Engine Swap Questions

[Simp5782]

Ok, So I recently bought a 86 F 250 4x4 with a 460 and 4 spd with 3.55s. It has approx 98,000 original miles. I bought it primarily for a towing and scrap truck for my big 30ft GN.

My question is to get opinions on what would be better. Doing modifications to the 460, like carb,cam,intake, maybe a $1500 set of aluminum heads, throwing away all the egr and emissions crap, and some other small stuff. Or would I be better off putting a 92 7.3 I have laying around. the 7.3 is NA. Also would it be better to put a ZF5 in replace of the t-18/19 to help with the unloaded fuel mileage by having the OD. I have never had any problems with the t-18/19 in any of my internationals so I know that they are bulletproof. I know this is the IDI forum but I would like to hear what you guys think.

The 86 460 is a carb engine btw. I will be towing a trailer that is around 3 tons behind itself. But I may have in upwards of 5 - 10 tons on the trailer at a time. Distances of up to 150 miles to the recycle place.

 

[gonecrazyi]

The 460 will be a lot faster and pull the trailer easier. But on that note, it will get half the millage than an idi. If it were just around d town i would just stick with the 460. But for long distance hauls and pickups the idi will save you more money. Plus you can burn wmo to offset fuel prices.

 

[Brad S.]

Myself included, most of the guys in here will say go with the IDI set up with a manual trans for fuel mileage and power. There are more experienced guys here to talk about the could be problems of engines & trans mounting up the right spots.
When your done with the pickup what would be easier to sell or get rid of in the future, a gas or a diesel pickup, I think diesel wins. Do some searching in the past posts for others who have done the same thing you want to do, that helps answer questions.

 

[BlueOvalBud]

I agree,
460 is gonna pull faster than an N/A IDI, but you'll definetly be in single digits with the 460.
IDI is gonna be slower, but more fuel efficient.

Though the 460 won't have the durability to do it for 300k miles like an IDI. And the IDI may not be the fastest, but it will do it all day long.

I guess it's more of a question of your patience level

 

[TWeatherford]

With that kind of load you'll likely be in the 10-12 range at best with an IDI, at least thats been my experience. My truck is on its third engine in its 260k mile life, so I'm wouldn't say that they're always very long lived. I love my diesel, but I'd probably stick with the 460 unless you're going to do a lot of unloaded towing.

ZF vs. T-19, it would be nice to have the OD that the ZF has, but if most of your driving is towing at non-interstate speeds you'll probably never get into 5th gear with a ZF anyway.

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

Diesel conversion on Mater my plow truck...... 460 C-6=8 mpg. 6.9 T-19 =18 mpg. That's my $0.02 worth.

 

[typ4]

What he said^^^^^^

 

[dyoung14]

With that kind of load you'll likely be in the 10-12 range at best with an IDI, at least thats been my experience. My truck is on its third engine in its 260k mile life, so I'm wouldn't say that they're always very long lived. I love my diesel, but I'd probably stick with the 460 unless you're going to do a lot of unloaded towing.

ZF vs. T-19, it would be nice to have the OD that the ZF has, but if most of your driving is towing at non-interstate speeds you'll probably never get into 5th gear with a ZF anyway.

Someone didnt treat it great, my 89 with a c-6 has over 250K everything is origanal it still runs like a clock,