This is the story of my year and one half battle.

Before I tell the story though, substantial thanks are in order. Below is a list of folks that helped me with this project substantially both physically and mentally:

- My wife Susan. You have the patience of a Saint.
- Braden and Tasha. You guys are gracious, helpful, and all around awesome people and I am proud to call you friends. Thanks for letting me do this at your place, the use of many of your tools, and your time and free meals! Braden did alot of the major moving parts mechanically and prevented me from cutting some corners I would have cut and also keeping me from obsessing and worrying about a few non-issues.
- Chris for helping on several occasions with harness transplants.
- Brandt for the trailer usage, wisdom on Ford Diesels, and welding a couple hard to get to places.
- Morgan for your wisdom and Ford Diesel experience at a critical decision point to keep or junk the existing engine and drivetrain.
- Allen for use of the lift, mechanic insight, and your shop. You and your family are awesome!
- My boys, Alex and Aric for not complaining too much and also all the time you put in at my request helping your dad out.
- Jody at DP Tuner for a few initial critical questions and Tony Wildman for my TS Chip Reburn w/ tunes and Clay at Riff Raff for many good parts. You guys all answered the mail and provided great products.

Now, on to the story, kids:

I entered into a contract with a jackwagon in Kentucky to build a custom 2000 Excursion for me in early 2014. I would blast him here but he is no longer in business and moved out of state to avoid the hammer of justice that I was poised to wield on his head because he defaulted on his contract with me and several others. I ended up going to retrieve what he had cobbled together after 4 or 5 failures to deliver as promised.

The black vehicle loosely described as a 2000 7.3l Ex that I ended up bringing back from Kentucky had no interior, was several body colors, missing a passenger door, would not start due to bad: starter, starter relay, alternator, battery cables and batteries. Additionally, the idiots that had been doing the work on my Ex had left both HPOP lines laying disconnected in the valley and the Riff Raff HPX Oil Crossover line plugged in where the HPOP lines should have plugged in to the oil galleys.

We didn't discover the disconnected HPOP lines and incorrectly installed Oil Crossover until we replaced the starter, starter relay, glow plugs, UVCHs, batteries, flashed the PCM to wipe out the PATS and wondered why the truck wouldn't start. The cranial lights went on when we saw there was 3 quarts of oil in the valley and quickly pooling under the truck.... Anyway, after connecting the HPOP and HPx line and then starting the truck, we ran through the gears and tested the 4x4 as best we could while on jack stands. At that point I made the decision to use the existing 7.3l 4x4 drive train/chassis and build a truck around it the way I wanted.

After flip flopping between rebuilding the existing cab or converting a 2000 Limited V-10 with good interior for a couple of months, I chose to buy a cheap 2000 Excursion Limited 4x4 V-10 and use the 7.3l 4x4 drivetrain and chassis from the Kayntuckee Kontraption and throw it under a good cab with good interior. The rest, they say, is history... See below.


2000 V-10 Limited 4x4 before Conversion.




7.3l after initial start prior to conversion.




Removing the incomplete cab in order to start cleanup of 7.3l chassis.




started to get nervous at this point.




Red-Neck Engineering off cab from the 7.3l chassis.




Was numb at that point.




Removed the engine.




Boxed in the frame with custom 3/16" steel brackets made from cardboard cutouts and welded most seams near all cross members for good measure.




Cleaned, sand-blasted, re-cleaned and painted frame with Silver rust proof paint and chassis black. This was most difficult part of whole process as it was blistering hot.




Re-welded brackets for front sway bar.




Front of chassis after paint, bilstein steering damper, and brake lines added.




We pieced together a used Banks 4" stainless Monster exhaust from a Crew Cab 7.3l from Truck Parts Unlimited.




Rebuilt the GTP38. Got rid of stock outlet with EBV, and the old, leaky pedestal with new pedestal with EBPV Delete.




Finished Chassis with Engine back at home.




Side view.




I rebuilt the turbo, put in Riff Raff Boots, upgraded to Stancor GPR




CCV mod started.




Taking the 7.3l Chassis to the Lift.




Setting the V-10 Cab on the 7.3l Chassis.




ditto.







Back from the cab transplant of the V-10 Cab on to the 7.3l Chassis.




Next, had to swap the dash and engine bay harness from the 7.3l truck into the V-10.




behind dash pic.




Had to remove Cover from V-10 Dash and put over 7.3l Ex Dash Harness.




V-10 and 7.3l Ex Dash guts side by side.




Dash Surgery putting the steering wheel from the V-10 dash into the 7.3l dash.




Almost done with dash re-install.




Next, installed 6.0l Intercooler, Radiator, and 6.0l Trans Cooler.




All the 6.0 Mods fit perfectly in the V-10 (now 7.3l) Radiator supports.




Next, installed new rotors and pads.




My bilsteins and 06 F250 Sway bar with the 2008 F250 Front Axle.




Mostly what the truck looks like now. I am not quite done with it. Will post pics after I put add-a-leafs in and install the nerf bars.

 

Wow, that is a lot of work... Thanks for sharing the pics.

 

Wow nice work , totally subscribing..

 

List of Mods to date:

EBP Sensor and EBP tube Delete
All EBPV Related Items Deleted including Outlet and Pedestal
Riff Raff Boots
Riff Raff Oil and Fuel Crossover
CCV Re-Route
Homemade 6637 Mod with Riff Raff Cover
Riff Raff Gen 2 Billet Wheel
Riff Raff Mechanical Boost Fooler
Stancor GPR Upgrade
AIH Delete with soon to be boost gauge
New Glow Plugs and UVCH
185A Alternator and new wiring
4" Turbo Back Banks Monster Exhaust from Crew Cab 7.3l
Upgraded style Dorman up-pipes coated and wrapped
2002 F250 (non-Cali) PCM w/TS 6 Pos. Chip with Wildman Tunes
2000 F250 7.3l Cali Engine
Jasper Rebuilt 4R100
2008 Front Axle with 2006 F250 Front Sway Bar (08 Links)
05-07 Rear Axle and Leafs
Harpoon and Hutch Mods
Pre-pump Fuel Filter/Separator
2012 17" Super Duty Wheels with Good Year Rubber
Stoptech Slotted rotors
2006 F250 Steering Gear Box (aftermarket) with 2008 F250 4x4 Pitman Arm.
Hellwig Excursion Rear Sway Bar
Add-A-Leafs
Super Duty Crew Cab Nerf Bars
6.0l Trans Cooler
6.0l Charge Air Cooler with Riff Raff Boots

Coming Mods:
20" summer wheels and 34" Dura Grapplers (Maybe)
Gauges

I am sure I forgot some mods. Will add later.

 

Looking great so far, no way in hell would I put that much effort into it... I'd go the lazy way and buy a 7.3 with rough interior, then swap all that stuff out.

My personal preference would be somewhat taller blocks out back over an AAL as they tend to sag the entire pack prematurely, but to each their own. Keep on truckin' sir

 

Krazee Matt... I would have preferred to have the guy deliver me the finished truck per the contract but it didn't work out that way so I was left with making the least crappy decision available. I picked up the Clean V-10 for only $4500 and have few regrets.

I am going to get long enough Ubolts so that if I need to eventually go to taller rear lift blocks I will not have to trash the new ubolts required for the add-a-leaf install.

Question for you, what is the best HP/Torque mod for your excursion that you have done aside from the injectors and 38R? The intent for mine is family cruiser and occasional Boat prime mover.

 

That does suck, although it makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately.

The way I'm interpreting this is you're going to just get longer u-bolts so you can reuse them? U-bolts should always be replaced, they stretch when torqued. Same principle as factory head bolts for any engine, they're TTY (torque to yield), which basically states the torque value is right before the fastener stretches plastically. Yes, you can re-use them but each time they'll require more and more threads to get the same torque value until you microfracture them through elongation and then they'll just fail randomly when a significant load is imparted on them.

Other than the sticks and snail? The tuner made a big difference stock, and the gains just multiplied hugely as the rest of the goodies came into play. A tuner will make or break any setup. Other than the tuner, absolutely the transmission build. I beat the snot out of the rig, 6psi boost launches are almost a daily occurrence and it takes it like a champ, as it does towing up to 10,000 pounds in rush hour traffic. It just doesn't care. Coincidentally, the trans build was also the MOST expensive component in the upgrades on the truck, and that's just parts. Well worth it, but if yours is working just fine then I'd upgrade the torque converter and valvebody (since you're not opposed to mechanical work, I'd recommend the Tugger HD2 kit) will get you down the road with much more authority and overall driveability than the stock junk.

 

I have a jasper rebuilt 4r100. It was a year old on the rebuild before it went on my chassis according to Jasper. would I need to have Tony W. reflash my 6 position switch with the trans mods you mentioned?

Thanks for the heads up on the Ubolts. I should have checked that.

Also, do you have any recommendations on an upgraded TC that will not break the bank?

 

.

Ford Excursion:

Legos for adults


.

 

Yes, you'll need a reflash but not how you're thinking - you'll be wanting him to put the shift pressures back to stock. During the HD2 install, I noticed a small sheet of paper that recommended moderately built diesels to go with the V-6 size shift pressure hole. I don't recall exactly, but I believe it was drilling out to around .078", compared to the stock diesel's .110" requirement. Let me tell you, had I gone to the 110-thou size, I'd've been pissed because the V-6 combined with the pre-existing bump in line pressure via the tuner had it absolutely ripped shifts. As in I was chirping 35" tires, it was ridiculous. Quick call, had the new tunes emailed out, and all is fine now - nice and firm, not overly so. They're snappy too, and to the floor it now shifts into 4th at 90mph and the needle drops like a tank off a cliff when it shifts, I love it.

Converter-wise, what's break the bank for you? My super fancy guaranteed never to break triple plate billet everything Stallion from Precision Industries was $1000 shipped with a $200 military discount. You also get the option for a custom stall, stock is right around 2000rpm, so I had them drop it down to 1700 to really take full advantage of the torque curve. Which works perfectly, 6psi of boost on a brakeboost launch is at 1800rpm. There's another option that @Nicmike went with for around $550 or even a little cheaper, I really can't remember. It was sourced from Precision (not the same place as mine). Thread on it found here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...fter-255k.html

One of the biggest things you'll notice with an upgraded converter is it'll be a lot tighter than stock. I converted my trans pump to an on/off lock-up instead of the stock PWM and that combined with the much improved converter means when it locks up, I had better have the rig pointed the direction I wish to go quickly in. Lock up in third snaps, it's not stretched out for comfort. Don't get me wrong, you don't get thrown all over the cabin - but it is much nicer and firm instead of a slippage over the 46-48mph range.

The Tugger HD2 kit requires you to drop all three valvebodies plus the solenoid pack so you can get to separator plate in order to shrink a hole (via drilling larger then installing and crimping the provided orifice), as well as drilling holes in strategic spots in all three valvebodies plus new springs and accumulators. Some springs are replaced with single springs, others get double, and I think two got triple springs. Everything works together in unison to make the gears, holding power, apply pressure, etc. better than stock.

Something I forgot to mention is the stock wastegate actuator on the turbo is a joke, the computer sends a vacuum signal to start creeping it open at 5psi. I don't know if your tunes prevent that from happening, but either way the spring and diaphragm inside it are weak as all get out. Personally, I went with the TurboSmart. Even the brand new actuator off the 38R I could pull open by hand easily, the TS it took my friend holding the turbo and me pulling with both hands on the actuator tang to get it to move the 1/8" to get it over the wastegate linkage. I took the stock one off with three fingers and a flick of the wrist, for comparison.

 

So this is a shameless bump. I am going to add a few pics later. Go Broncos!!!

 

Nice work! A 7.3 with a new front coil suspension, thats unique!

 

Awesome, I wish I had the time for projects like this, it would be so much fun.

 

Picture from this afternoon, Super Bowl Sunday.


I just had the Ex's windows tinted and undercoating applied yesterday. I hung the side steps on Friday.

I am looking for bigger better wheels, maybe OEM, at least 18" or preferable 20" if I can find them cheap enough. I still have a little drive line harmonic that I need to take care of soon also. It is not overwhelming but very noticeable if you are paying attention.

 

What is your location?