Drag racing, trailer pulling, off-roading and daily driving—this Excursion does it all and still gets 23 mpg on the highway! Blendow set out with a purpose, to transform his daily driving work truck into a refined, aggressive super-truck able to take him anywhere and everywhere he could think of with all the family, friends and luggage needed. Three short weeks later, mission accomplished! UDBG

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