to rebuild or not?...

Need to decide if its worth it to tear apart my 7.3l to rebuild it or buy a new rig. Right now the motor build would have every part replaced or refreshed minus the crank, unless it needed to be. The current price for this build is 18k.
This is just the price of parts not including labor. Got the build list and prices off Swamps.
The build will allow me to run 800rwhp safely, however it seems like alot of money to drop on an old truck.
Would I be better off with a newer more streetable 6.4L diesel?

Not much love around here anymore for the 7.3 so I'd expect everyone to jump on the "ditch it and get a 6.4" bandwagon. Which is a great idea until it blows up and you're spending another $12k to replace the engine. That being said, I don't know that I've seen many reliable 7.3's pushing 800hp that lived for any great time.

Is this for a DD, fun toy, sledpuller or ??

Eh buy the right 6.4 and it's not gonna just blow up.

rofl.... I can't count the fail threads of guys that just had their 6.4's rebuilt **** the bed in under a few thousand miles. Whether it's cracked pistons, or cracked blocks, you couldn't give me one of those trucks. Well, you could but I'd sell it and get a 6.7. (or another 7.3) Some people do have luck with them though. Actually it's not even that the motor blows up, but the cost of a rebuild is prohibitive.

What the truck will be used for is currently up in the air, when i bought is over 10yrs ago it was my "everything" rig, horse/hay hauler, log skidder, DD, drag racer and sled puller.
If I dropped the money into it Id need to figure out how to make that money back out of it, any ideas?
Second option is to buy a 99-03 7.3l rig with a solid motor and manual trans and use it for ranch work as i swap on my performance parts from my 96'.
My key concern is adding the right parts to my old motor to hold up to my 250cc sticks.

usmcpsd said:

What the truck will be used for is currently up in the air, when i bought is over 10yrs ago it was my "everything" rig, horse/hay hauler, log skidder, DD, drag racer and sled puller.
If I dropped the money into it Id need to figure out how to make that money back out of it, any ideas?
Second option is to buy a 99-03 7.3l rig with a solid motor and manual trans and use it for ranch work as i swap on my performance parts from my 96'.
My key concern is adding the right parts to my old motor to hold up to my 250cc sticks.

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Ok, that makes sense. Shouldn't have a problem building a 7.3 around 250cc injectors but I don't think that will be taking you anywhere near 800hp. Im not an engine builder though, so don't quote me on that!!

been looking at this myself, 250 200s with good tuning and air will only get about 600

Correct, those sticks werent part of my 800hp "build", but after i added everything from the Swamps website into my engine bay i wouldnt have a problem with twins and 400cc's.
Currently ill have to have my block sleeved for stock pistons or bored out to go with oversized pistons, probably should replace the rods, obviously have the heads decked and replace valves/guides/springs and pushrods. Id basically be having the motor reworked into a hot rod motor to allow me to run the 250s reliably at WOT. The motor work alone in parts should run me 12-14k maybe less if I forgo fire rings and girdle. The trans will be expensive too.
Id like to not just scrap the truck which ive spent so much time on but at the same time, when is enough, enough? I dont even make money or have time to race it.

If all I wanted to do was run 250s at WOT what parts would I need to stuff into a newer motor?

You could just go with swamps turnkey engines and be ahead of the game as those prices.include the labor to assemble the engine. Look into the turnkey I believe one is around 9000 and the other one is about 18000.

Or you could always find a healthy forged rod engine, build/tune a solid 550-600hp set-up that limits torque, and save $15k. If it throws a rod oh well, slap another $600 engine it and go down the road.

I put a lot of money into my 96. Saved a little bit by waiting for deals. But it was pieced together. You know it will be done right by one builder. Stilled worried about having an old truck to drive.

Let me approach this a different way.
In the experience on this forum what is a good build sheet for a motor as far as engine internals, turbos, exterior accesories (i.e. fluiddampner) to use when building a motor to support 250cc sticks?

I dumped money into mine because I wanted a project. I also wanted something that everyone else didn't already have. It's been a painstaking year and a half because I have done almost everything myself.

What kinda power you putting out?

Magnum PD said:

What kinda power you putting out?

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I'm estimating around 625rwhp. I'm going in for a Dyno Tune in about 6 weeks!

Similar setup as mine.

usmcpsd said:

Let me approach this a different way.
In the experience on this forum what is a good build sheet for a motor as far as engine internals, turbos, exterior accesories (i.e. fluiddampner) to use when building a motor to support 250cc sticks?

Click to expand...

I would say with my 250/100s, a adrenaline, stock fuel pumps , or walbro, studs, springs, bts trans, 467 and conservative tuning ( gearhead) would be fine

Need 200's for the 250's

What can i do to my already built transmission parts wise to refresh it?

If your gonna maxx out 250/200s, you will need bullet shafts. A good TQ, and a valve body