Lazy weekend afternoon..... MPG build thread #2

[david85]

All precups now are the same item. They are marked too so if your changing them don't worry about getting something differant. Some wil probably tell you they are selling you "something special" when they really aren't....

I was wondering if the piston crown makes any difference between the 6.9 and 7.3. Although even if there was, does it make up for the slighly higher compression of the later 6.9?

Truth be told I would rather go with a 6.9 due to cavitation issues. How can anyone really be sure they have a good 7.3 block?

 

[The Warden]

You could always take a 7.3l block and resleeve it with thick enough sleeves to take 6.9l pistons. That would go against your plan to use a drop-in engine, but I still contend that that would be the best of both worlds...you'd eliminate the cavitation risk and still have the larger head bolts.

I'm very interested to see what comes of this...

 

[Diesel JD]

Only problem with any kind of dry sleeving is it's expensive and you really better hope the machinist knows his stuff and stands behind his work. Obviously given the choice you'd want somebody who had done a lot of worn out 3208s and cavitated 7.3 IDIs. Costs about $100 a hole or so. I think the only true difference is that with the 6.9 you can't use the factory turbo rods, which have become rare but if I built an engine I would like to have. For just best reliability and not aggressive mods there's no need to worry about the head gasket issue especially with studs and a fresh set of head gaskets.

 

[david85]

Well if it comes down to it, a set of ARP head studs are still cheaper than having the block sleeved.

On the other hand if I could settle for a 89-91 donor, I might just be able to get a donor truck with the engine, transmission and serp belt setup I want all in one shot. That would reduce nickel and diming from piecing together everything from different sources since a 6.9 powered truck won't have an E4OD. I just realized the lighter weight flex plate crosses the 1992 transition year that phased out the speedometer cable drive....so that option is out I guess. Not sure if the later cable shifter would have been so easy to adapt either and I know I can adapt the older lever and bell crank linkage easily.

I have seen some trucks relatively close by that are in the $1000 range like that. But since I'm in no hurry they would have to be much lower before I jump on anything.

I just can't get the concept out of my head though. A nice big, smooth running truck that you can take on long trips without breaking the bank. Sure would be nice...

 

[12clip]

I was going to suggest a 7.3 E4OD donor truck just for simplicity. I would just pick the truck in the $1000 range that runs best and has the least issues, anything cheaper will most certainly have issues.

I would suspect adapting the cable shift would be easy, even more so with a complete donor truck at your disposal.

If you ended up with a truck without a speedo cable would a GPS in place of the speedo be acceptable?

 

[david85]

I would like to keep everything as clean and OEM looking as possible. GPS is an accurate way of measuring speed but I would rather have a working factory cluster gauge - tachometer and all. Although I would probably use an auxiliary gauge pod over the hole in the dash for some extra assurance (water, trans temp, oil pressure and pyro).

 

[david85]

One thing I wanted to ask Agnem, was what type of springs did they use on the front end for the nightmoose? Did they simply use F250 diesel coil springs up front?

 

[Agnem]

This is correct. Both the Moosestang and the Night Moose ride on 2WD F-350 front springs. I think I'd even go so far as to say that the front springs on either an F-250 or F-350 are identical. The only difference between the Bronco/F-150 front coil springs, and F-250/350 front coil springs, is the diameter of the rod stock used to make them. The external dimensions - height, diameter, etc... are exactly the same. Makes the swap super easy.

 

[rjjp]

This is correct. Both the Moosestang and the Night Moose ride on 2WD F-350 front springs. I think I'd even go so far as to say that the front springs on either an F-250 or F-350 are identical. The only difference between the Bronco/F-150 front coil springs, and F-250/350 front coil springs, is the diameter of the rod stock used to make them. The external dimensions - height, diameter, etc... are exactly the same. Makes the swap super easy.

Do you know if the dual front shock trucks used the same springs as the single shock half tons?