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1990 F350 4x4 7.3 IDI

I finally put it on the road last night!! It's fun to drive, but it sure is slow! I'm pretty sure the pump needs to be turned up a touch because it doesn't make any smoke no matter what I do. I'm also going to check the timing to make sure that is correct. It's so slow though - I'm pretty sure our Class C motor home was faster than this thing and I know my 300-powered F150 could smoke it. It also has trouble maintaining speed up hills unloaded so I'm pretty sure it just isn't right. I'll check timing and play with the fuel screw and hopefully I pick up a little power.

I did a couple things before putting it on the road - most noticeable was the reinstallation of the winch mount on the front bumper. I don't think I'll ever mount a winch to it, but I do like how it adds some more bulk to the front.....plus it gives me a place to mount a plate.

I snapped a couple pics.

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I drove it to work today and got a lot of unsolicited compliments, so that was nice!
 
Just finished checking/adjusting the timing. It was at 6* BTDC @ 2000 rpm. I adjusted it to the correct 8.5* @ 2000. It feels better, but no magic bullet by any means. I'll hopefully add a pyro and bump up the fuel this weekend. The timing marks were lined up when I started and this picture shows how much I moved the pump. IMG_9535.JPG
 
I bet it feels good to finally drive that beast around again after all that work you've done to it. Even if she's a little slow for the time being. We know you know how to make them fast by the work you've done on the Tahoe.

I asked the owner of our company what he did with the truck that had the bumpers like yours for our lay down yards on jobs. He said that after his son tore it all to hell he just sold it to a fellow wanting it for the rear axle, transmission and the flat bed that was on it. I'd like to have the bumpers
 
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THEFERMANATOR said:
My uncle has a 92, and stock without a turbo his was gutless. He bought it to tow a 32' gooseneck trailer, and he said 55 was it on flat land, on the floor, in 3rd gear(his has an e4od). Put a turbo on it and it was a different truck.
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Yup, that sounds about right. I'm be interested to see what a little more fuel does, but I don't have high hopes. Head studs, a hot ip and a turbo should get it to where I enjoy it.
 
Jaryd said:
I bet it feels good to finally drive that beast around again after all that work you've done to it. Even if she's a little slow for the time being. We know you know how to make them fast by the work you've done on the Tahoe.

I asked the owner of our company what he did with the truck that had the bumpers like yours for our lay down yards on jobs. He said that after his son tore it all to hell he just sold it to a fellow wanting it for the rear axle, transmission and the flat bed that was on it. I'd like to have the bumpers
Click to expand...
It sure does feel good! I felt proud driving something I built, not bought, through the parking lot at work today! It's fun driving something that stands out.
 
Ok, i just turned the pump up 2 flats. It's much better now - how I would expect an NA diesel to accelerate. It will get out of its own way now and maintain speed on hills. It will smoke a little now, but I can control that with just a little change in pedal position.

Weird thing is that it idles smoother now. It used to have kind of a miss at idle that annoyed me and had me thinking the pump and/or injectors were bad, but now it's smooth! Weird. Anyway, very pleased now. Now that it's healthier (oh and I found a tag saying that the ip is remanufactured so it gives me hope that it has a little life left in it still) I'm wondering if I should just do a factory-type turbo swap for now to give it a little more power. It isn't my ultimate goal, but it might be a nice stop-gap for now so I can tow with more confidence. Hmmmm

As far as the pyro gauge goes, I had an Autometer gauge lying around that was given to me so I figured I'd use that for now. Well I grabbed it today and noticed that it's missing the fitting for the manifold. I looked online and Autometer wants $50 for a fitting kit!! That's lame. A quick search makes it look like the fittings are somewhat propritary for each manufacturer. So I'm not 100% what I'm going to do, but I'll probably end up just buying a whole new gauge. I'm not sure which brand right now so I'm searching.....
 
I made a change tonight. This thing rides TERRIBLY. There are some roads that are abusive and one time I was towing my trailer and I thought I was going to bounce off the road......so I decided I had to make a change. I’ve been doing some research on some OBS Ford-specific sites and the consensus is that Bilsteins are the best thing you can do for these trucks. They’re more expensive than the Ranchos I already put on, but it felt like it was becoming a safety issue. I only swapped the fronts so I could see how they would perform with minimal investment and they definitely made an improvement. I only drove it 5 miles tonight, so I’m not sure if they’ll break in or not, but so far I’m pleased with the improvement. To get more improvement I’ll probably need to run dual shocks to tame the ridiculous leaf springs under this thing. I’ll drive it some more and decide if I want to so the backs as well.

63894B22-0F15-4044-9354-C0A8712BC323.jpeg

Oh and when I took the Ranchos off, they never extended any longer than the length they were while installed. I’m not sure if that’s normal or not, but the Bilsteins were definitely gas charged and NOT fun to install! I think the front end is a touch higher than before, but I didn’t take any actual measurements.
 
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