What to do with this truck?

[notenuftime]

So a friend of mine gave me his 87 F350 dually 2wd manual,stake bed. Has a 7.3 N/A, The front end is messed up and the tranny has a crack in it. It runs but needs a pump rebuild, injectors etc. What I'm thinking about doing is pulling the motor and rebuilding it. My truck has 213000 miles on it and still running great, so I figured I could slowly rebuild this motor and swap it out when the other has grown tired.
What all do i need to make happen to swap from truck to truck?
Will a zf5 bolt up to the f350 motor? Both trucks are manual.
I will be putting a turbo on the N/A motor, can i just swap the turbo over maybe via R&D style.
Or is using this motor not worth it.
Any thought welcome, just trying to get a idea of what ill do with this truck.
I'll post pictures later.
The driveway needed another truck anyways.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

While I don't understand what a "R&D style" turbo swap is, you can swap the turbo from one engine to the other. The ZF5 will work just fine behind either engine. If one is a Factory turbo engine, the N/A version will need a new flywheel. The Factory Turbo engines were balanced differently than the N/A engines were. Also, any IDI will bolt to any transmission that came from any other IDI engine.

 

[notenuftime]

I thought R&D diesel made turbo kits for N/A motors, maybe i misheard.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

His kits will fit any 6.9/7/3 engine. It doesn't matter whether it originally was a N/A or Factory Turbo engine. They are the same on the outside as far as this is concerned. From how I read his website, the basic kits don't come with a turbo. You can order one to go along with the kit. If you order a kit and a turbo, you'll get a 3" downpipe for free. He also makes a "drop in" upgraded turbo for a Factory Turbo.ATS093 set up. If you want to run your current turbo on the "new" engine, all you have to do is swap all of the parts over. You don't have to buy new parts unless you want to. I guess it depends on what you want to do with it. If you want it to perform just like it does now, I'd just swap all of the turbo related parts over. Especially after rebuilding the "new" engine, you may not want to spend the extra money on new parts. If you want more performance, then all it takes is money.

 

[notenuftime]

Yes my plan is to work on rebuilding this motor then when the time comes switch over the turbo parts/ have the turbo rebuilt. My truck is my only vehicle so the switch will be somewhat time sensitive.

 

[saburai]

Unless you are planning on a complete engine build or are doing it as a learning experience, why do you think you need to swing the engine? According to you, your turbo engine runs great. The factory turbo engines are "best of breed" and have several upgraded parts to make them more reliable under boost...

 

[saburai]

It would be more work, but imho, the intelligent route would be to gather the needed parts to build your turbo block and when ready, swap engines and do the turbo engine and then swap them back. Or buy a beater and sell it when the truck is back on the road...

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Unless you are planning on a complete engine build or are doing it as a learning experience, why do you think you need to swing the engine? According to you, your turbo engine runs great.

He's doing this to have it on hand when his current engine gets tired. That way, he can just swap engines and have the truck back ASAP. With the boost that the Factory turbo puts out stock, there's no reason why a N/A engine won't hold up as well as the Turbo engine. A N/A engine can hold up to WAY more boost than this.

 

[notenuftime]

In a perfect setting, i would prefer to use my current motor, just because i know how well it's been maintained and what's been done to ect. But slowly building a motor due to financial and time factors seems good. I would like to build this motor and make some more HP, im thinking of going all R&D upgrades. Got to find a local machine shop to do the block and heads. But if I'm going to take my time with this build i want the results to be good and end up with a solid motor.

 

[saburai]

He's doing this to have it on hand when his current engine gets tired. That way, he can just swap engines and have the truck back ASAP. With the boost that the Factory turbo puts out stock, there's no reason why a N/A engine won't hold up as well as the Turbo engine. A N/A engine can hold up to WAY more boost than this.

I understand. Diego was a NA truck. Typ4 60-1 turbo kit, baby moose, injectors and a 4" exhaust later at 230,000 miles it's still running strong. I did swap out all of the new parts on to Raylan when Wes and I did the studs, valve springs and freshened it up. So the OE parts from Raylan are running great on the old mule.

 

[saburai]

In a perfect setting, i would prefer to use my current motor, just because i know how well it's been maintained and what's been done to ect. But slowly building a motor due to financial and time factors seems good. I would like to build this motor and make some more HP, im thinking of going all R&D upgrades. Got to find a local machine shop to do the block and heads. But if I'm going to take my time with this build i want the results to be good and end up with a solid motor.

That's why I'd want to start with a good running turbo engine. Since you have one, if it were me, I'd do what I had to to make it happen. That's just me. Good luck with whatever route you take.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

That's why I'd want to start with a good running turbo engine. Since you have one, if it were me, I'd do what I had to to make it happen. That's just me. Good luck with whatever route you take.

Since Wes says that a N/A engine will hold up to about 400 HP before it starts having trouble, I wouldn't worry about it. Now if you're planning to get close to the 400HP mark, then you should build a Turbo engine. Since most people won't get too close to it, the N/A engines are fine. 400HP is a lot of power coming out of your engine. It's over twice the stock rating of even a Turbo engine.

 

[Macrobb]

If one is a Factory turbo engine, the N/A version will need a new flywheel. The Factory Turbo engines were balanced differently than the N/A engines were.

Yes, they are off by a bit, same as a 6.9 is off compared to a 7.3 N.A. According to my engine builder, when I gave him a flex plate (that was evidently a 7.3T one) and he checked it on a 6.9 he was building, it was 186 grams off, "enough to give it a bit of a vibration".

Physically, they will bolt up, though, and will 'work', but getting the right part for the right block/crank is going to produce a smoother running motor.

My '93 with (currently) a factory turbo block has a 7.3 N/A-spec flywheel behind it(because that's what I had at the time), but I'm going to swap it out when I get a chance. It's run fine for like 18 months, though.

 

[notenuftime]

The plan for this motor is more HP but nothing crazy, I really don't need it in my life. I'm thinking ARP head studs, springs maybe new rockers. R&D turbo kit 3in piping all around. Pump and injectors.
Not enough power to need a intercooler. More power/fuel economy/ reliability is the name of the game.
Could anyone tell me what type of power to expect in doing what I mentioned above?
I don't need lots of power but i sure do like seeing the black stuff in the review mirror every so often lol.

 

[saburai]

Since Wes says that a N/A engine will hold up to about 400 HP before it starts having trouble, I wouldn't worry about it. Now if you're planning to get close to the 400HP mark, then you should build a Turbo engine. Since most people won't get too close to it, the N/A engines are fine. 400HP is a lot of power coming out of your engine. It's over twice the stock rating of even a Turbo engine.

As I said - just me. These are very tough engines. Like you said, unless you plan to double the stock turbo engine power rating, the NA long block should be able to handle it. However, the OEM though it prudent to include some improvements when they released the idit, even at a comparatively wimpy power level. Regardless of the amount of labor, if I had both a factory turbo engine and a NA and I wanted to build an turbo engine and do it right, there's no way I'd start with the NA engine as the foundation. Buy like I said, just me...