Picked up an 86 F-250 4x4 for cheap, but the 6.9 has tons of miles. Please vote on the poll for what I should do. Also please post comments on why you voted the way you did. Thanks!

 

How's the rest of the truck, and what do you want it to do? That kind of thing helps make the choice...

 

The rest of the truck is in fair shape.


I want a nice daily driver that will tow my boat on the weekends and tractor for jobs.


I'm looking to do a major "spruce" up. I looked at new trucks and I don't want the payment, the higher regestration, and the higher insurance. Plus, I don't like air bags, and I don't like all the stuff I saw under the hood (where's the motor under all that stuff???)


I figure a referbed motor, c-6 trans rebuilt, gear vendors od, new seats, new brakes, update a/c, new tires, and so on... I figure for $10,000 I can have a pretty cool truck, reliable, creature comforts I like about the new trucks, but with out the added expense. Also, I hate driving what everybody else has, I like to go "built no bought".

Well that's my idea in a nut shell. The only delima I have it which motor?

 

My opinion is stay with the 6.9, mine holds pretty good with the Cummins I put into the 92. With a turbo, I think it would be one heck of a truck, just no funds for that, so it remains as is...

 

5.9 all the way more parts that are cheap and readily available as well was a huge aftermarket selection for them could also pick up a cummins and some non banks performance parts for almost if not as cheap as rebuilding the 6.9 and putting that crap from banks on it. the motor will also pull a boat better, have fewer problems, and last a lot longer then the truck ever could.

 

With 10K, I'd trade that 86 in for a truck with a 7.3 PSD in it. Something 94 or newer.

Mike

 

Bought an adapter plate from Wilcap Adapters in Arroyo Grande Ca and bolted the cummins diesel to the ZF...it uses a dodge manual flywheel & starter. Love the torque of the engine and great fuel mileage.

 

thanks to all who participated!

 

If you want a basic truck fix the 6.9 otherwise don't bother dumping money into a old truck that is the dumbest thing to do. You spend 10 grand on a old truck you have a old truck that you spent 10 grand on. When you get in a accident and it comes time to get paid for insurance the book value on that truck is 2000 dollars so you lost 8 grand down the toilet.

You would spend a a dollar to try save a dime.

Find yourself a 95-97 PSD and be done with it they have enough power you want it has the OBS if you like that style and you can get parts for the truck.

What you want to do is prolly going to require

Rewire the truck
Rebuild suspension front and rear
Replace and repair body panels
Rebuild brakes replace all parts
Redo the interior
Rebuild the axles
Rebuild the transmission
Rebuild the engine
Rebuild the transfercase

Oh I call that saving money it may not happen all at once but every time you need to do repairs that could be going towards a new truck payment.

If the truck needs body work and it has rust plan on fighting that problem every couple years you never get rid of orange cancer it keeps coming back.

Sorry for being to the point but thats the way it goes it really makes me laugh when you figure spending 10 grand on a old worn out truck is going to save money. In my area 99% of the time when a diesel engine dies the rest of the truck is shot. You would have to have a truck in VERY VERY good shape and I mean friggin MINT shape to spend 6000 grand for a rebuilt engine.

A person would have to have their head examined putting a rebuilt engine into a high mileage truck.

A Cummins conversion is a big waste of time I can only see it being beneficial if you have a unique truck that is worth the money.

 

well, i think 10 grand is a bit much to drop on a truck, but then again, lots of poeple spend that much on their off-road vehicles just to go out and mud them up once a month.

i say this, if you can score a deal on a psd with trannie, go for it, if not, then just rebiuld the 6.9, you can get decent enough power out of it.

and about "sprucing" it up, you can look in junk yards to see if there is interior peices out of a newer truck, a guy i met once had a 1972 chevy, he ended up swapping everything over from a 90's something chevy, including seats and some other interior (yes, he modified the dash) parts and even the third brake light, looked sharp as heck, he said it was alot of work, but netherless, looked good.