There's a friend of mine that acquired a 2001 Econoline 250 with the 7.3 with 400k, has a bad tranny but other than that it's complete and with ZERO blow by. Has a few leaks here and there but something expected with the mileage, he wants $1500 for the whole thing it's in OK condition. Would it be wise to buy it or save the $$$ and just finish my engine? I can always flip the van for extra revenue.

 

If it were me, I'd buy it for sure. The auto trannys are kinda easy to find here and wouldn't put you behind too much if you wanted to flip the van.

You've had more experience with these 7.3s than I have and probably know a bit more about me though, but that seems like a pretty good deal, especially if the engine is good!

 

That's a tough one Adam. To flip the van, you are gonna have to put money into it on top of what you pay for it. Then there is the time to fix it, and selling it. You may wind up having to sit on it for while before getting it sold. Will you be able to make enough profit off of it to make it worth all that? Honestly,being a van with 400k miles, and the cost of a trans, I don't think it would bring enough to make the juice worth the squeeze. I'm basing this on my area though. It may bring more out there, I don't know.

 

Here's the other thing that got me thinking, what about use it as temporary replacement on the Mule then save a bit more $$$ for more aftermarket goodies and finishing building the engine? Then sell this one I'm sure I can at least make 1800 on the engine plus what ever parts I can sell from the van then scrap the it for additional $$$.

 

If you think you can make that much on it then that would be great! A cheap trans will be the key I think, and if you can get some service out of it while you get your engine built, then that would just be another plus.

 

I have a flip that I bought a few weeks ago that I need to get to work on. It's a '95 Toyota Camry 2 door. It needs a radiator, brakes, tires, a battery, and a GOOD cleaning. The good part is, I got it for $50! LOL! The body is in pretty good shape. I'm thinking after I get it all fixed, I should be able to make close to$1000 profit on it.

 

Yeah, that's normally the rate on a good running 7.3 around here. Unless you can score a 7.3 in the pic a part places, which is hard. AND I MISS MY TRUCK!!!#!# Its alright driving my work truck but it doesn't put a grin on my face when I drive it lol....

 

Yeah, that's how I feel when I have to drive my Camaro now. I like the 91 Camaro I have, I put a bunch of work into and have a nice custom red/black vinyl interior, but the powerstroke Bronco is so much better and much faster. Plus when it's NOT leaking fuel, it gets better mileage (except diesel now costs more again...)

Anyways, based on the time you have to put into pulling parts and or fixing the van, you probably won't make a lot, but I could see you still pulling a decent profit if you decide to get rid of it/parts.

Or, you could always keep that motor as another backup and build that one up! Or, donate the motor/wiring/computer to me so I can get started on my 91 Camaro powerstroke swap!

 

...........That's funny right there!

 

Lol....... A Camstroke that would be epic.

 

Haha, yeah as impractical and difficult it would be do, I'm pretty set on doing this eventually! It is.. uh, well quite ambitious of me to want this but I know no-one has cared to do it, and it would be a lot faster than it is now! People would love me over on thirdgen.org......

I think I'll need to get my own place before I attempt it though. I don't think my parents would like me doing another huge engine swap at their place that is as complicated as that. I can't get my own place until I'm on active duty as well, and who knows how much I'll be moving around (or how good of a place I can get or if I'll even bring my vehicles with me on active duty) so this swap is a ways off.

It would be pretty sweet though, then I wouldn't feel as bad driving around a Chevy! (The 305/350 motors are pretty dang good motors though, but I like the 302/351s better.)




I did get to thinking, I also have ambitious plans to swap an electric motor assist into my Bronco so I can have a hybrid electric diesel Bronco. The initial plans in my head were to utilize a forklift motor/batteries, and do a divorced transfercase setup and squeeze it after my current transfercase.

However, maybe I buy a used Prius, hear me out here! Then I rip out it's guts to somehow make those compatible with my drivetrain for the electric assist and so on and so on until:

There's an empty Prius body, just begging for a powerstroke swap!



In all seriousness though, I do think I'm going to swap a powerstroke into my Camaro, just not anytime soon. I had plans for swapping the powerstroke into my Bronco about 8 years before it happened!

 

Hey Adam, I have a trans I need to get rid of... The shipping/delivery might be a struggle though

 

I'm still thinking if I should buy it or not, I still have to come out with the $$ for it. Remember I still want those back door panels I PM you about, but with my luck my truck broke down before we could talk business.