Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of a truck that does not fall apart every week

[Zion]

Truck in question:
Powertrain - 1994 7.3IDIT
Body - 1989 F250 Lariat XLT ECLB (Gasser)
Drivetrain - ZF5 w/ 4X4, 4.10 rear and corresponding Dana 60 Kingpin front.

Swap Truck:
Powertrain - 400
Body - 1981 F350 Ranger SCLB
Drivetrain - BW T-18 w/ 4X4, 4.10 rear and corresponding TB front.
-
I originally nicknamed my truck “Brass” because of the color scheme, but it is now officially “The Challenger” as it shakes and then self-destructs.

Since my last post, I took my first real dive into the engine and cleaned the top-side components, replaced the valley pan, valve cover gaskets, viton o-rings on all injectors, re-sealed the turbo, and was lucky enough to find a complete air filter housing so I could incorporate a CDR. From what I can see, it is still leaking oil from the hot side of the turbo and from one bolt on each valve cover (I didn’t know about flipping the washers at the time). I changed the oil, added Lucas stabilizer, and got an FL1995 oil filter. After priming the system and firing it up, the truck was performing well.

Now comes the tomfoolery. I was hauling a truck two days ago on a pretty rough highway and experienced some death wobble. Since I had already replaced the shackles and bushing that caused the original death wobble when I first got it, I chalked it up to the poor road quality and growing pains from not pulling anything for so long. Regardless, I took it easy on the suspension and finished the haul. Upon unloading the project truck, my IDI wouldn’t start without a jump-pack. With batteries and alternator less than a year old, I assumed it was bad cables or some kind of parasitic drain. After dropping off the trailer and heading home, I had two more instances of death wobble, this time much more severe. I was fortunate enough to have a Good Samaritan follow me with their hazards on so I could limp it back to the farm. I looked it over that night and a seal blew on the 4.10. That leads me to think it was a smoked bearing that passed away after receiving a load. This morning I tried to start it up to limp it to a shop and neither the starter nor GPs had enough juice to do anything. Looks like one of the batteries ruptured during all the racket.
I had originally set aside $1000-$1500 to make repairs and get the wiring sorted out before the IDI broke down. With these new issues, I’m not sure if I’m economically prepared to get the necessary repairs without sacrificing other important jobs (such as functioning gauges and dependable electric system). I have a hunch that the 89’s drivetrain and body are going to nickle-and-dime me to death, which leads me to seek some advice. I can either continue with my original plan of making repairs on the 89’ and bite the bullet on what gets skipped, or swap the engine and transmission into an 81’ F350 Ranger I have sitting around. My grandfather bought it brand new in 1981, and its survived 35+ years of abuse on the farm with no major failures (aside from rabbits eating wiring and my dad forgetting to put coolant in it, leading to some sporadic top-end knock). I’ve already got a shop that would happily do the work that is very familiar with IDI’s. Seeing that I could part out the 89’ and a 96’ 460 that I have, I think I could remain on budget and still complete the swap. The big obstacle is that I’m still pretty green when it comes to automotive and have no experience to draw off to help in deciding what is best. I’d greatly appreciate any advice you guys may have in terms of choosing between sticking with the 89’ or doing the 81’ swap given my current predicament.

 

[Noiseydiesel]

Add up the nickels, add a drop of dependability and you get what?

 

[franklin2]

The 81 is the same truck, only older. After all the work doing the swap, what will that improve?

You will have to do some rigging on the fuel system. That older truck has the small hole fuel tanks. And the later truck sending units won't work with the older dash. You will basically have to buy newer tanks and try to find the proper sending units, unless you find another way to plumb in the return line and just keep the older gas sending units and tanks.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Like the two above posters said, it will be less work to keep fixing the '89 in the long run. You'll have all of the little things fixed and won't have to do (pay someone else to do) an engine swap. Not to mention that there may be issues with trying to use a gas engine front crossmember with a diesel engine (although I'm not really up on that part). The '89 already has two batteries and the correct fuel system. I think that you'd end up spending quite a bit more that the $1500 top end of your budget to pay a shop to do they diesel swap. I spent around $1000 to swap a 6.9 into my Bronco back in 2010. I did all of the work myself and used as much from donor vehicles that I could.

 

[Zion]

Like the two above posters said, it will be less work to keep fixing the '89 in the long run. You'll have all of the little things fixed and won't have to do (pay someone else to do) an engine swap. Not to mention that there may be issues with trying to use a gas engine front crossmember with a diesel engine (although I'm not really up on that part). The '89 already has two batteries and the correct fuel system. I think that you'd end up spending quite a bit more that the $1500 top end of your budget to pay a shop to do they diesel swap. I spent around $1000 to swap a 6.9 into my Bronco back in 2010. I did all of the work myself and used as much from donor vehicles that I could.

The intended benefit from the swap is absolute familiarity. Seeing that the 89’ was swapped from gas to diesel before I purchased it, I have no clue as to how the wiring is arranged or what the state/quality of the construction. Through cannibalizing the 89’ for the 81’, I would be fully knowledgeable about the electrical layout, accessory routings, and axles/suspension. The other benefit is pretty much personal preference. As I mentioned, it was my grandfather’s truck and spent decades slogging through B-Services and farmland without complaint or catastrophic failure. My grandfather is now in the final stages of Alzheimer’s, and unfortunately, that truck is pretty much all I have left of him. Ideally, I’d like to be able to bring it with me as I go off to college for a little piece of mind.
Sentiments aside, I know that Murphy's Law will undoubtably show up regardless of what I choose. I can see that the swap opens up a greater margin for issues to occur and may not fit my budget. I have never done an engine swap before, but I would figure that besides the fitting/mounting of the engine, radiator, and transmission, the rest wouldn’t be terribly difficult or expensive (in the best case scenario). For right now, I plan to get new batteries and fix the rear axle. After that repair, dependent on how sound the truck is through a shop examination, I may return to this thread to get some more advice specific to the process of swapping an IDI into a bullnose. Regardless, I appreciate the candidness of your response.