Ford Engine swap

Keith-OR

Well-known Member
Ok, here's what I have, a 1995 F350 4X4 Crew cab with 460CI engine, E4OD trans. Truck only has 90K miles on it.
Now this is what I want to do, I bought a 89 E350 van 195K miles, with a 7.3 diesel engine and auto. I want to put the 7.3 in my 95 F350. What will this in tale. What all do I need to change. will the diesel bolt up to my trans.
How big of a job is this going to be,,, now mind ya I've been turning a wrench more than 50yrs, so I'm no stranger to getting greasy. My dad and I did some of the first V8 jeep conversions in our area back in the late 50's and early 60's.

Thanks for the info
Keith & Shawn(Gold Medal Winner)
 

I stand corrected. Took another look at the van little while ago, looks like it has only 97K on it. NO wear on either bake peddle or gas peddle. It belonged to a local contractor, friend of mine's daughter and SIL.
 
I would not do that. Too much difference to be worth it. That old 7.3 won't have nearly as much power and I don't think it will bolt to the 460's trans. If that van has less than 100,000 miles I'd let it as is. My.02.
 
swap out a good old 460 for a 7.3 no way . As for the slush box that would be the swap that i would be looking at and get a 5 speed behind the 460 and never never look back. I had a 88 F 350 4x4 cab and chassie and pulled a 28 foot goose neck , never put on more then i could get on the trailer and never hauled more then the 460 could pull . Never drove it any faster then it would run and ran the bag off it for 287000 miles doing so . Sold it for a Dodge with a cummins and i can tell you that the cummins will not hold a candle to the 460 . And with diesel at close to the 4 buck a gallon the old 460 was cheaper to run.
 
First off I would say DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! With that said You will need a new core support for a 95 7.3 diesel truck and radiator, The complet wiring harness for a 89 7.3 diesel truck inside and out and switch it with the 95 if it will work in the newer truck? I dont know what to think about the dash. There is lots of things that wont interchange between the 2 years. This is why most people dont try to switch engines anymore, Especialy gas to diesel. Too many headacks. It would be cheeper to buy a diesel truck ready to go than do all this switching around. Bandit
 
If you are serious go for it. The power stroke will
have more hp down where you can use it.if you put a
big chip in it. My brother once put MB diesel in a
jeep pickup. He make a cardboard template of the
engine and the trans. made them out of 1/4 steel and
bolted them to the engine and trans. set the engine
and the trans on a table and aligned every thing
up. then started cutting out pieces to make a
bellhousing. worked fine.
 
The 460 has about twice the pulling power of an old 7.3
IDI...I once had a 7.3 IDI and it got lousy mileage and was
just about worthless for pulling a trailer..
 
A 1989 7.3 IDI is not a power stroke..Even with an add on turbo the 460 will run circles around it..
 
Don't mess with an idi engine. for all practical purposes they are obsolete and expensive as heck to repair. The later 7.3s are direct injected. The diesel automatic is an heavier transmission to take the extra torque.
 
Another thing, the E4OD is an electronic, computer controlled shift. You will run into major wiring and computer problems unless you have one of these custom wiring establishments make up a wiring harness. Can you say "Big Bucks"?
 
I bought a 1996 Ford F-250 for $3000.00 with an
8 foot Fischer Minute-Mount 1 & 460 cid. It had the exhaust stud problem with the heads, so I put a Jasper rebuilt 460 in it. Also a number of other things replaced, but I don't care because it will last for a long time and do anything I will ever have to do with it. It tows trailers very well, plows a lot of snow. Gas mileage aint great but the way it gets things done sure is.Every option that came on the truck
works well.
 
Friend of mine has a built 460 and I have an 03 cummins, 18 mpg AVERAGE. I run circles around him. Keep your 460, they make great boat anchors.
 
460 Fords arent exactly boat anchors...Lots are still in use and they do the job just fine for some of us that only put 3000-4000 miles a year on our trucks..

Sure a Cummins or a Power Stroke would be great but I just cant justify one..
 
Hey I completely understand your position. They were a good motor, hard on fuel but would pull very well. All I am saying is they dont hold a candle to a newer diesel. 454,427 and ford 460s were good motors and if taken care of will still give many years of service.
 
I have several friends with almost new F-350 Fords and 3500 Dodges...They are only getting 8-10 mpg pulling not that heavily of loaded trailers ..They now wish they had their older diesels back as they were getting 12-15 mpg with them..

My 460 Ford gets about 7 mpg towing if I stay some under the speed limit..It loves fuel but has plenty of power..If I used a truck more I would have a late 90's Dodge or Ford diesel.
 
boat anchor?? sounds like everybody I know with a newer truck,,, I drive a 82 f250 with 351 four speed, also have a 85 with 460 four speed.All the guys are braggin how great their newer deisels are and how good of a truck they got. You know what I have had that 82 since new, and the other guys keep tradin trucks cause of problems with one thing or another.So I think I will keep my gas burner
 
I can tell ya this, the 88 F350 4X4 that i had did a great job on towing once we got the bugs worked out of it but that took five computer changes and i was using a computer from a 92 . The trck was a cab and chassi i built a 9 foot steel flat bed with a wood floor for it and built in every hitch you could think of even one for off set towing of hay bines and corn pickers balers . It had 4.10 gears with a 5 speed . I use to deal in used farm equipment and i was on the road atleast once a week to sales in Indiana or Ill. Some weeks i was changing oil in the truck twice with the miles i was running . Fuel mileage was always recorded for each trip . Empty truck no trailer she avg. 14 , with trailer 12-13 loaded 9-12 depending on what was on the deck.The worst she ever got was on a load i brought out of Plymouth ind. , it was a E gleaner with corn head and a 10 foot header . Loaded the header over the goose neck as the corn head was on the combine and then drove the combine on the trailer and tucked the corn head up under the grain head . There was a really stiff wind blowing out of the east that evening and when i pulled out of the sale lot i could not believe how hard it was pulling across U S 30 , I could hardly get to 60 mph with my foot to the floor . Both tanks were full and she was eating gas . She sucked down both tanks before i got to the east side of Ft. Wayne . Pulled into a small fuel stop to feed the beast and she took 35.8 gallons on a 36 gallon system . Started thinking that hey i doubt that i would make Beaver Dam sucking fuel like that . So just for the heck of it i unloaded the combine and backed on and chained her down and took off . That made all the difference in the world as how it pulled and the next stop for fuel was Canton . Now the other thing was that i had done some work on the 460 that shell we say did not meet the EPA guidelines . Like i had changed the cam timing back to 69-70 spec.'s and i ran the total ing. timing advance at 36 degrees at 2000 and i also ran high test . I never towed in 5th when loaded and tryed to keep engine rpm at between 32 and 3400 rpm . I now have a 95 Dodge 3500 4X4 with a 12 valve Cummings with 4.10 gears (bad choice for gears ) and i can tell ya that on a good day empty truck running around empty the BEST she has ever seen has been 14 MPG. I can also tell ya this a couple weeks ago was the first time i have ever towed with this truck and we used her to haul fertilizer a 26 mile round trip and hauled five rounds at around 12000 lbs each load and sucked up 32 gallon of fuel . My buddy's 2001 Dodge 3500 4X4 cab and chassi with a 9 foot aluim. flat with 3.54 gears and a 5 speed with his big free flowing exhaust and his CHIP get on the avg. of 16and maybe 17 mpg. Then old 460 took six qt. of oil per change and a three dollar filter the Cummings takes 10 qt. and a eight dollar filter and a 23 dollar fuel filter Diesel is 3.89 here and hightest here wright now 3.49 . The old Ford took one battery and the Dodge takes two . Now when i bought the Dodge Diesel was less then gas BUT NOT NO MORE. Been thinking real hard about selling off the Goat . The longer i keep it the more i find that i do not like about it .
 
Yeah but you can also run a cummins to 15,000 miles on oil changes per the manual. I run 7500 miles. not 3000 like a gas engine. I get 18mpg empty all the time. With 18,000lbs I averaged 14 mpg. 16 empty and 12 full. I you had the 6 speed with 3.73 gears you may get better mileage but at 62 or so my tach is at 2000 rpms.
 
Well sofar myself i have not seen anybody around here getting much over 17 with a 3500 with a aluim flat with 3.54 gears and a 6 speed and as for towing i know for a fact that as set from the factory STOCK the old 460 would plum EAT a cumming alive . As back in 96 we went to a tractor pull down south of here and i had the Minni Mo U loaded to 75-7600 and my S/Mta loaded to 9000 the old Ford weighted in at 7500 lbs and my Blair goose neck weights in with all chains and binder at 7500 , THat is around 31000 the pull in Carrollton was a morning pull and then the one in Lisbon was and evening pull . The U pulled in four classes and the S/Mta pulled in three loaded up and set sail for Lisbon this is HILL country . One guy from Pa beat me out the gate with his New Dodge Cummings one ton 4X4 with one Farmall M on the deck i passed him on the long hill .
 
I'm with the Tractor Vet. I'll take a large gasser over a diesel for many reasons. Mainly that when you hang your foot in it, it will eat a diesel alive while cheaper to maintain. I'd love to find a good, clean Chevy 8.1L truck local.

CT
 
I have 400 hp with mine and my dad is a huge ford 460 fan and even at stock my Cummins will beat him easily and his is engine has been played with a bunch.But on the upside your 460 wont last near as long as my Cummins. I will go head to head with you and you will stop for fuel more than I will. The newer cummins dont get the fuel mileage of the old ones.At 400 hp a Cummins will still last to over 600k.I have seen that done with my own eyes. There is a reason that there are way more cummins out there than 460s.But hey if you like your old truck, more power to ya.
 
Tell your friends to invest in a good chip and couple upgrades! My old (by today's standards) 97 Powerstroke has some rather cheap upgrades, Superchips Tuner, Turbo and Intercooler from 99+ powerstroke, intake, and less restrictive down pipe from the turbo. I can honestly say that I have done close to double the mileage your buddies are gettin with a hell of a load. I don't drive like a mainiac with all that weight either. Let them know, that is if you want to lose your bragging rights.

All in good fun,
Mills
 
I would not do this swap either. Even with the bad milage of the 460 you will run circles around the 7.3. Good motors just not a big power house. If you do deside to do this then you may look at Painless wiring. They may possibly have a harness that will plug in with little modification. I understand you not wanting to put a lot of money in a truck you only put 4k miles a year on. IF it were me doing the swap it would get a cummins. Either a rotary pump or a p-pump motor. both of those with a few mods will out do a big block gasser with no problems. Milage as well as power and reliabilty.
 
2004 Chev. 3500 4x4 srw 8.1 & allison! 24' 14,000 GVWR trailer!
Ford 5610 with fully loaded rears. I'm happy! :D
c2973.jpg
 

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