Hello folks,

So I've been working on a project for a customer of mine for a while now. I've been trying to document as much as I can which quite honestly I haven't been doing that great of a job at.

Here is a short break down of what I'm trying to accomplish:

A customer aske me if I would convert his 2000 F350 Lariat 2wd truck to a 4wd, of course I agreed to do it, I'm not very bright at times. So the truck was a pretty nice truck, has about 99000 miles on it, I kind of explained to him the process in hopes he'd change his mind but he didn't so I jumped in feet first and began tearing down his old truck. As the project moved along, we found out quickly how much rust was actually in his truck so the hunt for a donor began. I was able to find an 03 chassis and bed along with an 05 cab from Texas, had it shipped up here and continued with the project. That's where the fun starts, 7.3 trucks are virtually scarce out there and if they can be found they're beat to death, very incomplete or in worse shape than what I had, so finding a 6.0 truck was my best bet. That's exactly what I found and had it shipped up here to NY.

After the donor arrived I began by removing the cab from the chassis and putting it on a stand so I could move it as needed, every piece of wire was removed from the 05 cab and set aside, the cab was basically gutted right down to a bare shell, at this point we decided to paint the cab and do what very little body work was needed. Once I got the cab painted I parked the original truck next to the new cab and began the disassembly and stripped the old cab to its bear shell. Once that was done, the original truck was tucked away outside and I began to install the original harness into the 05 cab. For the most part this was a direct swap except for fishing the wires through the doors. The 05 cab pass throughs were smaller than the 00 cab because the body harness is complete they don't break it at the doors with a bulk head connector. So after the harness was installed the dash and headliner went in and some of the accessories. That's basically where I'm at with the cab.

I stripped the donor chassis of all its 6.0 specific parts and cleaned it, painted the chassis with chassis black and then undercoated the chassis. I've installed stainless brake lines, moved over the 7.3 fuel system. tore the transmission down, installed the 4wd out put shaft and tail housing, made sure the internals were good and replaced anything that needed to be done. The engine and transmission have been installed, the fuel system is complete, and the assembly process is moving foreword. I replaced the oil pan, installed new glow plugs, valve cover gaskets, thermostat and housing, the water outlet neck, new exhaust manifolds bolts d gaskets, etc.. I'm at the point where the cab and chassis will be going together for the final time shortly.

Ill post up some pictures in the next few posts to show you where I'm at, If anyone has any questions about what all needs to be done feel free to ask, I will also post about some questions I now have about parts I'm having trouble tracking down and what else I should possibly look at doing to the 7.3 while I have complete access to everything. I do a lot more work with 6.0's then the 7.3, but Ive been out of that game for a bit too since I purchased my 17 6.7, here are some pictures, enjoy!

Sarge

Here is the original 2000 F350 after I pulled the power train out of it:

 

2wd Chassis Torn Down

4wd Chassis Torn Down and Steam Cleaned

05 Cab Bare Pre-Paint

2wd Cab Tear Down

 

2wd Chassis Tear Down

Keeping Track Of Bracket Locations

 

05-Up Fire Wall

Original Fire Wall

Original Firewall removed and used as a template

05 Firewall Patches Needed

Welding In

Welded, Pre-paint

Firewall Completed

 

Fresh Paint, Yes I know the secondary color is lower than factory, that's the way the customer wanted it.

 

A little side by side I did for the customer after chassis save and some undercoating.

Fuel system installed


Plumbing and chassis wiring completed.

 

And that's about where I end up with pictures of the progress. Im having a hard time tracking down battery cables, and some small stuff like that.

Im also curious how to convert an Auto Transfer case to a manual, I thought there was a thread on that as well.

Is there anything else I should do to the engine while I have all the access in the world. I was going to replace the high pressure oil pump lines, possibly delete the EBP valve and replace the turbo pedestal. I was alod thinking of possibly doing some bellowed up pipes, a set of Riff Raffs couplers, and a 4' turbo back exhaust system. Any other suggestions feel free to bounce them off of me.

Id really like to do the 05-up integrated brake controller and get the door key pad to work but Im not sure that's entirely possible either.

Thanks,

Sarge

 

Holy shizzy, how are you going to bill the customer?

If you get what you're truly worth one could scour the country for a low mileage [fill in the blank], pay top dollar and fly or drive cross country to get it and drive it back......for less $

 

That's a good question, and without going into too much detail this is basically a filler job so I'm just keeping track of my hours and he and I will sit down and work something out. I'm not looking to get rich or screw anyone. The truck has lots of sentimental value to him, even though its not really the same truck anymore. We talked about a lot of scenarios before we agreed to proceed, in the end this was his decision not mine.

Sarge

 

I’m almost speechless. That a huge job and it looks like you are doing phenomenal. I can’t imagine what kind of sentimental value that truck must’ve had to be worth the money, but sentimental value will do that to us. Great thread and keep us updated please.

 

I'm not suggesting you're trying to screw anyone, but to be fair to him and keep it reasonable you may wind up working for $7/hr. Killer deal for skilled labor like this.

 

I'm sorry if you thought that's was I was thinking, its not, I was just putting that out there. There's a good bet I wont even make $7 an hour sadly. But I guess if he's happy that's all that matters to me. I kinda knew going in I wouldn't make any money on the job, but sometimes I take on work like this to say that I did it. This one is a little more than what I should've agreed to and I know that, but I cant bail out on the customer now, and we've become pretty good friends.

If anyone is a die hard 7.3 guy and recommend anything that's a must do while its apart let me know, Id say within a week the cab goes back on and Ill loose all my access and Id rather not lean over the freshly painted cab too much.

Sarge

 

Awesome project and thanks for posting your progress on it. Following this one for sure.

 

One of my few regrets after buying my 2002 F250 7.3 2WD new was that I did not get a 4WD version. I have sometimes wondered what would be involved in converting a 2WD to 4WD. After seeing this I would never attempt it! Good luck with your project and keep posting your progress.

 

1) Hutch & harpoon mods
2) HPX mod oil psi balancing
3) deadhead-ectomy
4) Tymar intake mod
5) TQ lock up mod (see guzzles link to the list of these and other options.....)

As for battery cables, believe it or not I saw a complete "new" battery cable harness for the 99+ 7.3L on amazon. Last summer & I saved it to my f350 electrical folder/list.

***** Oh and I'd check the tranny fluid lines running to the radiator, I'd recommend tweaking and relocating them above the base of the radiator for safety from road debris etal..... I have posted some pics of my trucks pipe rerouting here in a thread of mine(sorry in mobile mode I haven't the best luck cut n pasting links.)
Good luck.