Hi guys I am a new diesel owner or so to be diesel and I am looking at a 1990 ford f250 7.3 and was wondering if I can get some advice on that truck.

 

What advice are you looking for...?

 

How hard is it to to upgrade the engine and what upgrades I can do to that engine

 

That's a very open-ended question. I'll do my best.

You can upgrade your air filter for $30 and a trip to NAPA.

You can upgrade your entire engine to an International DT466 for $10-15,000 and several hundred hours of labor.

Seriously though, it's an impossible question to answer as you've posed it. What exactly are you wanting to accomplish? Do you want to "upgrade" the engine in the sense of putting a new one in there? Or "upgrade" it in the sense of beefing up the one currently in there?

You can "upgrade" just about anything you want. All it takes is money.

How hard is it? Well, how good of a mechanic are you? Are you going to do the work yourself, or farm it out? Are you going to do all the work with a hammer and a screwdriver in the back 40, or are you going to do it in a professionally set up shop with a lift, a comprehensive set of tools, etc?

 

What are your intentions with the truck? Towing? Hauling scrap? Daily driver? Mud truck? Show truck?

What are the trucks current features? Auto vs. Standard, 4x4, turbo vs. Non-turbo etc..

What do you want? More power? More comfort? More environmentally friendly?

Help us help you.

 

Here what I done to my 90 so far. Turbo, 4 in exhaust, 3 intake, led light, new radio with back up camera, wheel covers. Yet to be done heated ultraleather seats, two tone paint, new trailer brake controller, new Class V hitch. But that what I have are want to do to mine. Yours will be totally different.

 

Exactly.

Can you make power with an IDI? Sure. Can you make it reliable? Sure. Can you do all manner of things from mild to a custom built 400+HP IDI? Sure.
It all depends on how much time and money you want to invest, and what you want out of it.

 

Right now it is a standard non turbo 4x4 and I would like to completely restore and add power to the current engine and keep it originally as much as possible and I will be also being doing some towing with it

 

Alright, the most effective way to get power is to turbocharge the truck. Kits can be found on ebay for cheap, or you can find one in a junkyard.

The next most effective is a fresh injection pump and injectors. Most people here would suggest R&D performance parts R&D IDI Performance - Home.

What do you mean by original? Do you want to keep it NA? Don't expect much gains in that case. About the only thing that can be done is Injection pump and exhaust.

I would also recommend a pyrometer. I think that should be the first upgrade on any diesel. More people with more experience should be around to help answer.

 

Ok thanks and can through a new chip in it to help?

 

No spot for a chip on these old rigs. You can turn the pump up and adjust the timg, but then you're REALLY going to want a pyrometer to monitor exhaust temps.

 

That the great thing about these trucks tuning is done with a 5/32 Allen wrench. Unless it is an auto no such thing as a computer. The are all mechanical. I would not mess with fuel unless as mentioned you get a pryrometer. Read all the stickies great info in them.