7.3 powerstroke into a 1986 E150 Van

[compressionignitionrules]

I had this idea when I initially picked up the E150 but all my friends have told me I'm nuts and talked me out of it.

I'm new here and after reading about some stand alone wiring harness' for the 7.3psd I have decide to go back in this direction. my E150 is a battery fire victim and I will be redoing the interior anyhow. I have all the Eseries parts to put an idi 7.3 into it but I love my powerstrokes and will start going this direction instead.

my donor powertrain is a 2003 7.3 with only 240,000km on it>got it cheap from one of our customers when the trans went on it but it was a cherry runner, and I knew its service history. I have borrowed pieces from the engine but its still mostly intact. will be cutting up the donor van in the next few weeks, will save the entire wiring harness for now and change it when it comes to wiring it up. I will start taking pics as I carry on.

so glad I found this site> it steered me back in my original direction.

ok for a short time I toyed with the idea of a tweaked 6.0psd in the shortyE150 but reliability is something I appreciate as a truck mechanic

opinions and any ideas welcome, this is going to be a long term project but maybe for next summer/fall being mobile at least.

cheers James

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[79jasper]

This will be awesome.
I agree a hopped up 6.0 would be killer.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[IDIoit]

i would do a dash swap too.
make your harness a plug and play.
there is no easier way to go about it.

even with the modified harness i have it would still take less time to do a dash swap.
i like this project, but i do not envy your enthusiasm to work on a van..lol

what you really need is a 4wd trans and a set of 05+ axles!!

 

[compressionignitionrules]

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

if there was a 92 and up dash in red I might think about the dash swap , but I'm doing a complete interior swap from a red clubwagon xlt in the shorty and am switching the whole dash to red. lot of damage was done to the firewall/dash/windshield from the battery fire. the centre of the dash got melted even . luckily the only paint damage was to the hood, has some smoke stains at top of door but no peel or anything else.

I will keep all the cluster etc from the 2003 I'm chopping just incase I need bits. I hate moving all that wiring into a simple harnessed 86 that has a 300 carbed 6 cyl C6 in it! that's why the stand alone is so attractive.

I lost an entire fleet of 65 -79 Fseries and /Broncos from the south in a big barn fire ,but this little van is cleaner than any of the trucks/broncos I brought back to build that collection.

I don't mind working on the van diesels, not much different than todays medium duty trucks with the engines stuffed halfway under the cabs and covered in emissions crap. a little simpler actually. I just unbolt the body mounts for serious work on the engine like headgaskets.
easier to access the back of the engine in the vans but not so much on the topside. depends how well you look after your stuff.........................

 

[tractorfix]

Quite interested to find this thread. I'm about to start swapping a 2003 7.3/4R100 combo from a E350 into my 1986 E350 RV. So now there's 2 of us doing it.

 

[IDIoit]

you van freaks are a different breed
i have a 98 E350 with a PSD, and i don't even want to open that can of worms of doing major engine work.

 

[compressionignitionrules]

I haven't had to do much work on mine, haven't had to touch top of the motor in the 5yrs I've had it other than the fuel filter drain.

the 6 litre powerstroke is really scary in a van, can't even see the serp belt.

my buddy who works on trucks at the Ford dealer is changing jobs starting Aug 22. he will be working at the Ford dealer only 7km from my house
was bugging him about finding me a wrecked Fseries with the new 6.7 powerstroke and helping me fit it into the shorty van.....................his eyes started getting bigger............... then I poured him another double and told him I was kidding.
that would be too much even for a 9" rear.