changing the block... again

[jbm6900]

Or an acquaintance @ said scrapyard. Saved many$$$$ that went in my pocket, + what I made doing install. & no, I didn't know beforehand about changing the externals.
Just sayin there are options out there. It's not like they're everywhere anymore. & as for the factory turbo, good luck findin parts there. I bought a complete f-250 jus for the spare factory turbo idi. You can get the block sleeved, & pistons can still be found, but flywheel, bigger oil cooler, balancer, etc. Good luck there.
Like alot of older trks & equip., you get used to hearing the words discontinued & obsolete. & for an engine with only a year & half run, aftermarket don't mess with much there.

 

[frankenwrench]

I have neglected this thread for quite some time now, figured I should catch up. I got the 7.3 in the truck (well the wife did) and the transmission stabbed and during all the work/ waiting on parts/ finishing on some remodeling on my house/ family issues and whatnot the local scrap man got off with alot of my parts from the driveway right beside the house. So aside from this i was able to get the truck to fire up off a Jerry can of diesel and temp mounted a cheap shelf inline pump to get it going and half way timed. I then got the 105p inline pump recommended by Wes, who has helped me tremendously through this ordeal, and also put in a fuel regulator. I rigged up my stock fuel sending unit into a bronco tank with some fuel hose to make up the difference in depth so I could pickup fuel all the way to the bottom. I also replaced the body bushings and piped in my turbo again.

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I had to fab the mounting up a bit cause this was originally built for my Gramps 85. Was driving daily past month and getting almost 18 mpg empty most of the time and no real grades to speak of. Gets never really seen above 450 and temp never above 190. Doing real good and was verry pleased but battery gauge kept showing less and less every day and would have to throw it on the charger overnight on 10 amp about every three days. Checked the alternator by removing the main black/orange wire from the top of the alternator and checking for volts directly at the stud, usually only reading about .314 volts while running. Replaced the alternator and no change. Replaced the circuit protector on the passenger fender. No change. And then noticed a small gauge green wire that connects to the circuit protector and runs up the loom towards the IP cover that the wire had come loose from the female spade inside the plug going into the circuit protector. Put in a new spade into the plug after fighting old one out and crimping down and viola! Not only did the alternator start putting out 13.8 volts, but all the sudden my tach on the gauge cluster started working! Hadn't had any real issues running just a dead fuel gauge so had to keep track of miles. Then yesterday she died on me. No fuel getting up front. Pulled the hose off the front of the new fuel pump and left the other side going to tank and turned the pump on and no fuel. Just filled up the night before and know there was at leat 14 gallons in there. Siphoned tank and fuel came up easy and gagged me. Wife showed up in her 91 half ton suburban all smug like in front of all my buds at work and drug my truck home. Prides pretty shot.

 

[frankenwrench]

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I already had a new sending unit with float and new 6.0 style shower head ordered and here today and I know I need to extend the pickup supply tube some for the 33 gallon bronco tank I installed so picked up about 8 inches of 3/8 brake line and some 3/8 compression fittings but am unsure just how long I need to extend it so that the new shower head sits were it needs to. Anyone that has done this know? Also, since I got a new float and all and the gauge registers correctly to it so my gauge is functioning well, how should it look once modified to accommodate the 33 gallon tank?
Upon dropping the tank I found that the fuel hose I rigged up fell off and the pickup tube couldn't reach the fuel just below it

 

[frankenwrench]

So instead of dropping my tank and being without my truck for a while, I just got another 33 gallon bronco tank.

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Then since I couldn't find alot on doing this swap without a kit to work with my new pickup/sending unit I just bought I just did some mock up myself using some 3/8 steel line and a compression fitting and slowly cut more and more off of it till I just barely touched the bottom of the tank when installed. Magic number of the line was 6 7/8 inches.

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Then had to bend some wire hanger just right so that it could articulate all the way up and down without hitting the bottom, top, or back of the tank wen installed.

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[frankenwrench]

This is what I came up with.

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As this is what came stock for the old 19 gallon tank

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All looks as though it should work fine. Filled the bathtub with water just to check if the buoyancy of the brass float would overcome the weight of the new arm and even when dropping the arm completely the float still remained half way above the water so it should float on diesel. Put new rubber seal under sending unit hat and clamped down and we will just have to see what happens tomorrow wen I drop my tank and toss this one up there. Plan to see just how accurate the float I rigged up is. Wish me luck!

 

[frankenwrench]

So got the tank in yesterday and couldn't get the tank to read anything but full, even though it was bone dry out the box from summit racing. So started thinking of wth I did wrong. Then it clicked. No fsv plugged in it won't read anything but open circuit! Duh, james. So took the faulty one I had by the junk pile that I removed from this truck and plugged in and BOOM! Read dead empty. Great! Then added 8 gallons of diesel expecting to see a quarter of a tank. Just a touch over. Ok that's not too bad. Added another 8 gallons and tank read 3/4. Well something's definitely wrong there at 16 gallons, more like half! Added another 8 gallons which would be close to 3/4 but read full. Added final 8 gallons for a total of 32 gallons and reads 1/8 over full. well not exactly right by any means but at this point as long as I know in what ballpark I'm in and decent idea of when I'm almost out I guess I can live with this. Fired it up and drove it into town to see if I had any fuel leaks and whatnot and no issues there. Hit the gas station and found my favorite flavor of cold sixer suds and am gonna take the good with the bad on this one till I can get some better ideas to dial that in. Also, I don't like that dead fsv dangling there just as an oversized brick hanging from my wiring and a few zip ties I rigged it up there with. Any ideas or articles on how to eliminate it altogether? I have no front tank anymore and no desire to replace it but still want my factory gauge to work without the fsv there

 

[frankenwrench]

Also, what can I gain from a new set of those 910 comp springs I keep hearing about? I have the stock ats 093 turbo set up and fuel turned up 3 flats on the 7.3 that was original n/a.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Also, what can I gain from a new set of those 910 comp springs I keep hearing about? I have the stock ats 093 turbo set up and fuel turned up 3 flats on the 7.3 that was original n/a.

If you're running a bigger cam, they will help with the higher lift. If you're running a lot of boost, they can help keep your intake valves closed when they're supposed to be.

 

[frankenwrench]

IDIBRONCO that makes pretty good sense. Even on stock cam I could benefit. Wonder if I need stiffer push rods?

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I don't believe they're required. If they are, I'll be looking for some someday. I'm running the Comp 910s in mine. I was going to have a Typ4 cam in it too. That was before the A**hole "machinist" that I took my heads to milled way too much off of them. I had to install -.015 pistons just to get enough valve to piston clearance.

 

[frankenwrench]

Wow! Makes me glad my machinist is family! I would be farquen furious! As far as the stiffer pushrods, I haven't been able to find any or any mention of them being suggested or required. Just a thought.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I would be farquen furious!

I was. the only reason that I didn't tell him where to stick the heads was because then I would have had to buy another pair of heads plus the new valves and Comp 910s again.

 

[frankenwrench]

What did those comp 910s run you, if u don't mind me asking?

 

[DrCharles]

A set of 16 is $81.99 at Summit, just to give you some idea

 

[frankenwrench]

I was just at summit racing in Arlington picking up my new tank last Friday! coulda picked them up then! But I did find a 3 inch downpipe for a 95 power stroke while I was there! Seen a write up a few days ago with a really straightforward write up to modify it to fit the 093 I currently have. Wife's a bit pissed I spent the extra but she's wanting me to build her cc dually soon and I told her this diesel game is expensive so don't get mad about a lil ole 100 bucks for a downpipe! Lol. U know how that conversation went,