Cummins ISC 8.3L 2008 F350

Ford

F-Series

2008

0

Signup or Login to like and comment
Step 1. This was before the idea of an engine swap was on the horizon. Preparing to pull the cab and see what horrors await on this 6.4L with a dead hole.
One freshly plucked Cummins ISC 8.3L with an Allison 3000 transmission.
Got it home, and decided to give it a test run. Lots of temporary wiring, and voila. it took a little fiddling to get the throttle sensor to work, but my home made (from ebay parts) transmission wiring worked on the first shot.
One of the first test fits
Checking the valves, since I had the cover off anyway. Some were pretty far off for a fresh (Cummins Reman less than 10,000 mile) engine.
I did a thing. Lots of tedious masking and prep work. It was a complete mess before I started. I'm surprised it cleaned up as well as it did.
One of the first cab fitting, many , many more to come.
This is taller and wider, and longer than a 5.9/6.7 Wider wasn't a problem. Longer was challenging.
One of the first cab fittings. It's crooked, and not level. I know.
Firewall has been removed to make space.
With the fire wall cut out, I could shave every bump off the back of the HVAC box. I gained up to 2" in this area. It was critical to make the valve cover fit.
Modified firewall going back in. This was formed from the outside while the HVAC box was still attached, giving the shape you see here. This was the maximum allowable space that would still let me keep the HVAC box. AC is not negotiable. I live in Texas.
Side profile of the new firewall. It moved back about 2" up high, which went a long way towards making this possible.
Finished welding and seam sealed from the outside.
I decided that red was the way to go. This is a picture of the belt routing that I worked out. I built custom brackets for the AC compressor (from a 2009 E350 I had on the shelf), and the standard Ford 6.4L alternator. The big alternator on the left of the picture came with the engine, and will be turned into a welder/dedicated 12V feed for my travel trailer. The Ford alternator will serve as the normal truck alternator. Power steering/brakes will run off a small pump that bolts to the back of the air compressor.
This took a massive amount of time to get to this point. It all fits from front to back. I had to modify the fan support, and fan pulley to get me the last inch or so of space I needed. As you can see from the previous picture, the fan pully is from the Ford 6.4L. It is much thinner and smaller than the Cummins one. Smaller means more fan RPMs, which is important, since the engine doesn't turn as fast as the 6.4L (2200 RPM max).
I also had to modify the fan to move it back an inch or so. This is the final location of the engine. Now to start building front mounts.
New front engine mount crossmember. 2x4 1/4" tubing, 1/2" plate uprights, and 2.5"x3/8" angle gussets. the large spreader bar between the engine front mount and the crossmember came with the engine. It was part of the Spartan Coach that the engine came out of. No need to reinvent the wheel. The spreader bar was designed to use a square block engine mounts that are still available on eBay as NOS items. I don't want 25 year old rubber, so I found that 2000 V10 Dodge trucks and Vipers use an identical mount, and they are available new.
First step on the rear mounts is boxing this frame. A little CAD (Cardboard Aided Design).
3/8" plate cut and ground to fit snug. The front is bent to accommodate the shape of the Ford frame using a shop press.
A better view of the new steel.
Welded, and painted with left over paints to keep it from rusting till I can get some more black paint.
Same procedure on driver's side.
First rear engine mount in progress. I'm using some 1/2" thick cedar fence picket as a stand in for 1/2" plate steel. It's easier to mock up and sturdier than cardboard..
This starter is a behemoth. Size 12 (American) shoe for scale. There are smaller options that will work on the 8.3L, but this one came with he engine and it fits. Luckily the bell housing has the starter on the driver's side, otherwise I would have to have a hood stack. Lol
After tacking together on the frame, I removed the mount for more welding. I am not a welder, but I am confident that this will work just fine. There was good bevels cut with the plasma cutter, and ground cleanly, and welded with several passes. My little 180 amp welder can't do any more than this. Incidently, Rich just made mounts for his Hybrid Land Cruiser ( on Youtube), and I saw that his design for mounts was pretty much the same as what I had just made. I feel pretty good about that. His were just smaller (1/4" plate instead of 1/2").

Mods

It used to have a tuner and delete, but now it will have a Cummins 8.3L.

Build story

This was a pretty ordinary 2008 King Ranch F350 6.4L. I tuned it pretty early on, and had a lot of fun with it till it blew up at about 190,000 miles. To be fair, I wasn't kind to it. I got a new (Ford Reman) engine. While still tuned (To a more reasonable level), I did baby the truck afterwards. Strict maintenance, watching temperatures, good fuel additives. It broke again at about 280,000 miles. I considered getting a better built 6.4L, but those aren't cheap, and there's no guarantee that it won't suffer the same fate. So Cummins it is. I considered the normal route with a 5.9 or 6.7L. The price for an engine, swap parts, etc was pretty steep.

I watched Rich's videos on the F-350, and was inspired to go the road less travelled. I found a guy locally that was selling a donor 8.3L Cummins engine an Allison transmission for the right price. After some measurements, I decided it was indeed possible. Now I'm neck deep on frame modifications and building engine mounts.
Map of location
View Projects Map ›

Comments

To leave a comment on Cummins ISC 8.3L 2008 F350:

Login or Signup