Well, I finally found a decent replacement engine for my old truck at a reasonable price. I picked up an 88 model NA 7.3 with 140k on the clock, all accessories included for $450.

I'm trying to decide the quickest & easiest way to do the swap. My old 6.9 with the Banks on it shows 62k on the ticker, and I'm sure that's at least 262k - if not 362k. Its got decent compression - around 300-350 on all cylinders (dead cold) and starts OK, but the blow-by is BAD - burns a quart every 75-100 miles. So, time for a swap.

With the Y-pipe going behind the ZF-5 bellhousing and all, I'm thinking the easiest thing will be to remove the grill, radiator, and radiator support, put a jack or blocks under the tranny, and leave it in the truck - pulling the engine almost straight out the front over the bumper. The turbo mounts to the backside of the passenger side head with only 2 or 3 bolts, so, I'm thinking that if I unbolt it from the back of the head and unbolt the y-pipe from the manifolds the turbo can just stay in place with the tranny.

Seems like that's gotta be easier than pulling the engine, tranny, t-case and all. Any other thoughts from any members who've done one of these swaps before?

 

well first you need to remove the hood, then the bumper, then the batteries, the battery trays, then the little trim piece below the lights and grill, then the grill, then the radiator, then the radiator support, drain the oil, remove the oil filter, unbolt tranny, and some other little stuff and it'll come out without a hitch. oh and remember the downpipe and all that junk. i pulled both a 7.3 IDI turbo and a 95 powerstroke this past weekend

 

Yeah, I realize all that stuff has to come off the front - just didn't go into that level of detail. Not so sure why the hood or bumper have to come off though. Is that really necessary?

The down-pipe and up-pipe both run behind the bellhousing. Once I unbolt the turbo mount from the backside of the passenger side head, the y-pipes from the manifolds, and the oil pressure and return lines from the engine, I think that ought to be all that needs to be done since I'll be leaving the turbo in the truck...

 

hood is 8 bolts and makes it easier to get in, on and around things. pumper doesnt need to come off, but again, clearing everything out of the front makes it easier. especially for the cherry picker. not sure about the banks setup, but removing the turbo before then engine comes out is the easiest way to go. unbolt the 2 bolts from the motor mount that connect the upper and lower, not the ones that bolt to the cross member. if you do the lower ones, then you will have to jack that tranny way the heck up there. also, if you have the mitsubishi starter, remove it 1st or its gonna hit the cross member before you get it out and make things that much harder. if its the short starter then your good to go, no clearance issues there. also, its worth spending $40 bucks at your local auto parts place for an engine leveling mount. that way you can level it, tilt it and make quick adjustments on the fly. believe me, makes it a lot easier.

 

Yeah, I guess that makes sense.

Again, makes sense - as long as the bolts aren't too rusty.

Are you saying the motor mounts come apart - leaving the top half bolted onto the block, and the bottom half bolted to the crossmember?

Think Autozoo or Schmucks rents those?

I'm also thinking of unbolting the cab mounts at the front corners and right behind the front wheels - to tilt the nose of the cab up a few inches. I did that when I put the ZF-5 in and it made a WORLD of difference...

 

If everything isn't too rust, you can take the whole clip off as an assembly, then you don't have to take every little thing loose, just everything that attaches to the cab.

The leveler will not be available for loaner from AZ for sure, if you have a Harbor Freight around, you can pick one up there, or build one, as they aren't any too complicated.

 

yes, the motor mount splits apart in 2. top half has 3 bolts to engine, bottom has 2 bolts to frame. 2 bolts hold the 2 pieces together. and i got my engine leveler from kragen auto parts. orileys for yall

 

Not quite clear what you mean by "the whole clip". Are you saying the radiator support, headlights, grill, etc. will come off in one piece? That would be sweet...

Yeah, there's a HF about 10 miles from my place...

 

when i pulled my 7.3l i didn't remove anything off the truck but hood, radiator, and exhaust pipes from the manifolds. came out with the fan still on it past the core support. maybe i was just lucky for once.

 

I'm talking fenders still attached to the rad support and go. The inner fender wells would come with, you can then sit on the tire and work away, kind of nice way to work on them.

I usually don't pull the clip myself, but when I did the Cummins, I did pull the rad support and one fender (to work on the heater housing) and it was SOOOO much easier to do things. The other thing depending on equipment is the safety factor of that much weight that high on a cherry picker. I had an overhead hoist that was home made, and it taxed it a bit to slide the Cummins and transmission into place...

 

same for me and i got a banks on mine.

 

Like a couple of others, I only removed what is needed. Hood, radiator, fan, fan shroud, crank pulley(needed to clear a/c condensor), p/s pump & a/c compressor (didn't disconnect lines just put them aside), cross-over pipe, air cleaner assembly. I used a forklift though so it was more manageable lifting the engine high enough to clear.

This pic I snapped right before I put it back in. You can see the truck in the background. The only thing I will do next time is remove the wiper motor so the turbo clears easier on the install.




If your not comfy going this high with the engine, I's suggest removing the entire front clip as an assembly. Unbolt fenders at the door jam, unbolt core support body mounts, and unplug/remove whats neccesary off the wheel wells.

 

the advantage of doing it like i said is that you dont have to mess with lining the fenders back up and squaring it and all that. we looked at doing if that way and was more of a hassle than necessary its not very hard to disassemble the front end and take it out the way we did it. we had the powerstroke motor out in under 4 hours and the idi in less than that since there isnt as much wiring bs to fight with you have to back the transmission up or you risk bending some pressure plate fingers though but you have to do that no matter which way you go and you dont need to undo the cab mounts it will clear without it. again that will be something else to line up and square if you do. if you take the radiator support and bumper off like i said you just jack it up to clear the motor mounts which are held on by 2 bolts through the crossmember then pull it as far forward as possible like that and continue jacking make sure the starter and oil filter is off or you will bang it on the crossmember and get pi$$ed trust me i just did 2 of these and just reinstalled the powerstroke in the other truck not even 12 hours ago

 

heres what i did, hood, radiator, radiator core support, bumper. the a/c setup stayed attached and just folded up and laid on the windshield.

 

One way or another, if you have to deal with rusty bolts, none of these methods other than lifting up and over work very well... I got lucky on the 92 as it wasn't the typical rusted up unit like usually is found here. Aligning panels happens no matter if you take the rad support out or the whole clip.