I saw a wrecked F-250 in a junkyard the other day. Build date was 6/92. It has a turbo on the engine that looks like the ATS turbo on my '89, except it says FORD on it. I'm looking for a "builder" engine that I can rebuild and have sitting for one of my trucks.
Did these have the higher or lower compression ratio??
How much boost can I "safely" get if I go with the lower compression pistons on the rebuild??
Is $400 a good price for this?

 

Someone added that turbo to the 92 or swapped the engine with a 93-94 stock turbo'ed engine. As far as I know, the compression is the same as a non-turbo engine. You can grind down the pistons and run more boost but the stock turbos are limited in what they can do.

$400 for good engine and good turbo is a good deal.

 

As far as a "builder" 7.3, you don't want to bore the block. The cylinder walls are too thin already. Search this forum for "cavitation" and have a good read...

 

Look at it this way ... For the Turbo complete with all the accessories you can get 600 to a 1000 dollars for the Turbo alone.

I would look at the block number on the top of the block between the left head and IP gear housing and see what it says ...

If it says 7.3T xxxxxxxxxxxx you have found a 93-94 Factory Turbo'ed motor ... However it could be cavitated, in that case I would PROPERLY sleeve it down to a 6.9 and go for the monster build.

Personally, I would grab it, just for the Turbo if it's all there.

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

As far as how much boost you can safely run, knowing how to build an IDI is key. Previously it was determined that 12psi was all that was safe, then a few people said "oh well you can get away with close to 20 with studs"

I run 30-35psi on a daily basis. I have hit 40+psi on several occasions when I run a 40% W/M mix.

only 4,000 miles on my engine so far, but no failures to speak of.

I did a lot of research and "pioneering" if you will. designed and built my own turbo kit, designed a new turbo cam for these engines, and countless hours of R&D.

As for the stock charger.... I ran 20psi on the stock ATS unit....your battle isn't so much with boost, but drive pressure when it comes to the stock system.

 

The stock Ford IDI turbo system design was bought from ATS and is basically the same design as your ATS aftermarket turbo kit on your 89 truck. They changed the top of the air filter housing to say Ford instead of ATS. I have heard there were some downpipe changes and the Ford version is a bit more restrictive. Rest of exhaust is also more restrictive to be quiet.

 

WOW! 30-40psi. I don't need that much. My trucks are a daily driver, pull mule and a service truck. The daily driver gets 9-10psi. I don't have a funtioning gauge on the pull mule, and the service truck is NA.
I'd like to pick your brain when I get around to rebuilding it, but I'll probably look for 18-20psi.