Hi fellas!

I'm new to these forums. I'm gonna change my '86 E-350 over from a 460 to an '89 7.3. I bought a '89 E-350 box truck for all the parts that I'll need, but I was wondering, how much of a hassle is the wiring gonna be? I know the '86 E-350's came with diesels, so my first question is, is the diesel wiring, (except for the starter and battery stuff), already in the harness? That's the only part that I'm not looking forward to. I know that I have to change about all of the dash, but I have all that from the box truck.

Also, I have an operating, very complete Banks turbo setup on a 6.9, will that go right on the 7.3? I'm runnin' an '84, E-350 van with an '86 6.9, Banks turbo and a Gear Vebdors overdrive. Man-o-man does that thing ever get fuel mileage! It's getting at least 19 mpg! I hope the 7.3 can do as well.

The E-350 that I'm converting is one of those Cabriolet, RV toter conversions. I just bought it and I want the diesel with the E40D, and the Banks turbo because although the 460 has great power, who knows where the fuel prices are gonna stop. My Cabriolet already has a Gear Vendors over/under splitter, and it works perfectly. I might even slap that behind the E40D.

In any event, I'm glad that I stumbled across this forum. Thanks in advance for helpin' out! Oh! I'm into high performance Studebakers too, just in case we have any Stude guys skulkin' around the area.

 

In 89 the 7.3s were all mechanical, no electrics.

 

Thanks matts72! I appreciate any help I can get.

 

I have a 1991 E-350 Cabriolet with a NEW 7.3 diesel, new turbo and lots and lots of extras for sale....would you be interested? There is approx. 300 miles on the new motor. This truck is awesome.

 

In order to do the swap, you need the diesel motor mounts and frame plates, fuel ines and senders, and tanks switch if you have dual tanks. The 460 motor mount towers will need to be removed, but since you had a 460, it is a simple bolt in installation to change it over, the bolt holes are already there. The driver side tower is riveted on and bolted, so you will have to deal with that in the removal. The 460 uses pumps in the tanks, but the diesel does not. You will need to drop the tanks and get as much of the gas out as you can, and then you can also change the senders at that time. Not sure if the 89 senders will work as far as the variable resistors go, but you can swap the board out that is in the back of the sender. I did that with a 92, found out the 85 senders had different resistance. You can also try to find tanks from the proper year if you don't want to hassle with all that. For the IP, just use the coil wire for the key hot wire. You will have to use a momentary toggle/pushbutton to operate the glow plugs, but many of us are doing that with the factory installs.If I forgot to cover anything, don't be afraid to ask... I just went trhough a lot of this for putting a Cummins in the 92... I can't answer about the E4OD, you will either need to transferthe controller or find an aftermarket standalone. You could swap all the dash wiring and such, but it would be more work to me...