KansasIDI’s 1986 Ford F250HD 7.3L IDI

So I’ve decided to just make a thread for my truck, as it needs a lot of work. This won’t exactly be a build thread, more of a project thread because the truck is far from perfect and never will be cherry. The truck is “mint”, in the way quoted by Peg from the YouTube channel ZIPTIESNBIASPLIES.

I will start with the truck’s specs. These are factory specs, plus some subtle addons that, due to age of the addons, would have to have been ordered by the truck’s original owner. I am unsure of how many people have owned that truck. I think 4, including myself, but I have no way of knowing for certain.

1986 Ford F250, Extended Cab Long Bed

6.9L 420ci Indirect Injection Diesel V8 manufactured by International Harvester

Borg Warner T-19 4-speed manual transmission, synchronized in all forward gears, narrow ratio diesel version
Ratios:
1st, 4.02:1
2nd, 2.41:1
3rd, 1.41:1
4th, 1:1

Borg Warner 1345 dual range transfer case
Ratios:
Low range, 2.72:1
High range, 1:1

Dana 50 Twin Traction Beam 4WD front axle, 3.55:1 gearing

Sterling 10.25 Solid rear axle, 3.55:1 gearing

Now on to the fluff specs

Exterior color is Oxford White with blue pinstripes that run the length of the truck, and wrap around the windows

Heavy duty package, as far as I know this is just heavier leaf springs. It still rides real smooth though

Custom interior, but it’s nice…

Air conditioning, tested it the other day, it’s weak…

Factory tachometer, the way I understand it that was a very rare option. It does not always work… I believe it is a wiring issue.

Dont know which radio it would have had, but I think the Am/Fm. It currently has no radio

Interior color is blue. I haven’t seen that color in a Bullnose body style interior before…

Crank windows, which I like very much.

Has front seats from a mid-late 90’s Ford truck. They are nice, an improvement over what were in that truck from the factory.

Add-ons from days gone by

Kennedy slide out rear bumper, which puts the spare tire under the rear fuel tank. However, there is no spare, and the track that goes into the slide is missing, as is the spare tire. The system is real cool, and the bumper looks super sharp. It needs some work.

Very very chrome grille guard, had rubber strips on the uprights but they were falling off, so I removed them. It is very shiny in contrast to the faded and rusted white paint of the truck.

Antenna mounts on the roof and cables in the cab for CB radio. I have a CB radio that is similar in era to the truck, I’ll probably put that in someday.

Moving on to what all I’ve done to the truck…

Purchased it Jan 20th 2023, hauled it home the next day, as I hauled a truck for my buddy home first that he bought same place same day.

Put new injector lines on

The ground on the fuel shutoff solenoid was not functioning properly, cleaned up the connections and it now works fine

Ordered new mirrors for it, as the small swing-lock Western style mirrors are falling apart, and they are too small. I do not like them. So it will have junior west coast mirrors soon, 6” wide by 11” tall, and 5” small rounds.

Ordered a cab light kit for it, because if the mirrors look like they’re for a semi truck, you need cab clearance lamps

The water pump was shot, so I put a new one on. I think the fan clutch is bad, but the antifreeze is super filthy so I’m gonna flush it till it is clean and replace the thermostat. If it is still getting hot after that then I will replace the fan clutch.

Speedometer sensor gear is bad, I’m gonna get one next time I’m at AutoZone

Brake booster is bad I think, the brakes act like manual brakes. I have driven plenty of vehicles with manual brakes, so it is still safe for me to drive.

It has much rust, but I think with replacement body panels and a good paint job it will look real good. I don’t know if I would repaint it the same color as it is now or if I would paint it up like an International tractor of that era. Or maybe something different entirely…

I may at some point switch out the T-19 for a ZF5, even with the 3:55s at 65 mph the engine is at 2500 rpm… an overdrive would help quite a bit. The truck has a single mass flywheel, and a ZF5 would bolt up tk the engine and transfer case, and no driveline lengths would have to change. However, the guy who sold it to me put a clutch in two months before he sold it to me and then he hardly drove it after that. I’d like to get all the kinks worked out of the truck before I go changing stuff, so J probably won’t do this until at least fall of 2023.

I will use this thread for what I do to the truck.

Sounds like you've got a handle on it. I hope you get it dialed in how you want it.
That grill guard with uprights is cool as hell.
The things I don't like about mine are the 65mph speed limit (C-6 auto.), the engine noise in the cab, and the rough ride (according to my wife and my to-go coffee cup).
Prices for these trucks have gone up. I probably paid too much for mine ($13k 1 1/2 years ago). But there's no rust anywhere and under 130k miles (supposedly). What'd you pay for this one?

Thanks! I hope to get it to where it is a decent truck. Your truck looks real cherry. I paid $900 for mine, barely running. But I feel like it was a pretty good deal. I have another truck, a 2000 Dodge 2500, but it has an 8L V10 gasser. And it’s just a regular cab. It’s badass, makes plenty of power, can pull most anything, never gets stuck and never breaks down. But it drinks a fair amount of fuel and doesn’t have much room being a regular cab. My 86 Ford rides smooth compared to my Dodge, all the Dodges at work and all the Dodges I grew up around…

My Dodge is a 5-speed manual 4wd flatbed and gets 10.5-12.5, depending on whether or not it’s pulling

Oh and the IDI has a new starter an 2 new batteries that I put in shortly after getting it

My IDI has 131,000 on it, but the odometer quit because the speedo gear junked out I think. So probably between 131-141k

$900? Hell, I'd give you $450 just for the grill guard. lol
Sounds like you did good.

Nice catch! I paid $3000 for mine a year ago and have put almost that into it. Not a complaint, just a statement of fact. I like this one better than my beat-up Chevy 2500 that's falling apart.

You are not going to re-use the 4 speed flywheel during the zf swap, so get that out of your head, it won't work. You need a zf flywheel, you will need to buy the solid zf conversion kit with the clutch. Even though your 4 speed flywheel is solid, it will not fit correctly.

OK thank you

KansasIDI said:

Heavy duty package, as far as I know this is just heavier leaf springs.

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Not that it makes a lot of difference, but the heavy duty ones also came with 9/16" wheel studs instead of the 1/2" studs that the light duty ones had.

KansasIDI said:

Factory tachometer, the way I understand it that was a very rare option.

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They were a lot more common by 1986. They weren't in every truck, but it seems like they were in most of them. Now I'm only talking about IDI trucks.

KansasIDI said:

Interior color is blue. I haven’t seen that color in a Bullnose body style interior before…

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Really? I'd show you my 1985, but I don't know where in Kansas you're from. My Bronco also had blue interior.

KansasIDI said:

Brake booster is bad I think, the brakes act like manual brakes. I have driven plenty of vehicles with manual brakes, so it is still safe for me to drive.

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Sounds like it or it may be the vacuum pump. I preach about installing a vacuum gauge installed into your vacuum lines somewhere to keep an eye on the vacuum pump. These engines don't make a lot of vacuum at the intake so there's no need to install one there.

KansasIDI said:

I may at some point switch out the T-19 for a ZF5, even with the 3:55s at 65 mph the engine is at 2500 rpm… an overdrive would help quite a bit.

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That's my set up and I love it.

KansasIDI said:

My Dodge is a 5-speed manual 4wd flatbed and gets 10.5-12.5, depending on whether or not it’s pulling

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I've had two guys tell me that their V10 Dodges would get 16-17 MPG on the highway. I called them both liars and other words not allowed in this forum. They never did offer to prove it to me though.

Hahah you couldn’t get 17 mpg with the engine at idle and pulling the truck! 17 is a lie for a V10.

I’ve only been around about 4 bullnose Fords besides mine. Only one other was an IDI, an 83. It didn’t have a tach, nor did any of the gasser ones I have driven, save for 1 which had a Sunlite aftermarket tach.

Good to know that the lugs are bigger.

I’ll look into the vacuum system and see what is going on with that, thank you.

I am from the eastern half of Kansas, but it’s a strange spot. Solid hour to anywhere with much of anything, right on the west edge of the Flint Hills. Ain’t as flat as it would be around up by Edmond, but substantially flatter country than even 10-15 miles east of me, where lay the one stoplight **** cops-that’ll-pull-you-over-for-2-above-the-limit town of Council Grove. They have a grocery store, the best Napa I have ever been to, a hardware store whose hardware selection sucks super bad, and a grain elevator run, nay, attended, by a bunch of lethargic drunks who can’t get out of their damn chair. It’s self service, unless the one farmer (we’ll call him Dan) who is there alot is there, he’s drunk too, but he can still walk, kinda. He’ll help you load and print your ticket and do what the employees should be doing. If he’s not there then you’ll hafta print your own ticket, and if “Dan” never taught ya, then yer screwed because you have to hold down the print button while pulling on the paper because their printer is such a dilapidated piece of crap. And that town got nothin else, so Manhattan or Emporia if you actually need something today. Hour drive to either big town. Topeka ain’t much further.

...and city folk are voting for what's best for "all" of us.
Thank God for our Electoral College.
Sorry for the rant. lol

Oh it’s alright. I feel like I really ranted about the grain elevator. Sorry, thinkin about town kinda got me going.

KansasIDI said:

I am from the eastern half of Kansas, but it’s a strange spot. Solid hour to anywhere with much of anything, right on the west edge of the Flint Hills. Ain’t as flat as it would be around up by Edmond, but substantially flatter country than even 10-15 miles east of me, where lay the one stoplight **** cops-that’ll-pull-you-over-for-2-above-the-limit town of Council Grove.

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First. Edmond is in a small, unique strip of land where it isn't like the Flint Hills, but it is hilly for 2 or 3 miles on either side of the river. Go a little bit south, or west, it's quite a bit flatter.
Second. I'm originally from Bomberville, AKA Herington so I know the are that you're talking about. Council Grove, Manhattan, Emporia, and some of the surrounding areas. From your description, it sounds like you're like around Wilsey. Now I may be wrong on that since I've been here since 2005 and like to forget about that area.