Okay, thank you guys for the advice. I really appreciate it. Now that I have all the parts, I've been taking some off days, and then having some hardcore work days. Yesterday was one of those days and I have successfully gotten a lot of work done on this thing.
Flywheel and Clutch from the 6.9 are moved over to the 7.3. Transmission is back on. I got really lucky, because someone replaced the clutch on the 6.9 relatively recently in its 126k miles. It's a Luk unit, still has plenty of meat on it, so I decided to keep it and not get a new one. Saved some bucks there. Got a new pilot and throwout from Timken, just to be sure those are good. I drained the transmission while I had it out, to make it easier to deal with, and after peaking in some of the holes, the gears and synchros look great. I don't know if it was rebuilt at any point, but I did notice some black or grey RTV around the top cover that looked pretty fresh-ish. I'm going to load it up with new Lucas HD fluid before putting it back in the truck, so I'm not clambering around underneath and eating more rust. I did go around and clean off all the grease zerks with a wire brush, and pushed some new Lucas Xtra HD grease into everything. I also have a new LubeLocker diff gasket and some fresh Lucas HD fluid for the Dana 70.
I grabbed a new front u-joint, because the front one was most likely original, and kinda fell apart while detaching the driveshaft from the transmission. Eventually I'll replace all of them and the center bearing, but that can wait.
So, for a complete recap of what has been done to get this thing off the stand (I'll try to work from top to bottom):
- Injectors have been cleaned up, new o-rings, new crush washers, and new return lines.
- New glow plugs are in, although I'm waiting on one more, I got a ZD-9 in a ZD-1 package, but didn't notice until I started unwrapping and dropping them in. Glow plug controller is new, meant for a 6.9, but I'm retaining my factory wiring for now as that is still attached to the truck.
- Valve covers are from the 6.9, I wire wheeled them, sprayed them with high heat primer, and then high heat gloss black. Topped off with sticker from OBS Ford Decals.
- New oil fill cap, new dipstick and o-ring. Using the 7.3 van style, should be easier to grab the dip stick, and I wasn't able to find a replacement for the truck style. And I moved the oil pressure sensor over from the 6.9, just to be sure it worked with the gauge already in the truck, until I can get an aftermarket gauge.
- CDR valve is new, same for the valley pan/intake gasket, which was sprayed with Copper Coat to get some good seal-age.
- Mechanical lift pump is new, DB2 pump is from the 6.9, and the fuel filter is new, and is pre-filled with fresh diesel mixed with Diesel Kleen.
- Alternator is new, from OBB, here (
https://www.obbstartersandalternato...00-dc-f2uz-10346-b-f2uz-10346-brm-p-3521.html) I also have a Painless Wiring 3g conversion kit to get it wired up.
- Pulleys are from the 6.9, all new belts, and new water pump. Fan clutch is from the 6.9, but I wire wheeled and hit the fan with some Rustoleum flat black.
- Motor mount brackets are from the 6.9 (7.3 was from an E350), and the oil cooler is also from the 6.9 (Van oil coolers do no clear truck motor mount brackets). And the motor mounts themselves are new. Same for the transmission mount.
- Exhaust manifolds are off the 6.9, they have been wire wheeled, sprayed with extreme high heat primer, and then extreme high heat flat black. (I figured if it has enough new paint and zinc plated bolts, it'll look a little less crusty.) I sprayed the manifold gaskets with some Copper Coat before installing them with new Grade 8 hardware.
- Standard Purolator One oil filter, prefilled with a little Marvel Mystery Oil, some Shell Rotella T6, and some Lucas Oil Stabilizer. (Planned to allow the Marvel to clean out some of the old oil from the system, although I've done a good job of that myself. And I think this old girl needs some extra help from the Lucas)
-Clutch Master and Slave are new from Luk, and I got a braided steel line from Perfection Clutch, not much more than trying to replace that old plastic line.
- Starter is new, from Power Master, here (
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/pwm-9050)
Here are the pictures:
https://www.oilburners.net/media/enginefront.827/
https://www.oilburners.net/media/engine-back.828/
https://www.oilburners.net/media/engineside.829/
That's pretty much it for now, I left the power steering pump attached to the truck, although it needs to be replaced. I'm using the air cleaner from 6.9, and I have a new Green Filter to go in it. Now, it's just a matter of getting fluids back in the engine and the transmission, and then dropping them back in the truck. I'm still trying to figure out how to get the core support repaired, it needs some kind of patch panel put in for the driver side mount, and I'm trying to convince my roommate's brother, who's a pretty accomplished young welder, to drive up here and do the job. I told him it doesn't need to be pretty, just needs to work. He said he'd want to make it up pretty if he's doing it, so he'll probably cut out all the rot and build a new section there and on the passenger side. I already have some new body mounts from Energy Suspension, was a much cheaper route compared to going with OEM style from LMC truck (lots of pieces with the OEM style compared to the Energy kit).
I still can't tell if the drive side coil spring is collapse from age, or if the tower is messed up. Luckily, I found out that the towers are the same across the entire range of F series trucks, and the Bronco, so Jeff's Bronco Graveyard, has new ones and new hardware. When I start to tackle suspension work, I'm planning to get new 2 inch lift coils for the front and 2 inch lift blocks for the rear. That job will also include poly bushing all the way around, new HD rear leaf springs (mine are cracked/missing parts of the leaves), new shocks, and new hardware. I'm not going crazy with the lift because I really don't need it, but would like to run some meatier 33's on and maybe run this thing around some mild offroad trails/jeep roads for kicks and giggles.
I debated going with a rear disc conversion kit, I found a few available online that allow the use of calipers with built in parking brakes, and GM rotors. But that would require some welding work, and probably wouldn't be too much of noticeable improvement. So I'll just go with rebuilding the drums, getting new rotors and calipers for the front and probably some new stainless hard lines and braided soft lines.
The game plan for the interior is to completely ditch the original bench seats front and rear. I don't think I'll ever need the rear bench, so I'm probably just going to replace it with a rear shelf for extra storage space. (She'll be the ultimate grocery getter.) It needs a new bench for the front anyway, so I'll probably go through LMC or find a used one. New heat and sound insulation and new carpet would also be a must. The original is pretty nasty and I didn't feel bad cutting it up to pull the transmission cover plate. And I'd like to get a stereo package from Classic Car Stereos. Definitely keeping the CB console from Centurion on the roof though, even if it hasn't worked in decades. I would eventually like to get AC back in this thing, but that's going to mean new condenser, lines, compressor, etc., etc. so it'll be on the back burner. Did just replace the heater core though, so it'll have plenty of hot air for the winter time, if it sees the road during then.
I'm sorry for the long ass post. Lots going on and lots still swimming around in my brain. Can't wait to hear this old 7.3 roar to life when I get it all loaded into the truck and hooked up finally (honestly might take a hacksaw to the muffler that was installed by the previous owner and just run it straight out the side in front of the rear tire).
But, injector tip looks clean and normal compared to the other 7. Some brakeleen, a shop vac, and some rags should clean that right up. I know I've heard that injector issues can sound like rod knock, because one cylinder isn't firing the same. So I'm hoping that is the issue. 
