Well, I just woke up and i'm hurting in places I haven't felt pain in a long time.

This was my first time pulling a 7.3 apart as much as I did. I was a bit overwhelmed at first but glad I did it. I do feel a lot more comfortable with the engine.

I must say, it helped a great deal to pull everything including the downpipe. I was able to remove the entire up-pipe assembly as a whole which made things much easier.

I also used the recommended Felpro 8194 gaskets. They are huge and don't really let the flanges come close to the collector. I do hope they hold for as much work I put into it. I also added a 4" MBRP downpipe and a turbo with a wicked wheel on it. I also pulled the insulation from the driver side intercooler tube.

I fired her up and she started and seems to run better. I can't really tell a whole lot because it's running on just a downpipe and is REALLY loud. The turbo whistle is a whole heck of a lot louder and i've got mixed feelings and a little remorse about pulling the insulation off that intercooler pipe.

Anyway, i'm scheduled to get my mbrp 4" muffler welded in. I don't have a 4" piping to go over the axle so i'm either going to have the muffler shop weld a reducer from my 4" back down to the OEM 3.5" or i'm going to have him weld in a 4" turn out just before the rear tire. Do you think it will be too loud just before the rear tire? I honestly don't want this truck too loud.

Thanks for listening and the input.

 

i wouldn't reduce the tail pipe, that would defeat the purpose of the 4"MBPR, with the muffler it shouldnt be to loud turned out befor the rear wheel..Nobody around here can bend 4" exhaust, if thats the case there you can get the required 90 and a piece of straight pipe at a tractor-trailor supply house..I got mine at Truck Pro...Hope this helps

 

Oh, and how important is it to torque the v-band clamps? I tightened those ******* until they almost wouldn't turn anymore.

I also installed Clay's plenum inserts and tightened those clamps until they wouldn't turn anymore too. Pretty much all the clamps involved in this project got clamped down with a ratchet like there is no tomorrow.

The v-band clamp at the collector was the worst, I put in the up-pipe assembly in as a whole with all the pipe to collector flanges already tightened so it was a bear to get the collector to mesh with the turbo. There was a little wrestling at the bottom where the ex. manifold to pipes connected but I worked her in there.

I figure if I ever have to do these again, it'll be with the international bellowed pipes.

 

tight is good..I too installed Clays plenum inserts..one thing i hope you made sure of is that the pin and dowl lined up with the collector and turbo..when i installed the 38r turbo and international up pipes i missed it (what a bitch)

 

Yup, I did, that part alone took me 1.5hrs because I had to wrestle with my already tightened up-pipes.

I couldn't get the v-band clamps on correctly if I didn't mesh the pin and dowel up to the turbo.

 

Hey Congrats man! I know what you mean about the pain... I pulled my turbo for the first time last weekend and pain pills should be on the required tools list, haha.

I did a wicked wheel, ebpv delete and new turbo outlet this time around. I've got small leaks on my up-pipes too. I'm gonna save me pennies for bellowed pipes. I DO NOT want to change gaskets more than once EVER.

Good work though.

 

Thanks Bud, I just went to Kenworth Parts. Luckily they are only 2 miles away. I just picked up a 90 degree 4" elbow and dropped that along with my truck over to the muffler shop. The muffler shop doesn't have a mandrel bender but they are great! I'm going to have it exit before the rear tire to keep the price down. Pretty stoked.

Although I think my exhaust leak is fixed, my "get up" is still not the same as my '02 Excursion 7.3.

Anyone in the SF Bay Area have an AE we could hook my truck up to? I'd be willing to compensate something or maybe a case or two of your favorite beer.

My next thoughts would be check the fuel pressure.

 

i have my 4" exhaust exit if front of my rear tires and it is way loud but i also dont have a muff eather. and the soot will turn the back of your truck black.

 

Tight but don't overdo it. When overtightened they can twist and get all torqued up and warp the clamp. Ask me how i know.

 

Wooo whooooo! Just got back from picking up my truck at the muffler shop and no more ticking exhaust leaks confirmed!!! Looks sweet turned out before the rear wheel and full 4" exhaust.

Forgot to tell you guys I already put a wildman chip in it but have kept it in stock. If this pain goes away I'm going to put egt and turbo gauges in it tomorrow. Still haven't switched out of stock mode but I hope to tomorrow

 

Also, don't over tighten the clamps on the intercooler pipes, the pipes are pretty flimsy and WILL bend. Ask me how I know

 

Yeah. There's a fine line to ride there. Gotta get it just right to keep from poppin boots, and not squishing the pipes.

 

Well, I dunno, I didn't feel anything collapse but they're on damn good. I figured the intercooler was some type of metal so I just clamped down. I just hope I didn't rip any boots tightening them all down. I guess i'll find out when I get the gauges in tomorrow.

I'm going to try to pickup a liquid filled fuel pressure gauge. I have a hunch there could be a restriction. The fuel gauge doesn't work (pinned to FULL) and there were 2 previous owners before me who owned it a short time (never even registered in their name) who may have run it empty. Any idea which size fitting I need to run to the HPOP?

 

Con grats stagclassic66 on your repiars. I just got doing my 450 about 2wks ago. I also did up pipes w/felpro blue donuts ( thick donut arent they? ) replace exhaust manifold gaskets,WW ,ped o-rings,turbo o-rings,painted turbo,cleaned intake, IC pipes,cleaned out valley etc. Here it is all finished.

 

Hey stangclassic66 I also noticed more power now that I got my up pipe and exhaust maniflod leaks all fixed.