I was just wanting to see how many of you think that you would do this swap. I have a 1990 F250 4x4 with a 5 speed (ZF5) and a 5.8L. The engine has less than 500 miles on it (because I never drive it, it just sets in the garage) The engine is built low compression with a GT42 BB turbo on it with Aftermarket tuneable injection (MSEFI) that I built myself and tuned with my laptop. The truck runs good but is not that greatest on economy and therefore I do not drive it at all, I start it maybe once a month or so, just to keep it from getting gummed up.

I actually have a lot of money tied up in it, because it was my project for a long time and it is really a lot of fun to play with but costs too much to drive.

Here is what I am thinking about doing, a family member recently had some misfortune when his 1991 f250 4x4 rolled over a hill (he claims he forgot to set the Parking Brake), tearing the truck up really bad when it hit a tree. The 7.3L is still perfect and the trans is good but it is the T19. The engine just barely has over 100,000 miles or maybe even less. He told me a while back that it had no hit 100k yet. He told me that I could possibly have the truck because he knew that I was wanting to put a diesel in my old truck to make it a little more useable.

How many of you would think it would be worth the work to pull all the parts of this totalled truck and put into my 90 F250 4x4. I think this would make my truck much more useable as a work truck rather than the TOY that it is now. Also I would like to save some wear from my new truck (04 F250 4x4 6.0L) that I am having to drive everyday now, if it is possible.

If I do this I will probably throw a turbo kit on the 7.3l before I finish up the swap and make any other upgrades that seem reasonable before putting the engine in my truck.


Also I have a buddy that is wanting to put the 35lW turbocharged into a mustang for a drag car, I could probably make up for some money spent by selling him the whole setup and make him a pretty fast car.


How many of you think that this whole swap seems worthwhile. I would hope to make at least close to 300 hp with the 7.3l if that doesn't seem like to much to ask.

Any Ideas? Also I dont mind the work, if I dont have a side project at home during the winter I will go crazy with boredom.

 

My only hang-up was getting your money out of the gas motor but if you're happy with what he's giving you then I'd say go ahead.
I't gonna take some MAJOR mods. to get 300HP out of the 7.3L. As the IDIs were not desighned for a turbo the compression is too high for the kind of boost you'd need and the head, valley pan and exhaust gaskets are not made for those levels either.

I'd say use your PS for high HP use and the IDI for a work truck. You'll be a lot happier with a turbo on it but I'd keep the boost to around 10 lbs. MAX.

 

Unless you pull the heads and put Head Studs in before you stick it back in. Much easier to do with the engine out im sure. Then You can run a little higher boost. I think dave sp had his pistons shaved off the top to lower compression to run more boost. Would make it harder to start. These engines stock have a 21.5 to 1 compression ration where the 7.3 powerstroke only has 18.5 - 1 compression but starts easier due to its injection system.

Also you stated you own a 6.0 powerstroker. You may not need this or already know a great deal about them but if not and your interested in learning a little about that engine check this guy out.

YouTube - powerstrokehelp's Channel

Just click to view all his posted videos and search for the 6.0s. He has alot and he does go into some detail about them and his video quality is very good. I learned a coupple things about them as well even after going to the 6.0 class for where I work. Good luck

 

Sounds like a deal, I didn't know that a 91 Ford had a T19 option, I thought they all had 5 spd tranny. You would want to find a ZF 5 spd that went behind a diesel, you may can trade a junkyard for one.

 

I think 300 HP is not out of the question, but you are going to be burning some diesel to get there.

There is one area where a Power Stoke has it all over the IDI.
You can get a selectable program chip that lets you pick power or economy at the flick of a switch.

When you build an IDI to make power, it happens every time you start the engine.

Yes you can mess with timing, and turn the IP up and down.
But once you go past that point, you are either there or you are rebuilding the engine with new parts.

If I had known fuel was going to be 5 dollars a gallon a year later when I did mine, I would have built it exactly like I did. I would be kidding myself if I said otherwise.

 

My plans are to do head steads while I had it out and even install Pistons that have hard anodized crowns and Less deck height that are built specifically to turbocharge the old 7.3l IDI w/1.110" Piston Pin(I can get these at a decent price), probably check bearings and replace seals while it is apart. I would like to keep it in the decent fuel mileage range but still make enough power for it to get out of it's own way good. I plan to either run a couple T3 turbos or a decent sized T4. I am not about to spend $2000 plus dollars on a turbo kit when I can make one for less than $600 maybe even more like $300. I have a lot of fabricating experience at turbocharging cars, trucks, tractors and whatever else has an engine.

Also I like my 6.0l and know a fair amount about the engine, but I am really anxious to make my old truck run pretty good with an older, less advanced engine. Plus if I were to tear it up, my newer truck I mean, I think the wife would probably kill me in my sleep. So far it has an edge juice with attitude (never been above stage 4),and complete 4" exhaust. It runs good and gets decent fuel mileage (17 mpg ave. 1/3 highway, 2/3 city) but it is still under warranty for a while and I really want a diesel to play with, so it looks like I will be making an old IDI run pretty good here shortly if everything works out.


Another good benefit is the older truck is paid off and if it breaks I can stick it in the garage until I find time to fix it, it would also be much more affordable to work on, than a 6.0l. Injectors alone for a 6.0l are close to $2,000. You can buy a whole new set of injectors and an injection pump for a 7.3l IDI for around $500. I think putting a diesel in the truck will also give it more applicable value as a truck, right now when anyone sees it they ask what it's good for and I just kinda shroud my shoulders, because unless I were to make it into a mud truck or something it is really not good for anythign right now, it has lots of HP but still not the same as diesel torque.

I am glad you all agree with what I am wanting to do, I needed someone to give me a little push to go forward with this project. The wife was kinda questioning the whole thing because the truck already has a new engine in it and never gets driven, when I tried to explain to her that it needed a Diesel Engine, she just didn't understand.

 

Dave S. recommended to me to use std. head bolts in the 7.3L as they are bigger than the 6.9L already and the stud kit is suspect and expensive.
If you run dual turbos you'll probably have way too much boost for these motors but if you're going to lower the compression you'll probably be OK.
Do you really think twin turbos will be worth it? I don't know, you've messed with turbos more than me.

 

With dual turbos, you are going to have to drop compression, head studs, and probably O ring the heads.

Ken at Diesel Performance Specialists, Inc. - The Diesel Performance Specialists is the only place I know that has 7.3 studs, and they are proud of them.
He can also O ring the heads.
He will not build a 7.3 engine though, the cylinder walls are to thin.

The 7.3 IDI is a 21.5 to 1 compression ratio.
30 pounds of boost makes the effective compression ratio around 65.37 to 1.

A Power Stroke with an 18 to 1 base compression.
30 pounds of boost makes the effective compression ratio of 54.73 to 1.

As for fabbing up a turbo system, you don't have much room behind the engine to run pipes.
Not saying it can not be done, but it is not going to be easy.

Also turbo pistons will not fit NA connecting rods, so that idea is out.
Turbo connecting rods are almost non existant.

Instead of all the money and mods to run dual turbo's, I would go single turbo and aftercooler.

I can hit mid 20's for boost with a single ATS turbo, and the way it runs when the temps are very low tell me I would benefit from an intercooler on mine.

Yes I am running a set of Kens Stage 1 injectors with a 7.3 turbo IP that I modified, and yes I can roll black smoke even at 25 pounds of boost.

But I pay for the fun every time I fill up at the fuel station.
My best average MPG over 500 miles since I built my engine is 12.5 MPG.
I carry 66 gallons so even when I am down to 8 MPG I can make 500 miles before I have to stop.
Yes if I run it hard with big loads, 8 MPG is not out of the question.
We have some steep hills around here.

 

The turbo pistons I can get will fit N/A Rods, they are designed for N/A motors with aftermarket trubocharger setup, they also have a lower deck height for lower compression. I already have an intercooler on the truck that I am going to use for the diesel engine too, it is a large Spearco with 3" in and 3" out.

And as far as twins go , I would do that for simplicity, instead of having a crossover pipe from manifold to manifold, just put one small turbo on each manifold, a T3 around .48 AR turbine. Then I could just run the exhaust out the back either as duals or run it back together, I already have plenty of room under the hook from a body lift that I put on to make more room for the fairly large turbo setup I have on the gas engine now. Having room for piping doesn't worry me.

I will probably try to keep it in the better fuel mileage range and still have decent power, I am not wanting a powerhouse, but a responsive fairly reliable old truck. I don't want to make more than 25 lbs of boost out of the old engine , I would just put twins on it to make it a little simpler for me , and I already have a couple I could put on there, all the other chargers I have laying around are way too big for this engine, as they are meant to push upwards of 50lbs of boost and would make an old 7.3l get leaky in the top area fairly quick.

 

I figured you were going to do a small turbo feeding a large turbo, that's my I-6 Cummins mutated brain kicking in.
I think the one small turbo for each bank is an interesting idea!

Who makes those pistons?!?!?! Do they make them for a 6.9L?

Wish you lived closer I'd copy your set-up if it turns out well.

 

I meant the pistons have a lower compression height for lower compression, not deck height. It had been a long day yesterday and I was kinda tired.

And Yes I can also get the Hard Anodized Crown Pistons with lower Compression height for the 6.9L as well. I can get all the information together and send you a pm if you are interested.

 

Can it and would it benifit if you put that anodized coating on the bottom of the cylinder head and valves. That way it would transfer less heat to the head and valves since the exhaust valves get really hot from the egts?

 

I like the way you think.

I would really have to look into this, there is no doubt that this would be beneficial to the head and valves, BUT if you prevent some heat from escaping by transfer through the head (it would probably be minimal) , then you are going to keep more heat in the cylinder, possibly raising cylnder pressure (minimal again, not sure if it would even be significant) 4 Valve Heads would be handy here to get the heat out quicker and result in lower temps.

I wonder if you coated the bottom of the head as well as the exhaust ports and valves if you would see much of an improvement, it would have to make the heads and valves stronger and therefore more reliable, the only thing that worries me is that it may actually raise EGTs by holding the heat in more. But I really like the idea of thinking beyond common performance mods.


This brings up so many questions in my head because you would be able to handle higher EGTs with the coating but you would probably see higher temps just from using the coating. Kind of like when you wrap headers to keep heat out of the engine bay, it actually makes the temp inside of the headers hotter ( many believe this results in better exhaust flow though).

I could be way off here, as I have never tried this idea, and I am just kind of thinking as I type. BUT using the laws of thermodynamics if you are preventing heat (even just a tiny bit) from escaping then you are going to build up more heat and we all know that a diesel running good makes plenty of heat in the Cylinder. I really like this idea though , I think it would be beneficial I am just not sure how beneficial.

Sorry for the long rant, I ramble sometimes when I am thinking and this really got me to thinking.

 

At 25 PSI, you need to have a base compression ratio of about 20 to 1.

You also need head studs.

You also have to have intake studs and use high heat copper form a gasket on both sides of the valley pan gasket where it is the intake manifold gasket.
The stock gasket will only handle about 20 pounds max.

You need to do the same to the exhaust manifold gasket, it can not handle the backpressure the turbo will create.

And the exhaust manifold to exhaust pipe connections also need some work at pressure that high.

Header wrap on everything you can get it on before the turbo, you want to keep as much heat in the exhaust as you can so it can spin the turbo sooner and faster.

Already been down those roads.

In theory, if you could keep all of the heat in the combustion chamber and none went into the engine, you would have a much more efficient engine.

 

I definitely would like some info on those pistons. Just a web site would be sufficient but the more info the better.
Thanks!