Introducing TOTAL MOOSEPOWER!

Thanks guys. Glad there is favorable response to this. I delivered the first engine to the rebuilder yesterday. Why a 6.9? Well, I'm taking cores, so they are the oldest and honestly it's what I had a spare one of laying around. I will do a 7.3 also. Price is certainly a concern, and as someone pointed out, it may not be smart to to put that much money in an IDI, BUT.... we are no longer building sustainable vehicles in this country. I have one customer who already has 10K sunk in his decade old 6.0L, which honestly has more rust than my IDI's. We are rapidly approaching the day when paying for a repair that is MANY TIMES what the truck is worth will be common place. These new Tier 4 pickups already have $3000 exhaust systems, and they are likely to fail in the first 5 years. This means by the time that $55,000 truck is 10 years old, and now worth $12,000, that a set of injectors and a DPF will cost you close to that if repaired in a garage. Our $1200 trucks with $10,000 worth of improvements will be much more viable, as they will continue to last 20-30 years beyond that investment, and all you will have to do to keep them is replace the rusted parts. I really believe that an IDI from the south, with no rust and a new engine will be more desirable than a new $67,000 powerstroke for a wide host of reasons. If I can't find buyers for the motors I make, I will wrap old trucks around them and sell them that way. But... it seems that may not be necessary if you guys are serious about the apparent demand.

As for kits... they may become available after we get going with whole engines. However, my belief is that it will be more palatable for some to get a loan to buy an engine, then to max out their credit card on all the bells and whistles for their current motor. Here is a picture of the engine dyno we will be using. Hard to imagine our little engines sitting where that cat is, but you will manage.

I think total moose power would be right at home in my black crew cab. Im not afraid to put some money into her (as you know)she is southern truck from florida with no rust new paint and is way more desirable to me than a 60000 power stroke. Let me know if you need a guinea pig lol!!! I will be on the edge of my seat for some prices.

Good point. I agree with you. Cheaper to get alone for the engine instead of pieceing together and maxing out your cc.(which i already did). Do we have a price range yet for and engine.also say i buy one can i get it with out the moose injectors since i just got mine 4 mo ths or so ago?

travisjulian said:

I agree but is it smart to spend 4 to 9k on engine when you can buy a newer truck thats easier to modify. I love my idi but i have spent alot to keep it running decent plus put new moose injectors in and a pump soon. I need to check timing but dont have the correct timing light to do so.

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For me, absolutely. I don't want a newer truck. My criteria for a vehicle is no electronics, no power accessories, no emissions, vent windows, kick panel vents, and no inspection/government interference in my life. They don't make anything new that meets those criteria even if we ignore the government bullying, so whether a new truck cost $50, $50k, or $50 million makes no difference, I don't want it. I'll concede power steering and brakes on trucks because with larger tires it sucks to not have power steering, and with those larger tires and a load behind the truck stopping can be a chore.

If your point is TCO, run some numbers. Basically these are all ~$10k trucks whether you get it for $1 or $10k, you'll have around $10k into it by the time it has turbo, ZF5, gauges, good interior and body with nice paint, lift/towing/etc. mods. That's a far cry from what a new truck goes for these days and even if fuel economy is less you'll never make it up if you include repairs on the new truck once it gets up in the 100k-200k mile range, which the old truck will always be much cheaper in both time and money.

I had my truck for maybe a month and bought the adaptor to time it. Changing timing from 6.5* to 9* gave an instant improvement from 8.25 MPG to 12.5 MPG, for about $.15/mi savings. $200 tool paid for itself in 1333 miles, give or take. If your case is that tools cost money then stick with a gas vehicle or whatever you already have the tools to service. I can buy a lot of tools with the $50k or more in savings vs buying a new truck, which I'm sure requires even more non-standard tools which likely cost a lot more than $200.

Personally I'm glad Mel is offering this crate engine. I probably won't go that route as it'll likely cost more than doing my own build and using his pump/injectors/turbo/whatever, but for a lot of folks this is probably the best way to have an affordable and capable diesel truck. If the cost is only marginally more I may go that route though as while I enjoy these types of projects I also value my time and have more projects than I have time. I just don't understand all the talk about expensive stuff and cost, when there's no way TCO of an IDI will be more than a comparable new truck.

Agnem said:

Well, I'm taking cores, so they are the oldest and honestly it's what I had a spare one of laying around.

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If you feel like arranging shipping I have a 7.3 bare block to donate. Bored 30 over by PO, chucked a rod bearing.

I just havent got around to it yet. Cost isnt the problem. I have 8k in tools at work i bought.

Working 50 to 60 hrs a week makes it hard to do much of anything

Are you going stock or lowered compression ratio? I already spent a lot (don't even want to add up the receipts) rebuilding my 6.9 because I am committed to this technology.

travisjulian said:

Working 50 to 60 hrs a week makes it hard to do much of anything

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For a lot of us, this is where an option like this really starts to make sense. If I have a truck down that should be making money or is about to take off on a trip that's on your one prescheduled week of vacation per year or is (insert time crunch scenario here) or you just don't have the skills or patients to do a full rebuild, sometimes you let your checkbook solve your problems if you can. Right now I don't know of any other vendor that is offering ready to run IDIs even if there is a little lead time. Mel is filling that hole in the market. For that I thank him for giving us another option. Is it the right choice for everyone, no. For some will it make sense. Yep. Guys like towcat (just as an example because I know he has a fleet of these things) that depend on these trucks to make a living might salivate over the idea of writing a check and having a truck back in service faster than a machine shop can turn a rebuild around. Time is really money in most cases. I priced several options to have a motor built with the good stuff installed because I'm a rookie at this diesel thing. Trust me, to have it done right is not inexpensive.

Do I think Mel will sell a bunch of these? Probably not. I doubt he thinks he'll sell a bunch either. That's the problem with niche products. But, if you build up a portfolio of niche products, with little competition, that starts to makes good business sense to me. What do I know though.

Drive it everyday just thinl the timing might need adjustment or atleast checked. I have other prioritys on my free time right now. But i plan to get to it. Once all my other fires are out. Like i stalling wood burner and running pipe 30 ft under ground through foudation i to basement. Etc no need to keep going.

travisjulian said:

I agree but is it smart to spend 4 to 9k on engine when you can buy a newer truck that's easier to modify. I love my idi but i have spent alot to keep it running decent plus put new moose injectors in and a pump soon. I need to check timing but don't have the correct timing light to do so.

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Apples and oranges - You're discussing the cost of a rebuilt high power older generation motor against the cost of a newer truck that's just as likely to have problems as your current idi. And the newer you get, the more complex and expensive things are to repair/replace. I would bet that a stock PSD with new fuel system, sensors, motor rebuild, turbo, etc (ie, comparable to the moose setup here with new everything) would cost more than the moose motor......

I just like having the piece of mind that it's all there and it's all right. I have a spare motor I could build and put the goodies on it and drop it in the truck but i kinda like the piece of mind knowing that I can make a phone call and one will show up that is ready to go and I know it's right. I have been tinkering with this thing for 7 years and in 7 years I've driven it 7,842 miles. I am ready to quit tinkering for a bit and drive it.

If only you had done this back when i had unlimited funds.i woulda had the fastest f450 2 car carrier in the world!

How about, if you want to complain about it, stay out of this thread.
Mel is doing great services for idi owners, why knock it?

Sent from my SM-T537R4 using Tapatalk

travisjulian said:

I agree but is it smart to spend 4 to 9k on engine when you can buy a newer truck thats easier to modify. I love my idi but i have spent alot to keep it running decent plus put new moose injectors in and a pump soon. I need to check timing but dont have the correct timing light to do so.

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Some of us have spent that on an almost indestructible E4OD