Keiser's 7.3 + turbo noob build

[WrenchWhore]

@Old Goat It was an awesome event with TONS of older trucks. Mostly 60s, 70s, 80s trucks . People from all over the US came from Alaska, Canada, Washington etc. The weather was absolutely beautiful and you could pull you truck right next to the water and even on the beach if you wanted. There were even a handful of IDI's in bullnose trucks. Also a bunch of Cummins swaps and Powerstroke swaps. Full frame off swaps too. Makes me wish I broughy MY Brick IDI since I would have won by default. Somehow nobody had a bricknose truck there. I hear ya though. I stay out of CA at all costs unless it's for work or family. I get one taste of that SoCal traffic and I want to race back home.

 

[WrenchWhore]

We're getting closer fellas! Rebuilt the turbo with fresh bushings and seals. Took me a hot minute to get the turbo in it's final resting home. Getting the passenger side exhaust manifold, turbo up pipe/slip joint, and turbo pedestal all lined up so they didn't bind was a chore but I eventually got it. Just had to loosen the bolts on the turbo and clock the hot side and cold side. Test fit the crossover pipe and all seems good to go. Wrapped up the turbo with all the factory heat shields.

Buttoned up the thermostat housing with a Motorcraft t-stat and gasket

installed lower radiator elbow with Motorcraft gasket.

Injectors are a mixture of new and old as well as the glow plugs being a mixture of part numbers. When I pull the 6.9 motor from my truck i'll transfer the brand new R&D IDI injectors and Motorcraft glowplugs onto the donor engine.

I noticed when I pulled the injectors on the 7.3 donor engine that it had some rancid fuel in two of the injector chambers. I'm thinking this would explain my rough choppy idle when I bench ran the engine before repairs. Compression numbers seemed great but all the supporting parts were just...junk really.

 

[KansasIDI]

We're getting closer fellas! Rebuilt the turbo with fresh bushings and seals. Took me a hot minute to get the turbo in it's final resting home. Getting the PS exhaust manifold, turbo up pipe/slip joint, and turbo pedestal all lines up so they didn't bind was a chore but I eventually got it. Just had to loosen the bolts on the turbo and clock the hot side and cold side. Test fit the crossover pipe and all seems good to go. Wrapped up the turbo with all the factory heat shields.

Buttoned up the thermostat housing with a Motorcraft t-stat and gasket

installed lower radiator elbow with Motorcraft gasket.

Injectors are a mixture of new and old as well as the glow plugs being a mixture of part numbers. When I pull the 6.9 motor from my truck i'll transfer the brand new R&D IDI injectors and Motorcraft glowplugs onto the donor engine.

I noticed when I pulled the injectors on the 7.3 donor engine that it had some rancid fuel in two of the injector chambers. I'm thinking this would explain my rough choppy idle when I bench ran the engine before repairs. Compression numbers seemed great but all the supporting parts were just...junk really.

Nice looking engine in the pics

 

[The_Josh_Bear]

Took me a hot minute to get the turbo in it's final resting home. Getting the PS exhaust manifold, turbo up pipe/slip joint, and turbo pedestal all lines up so they didn't bind was a chore but I eventually got it. Just had to loosen the bolts on the turbo and clock the hot side and cold side. Test fit the crossover pipe and all seems good to go. Wrapped up the turbo with all the factory heat shields.

Now do it with the engine in the truck, for the first time ever!
Great progress, engine looks so clean like that.
Keep up the good work!

 

[WrenchWhore]

Now do it with the engine in the truck, for the first time ever!
Great progress, engine looks so clean like that.
Keep up the good work!

I absolutely see why people break the turbo pedestal on these factory turbos. They've got to be JUST right for them to all be happy together. Thank you for the kind words. Normally I rush everything and the end results isn't something i'm proud of. While it's not 100% new engine and parts i'm REALLY trying to put this used engine together with forethought.

 

[The_Josh_Bear]

I'd actually forgotten how frustrated I was putting my turbo on for the first time till I read that, and now just remembered how mad I was when I finally had it all together except the intake hat, not knowing you couldn't just slip it in there after the turbo was in place! I was in a special place for that one...
One of my favorite parts of having charge air cooling is that you don't have to care about that. I know it's not very often we have to move the intake hat or turbo-- but I still smile knowing that the two don't have to be installed together.

 

[WrenchWhore]

Just wanted to give an update. The motor/turbo swap went great and I just put about 700+ miles on the clock to test it. I put it straight into the fire! Worked GREAT! Wow, that sounds weird to say now lol. Honestly, everything seems to be working very well. The worst problem, if you can call it that, is a tiny fuel leak on that little plate you pull off on the IP to turn up the fuel. It feels like it has almost TWICE the power from the old tired 6.9. I have some updates I want to implement. I want to get a another radiator installed like an aluminum cheapo, BRAKES! She needs brakes for sure. Bigger fuel tank (40 gal rear), steering box is sloppier than a_____<insert answer here. Steering, cooling, brakes, fuel but brakes will come first since that's mandatory and I already have parts.

Mileage on the trip started at about 14.5 MPG (burned about a quart of oil/cooling system wasn't purged) with a nasty head wind. Checked it later at about 15.2 MPG (topped oil off) last mileage at the end of the trip showed 17.1MPG with no lose of oil. I guess she just needed to wake up from slumber and put to work? Very happy with the results.

If you have an Instagram give it a follow. He's a video of me starting this dinosaur up after god knows how long.

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Another walk around video:

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[IDIBRONCO]

These engines really are made for running. You can take fresh one and put it to work immediately without any babying. When I overhauled mine, and then replaced the lifters, I took it on a 4+ hour one way trip to go camping. It didn't give me any troubles.