IH Loadstar 1700 diesel eng guidance.

our2yaks

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Greetings I have an 60s IH Loadstar project I hope to start this winter, I want to shorten frame, modernize drive train and replace the gas eng with a diesel. The end goal is to have a dependable daily driver/work truck and be able to drive to NM from NY about once a year. The truck will look old but the modern upgrades will be hidden or blend in. These are my current options for engines (all will need to be refreshed at a minimum). 1) Perkins 6cyl currently in a combine, 2) 7.3 IDI (N/A) in my F350 and a a 7.3 PS in the parts truck I took the ZF trans to replace the C6 in my current truck. All comments/suggestion are very welcome. Dependable is probably at the top of the list followed by MPG and power. The biggest load I pull is my 23 round bale hay wagon a few times a year the rest would be a car trailer. I am looking for possible upgrades for each of the engines I have now. Thank you for any help
 

compressionignitionrules

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7.3 idi would be simplest option if you already have a V8 gas in there now. might need to do a gear swap on it too. some serious low gears on these trucks in the 60s. it sounds like an interesting project. personally i like the 7.3 powerstroke. but it make an old IH a lot more complicated ................... good luck with your project does it look like this?
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Booyah45828

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I think the bigger question is what transmission are you going to use?

All 3 engines can be made to work. But if you're going to need both pull 30K lbs out of the field, and drive from NM to NY, you're going to need quite the spread of gear ratios.

After that, I likely wouldn't choose any of your options.

I'd nix the IDI, unless you turbo it and add some fuel upgrades to match. I've got an NA IDI in my bus, although it's dead reliable, it's pretty slow going and doesn't have the torque/HP that you'd want to pull 30k IMO.

I'd nix the powerstroke, because it too, won't have the HP/torque needed for 30k lbs, unless you tune it.

IDK which perkins you have exactly, but if it's got power like the other 2, I'd likely nix that as well.

Honestly, if you're going to rebuild either of those 3 before the swap, sell all 3 and get/rebuild a dt466 and an eso65-7a and have plenty of power and an od gear for highway cruising. If your current axle is a gasser one, it's likely too slow anyways, so figure that in your build as well.
 

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