Back in November of 2010 I bought an all-stock 2000 regular cab 2wd Powerstroke. It's stayed relatively stock since then with most all of the major mechanical pieces being left as they were from Ford. I drove it to Atlanta in May of 2011 and over the six months I spent there installed 160/100% injectors, got rid of the ugly "aero" headlights, chrome grille/bumper, and a new flexplate due to breakage at the onset of the return trip home. I also put a whole bunch of miles on it including dyno time (where I started it on fire) and five blasts down the quarter-mile. 400 RWHP was fun!

All this time, the high pressure oil pump and turbocharger remained stock. Once I got home (for good), I started doing other little things to it: traction bars, wide 20" tires, cosmetic things like racing stripes and the monochromatic paint scheme, and a new transmission. Then I put in 250/200% injectors. It's not because I had any issues with the 160/100% injectors but I wanted to try to tame 200% nozzles since these things should have come from the factory with 100% nozzles (100% should be considered 0%)....they drive THAT good! I sold the 160/100% injectors and they're still being used locally by a guy in a nearly identical pickup save for the worthless Supercab and shortbox part.

The 200% nozzles work very well but at the expense of causing horrendous compressor surge under ANY load at boost pressures between 8-15 PSI; right where it goes down the road at a decent clip. While very driveable around town (0-5 PSI) and under heavier load (20+ PSI), as well as being insanely responsive, I don't do much town driving and being that this thing is lowered, I don't use the gooseneck ball in the bed very often anymore either (I have two other 7.3L pickups for that).

About a year and a half ago, I started gathering parts to get rid of the stock turbocharger and ultimately came up with a pieced-together (from three different turbochargers) 71mm Holset "HX502E Turbone" for $485 (including the rebuild kit). The up-pipes cost under $100 for the bellows and stainless piping while the mount was nothing more than digging through scrap metal and the time to weld it and coerce a friend into machining the mounting flange to mate the 95-97 turbine collector to the T6 Chinese turbine housing. As an aside, the charge air pipes didn't even have to be modified: I cut the turbocharger outlet off of the intake manifold (with a hold-down bracket bolted to the block) and simply used a stainless 3" 90 degree elbow (with a bead welded around each end for boot retention) and stock intake boot to mate the stock hot side to the compressor outlet.

What should have been done a year ago is finally finished. I also did this with a freshly broken rib (did it two days before starting this project) so it took three days to install all of it instead of the day and a half it SHOULD have taken. It is surge-free. It takes a little bit of RPM to get the boost up but it's nothing a little bit of remapping the shift points hasn't been able to fix. Fuel is limited to keep the boost between 25-30 PSI but the airflow through the engine felt through the butt dyno because of the lack of drive pressure and the lower EGT under maximum boost tell me that this is the best <$700 I ever spent on this truck. The fuel system remains stock (except for feeding all four corners) as well as the high pressure oil pump and exhaust system (95-97 PSD muffler). Speaking of drive pressure, at 30 PSI of boost the drive pressure is only 37 PSI.

I have since cleaned up the engine compartment of the unneeded wiring and plumbing for the wastegate and backpressure valve (I REALLY REALLY miss the backpressure valve already though) and built an air filter setup from the existing 4" rubber inlet hose and a 45 degree 4" pipe....with a 6637 stuffed on the end.

Before anyone asks, the up-pipe flanges are welded to the up-pipes and flange gaskets are used in the final assembly. There are no donuts in there.

 

 

Awesome work! Exhaust looks clean.

 

That's got to be a fun Truck & really like the Paint Job.

 

Sorry I haven't replied to your PM... I have been tied up at work (cherry season). I was hoping to congratulate you at some point today - after work.

 

Looks good and sounds great Cody!

BTW, the Supercab is perfect for dogs.

 

Always fun to see something different and well constructed. 👍

The pitch of the compressor wheel is so flat! Does it work at higher rpm?

Long term I'd want to support that brass compression fitting on the fuel line. Or go rubber.

 

I like it! Great looking truck! I bet it is fun to drive.
I miss cattle guards and the absence of any other cars on the road!
I am stuck in Western Washington until I retire- some day!

 

nice vids, the turbo whine is really nice, I hope to get my truck to the same level some day, course it is hard to decide what color scheme I want...

 

It's all vibra-lok (like stock) and has been that way for 30,000+ miles. No worries.

 

Beautiful craftsmanship on that turbo! Very creative parts accumulation too!

 

Nice job!



Why is that?

 

Because I use it all the time......saves big time on brakes. Oh well, the other two still (and always will) have it.

 

Kind-of figured that, but just wanted to clarify

With a ZF, I do not use the valve as the tranny does the job very well.

 

You don't know what you're missing! I NEVER use the brakes on my 17k lb. F550 except for the complete stop at under 5 MPH.