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88 Eddie Bronco 7.3 idi and zf5 swap

27K views 90 replies 31 participants last post by  TheUnforgiven 
#1 ·
So after a recent streak of events it has become possible for me to complete my diesel swap into my bronco that i have been wanting to do ever since I got her my JR year in highschool 5 years ago. I am a college student at USF am almost always broke so I would have never thought I would be able to do this swap so soon.

Heres how it started: About 4 months ago I swapped a 351w outa a 76 merc couger, the POS AOD with a NP435 outa a 96 f-250, and a NP205 outa a 77 f-100. I picked up the engine w/ longtube hedders, and trans for 300 bucks and the t-case for 75. I couldnt Kill that 302 though, i beat the piss out of it and went through 2 AODs but she just wouldnt die. I ended up selling it for 150 which helped finance the swap.

So i did the swap and everything was going good, except I kept busting driveshafts, I busted an ear off the output yoke on the t-case twice, the flange on the rear 3 times, and twisted the shaft in half twice. Mostly from side steppin the clutch, power shifting, and double clutching :)

This final time the damn 8.8 spun the pumpkin on the axle tubes and left the pinion pointing up into the damn floor board. This promped me to begin looking for a new rear end, and being the "if im gonna do all the damn work anyway, I might as well go whole hog and do what I want even if it costs a little more" kinda guy I am, I began searching for a Dana 70 dually axle do do the swap. (I been wanting to do that forever too.) Well I lucked out and found a 1991 Georgie Boy 30ft RV for sale on Craigslist for 500 bucks!!! It had a 23k original mile 460, c-6, and dana 70HD (4.10), not to mention the onboard generator, roof mount A/C, 3-way fridge, and all the other shit I pulled off it to sell and make my money back on the deal. So I hopped on my bike and road out there that night to look at it and arranged with the guy to come out the following weekend to strip it. He even brought out his rollback tow truck to jack the ass end up and his cutting torches to help expedite the process. We ended up cutting the whole thing in half behind the trans, and flipped over the back half to cut the axle out. The front was removed all together, the body was cut off and the engine and trans rolled out still bolted to the framerails rolling on the front susp. like an old f-body camaro. That made it a hell of alot easier to transport and manuver around.

So I got all this stuff back to my buddies place and began planning and preparing to do the 460 swap. I completed the axle swap in a few hours, all i had to do was relocate the spring purches on the rear inboard 2.25 inches each and the 70hd bolted right up to the stock shackles. I even used the springs off the RV (huge ass 9 leaf pack). Im 6' 315 and I can jump up and down on the rear bumper and she moves maybe 1/2 an inch, before i could almost get it to bottom out with the old bronco leafs. :) I had planned on useing the np435 and 205 combo i already had with the 460, I even had a BB bellhousing already, all I needed was a flywheel and clutch set and i would have been ready to do the swap.

Well while surfing on craigslist for the clutch stuff for the 460, I happend on a 1989 4x4 F-250 for sale about 75 miles away for 650 bucks!! It had a 7.3idi, zf5, and I believe its a 10.25 rear ( not sure, dont really care.) So I called on it, the guy said another guy gave it to him to pay off some money he owed and he didnt know much about the truck, but the other guy couldnt get it to run. so i drove out that night and looked it over, It had a brand new injector pump, fuel pump, and starter!! I played it down and we threw a battery in it and cranked it for a few seconds just so i could be sure it didnt have any internal issues. I talked him down to 550, gave him a deposit and picked it up a few days later. It cost me 187 bucks to have it towed back to my buddies place cause i couldnt find nobody with a trailer to borrow and uhaul didnt have one big enough. But $750 all in was still a Steal.

I got it running a few days later, all i had to do was fixed a freyd connection on the starter that was arking, and prime the fuel system, and she fired right up, purred like a kitten, and ran like a raped ape!

At this point I have the 250 completely stripped and ready for the engine to be removed. I have the entire wiring harness removed and labled to use in the bronco. The only thing holding me up from beginning the heavy stuff is that I cant find a cherry picker to borrow or a cheap one to buy. Once I get ahold of one, I can begin tearing down the bronco and the fun can begin.

Here are some pics of the 351w Swap:








This was the only mistake i made the whole swap, I tried to convert the 76 351w to the serpentine setup from the 302 only to find that the older 351's water pump had an opposite rotation of the 88's 302. and the timing cover is different so you cant just swap pumps. So i scrapped that idea and just went with the v-belt setup.
 
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#3 ·
Here are some pics of the truck over The years:


Sittin in the parkin lot all clean on campus: (yes those are 5" stacks, Yes, there functional, and yes, it is strait 2.5 into 5 so its loud as hell)


Climbin up a dirt pile at a construction site back home:


Playin in a puddle out at Big Scrub, in Ocala Fl, almost got a $500 ticket, i guess I wasnt suppost to play there.


Theres my big ass standin by her at my buds house:


Day after playin in the bogg at the Lakeland Mud Boggs:


Same Day, doin a tune up to get her runnin again after drowning her in the hole and havin to get strapped 60 miles all the way back to tampa at 2 in the morinin: (told ya i couldnt kill that motor)


Here are some other random pics, im tired of describin each one :)






 
#7 ·
Now that those are outa the way here are some pics of the Bronco with the Dana 70 and the F-250 the 7.3s comin out of. (i do plan on getting some fender flares off a F-350 Dually to cover the tires, and I am also looking for some tall skinnies for the rear to bring them up to the same size as the fronts. Looking at 900x16s michilins or power kings, or some tsl 34x10.5x16s, basically whatever i can find for the right price. Also looking for 2" spacers so the new tires in the rear will fit.







 
#11 ·
When I get the swap all done I will post a bunch of pictures and videos, ima be postin a bunch of pictures of my progress on the swap aswell. And yea the idi's can smoke like a chimney, Im gonna turn the IP on mine when i get her in, that and the open 5" exhaust she oughta smoke pretty good.
 
#15 ·
Haha I loved the wall shaker he had in the window, actually i liked the whole truck! He took my idea bout the moonpies in the gbox though. But in witless protection he drove a Bronco! that one was kinda plain for my taste but atleast it had nitrous:thumbup

I read your thread about your 6.9 swap, Im kinda in the same boat as you cause it didnt matter what diesel I found, I woulda been just as happy with a 6.9. Im glad I was able to find a good donor truck with a strong engine so I wont run into alot of the problems you did. And its gonna make the process alot easier just swapping everything from one truck to the other and not having to start with just a motor and build everything else around it like you did. Was also interested to hear about the fuel you are running, I didnt know it was possible to run used oil and stuff. That was cool to find out.

I like the supercharger idea too, have to say you are the first iv heard of to want to do that conversion to a "small diesel" ( i know all about them detroits). I would probably go with a larger one, but im not familiar with the non root-style superchargers. If you ever get around to that install id love to see how it turns out.

I think im gonna stick to the v belt setup on there, there all new, I think the p/o replaced them when he replaced the IP, FP, starter, and injectors.
 
#14 ·
I gave alittle giggle when i saw your bronco but after i saw how u use it
I have to say its unique and it fits you. More power to ya.
 
#16 ·
I like my truck, its big and loud and kinda over the top, but so am I :toothless

She is a work in progress, when I get everything the way I want it, that giggles gonna turn to a speachless pause, followed by a holy shit, thats fukkin awsome:thumbup
 
#21 ·
Its gonna look even better when i finally get some dually fender flares to cover the wheels and some tall skinny rubbers to fill them out. I would like to find somethin arount 35" to match the front, im not worried about the tread pattern (they dont have to be baja claws) but i do want an agressive offroad tire
 
#19 ·
Yeah....about the dually, why? I mean the duals are for extra weight and stability. You will not ever be towing enough to have to use them. Don't get me wrong its your setup, I am just wondering. It would not be worth it to me just from the extra cost of tires.

Since you are in FL, you probably do not have the cold there we have here. If it gets below 70*, you will need to use diesel. The M90 is a roots blower. Unlike the Detroits which are two stroke, these eingines are four stroke and respond totally differently to the boost. They do not have to have it like the big ones do in order to run. They use them for aditional power.

I have already started on the mount, but am only there. I do not have a ton of time and need to make a bracket to mount the tensioner and idler. Then, I need to make the drive pully piggy back to the crank. No sweat, just need time. Since I am fixing all of my cab rust holes and adding the sound proofing, it is going to take some time. That, and I am building two other cars as we speak.

SWS
 
#24 ·
I chose to go with dual wheels mainly cause I love the way they look, but also like you said, for the extra stability which will help counter any swaying problems from being such a short wheelbase truck when towing heavy. Not so much for the extra weight capacity. I did choose to use the huge ass springs (9 leaf pack) out of the motorhome for the extra weight cap. I do plan towing my old heavy ass 76 Holiday ramblette 30' travel trailer regularly, which I couldnt do before because the tounge weight was too much for my old susp to handle. And i never know when i might need to tow a 30' utility trailer with 30k on it. Better too much than not enough. The extra cost of tires is something ima have to live with. But I never by new tires anyway so it wont be too bad. Actually I will be picking up a set of 5 3 month old 9.00x16 power kings (about 35.5 x 10.5) for 500 bucks this weekend.

Not true, I would just have to run some type of heater on the tank to use the WO. Haha i feel like a dumb ass :doh0715:, I just assumed the m90 was a centrifugal supercharger cause it seemed to me that would take the least fab to install. The only forced induction experience I have was installing a Kenne Bell charger on my buddies cobra, dropping a 6-71 on the motor i built for my uncles nova, and the 8-71 on the bb i built for my best friends chevelle.(both designed after the detroits) My earlier reference to the detroits was not to compare the two types of diesels, just to say that you were the first i'v heard to use a supercharger in a light truck app.

I look forward to seeing how the setup your planning performs. If it turns out well I may even consider a similar setup for my truck.
 
#25 ·
Yup I know all about the anti-cavitation additives. I'll probably just end up going with fleet charge from TSC. Its already precharged with SCA's. It contains a DCA-2 SCA which can be harmful if used in excessive levels, but being that its pre-mixed I have no worries. If I decide to go with something else ill probably use a product with a DCA-4 SCA just to be safe.
 
#26 ·
Well, I havent gotten much of any work done on the swap, its been too damn hot recently. There is supposed to be a cold front coming through this weekend so hopefully I can get my ass in gear and get alot of the heavy work done.

Also, I finally got a cherry picker, picked up a 2ton foldable one on craigslist for 120. And i picked up 5 sheets of plywood to cover the dirt for a makeshift floor for the picker to roll on when i do the swap.

Finally, as i told SWS, I will be picking up a set of 5, 9.00x16lt Power King Super Traction tires, only 3 months old for 500 bucks. They are Roughly 35.5 x 10.5. I will post pics as soon as i pick them up and get them mounted.
 
#27 ·
I THINK you may be missing some of the point. As far as the weight, you are not going to have enough metal to run a 30K trailer. You will need to have twice the frame and twice the brakes to tow something that large. As far as the temp, the oil being cold is not the whole problem. Air, coolant/block temp, and the fuel temp all are taken into account.

The M90 is factroy on the Ford SC. Like I said, I am going to get the setup running and see how it is going to do. I still have some stuff to work out on my own for the blower can even get mounted.

SWS
 
#28 ·
Not missing the point, when i get done the bronco is basically going to be an F-350 with a shorter wheel base, the few hundred pounds more a 350 has from the extra few feet is not going to make mutch difference, even if it did it would be more than made up by the extra weight from the bronco being a 4 wheel drive vehicle. As for brakes I will be upgrading to the booster from the RV (same as f-350), that with the dana 70 and 60 that will be up front's 1 ton brakes will be plenty, not to mention the brake controller for the trailer brakes I already have. As for the frame, an f-350's frame is not much larger than a half ton's, what ever difference there is will be made up by the boxing and bracing I have in the works for after the swap.
 
#29 ·
Interesting thread. I'll be interested to see how the diesel swap works out.

You do know it's illegal to tow a 30K trailer with a Bronco right? No matter how much you "beef" up your truck it's still illegal. You are limited to the manufacturers gross vehicle weight rating. I don't know what it is for your truck but I'll take a wild guess and say it's not very much. If you get into an accident while being overloaded you'll be in a world of legal trouble. All the extra stuff you are adding to your truck is increasing the static weight of the vehicle as well. All that deducts from the amount of weight you can tow. Power strokes are heavy engines too. The brakes from newer F-350's are only rated to 5 tons. The newest 1 ton trucks with increased GVW ratings max out at 26k and have much better/bigger brakes. My truck has a max combined rating of 20k. The truck itself comes in at about 9,100 pounds wet. I tow a trailer just over 35 feet long and just under 10,000 pounds with four extra brakes. It pretty much puts my truck at the max. Getting it going is easy. Stopping it is extremely difficult. My truck eats a set of brakes every 10,000 miles +/-. The short wheel base of a Bronco also makes towing anything of fair size/length and weight dangerously impossible. Be careful.

Jon.
 
#32 ·
Thanks for your input. Realistically I will never have the need to tow anything bigger with this truck than the travel trailer I mentioned earlier. But no one can tell me that the mods I am makeing wont dramatically increase the towing capablility of my rig. A 30k trailer, obviously not. But its not "dangerously impossible" for my rig to tow a good size trailer with considerable weight. Manufacturers rate their vehicle's capabilities based on a stock configuration. I dont give a **** what numbers they decided to print on my door jamb, Here in the real world they dont mean shit to my rig. I'm Not stupid, I know the limitations of my rig and I will not put myself in an unsafe situation.

I am DONE discussing and debating this topic. This thread got off on a tangent it was not meant to go, and it will not continue in that direction.
 
#31 ·
Dunno an exact #, Used some rollers off a boat trailer cut in half, with a urethane bushing kit my buddy gave me. I upgraded to half inch grade 8 hardware and have triangulated braces to eliminate any sway. That was done shortly after I got the truck because I was broke and couldnt afford a susp lift, and I didnt feel like f'n with the TTB crap. It was only meant to be a temp deal till I could do a SAS with a good 6" lift. Well a few years went buy and it never happened, but I havnt had ANY problems with the way it is now.

Still plan on swapping a d60 like I mentioned in a privious thread, but like I said, it will depend on me finding one cheap.
 
#34 ·
Back to what matters.

This weekend I got alot done on the truck, was a little bit less than I expected, but I made a good dent.



The 250 with the 7.3 almost ready to come out


The 351 ready to come out of the bronc


The 351 out



Can see the particle board floor. Did the job, but the 7.3 kept sinking the wheels of the hoist through it, but I got it muscled around ready to go in the bronco.


Welded the K-member solid to the frame for some extra strength, and filled in the oil filter hole on the drivers side. ( had to cut hole in the new filler plate for the diesel mount to work.)




Here are a couple pics of the Power kings I just picked up for the truck. I literally just won bidding on a set of 3" spacers on ebay a few minutes ago. when they come in ill get some pics up of the tires mounted on the truck.

 
#39 ·
More progress today

Diesel mount installed


7.3 droped in.






Interior apart to swap wireing harness


And some F'n rust found behind the cluster under the windshield. held up the engine install a few hours got it fixed though had to use caulk to seal it, was all I had.




Besides those things, I also got the larger brake booster and mast. cyl. installed and plummed, and got the clutch mast. and slave cyl. installed.


Im hoping that tomarrow I can get the wiring taken care of, get the interior back together, and begin plumbing the fuel system. After that all there is left to do is put the body back together, get the radiator in, buld a new drive shaft, get the 5" exhaust fabbed up, bleed the brakes, change all the fluids and go. ( i hope)
 
#40 ·
You are going to get a bit of squat in the front end with that and those springs. Not sure how long you are going to leave it that way. What I did was took the coils off of the doner truck (86 F250 2wd) and slipped them in place. You also will want the spring clips on the top, and the washer off of the bottom. Other than that, you will be golden.

SWS
 
#43 ·
The Frame of the motorhome appears to be just a stock 350, could be heavier duty springs though. I just dont want to put them in and have alot of positive camber. If it does i guess I could just heat them, but I dont know anybody up here that has torches.
 
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