Check out thedieselstop.com for some great faq and tips n tricks for Powerstrokes. I found it very helpful when I first got my truck. Also, check out Dieselsite.com for parts. Some things I recommend that are worth doing, esp with the motor out:
-rebuild/rebuilt turbo, new o-rings and ditch the ebpv and pedestal. Oil leaks galore.
-wicked wheel 2. This thing really makes the boost come on quick! With the 5speed, you may like the 1.0 exhaust housing.
-bellowed up-pipes. I added bellows to mine for less than $100 in parts. Or you can buy new ones for $800ish, haha!
-fuel pump and hoses, along with all o-rings you can get to.
-203* thermostat. They like it when they are warm!
-evan's waterless coolant. No pressure in the system means near zero leaks! My truck has consistent water temps now.
-coolant filter.
-low pressure oil pump.
-water pump

Anyways, you are on the right truck. Do some reading and stay away from the diesel ricer type builds, use solid products by experienced vendors and ask questions if you can't find the answer or are not sure. I love my PSDs, but too built and they are not enjoyable.

 

Thanks for the info! I will look into removing the EBPV and changing out the pedestal! Right now, it doesn't appear to have leaked any oil, but the less things to leak oil, the better! Doing this though just depends on parts availability and pricing.



I finished hacksawing the exhaust in half so I could get it out of the truck. I barely managed to squeeze the read end out over the axle, but it fit. I can stall on cutting it up again until I get the motor in my Bronco. It wasn't fun cutting through that exhaust.

I believe the only thing left I really need to grab off the donor truck is the fuel sending unit stuff. However, I did some reading and it appears I can just reuse my Bronco sending unit for the diesel. Does anyone know if this is true? Otherwise, I'll have to modify the other sending units to get them to have the proper pickup length and reading in the tank.

Another question I had about the fuel system is in regards to the fuel selector valve and fuel lines. At first, I thought the tank selector valve was a preliminary pump, but I think there is only one pump on the powerstroke (right in the engine valley behind the fuel filter.) If that's the case AND I can reuse my fuel sending unit in the Bronco, then I won't have to mess with any of the fuel system besides hooking up the gas lines to the diesel lines. I'll also have to address the wiring for this then but I assume I can just leave wire the switch to be set on only one tank. If I can do that, then I just have to worry about changing the orientation of the fuel lines to align where the diesel lines are. Does anyone have any advice for changing fuel line lengths? Like Can I just cut the metal lines and use rubber fuel lines to attach where the diesel lines are? I feel like that may not be a great idea, but I'm not sure how fuel lines are altered.

 

I would either run lines from your donor or new diesel rated lines. Your bronco might have the fuel pump in tank. If so you'll have to use one of the pickups from the donor in that tank and modify it to fit. Make sure the bronco tank is not galvanized

 

Ahh okay I thought maybe I could take a shortcut somewhere. I believe my tank should be good to go but am not sure how to check if it's galvanized or not. I've read a whole bunch of stuff where people are putting Bronco tanks in their diesel trucks, but I can't find out the specific tanks they are getting them from! I wasn't able to find any data searching either if the tank is galvanized or not either. I know the Bronco has an in tank pump. Just curious, do you know why I wouldn't be able to take the pump off the sending unit and use that one? Maybe there is some way I can rig that setup to use without the fuel pump. If not, then I'll try my hand at rigging the F250 sending unit.

I pulled the front sending unit off the F250 though so I can make sure to have that on hand. I also pulled the fuel lines from the part where they connect to the engine back to the front fuel tank. I manage to siphon out almost 10 gallons of fuel so I'll have that on hand now! I didn't take the tank selector valve off though, so there is a small 'gap' in the lines that I pulled (since the front lines connect to the tank selector valve, and then two sets of lines go off of that to the different tanks.) I hope I can find something I can rig in-between those lines to extend them out and maybe add a filter in-between. Worst case, since the part of the lines that connect to the tank selector are a rubbery type line, I think I can just cut those off and clamp in a new section so I can get the proper length to the Bronco fuel tank.


I now think I pulled everything off the donor truck I may need (except the brake booster which should be really quick, but I won't be needing that initially), so I can start trying to sell it now. The tires/wheels are in pretty good shape and have a lot of tread left, and the rear axle is good. Besides that, there isn't much left on the truck someone may want. Maybe the fuel tanks/ rear sending unit stuff, or the doors/glass since those are still good. How much money do you think I should try selling this on craigslist for?

If no one wants it on craigslist, I'll see if I can take off the tires and sell them separately, then bring the truck to the scrap yard for scrap metal pricing. Has anyone ever scrapped a vehicle before and if so, what do I need to do to prepare it for the yard? I have the notarized title from the previous owner that I haven't put in my name yet because I wan't planning on driving it.

I'm sure my parents will be happy to have the truck off their property! Poor F250.. being scrapped and all (that is unless someone takes it off my hands instead!). It's remains will be put to good use though!

 

I would also take all the hardware from the rear tank too. If you run into problems using the other pickup then you have a spare. Also think about pulling everything you can. Taillights, headlights, etc. Also if you think you may ever try to update your axles like you were talking about before then keep the sterling and springs out of the donor. If you have it now you won't have to buy it later. I even kept the doors and windows out of my donor to use incase i ever need them

As faras scraping. I've done it before on my donor. Just took the signed title when i took the truck in and that was that. Scrap is so low now though i doubt you get even $100 for it.

 

for cleaning a really greasy engine use easy off oven cleaner. spray it and let it soak then hose it off, may have to repeat a couple times. Works really well.

 

I thought about trying to keep the sterling axle and the springs and whatnot but I don't think I'll be able to for a few reasons. First, I don't know how I would be able to haul the truck to the scrap yard without the rear axle on, and second, I think I want to stay 3.55 gearing and the gears on that axle are 4.10s. Also, I don't think I'll have space to store the axle at my parents place.... If I had the room, I would definitely be keeping the axle.

I'll probably get the hardware for the rear tank pulled by the end of this weekend. I have a statistics test and a big lab report due during this week, so I won't have much more time to work on things after today.

I should try and get some of that. I ended up taking off some more stuff today and scraped away more gunk from the engine. I bought some CRC heavy duty grease remover type stuff that was 15 bucks.... needless to say I didn't notice the difference between that and brake cleaner so I won't be getting that again. I'll look for that oven cleaner stuff for sure. I'm a little worried about spraying the engine with water though because I'm not sure where water may get in on this engine since I'm a little unfamiliar with it.


As for today, I pulled the turbo and connecting pipes, as well as the exhaust manifolds. I think I'm going to ceramic coat them when I get some money. I should either get the turbo rebuilt, or get another one, I just don't know what the best options are at this point. I have to look more into what it takes to mount a bigger turbo and the price, compared to getting mine rebuilt or buying a stock re manufactured one. I do want to delete the EBPV on the turbo setup, but that will add another few hundred dollars if I want to do it right so I'll have to see on that...

 

cover every opening, if the intake is off, obviously all those holes need to be covered up. exhaust, even the coolant holes. I tape off every thing when I clean an engine. take anything electronic off that you can. tape up the connectors on what you can't remove. Oven cleaner will eat things up. try to focus it on the metal parts.

 

If you're able to use the PCM from the 7.3 donor truck, and OBD port works.......buy yourself an old Superchips tuner, strictly for the code reading abilities. You can also clear codes with it as well. Ages ago, I actually used the tunes on mine, but I wouldn't recommend it. Mine is a paperweight, that pulls/clears codes occasionally!

 

Good news is that there was an old superchips tuner behind the seat! I didn't plug it in to see if it works though because I already had the wiring and stuff out.

I haven't made any progress the past few days because of my huge lab report and also I'm (still) studying for a statistics test I have today. I was researching what to do with my 4" lift though since I'm keeping my stock axles/suspension for now.

I know F250 2wd springs will fit in my Bronco, but they didn't make any 4" lift diesel F250 springs. I called Rancho to see if they offer anything and they don't have 4" coil springs for a diesel motor.

These are the two options I was thinking of going so someone help me decide what you think would work the best:

1. I buy 6" or 5" coil springs for a gas engine and put them in place of my 4" springs now, then hope that the extra 500lbs of the 7.3 will compress the springs to the proper 4" lift height.

or

2. I buy new 4" springs (because mine are about 10 years old anyways) and then purchase a couple 1" spacers and see how many I'll need to make the height back to 4"s after the sag.


I don't know what any downsides to have a taller spring or spacers would be instead of the proper 4" spring. I don't think there would be any negative to have a taller spring, as long as it's compressed back to the height that the current lift is set up for. I believe I'm aiming for the new 4" springs with 1" spacers as of now. Does anyone think I should try and go more than 1" of spacing if I go this route? Anyways I better get back to studying for that statistics test. After toady it's going to be my spring break so I'll have almost a 1 1/2 weeks off since I don't have class Friday or most of Monday! I'll be able to make a lot of progress then.

 

The extra weight of the diesel, could compress those springs due to a much lighter spring rate, and with them being a bit tall.....that could be a GOOD thing, although, they might not work as good being compressed. It's probably going to be a trial and error, since your build is so unique!

 

Yeah I'll just have to see what happens. I've decided for now to just buy the new 4" springs when I get some money, and put in some 1" spacers during install. I can always take the spacers out if I don't need them, but I'm guessing I probably will.

I spent about 5 hours today cleaning the engine..... it still needs quite a bit of work. This is the third day I've spent cleaning it, it's amazing how much junk there is built up on this thing! I've been through 6 cans of brake cleaner, two brass wire brushes, and a couple of blades and I'm still going to need quite a bit more! There was so much buildup near the front timing cover, but I'm not sure what it could have been coming from. I don't think oil can leak from the front cover except for near the bottom or very top near the HPOP, but it didn't really seem like oil was leaking from there. I know the HPOP was replaced, so I'm hoping it was just old residue from before, because there was a whole lot of buildup under that as well. I've read too many different things about several different timing covers I don't think I want to take it off anymore. Apparently there are 4 different types, so I have to make sure I have the correct gaskets etc. if I decide to take it off. I plan on getting a new water pump with a filter housing and filter, but I don't know if I want to take the cover off....

There seems to be kits for 94-95, then 95.5, 96, and 97+ for the front cover, so I don't know whether to look for the 94-95 stuff, or 95.5 stuff. Also, a lot of things online say 94-97 for timing cover/water pump stuff, so there is conflicting info on this. All this makes me want to just forgo trying to reseal the cover. I'd be really upset if it is the source of some leaks though........ that means I wouldn't be doing the oil pan either. The oil pan, rear main, and front main all seem dry however so I don't believe those are leaking.

I know the oil cooler was leaking very badly, and the valve cover gaskets were leaking as well.


Oh well, I'll continue cleaning for now and hopefully get paint on Sunday or earlier.

 

Maybe once you get all that grime out you'll see markings to identify which cover you have

 

I would hold off on the new front springs until you get the engine installed. Then you can use your before and after measurements to see how much it actually sags. Then you will know how much sag you are trying to make up. Or you could scale your front axle after and get custom springs designed to support the weight of your setup.

 

I would echo this. Measure everything now and once again when you have the 7.3 in. Then see what you are at.