Pardon my ignorance, what is a 4BT?
Ive been dreaming about swapping in a TT 6.4 Powerstroke in my 78 F150 4x4...

 

4 cylinder B series Turbo, Cummins designation for the 4 cylinder version of the commonly known 6 cylinder 5.9 6BT. It is the 3.9 Cummins.

 

Ahh thanks for clarifying so that i could keep up with you guys! Is there anyone who makes motor mount kits for any of the "B Series" or even any of the Powerstrokes for out trucks?

 

Destroked, Ford-Cummins.com, and Autoworld of Montana have ready made motor mounts, the adapter plates are Destroked and Ford-Cummins. No one makes power stroke mounts, most generally use the factory pieces. For the 70's trucks, you are on your own for the P-strokes.

 

cummins is great if your rich, but for 500$ you can drive a idi home and swap it in, and where i come from, we like to keep our money in our pockets. after all 3000$ buys lots of fuel.

 

If it matters to you, Isuzu is a GM company....

 

Thats very true. Plus, after looking at it you can set an IDI up with decent gears and an OD, you can still get low 20's for MPG, which isnt too shabby. A 4BT and 30mpg is nice, bu that extra ~$2000 comes in mighty handy

 

do your own work and the cummins swap can be cheap.

I bought a driving dodge with a cummins in it for $1800. Sold $2k worth of parts off it and still have the motor, fuel tank, etc. that I am going to use sitting here.

 

355 gears and a 4 speed i pulled 21 mpg at55 anhwy here on my 250k mile idi engine before

 

u aint getting them deals around here, but idi drivr it home easily for 500-1000 everyday

 

I call BS. Deals can be found anywhere. You just have to have the patience and time to FIND them.

If you're in a hurry - sure, grab an IDI. Not my cup o tea for a swap though...

 

IDIs are GREAT engines! A stock offering in Fords, they have great power to pull, last a LONG time, and were among the first diesels to be offered in light trucks. Plus you don't have to deal with computers if the engine is pre-powersmoke, and is simple to work on. Most of those that aren't fans of the IDI diesels, just want engines that they can chip for performance, are new to diesels so they think that Cummins is the ONLY way to go because of all the ads for conversions and the hype (don't get me wrong, a Cummins will outlast anything you can put it in if you treat it right. An inline engine can handle it a little better than a V-type engine.), and some think that diesels should be racers instead of the steady power machines they were meant to be and probably never got into diesels until Dodge came out with the 2nd or more than likely 3rd generation of diesel pu.

Do what you can afford to do for the purpose you want. I have a 6.9 that has been worked VERY hard over the years and still pulls as much as my brothers Cummins, just slower. But for good information on putting a Cummins in a Ford, I'd recommend Destroked since they seem to have a LOT of information and the ability to help you with parts for details. Nothing like a little help to make the job easier! And when getting whatever diesel you want to put in, the advice to get a complete donor vehicle of whatever the diesel is in would be of great help.

 

I'm with chasetruck on this. You definitely need to be patient and diligent in your search. And anyway you go idi, 4bt or 6bt a donor vehicle is the way to go because of the small parts and salvage money you can get out of it. I sold the dash cover from my dodge donor for $135 on ebay, it's the stuff like that you don't anticipate in getting your money from.

For my conversion I had purchased a 7.3 idi with the intent of putting it into my 77 F-250 but after doing all the research for the install I realized it was going to take the same amount of work as the cummins and I prefer an inline 6 engine.

As far as just chipping for easy power, there is no computer control on my 12 valve cummins. I'm building this truck with simplicity in mind. A mechanically injected diesel coupled with a manual transmission and the only thing that will have a computer is the cd player I'm going to install.

At the end of the day though, just keep another one of these dentsides on the road. They are awesome trucks and just that much sweeter with a capable, efficient diesel in them. There are plenty of tips and tricks that are available on sites like these to build either an idi or a cummins powered truck.