1978 Crew Cab F250 4X4, 7.3 POWERSTROKE Conversion

1killerz · Feb 9, 2016

Tear Down begins...

I don't have a "shop".
I don't even have a Pole Barn.
Hell, I don't even have a regular barn.

I got a three stall garage.

One of which is a make shift bar complete with pool table.

The other two stalls are crammed with my other love; classic cars.

So fortunately, I have understanding neighbors (most anyway) who respect my shade tree mechanic ways...

Master Chief cursing at hockey pucks...

And more cursing...

Remember the license plate? They were using it as a heat shield of some sort. Ingenuity= best fueled by alcohol and weed...

Santa's secret Sleigh revealed... to have some pretty dame nice cab corners (in Michigan, this here is what you call an anomaly).

Short box is not horrible either...

For the record, this bed was full of pine needles, beer cans, and other...stuff.

1killerz · Feb 9, 2016

sootie said:
TS six position or PHP's hydra.

Excellent. Thank you very much. I will keep that in mind when the time comes.

Wayne · Feb 9, 2016

please, please, please do yourself, and everybody else who is interested in this build a favor, and avoid the body lift. There is enough room to fit the motor with a little firewall modification. You will be much more pleased with the end result. I can get you pics of completed similar projects for reference if needed. Not only that, but think of the '94+ trucks with the 7.3. Nearly same space. Also, you might consider putting a whole newer dash inside the truck to simplify the electronics; don't. It kills the nostalgic feel of the interior. You'll probably find it best to start with the most basic base model donor to keep the wiring as simple as possible. Think manual shift t-case, manual windows & locks.

1killerz · Feb 9, 2016

Wayne said:
please, please, please do yourself, and everybody else who is interested in this build a favor, and avoid the body lift. There is enough room to fit the motor with a little firewall modification. You will be much more pleased with the end result. I can get you pics of completed similar projects for reference if needed. Not only that, but think of the '94+ trucks with the 7.3. Nearly same space. Also, you might consider putting a whole newer dash inside the truck to simplify the electronics; don't. It kills the nostalgic feel of the interior. You'll probably find it best to start with the most basic base model donor to keep the wiring as simple as possible. Think manual shift t-case, manual windows & locks.

The body lift was there when I bought it. The drive line is installed, and its based on the lift. Once I have everything situated, I will be looking at eliminating the body lift.

Please do share the other pics for reference, as this will definitely be something I will be looking at down the road.

My intent is to retain the stock (1978) dash, and work on incorporating the wiring harness from the donor.

As I am writing the story, I think I may have forgotten to add that I am already in process off 99% of this so far. This story is currently playing time line catch up for those on this site. Its been a 2 year project to date.

1killerz · Feb 9, 2016

Bed removal

This was supposed to be the easy part. You know, 6 bolts and done.

Did you know I hate spiders?

Did you know that the State of Washington apparently has the ugliest, meanest, and largest breed of spider. I call it the "Devil's Assistant". It looks like the Thing and Spiderman's love child;

Tan in color
Big
Ugly
has attitude.

I mean, I can't confirm that on wikipedia or anything. But the "Devil's Assistant" apparently prefers to live in Crummy's side marker light holes and wait for new owners from out of state to purchase said trucks, attempt to restomod them, and then when the new owner is not looking, tries to eat the new owners face off. Again, I can't confirm this species on Wikipedia.

Did I mention I hate spiders?

1killerz · Feb 9, 2016

spider!

First off, no I didn't get a picture.

Second, no hillbillies were injured in this bed removal...

This was the spiders home. He was not happy to see me...nor was i happy to see him...

Most spiders either freeze or back away. This dude moved over to the side marker light, put up his fists, and called my significant other a bad name....

With that, it was on like Donkey Kong...:swordfight:

Bleach, Raid, Power Washer, and Starter fluid was what it took to kill that fwker. Seriously...and he was pissed. I believe his last motion before death was flipping me off...

But I digress...

I checked the other side of the truck for signs of thug life, and was rewarded with...nothing. Thank goodness. I was out of bleach...

we got the bed off and celebrated :toast:

Countryboy07 · Feb 9, 2016

sub'd for progress! Keep it up

1killerz · Feb 9, 2016

progress (in the story)...the bed is off too

So lets just drop the gas tanks and the bumper. 20 minutes right?

Of course not!!!

At least we got it down to the frame...

Not sure about the booger welds. Will need to improve on that shock attachment...

The bumper was less than fun. Another booger weld...figures

When you break something, fix it right. Nah, that makes too much sense. Oh well, at least we can get to it with an angle grinder...

Master Chief Willard and "no scope" nick are wearing the proper eye protection, they just opted out of the face shield and hearing protection.

Its off!

20 minutes later.

Keeping this and the other license plate for memories...

bluedge8 · Feb 9, 2016

Nice, Listen to Wayne, he has built some extremely nice trucks!

superpsd · Feb 9, 2016

Going to paint the rig to match the driveline and diff cover right?
Did you already get a donor vehicle? I would go with An OBS for simplicity of less electronics and a forged rod engine. Might as well do the injectors and hpop if upgrading while the engine is out of the vehicle...

gwunter · Feb 9, 2016

Some might hate on me for this......,but I think it would be cool to put a mechanical 7.3 psd in this beast. Of course toned down making say 500-600 HP. It wouldnt be the road warrior your making but it would be so much simpler to install without all the wiring. But unfortunately the price tag of such a conversion makes this impractical. Loving this build non the less!! Gives me hope for my dads 78 f250 someday.

superpsd · Feb 9, 2016

If mechanical kits were affordable the market would be flooded with heui parts.

1killerz · Feb 10, 2016

superpsd said:
Going to paint the rig to match the driveline and diff cover right?
Did you already get a donor vehicle? I would go with An OBS for simplicity of less electronics and a forged rod engine. Might as well do the injectors and hpop if upgrading while the engine is out of the vehicle...

Lol. That color, it is something else. The front components are shot in a lighter shade of blue.

Yea, I already go the donor vehicle. Twas a 1996 f250 extended cab 4x4.
Unfortunately, we already got the motor installed. But it will be coming back out soon once final assembly is mocked up.

1killerz · Feb 10, 2016

interior assessment

Well now that the truck was stripped at this point in the build, we decided to look at the interior and see what we had to work with.
Keep in mind I am planning on making this a daily type driver/BOV, so creature comforts will be nice.
the seats were in decent condition, sans the "FML" and other stuff carved in the back of the driver seat...

Hipsters in Washington do not, I repeat, do not litter. Thusly explaining the amount of trash that had accumulated in the bed and the interior. On a side not, looks like a pop-riveted and sealed floor repair in the front.

The rear of the cab was just as bad in regards to trash.

When cutting speaker holes in Washington, it is always best to make them oval-ish and leave jagged metal.

Now that its cleaned and free of seating, I can look it over and see if I have a ton of floor work, or a little....

Fronts were "repaired". Good news is I can buy this floor all day. The rears, not something you can simply order from your local ford supplier...
This picture made my day. Both of the back sides are excellent!

1killerz · Feb 10, 2016

trail plug...

So by the end of summer, 2014, we had this truck torn down. Only one problem:

I still didn't have a donor truck.

What I wanted:
* something affordable
* 7.3 powerstroke
* automatic
* 4x4

Did you know that if you have a powerstroke, it apparently is worth it's weight in gold? Well maybe you guys here on Powerstrokearmy knew that, but i sure as hell didn't.

So I set my handy-dandy (not to be confused with Handy Andy) craigslist search app to 7.3 powerstroke.

Finally, a few months (or years at least it felt like), I found one that met my criteria.
In chicago. Of course, why not near me. Oh well...load up the hauler and grab it...

Ex-plow truck, so low ish miles (160,000). Also meant we were going to find lots of crusty bolts and crap to get this monster motor out. 4x4, automatic, and derpy exhaust cut through the hood (think mini stack).

After a little debating, we agreed on a cash money price of $800. Truck runs, drives, stops, shifts, everything its supposed to do. Kid just needed money for college.

Countryboy07 · Feb 10, 2016

Thats a heck of a deal on that truck with the mileage. Engine alone is worth that. Good Score!

drunk on diesel · Feb 10, 2016

sounds like a killer project

diggin' the car hauler!

1killerz · Feb 10, 2016

Countryboy07 said:
Thats a heck of a deal on that truck with the mileage. Engine alone is worth that. Good Score!

That's what I thought too. I kept seeing 2 grand for crap that couldn't get out of its own way. Or was twisted.

When this dude's CL ad hit, my phone lit up, and me and little dude were on the road with no hesitation.

Truck ran good enough I could have driven it home. And at that price, I didn't mind making it into a donor truck.