I am considering a gas to diesel swap in both of my truck one is a 69 and the other is a 95. I want to keep both of these truck for quite some time to come. But as much as i would love to build big inch and big power gassers, the fuel market right now just isnt supporting that very much at all. So i am opting to swap out to diesel for the fact of bio diesels and such.

Now i know that diesel conversions are becoming quite popular espically with the 12valve cummins engine. But i would like to keep both of my trucks true to ford. My question is which engine would be best for my aplications. The 7.3l or the 6.0l. The 69 will mostly be a cruiser, but i would like for it to have power too! Nothing Insane but something still impressive. The 95 will be a daily driver occasional towing but nothing to wild. I would sell the truck and just by a 7.3 equipped one but with the work ive put into it and all the little things ive done to make it "mine" i would hate to do that.

So my question is what would you guys suggest for the motor. Also would like to go with standard trans in both trucks. 95 is standard but the 69 is auto. Suggestions will be greatly accepted.

Thanks,
Don

 

I think you are underestimating the work involved. The 69 would be worth the effort because its vintage and you cant get the diesel in that year. The newer one could be bought with a diesel and your costs will exceed the value of buying a used 95 equiped the way you like.

As far as engines go if you are going to do te work do a cummins, there is just so much more appeal to those engines. If you were going to do a powerstroke the 6.0 would be the way to go but I would automatically do headstuds before installation which adds to costs. The worthwhile powerstrokes are also all electronics which adds complexity. The cummins is the way to go in both forms but especially mechanical.

 

Depending on how handy you are, i would do the 69 up and trade the 90's for a 7.3l with a 6 speed. For the amount you would spend doing a conversion you could find a 2000 to 2003.5 7.3 which you could spruce up and customize and really have yourself a true blue oval diesel.

 

alright so the 95 really aint worth the hassle. I understand that the cummins is a great engine and all, but i hate to go outside of ford for a diesel motor. Ill keep it in mind as i know the cummins is can be one mean diesel.
Will consider the trade in of trucks.
Anything in particular i should keep my eyes open for, problem years, or problems that are common?

 

7.3 is the easist swap. find a donor truck and just use it all. i been told the cummins want fit because it's too long?? not sure but i did just swap a 6.9 to a 7.3 and almost everything worked for me. runs strong and cheap to get parts for. you can burn used motor oil in it also with no problems and no smoke out the pipes. just have to change your filters a little more often. you can almost run whatever you got in it. i just had my dodge cummins timed and it cost me 300 bucks. 7.3 is international but it comes stock in the fords.

 

A 6.9/7.3 is an IH engine, not a Ford. They did use the Cummins 5.9 in the 94& up F650's, so it's not really jinxing the truck. If you really have to do a Ford diesel, you can try to stuff a 6.6 litre from an F700-800.