My question is what does it take to make a Powerstroke run in another chassis?
I've played with my 300-6cyl long enough and now the clutch is biting it so the swap is inevitable. Have a 97 7.3L Powerstroke with a 5speed stick behind it in a F-Superduty. I've searched for like 2 weeks straight and all I come up with is it is possible to swap it out but then everyone jumps in with their Cummins swap cause it's easy or whatever. Don't get me wrong, I like Cummins, but this truck is getting the 7.3.
My problem is this... I'm not sure what all has to come out of the donor truck to make it run in another chassis. Obviously I'm taking what I can... rad, motor, trans, pedal assembly, fuel tank, etc. What I need to know is what part of the wiring do I need/don't need to make this work. I've been told it's easier to just gut the donor truck of all wiring and swap the dash and stuff which I have no problem with but I'd rather keep my old dash and stuff. There are a few people I'm waiting to hear from still but up to this point have come up with nothing so I am asking for help.
Donor truck:
11/97 F-Superduty 2wd. 7.3L Powerstroke with the idle box.
Recipient:
79 F250 Crewcab 4x4 on 74 frame.
If Painless made a harness for this swap, I'd be a lot happier but I haven't found one yet. If there is a particular book or video or whatever I need, please point me in that direction or any help you can offer is greatly appreciated.
i would buy the whole donor rig and have it next to the 79. you will need the entire harness from the 97 to swap over unless you have the wiring diagrams and know how to splice and make your 79 stuff work with the new stuff. keeping your 79 dash might not be an option thats why folks suggest the cummins as it doesnt require anything but a single wire to run. im sure custom motor mounts will need fabed up sine the 74 frame is very narrow.
the cummins motor would fit easier also. u can run the powerstroke 5 speed but that to is another issue because it doesnt allow for a tcase to bolt to it. are you planning on running the divorced case still?
i like the 300-6 its a great motor with a good aftermarket following now so i guess pick your poison ya know
I have the Alldata wiring diagram, it's close but not detailed enough for me yet.
What I want is enough information to make the Powerstroke run on an engine stand. After that I'll figure out how much of it will splice into my existing harness. It's easy enough to say take the whole wiring harness out of the donor truck and put it into mine but... it's not that easy. What wires need constant power, what wires need power in start position, what wires need power in the run poistion, what wires don't need to be there... that's what I want. Yes the 5 speed will go to my divorced transfer case....it's what I have now and I like the driveshaft angles with like 10" lift. Tranny/case might change later, but for now this is what I'm going to run.
How do you figure the Cummins will fit better?... what's different? For the record, I got the 4bbl, I got the Offy intake, I got the Hedder, but around here, diesels rule the world. I was thinking about doing EFI on the 6 but.... then this Powerstroke fell in my lap and the 6 is history.
If you have the whole pickup with the powerstroke, I'd start by locating all computers and controllers, you'll have to keep them. Start tracing wires and figuring it out. Fuel pump in tank? I'm sure many of the unneccesary wires will be for things like A/C, or options your truck didn't come with (automatic, 4wd). Probably most of the wiring connected to the motor will need to stay. The guages are there for the drivers amusement, not engine function. If you have to you could t-off for the oil pressure guage, and work out other creative ways to make the factory 79 guages work, even if the 97 sensors have to stay in place. I don't think the 97 with a standard trans needs a speed signal but if so, even that can be overcome.
I'd dissasemble the 97 and use that as my engine stand. Use a multimeter to figure out what wires are hot in run, start, etc.
YOU are going to have to figure it out. If you're up for the challenge it would be a sweet setup. Not easy though.
Good attitude, go for it, people have put much more complicated combo's together. Post pics!
The early (up to early 98) Cummins are completely mechanically controlled, even the fuel pump is mechanical. If you could push start it, you dont need any wires or even a battery. Just fuel, and a throttle cable or linkage. Of course you need a starting system, for that you use the Cummins starter and a Ford solenoid. MUCH easier swap. MUCH cheaper. Good luck.
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1976 crew cab, 4x4, family tow monster. 97 Dodge Cummins engine doner.
the 7.3 is a large motor and very wide. the 74 frame is very narrow. the width of ford frames changed in 77.5 when they discontinued the Hiboy design and went with the married Tcase etc.. the cummins is a strait 6 motor which i have seen in ford 4x4 trucks from 62 71 75 which is same frame as yours and on up the ladder.
will be a cool swap though, just take your time obviously
Dash in donor truck is a pain to get out. Also... do not run a diesel out of fuel. Physical size looks to be close to a 460, so one way or another it'll go in there. I have seen a 6.9L in a 79 and it took the whole engine bay... this one seems to be packed more compact. Found a guy doing the same swap into a GMC, so one of us will get it figured out. Biggest hurdle I can see right now in my 79 has 37s and a like 10" lift, gonna be a pain to get it in a garage and get it low enough to get the motor in/out.
your truck isnt a 79 remember its a 74 with the newer body on it. the frame on that model is narrower then a 79 so if you know how tight that was with a 6.9 your in for a bunch of work.
to make your life easier get some 235 or 31" tires and plan on removing the front clip/core support. it will need to come off anyway
Hey im having the same problem you are. Dont know what i need to make the power stroke run. I have a 78 4x4 crew cab short bed that its going into. Im starting to think changing the dash and everything over is the way to go. Just wonder what way you are going on your project. Any help would be nice.
Best I can figure right now is to start at the engine, take everything that's hooked to it through the firewall and inbetween. I have heard it's kinda self explanatory to what you need once you are in there. I do not think mine is the kind where you need the dash cluster although I have been warned about watching for it. Basically I'm just going to probe the plug onto the column to figure out what gets power when and wire everything into the old truck. Some say to just pull the column that's in the 97 but I hate those. The 79 has cruise on the wheel so might try to hook all that up as well, will see when I get there.
1. Diesels run better with the fuel tank selector valve in place... can't explain where this one went, but did get it running without it... runs good.
2. Just gonna pull the cab off to get motor/tranny out.... having access to loader helps. Stupid bolt placement means I get to get smashy.
3. Without having the harness apart yet, it actually should break down to something quite simple. Big connector seems to run almost everything on the engine except the A/C and ALT. Couple wires run to the hot side of the starter solenoid, and a couple run to the key... just gotta figure out what gets power when.
4. If I had a nickel for everytime someone said to put a Cummins in it, and a nickel for everytime someone said the Powerstroke swap is cool, I'd have a pocket full of nickels.
5. The U-joints in the donor truck are huge... it's even making me rethink the divorced 205 thing.... the U-joints in my truck are dwarfed...... although the driveline brake is kinda cool (considering I haven't had a functional E-brake in a decade).
6. Looks like the rad of choice is the 460 Camper special, twist some rad hoses around to fit or something... not there yet.
I think you are on the right track, these trucks are not rocket sceince, a careful methodical approach and you'll have it all figured out. Bonus is when it breaks later on, you'll know exactly whats wrong and how to fix it!
Any pics yet?
Np 205 is a super beef t-case, I just got a new input yoke for mine that uses 1410 u-joints (stock joints out of my Cummins engine donor, big monsters). I assume you can also get 1410 u-joint output yokes as well.
Diesel swapping is a long haul, keep at it.
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1976 crew cab, 4x4, family tow monster. 97 Dodge Cummins engine doner.
Looking at getting bigger yokes, but at this point the 205 is a bit of a dinosaur. I wouldn't mind a married case and let's face it, better than 2:1 low range is appealing as well as being more available than my archaic 205.
No pics yet... not much to see, bunch of unhooked plugs and cables and such. Will be pulling the cab off donor truck.... this weekend? Will see what looks interesting. Plans are to cut the donor firewall out and see how/if it'll fit into my 79. There's a bunch of plug holes and stuff for mounting the pedal assembly that I don't want to make or fab if I don't have to.
This swap is definitely not rocket science, was looking for some info before I tackled it but after getting cab ready to come off, there isn't much that's worrying me yet BUT... I am looking for info as to what fuel tank to run.. my tank leaks. The rear tank in the donor truck is squished and the side tank looks way too long to fit. I'd like to fit one in the stock 74 position if possible but am open to options. Searching hasn't really found me anything informative enough yet.
I'm sticking with the 205 because its strong and I have it. There's lots of things stronger and better, but if I make my project too big, it'll never get done, so I'm trying to simplify.
I'm counting on diesel torque to make up for lack of a super low range and my 76 crew cab isn't going to be crawling in Moab either, just some snow wheelin for christmas trees, working, and hunting.
I already complicated my steering and crossmember, I think it was worth it now that the steering and c-member are done, but I'd be driving it now if I hadn't.
At one point I realized the more things I complicate, the more things I would have to re-engineer. Re-engineering takes time and lots of money and I want to drive this truck soon.
If you swap firewalls, what'll you do for a heater, wipers, etc? I'd suggest retaining the 79 firewall and cutting holes and modding brackets as needed. There should be plenty of length for that engine, just not so much width.
Its extremely convienient to have both vehicles on hand so you can mix and match what you need from both. I wound up using quite a lot of the parts I never thought I'd need off of the dodge after modding them to work in the Ford, or combining them with the Ford parts in one way or another. Its alot easier to modify something to work than it is to make something from scratch.
I've heard most gasoline tanks are galvanized, diesel eats the zink and it flakes off and plugs the filters. Temporarily I'm gonna strap the Dodge tank in the bed of my crew, untill I can have a custom aluminum one made (ka-ching).
Your 74 frame, like my 76 frame is narrower than most and if the truck has a tranfer case, there is really nothing but a custom tank, or one out of a Bronco II behind the rear axle (something like 18 gallons) that can be used. Here's a custom one Made by North Country Specialties. Old Ford Crew Cab Community, Pre 1980 Ford Crew Cab owners community and information source. Hope the link works.
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1976 crew cab, 4x4, family tow monster. 97 Dodge Cummins engine doner.
At this point, I'm only looking to use the drivers side of the firewall where the pedals, hydroboost and stuff are... some square plugs and such. Reasoning is I'd rather weld in one big piece than cut out a lot of little ones... Hadn't actually thought about using the passenger side of the firewall but that could solve a lot of little bugs I might run into... could just grab the heater and AC out of the donor while I'm at it. I guess if I'm grabbing part of it anyways I could just take the whole thing and if I use it I use it and if not.... no biggy.
The rear tank from the F-Superduty would have been almost perfect I think.... almost positive a buddy used the same tank in the rear of his Jeep. I have more than enough aluminum at work to build any tank I want, I just don't have the patience. And yes... if you have the donor truck for any length of time a lot of parts will switch over that you never thought would.... time will tell I guess.
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