Questions on a project

New to the forum, I need information from people who are in the know about what engine and transmission combinations to stay away from and what to look out for in an engine when in use. It's going to be a private vehicle, a mid-engine car-style rig, I know this isn't the best place for this topic but seeing as how I'm planning to use equipment out of a class 8 truck it'd be as good a place as any. The engine I'm thinking of is a CAT c13, was originally looking at a 3406 but with it being ~6,000 pounds dry that would not be a good option because of its weight and size. Next option I looked at was a c15 but given the overall size and weight differences between the c13 and c15 and them being within a couple hundred horsepower and torque of each other as rated on the CAT website I decided on the c13, it's still going to be one big ol ####er of an engine for something like this and put out plenty of power. I'm not too familiar with manuals in this class, I figure a bog standard Eaton transmission, either a six speed or a ten speed, haven't decided on that yet, nor the rear end, although I have considered doing something custom such as independent front and rear suspension using one ton truck components and lighter. Anyway, is there anything major to worry about with the c13? Are the issues, presupposing there are any, associated with emissions? If so I'll look for an engine from before the EPA mandated there be emissions equipment on equipment. Is there any way to increase the power output of these engines? Being a new driver for a large carrier I've only had experiences with Detroit and even briefer experiences with Cummins so I'm wholly unfamiliar with CAT. Thanks in advance for the info.

 

My end goal is a show rig and something built for speed, or at least however much speed can be had with this kind of setup while still being safe. I currently have my eye on a 2006 single turbo c13 with "zero hours, zero miles" on it for $22,000. The quotes are because I don't know how true this is and I don't know how honest the seller is, not a mark against them, I just haven't dealt with them before so I don't know. It does, however, look to include the front accessories and a mess of wiring and plumbing so I'm going to assume it's pretty much a complete engine. As for transmission and rear end I do understand that the gearing and number of gears depends largely on anticipated top speed, tire size, vehicle weight, and rpm range of the engine, half of which I know and half of which I can pretty well guestimate. As for transmissions, is there a noticeable benefit of a Road Ranger style of transmission in the EF family over a non-Road Ranger transmission? Is the change between the high and low range in the gearing done by mechanical linkage in the shifter or by electrical input or air via the selector on the knob?

 

That's good to know on both aspects. The ratios in a ten speed from what I seen on Eatons website would be insane for an application like this and so I'm going to go with a six speed because of the better ratios, from what I know of how transmissions and clutches are rated it's for a given lb-ft amount at a certain weight, for example a tr-6060 in a fifth generation Chevy Camaro SS would be rated for ~430 horsepower at ~4,000 pounds gvw. I'd have to do more research into the specifics of the rating on their website before I put down the money on it, if I couldn't end up fudging the rating in my favor I think I'd have to go with the ten speed for the strength and compensate for the less than ideal ratios in the axle gears

 

I guess the hard part in that situation would be finding a center section, differential, and gear set that would best match what's needed in terms of gearing but in the end it's not like one more custom piece isn't going to keep this from being completed when seemingly the only things on this that aren't being used in a weird way would be the interior components, the fuel system, and the wiring