1973 Ford F250 7.3 Diesel Swap

Ford

1973

0

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Mods

1985 F350 frame swap, Dana 60 front axle swap, Zf5 manual transmission swap, Luk clutch kit, 7.3 Powerstroke diesel. Aftermarket pioneer stereo. Homemade wiring harness 1977 F-series grille inserts. Custom radiator support with modified cab and bed mounting brackets.

Build story

I really wanted to build a diesel powered 70s Ford truck because I really like style of the 6th generation Fords and I am more familiar with diesels and modern EFI gas engines. Being friends with different junk owners/shops allowed me to scavenge the county for unwanted junk trucks and I was able to find a clean 73. Was interested in a 12v Cummins but they were way to expensive for me. Ended up with a complete but really worn out 1985 F350 with a 6.9 IDI. A whole truck with $1500 tires for $500 was too good to pass up so I settled for that. Two years, a bunch of learning mistakes, and a lot of hard work later, I swapped out the broken 6.9 for a 7.3 IDI, found a Banks turbo kit in a junkyard, and I did some horse trading for a set of matched wheels and a Zf5 transmission with a used Luk clutch kit. All of this was possible with the help of some friends, lots of hours rolling around in the dirt under junk out in the woods, parts scavenging from various scrap piles, selling restored junk on eBay, and repeatedly falling in love with the truck again after hours of frustrating knuckle busting. \r
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It gets decent mileage for being a heavy brick and it has done every job I have asked it to do without hesitation. I have driven it on 1000 mile trips, and I have hauled rock, dirt, engines, and cars with it.
Edit 5/14/20: Now I have junkyard mag wheels and all terrain tires which really cut down on the noise!

Edit 7/11/21 We are now Powerstroked! I got a killer deal on a 1996 7.3 Powerstroke and since they share the same mounts and patterns the swap was pretty easy. Some other mods have been a reversed shackle kit and longer front leaf springs.

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