hello i am wondering what exactly are the engine differences between say the 97 and 99.5 and newer 7.3l powerstrokes if any. i noticed that there are alot more mods. readily available for the newer 7.3's, and am wondering what would be involved in the conversion. thanks in advance.

 

You can do all the same mods to your 97, it just takes more money to get there.
99.5 turbo setup
99.5 intake plenums
17 HPOP
IDM Swap
Swap injectors
That will basically get you a 99.5 truck. Then mod until your wallet is empty.

 

Welcome to FTE!

Chase summed that up nicely. But unless you want to make enough juice to break every conceivable part on your truck. Including the engine. It might be best not to.

 

They are basically the same engine. Different injectors etc. with different programming.
Not worth the engine swap but it would be worth it to rob some parts off of a SD.

 

if you swap a 97 engine for a 99.5 you are basicly just swapping engines just for the joy and experience of doing it, you will not gain much if anything by doing it. the only three real advantages of a 99.5 in stock form are an intercooler, the 17* hpop, and better programing. And the 97 has a lot going for it:

single shot injectors, the 99.5 uses a split shot, which is better on fuel, but for more power a stage I or II single shot is where it is at

regulated return fuel system, without this, the 99.5 starves the rear injectors while under heavy load or high RPM, through your self an electric fuel pump in your 97 and you will have enough fuel for gobs of HP

the 97 has a forged lower end, I don't remember the year span but ford used cast lowered rotating assemblies in the newer trucks to save some $$$, while they are still strong, if you want to start making some serious HP, you will be looking to replace the lower end of that motor with forged components

impellar wheel, the "wicked wheel" that the 99.5s upgrade to......is just a stock obs turbo wheel

when it comes to programming, if you start modding either engine you will need a chip, so doesn't really matter either way, and as far as the intercooler and hpop are conerned, they are easily swapped into a 97,
so overall, there is no need to worry swapping in a 99.5 engine, just mod your own!!!!

 

Just FYI info here... early 99's, 99.5's and some 00's have the forged rods. There was a short run of PMR's in 00, then back to forged again for the rest of the 00's and some 01's. Sometime in 01 they went to PMRs for good.

 

Cant spread the love guys. =|

Anyways.
I'd keep your turbo. bigger housing.

I was thinking that switching to the SD 7.3 intakes would be a good mod. Anyone done this yet?
Would make obtaining an x-pip for intercooler easier.

 

If you mean swapping to the 3" intake plenums, then you have to swap turbo, pedistal, up pipes, intake spyder/X-pipe, and plenums over. Unless you got fancy and just installed the 3" plenums and fabbed up a custom X pipe to adapt your stock turbo to the 3" plenums.

 

Chase be right on the money. My '95 is getting everyting that my SD has now, Injectors, turbo, up-pipes, pedestal, electric regulated return fuel system, hpop, intake plunems, x-pipe, intercooler, and some other stuff I can't think of right now.

Theoretically it'll be the exact same configuration as the SD under the hood.

 

do the idm mod rather than swap it... much cheaper

 

thanks guys. i wasn't really considering swapping engines just what would need to be done to have basically the newer setup. thanks

 

The 99.5-03 IDM is a 120v instead of 110, so if you get the newer IDM and mod it you'll have the max voltage possible.

 

i have the 110 v idm in my e99 and u use a different resistor than on the 99.5 idm to make it 140 v also
i believe the obs have 100 v idm and use the same resistor as the e99 for the mod

 

Could be... been a while since I read up on the IDM mod.

 

I think Jim's right. Same resistor for the 100V (OBS) and the 110V (E99). The 120V (99.5 to 03) takes a separate resistor.

IIRC through, each and every IDM will work in any psd from 94-03. I need to get the '95's modded.