Hey all,

I hope this isn't a dumb question. I did look around a little. I have an opportunity to buy a used but completely working turbo from an '03 7.3l. Owner is modding. Even if it's a bargain, will it fit my 97? The housing is smaller, right? And what about the wastegate? Is it a better turbo? Worse? Is it worth doing? The price is around $300 which may be good for a good used unit. He's got a stock HPOP, too for about the same price (this seems high) and I can get a package deal, but just wondering if it's worth it.

Mine is fine, but newer is always better, right? Okay, so not always, but mostly.

DS

 

$300 is high for a stock SD turbo unless it includes the pedestal (which you will need also). It will go in there, but the up pipes are connected differently so you'd need those as well along with the driver's side exhaust manifold. The downpipe also comes out in a different spot and would take some heavy modding to make it work as I understand. Oh, and don't forget about the 3" intake plenums on the SD versus 2" on the OBS. You'd need those, along with the boots too.
Long story short- a lot of work for not much gain. The WG can be bypassed, no big deal there but I don't know for sure if it would cause clearance issues or not.

 

From what i understand, the superduty is a downgrade to our trucks. Our wheels are more agressive, If it were me, i would save the 300 dollars and work towards a d66.

 

I like the stock OBS turbos over the superduty ones.
the superduty ones surge bad and they like higher boost les that the obs ones.

the only reason to upgrade to the newer stile turbo would be if your planning on getting a 38r turbo soon.

the hpop is probably worth closer to 200

 

Thanks for the input, guys! I'll pass on these SD parts.

Would the D66 turbo mod require new injectors? Or are they mods that can be done separately? I am still running stock. I'll poke around and read more, but if anyone has any links, that'd be great, too.

DS

 

You can definitely put the d66 in with the stock sticks as far as i know. Then down the road you can upgrade to stage 1's or something. If you plan on going with stage 2 or bigger than the d66 wont last long with those sticks.

 

You can run the D66 with stock sticks, its a modded stock turbo.

 

I still feel the need to explore this project. I see those 2" ports on my truck and I want to make them bigger! And an intercooler is somewhere in my future.

What about the turbo from a 99-03 Powerstroke van (TP38?)? Does it also require new up-pipes and down-pipes? There is no wastegate on the SD van version, right? At least that's what this one says (that I am looking at) and it comes with a pedestal. There is an adapter I think I might need on the fresh air intake side...and I already have a later SD intake...

I am still looking for the plenums, but those seem cheap for used (~$50).

I would still need the driver's side manifold? For the newer up-pipe? Just trying to think this all out.

Thanks for the input.

DS

 

From what I understand the Plenums bend up really easy upon removal from all that great grey goop ford puts on them. Contact Clay at Riffraff I think he said he sells new ones for about that price, maybe slightly more but worth it. I am looking to do the same to mine.

 

I think this is what you mean, correct?

Riffraff Diesel: RDP Plenum Reinforcing Inserts™

 

OK, I stand corrected. My bad.

 

Yah, the inserts are a nice idea, but they don't help me much without the plenums themselves.

DS

 

IMHO I would save up and get a turbo meant for your truck along with an intercooler from a 6.0L and maybe some new sticks... Like it has been said from a previous poster Clay is the man to talk to... but if you have a guy with sd parts check for a 6.0l intercooler... If you wait till this summer I may have one off of my truck when I replace mine with a more efficient one

 

You might send Ryan (strokersace) a PM, he's just finishing up putting a van turbo in his OBS. He went with an SD 4" downpipe and had to do some major firewall reshaping to make it work. I think if you stick with a standard OBS downpipe you can drop the turbo right in for the most part. You might also send Clay (Riffraff Performance) a message, I think you can get an early 99 van turbo that wouldn't require changing the up-pipes out.

 

Yep, still finishing it up. Working on my wiring harness and it's becoming a MAJOR headache right now!! Was about a day from having the truck running, now it's looking more like next week at the soonest.

I just installed a SD van turbo into my 95. Driver's side manifold has a touch longer "arm" on it where the up-pipe connects. Some have gotten by without changing it, but if you've got one, do it. The up-pipes are different and need to be changed. Also as Chase said, you'll need the SD pedestal and 3" intake plenums (which are a great idea anyway).

The factory downpipe adapter on the SD van turbo is the same as the OBS turbo so you can use your 3" downpipe (if you have one). Since the OBS dp is a 2-piece, then you can get the extra slack/height you'd need since the SD turbo sits higher. You wouldn't have to do any firewall modification if using the OBS downpipe. Now if you ran a SD truck turbo with a wastegated housing, then you'd need to have the SD downpipe flange welded onto your existing dp.

Yes, I did some MAJOR firewall modification to use a 4" dp from a SD. I was told it wasn't worth it, and to be honest, it wasn't. Too much time spent on it. I'm glad I did it and now I know for sure, but since I was converting everything to a SD setup anyway, I wanted that dp too.