how much money is in your motors?

[DesertBen44]

The closer I get to a cummins swap the more you realize that there is NOTHING cheap about it!

 

[dizdak]

thanks for all the info into your motors guys, its good reading for sure..

 

[laserjock]

When I was doing research on a cummins swap, I quickly figured out that it was way more cost effective to hop up the IDI than do the swap. I got to 10k on the swap real quick.

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

i have ZERO money in my motor, yes you read that right!!!






Now the engine in my truck.......ehhhhhhhh, that is a very different story.

 

[dizdak]

Laser- $10k in a cummins swap ? is that fabing up any of your own parts?

 

[laserjock]

I went at it from a couple different directions. The basis was starting with a IDI or 460 truck. By the time you pick up a good 5.9 (3-4k in this area) and the adapters (about 2k for everything if memory serves) you are half way there. You could save a little fab work by going to a dodge tranny and tcase etc. but it ends up coming out about even at the end. Now, you have to go through EVERYTHING if you want a reliable rig. By the time you go through and freshen the motor up, and then you take care of all the incidentals it all adds up quick.

Can you do it cheaper, absolutely. Would you want to? I wouldn't.

 

[idiabuse]

I spent a little ata time over 5 years doing it twice. It cost a lot.
But I am happy I did it now because it runs great and It does not
need and fuel station to go places.
I buy cold drinks instead of diesel.

I say I spent $5,000 to redo the engine, Did everything left nothing
tired, either perfect used or new.
Heads alone around $1,000 shipped
But the heads had crap springs and used valves, so I replaced
them.
Balanced recip assembly.
4 new pistons and rings.
resized rods.
Sleeved cylinder.
decked block.
new pushrods.
ceramic coated exh manifords and turbo manifold
ceramic coated exhaust pipe for turbo
coated turbo housing.
crank ground .010 on the rods, Mains std
Victor reinz gasket set.
ARP head studs.
New Alum Radiator
8 gallons of EVANS COOLANT @ $40 a gallon
AMSOIL SAE10W30 Diesel oil
AMSOIL Bypass filter
AMSOIL EAO99 Oil Filter full flow
Napa Coolant filter
Gates Green Stripe belts
Banks Sidewinder Turbo
Intercooled

Runs great! starts every time when I plug it in.

Worth the headache.


Javier

 

[towcat]

you are going to be upset with me.
all I do is buy a used truck, run it for a while to see how the motor behaves and if it has any problems.
if all is good, I pull it out of the truck, regasket the outside tin and new seals on the front and rear.
hang a turbo kit and maybe injectors and pump. stuff it in and run the dogcrap out of it.
if I have put pull off heads, it's not going back together. the ironic part is I am paid to build motors for others, yet I run used.

 

[idiabuse]

you are going to be upset with me.
all I do is buy a used truck, run it for a while to see how the motor behaves and if it has any problems.
if all is good, I pull it out of the truck, regasket the outside tin and new seals on the front and rear.
hang a turbo kit and maybe injectors and pump. stuff it in and run the dogcrap out of it.
if I have put pull off heads, it's not going back together. the ironic part is I am paid to build motors for others, yet I run used.

Why would anyone be mad? You may be Mad when the engine eats a lot of oil or coolant.
For getting around town your practice is sort of ok. your time has to be worth it.
For driving cross country, the train ride back is your cheapest route.
Maybe free if the scrap yard takes the truck for you off the road.

My truck I can get in it and drive anyplace I want, no worries under the hood.


Javier

 

[dizdak]

towcat- i agree with running the wheels off what ever you get if it seems healthy...

Laser- $3-4k in the engine is steep, down here they are about $1200-1500, can find with trans for just under $2500, and that is on the regular...

I am enjoying the readings of this post, i like seeing what people have in their rigs and the amount of pride many of you have in them also!!

 

[towcat]

Why would anyone be mad? You may be Mad when the engine eats a lot of oil or coolant.
For getting around town your practice is sort of ok. your time has to be worth it.
For driving cross country, the train ride back is your cheapest route.
Maybe free if the scrap yard takes the truck for you off the road.

My truck I can get in it and drive anyplace I want, no worries under the hood.


Javier

I too can get in any of my frontline and secondary trucks and drive anywhere I want (or paid to) and have no worries.
where we differ is the confidence in the product. IH intentionally did not max out the performance on these motors for one very simple fact. working a motor hard is not the same as wringing every ounce of horsepower out of a motor. These motors are designed to last 500k/mi with proper maintenance. most members here will never see that number. a motor with 100-300k on the odo is considered "just broken in" if it has received the proper coolant service and oil changes, what is the difference compared to a multithousand dollar rebuild? imho.....none. I'm not vain enough to insist that I have to be the one driving all those miles and I certainly don't care to do it again. Case in point....my '92 F350 CC dually. If you read the archives, you will find my purchase of this truck in Nov of 2004 well documented to where it is at today. I have a news flash for you if you don't have the ability to read through the archives.....there is a used motor installed into the truck with 127k on the odo when it was first removed from it's donor. YES A USED MOTOR......OH THE BLASPHEMY. fast forward to 2012, I decided to make a trip to the Michigan rally with my smoking pile of junk that's ready for the scrapyard ticking 300k/miles on the odo. Oh.....and get this....the hunk of junk was loaded with building materials so I can go home to Texas after the rally and work on my houses......wow.....what a leap of faith!!!!! And get this...I made it home to kali with no major breakdowns.....oh lord have mercy!!!!!!! Whatever minor inconvenience that occurred along the way was easily solved with hand tools and spare parts. WAIT.....STOP........i didn't need/want/or remotely had the desire to sell my hunk of junk for scrap value!!!!!!!!!
bottom line. maintenance is the key to reliability. not pushing your equipment beyond redline will lessen the chance of breakage.
since the installation of my "junk motor" in 2005, I have not had to do any major surgery to the truck since. I have gone through a couple of junk injection pumps due to the feeding of used motor oil, but I have not had to do anything else to my "junk" motor.
Now here's the quiet moment of self discovery for you Javier.......can you say the same for your truck?
thank you.

 

[idiabuse]

I too can get in any of my frontline and secondary trucks and drive anywhere I want (or paid to) and have no worries.
where we differ is the confidence in the product. IH intentionally did not max out the performance on these motors for one very simple fact. working a motor hard is not the same as wringing every ounce of horsepower out of a motor. These motors are designed to last 500k/mi with proper maintenance. most members here will never see that number. a motor with 100-300k on the odo is considered "just broken in" if it has received the proper coolant service and oil changes, what is the difference compared to a multithousand dollar rebuild? imho.....none. I'm not vain enough to insist that I have to be the one driving all those miles and I certainly don't care to do it again. Case in point....my '92 F350 CC dually. If you read the archives, you will find my purchase of this truck in Nov of 2004 well documented to where it is at today. I have a news flash for you if you don't have the ability to read through the archives.....there is a used motor installed into the truck with 127k on the odo when it was first removed from it's donor. YES A USED MOTOR......OH THE BLASPHEMY. fast forward to 2012, I decided to make a trip to the Michigan rally with my smoking pile of junk that's ready for the scrapyard ticking 300k/miles on the odo. Oh.....and get this....the hunk of junk was loaded with building materials so I can go home to Texas after the rally and work on my houses......wow.....what a leap of faith!!!!! And get this...I made it home to kali with no major breakdowns.....oh lord have mercy!!!!!!! Whatever minor inconvenience that occurred along the way was easily solved with hand tools and spare parts. WAIT.....STOP........i didn't need/want/or remotely had the desire to sell my hunk of junk for scrap value!!!!!!!!!
bottom line. maintenance is the key to reliability. not pushing your equipment beyond redline will lessen the chance of breakage.
since the installation of my "junk motor" in 2005, I have not had to do any major surgery to the truck since. I have gone through a couple of junk injection pumps due to the feeding of used motor oil, but I have not had to do anything else to my "junk" motor.
Now here's the quiet moment of self discovery for you Javier.......can you say the same for your truck?
thank you.

Ok I have to admit I was not really picking on you specifically. More so the practice you choose and the promotion of it, the variables of getting a good engine at a junkyard are vast.
It works for a lot of people, your proof of that.

I have a 7.3 block I long since tore down, that engine ran before I tore it down, It was used in a farm truck so I knew it had to be worn out.
But it ran and ran ok from what I saw. Now I tore it all down for parts.
The bores are so bad with taper that even boring it to .060 wont clean up the bores! but it ran! I never had to drive the truck so I cant say what it cost a week to operate that engine, but I can tell you you wont make any money with that worn out junk.

I just don't see the sense in pulling a engine from a junky to install in a personal truck and just let the cards fall were ever they fall once you get it up and running.

I have tried a few times to skate along but in the end I always end up having to tear it down to repair it.


I cant say don't do it, cause a guy like you will prove me wrong, but I always stay honest no matter what happens.

I have a history also that can be searched, I learn and move on. I run waste motor oil only and so far my inj pump has over 40,000 miles on it using WMO only with no rebuilds.

My engine had to be rebuilt 2x from other types of failure but she runs good now, hope all our engines keep us on the road, and I hope we all still have roads to drive on in the next few years without any checkpoints to hinder our commute.


Javier

 

[Black dawg]

Paid 5k for my truck in 02. Probably around 500 bucks in the turbo and intercooler set up. Engine is untouched 360k original. I will ru it as long as it is dependable......I am sure I will be really tired of driving it before then.

Sure, A nice new rebuild (and improved) 7.3 would be neat, but this one isnt used up.

 

[Leeland]

i have ZERO money in my motor, yes you read that right!!!

Yes you do, they were part of the buy in price.



Now the engine in my truck.......ehhhhhhhh, that is a very different story.

Still collecting a piece at a time:
$500 for used 7.3 with a complete ATS 093 not the factory Ford version.
$300 for second complete ATS 093 kit.
Just north of $200 for the 4" exhaust pieced from summit and napa.
? Forgot what the auto meter gauges ran.
$50 for a dt466 cac that is half way done being re-arranged to fit
$80 for a carrier pump I haven't had to mount yet.
And for giggles
$2200 for the f350 4x4
$100 for the bumper
$100 for the Ford Alcoa's with caps
$400 for the ZF
$200 ish for the SMF+ 12" clutch
$200 to have the drive lines made.
$50 for the pedals.
$20 for a f150 AOD crossmember
Total into truck.

 

[92F350CC]

I'm the same as Towcat. I don't replace stuff just to have new stuff. I run my **** until it breaks....which for me usually takes a long time. Had a mechanic tell me 2 years ago that my LS400 needed a timing belt ASAP. Well...2 years and 20,000 miles later, the engine runs slicker than a lawyer's mouth. No way I'm changing out a perfectly good part.