project: "Ultimate Tow Rig"

[-Nathan-]

Hey, I plan on a wicked wheel this summer, although I have yet to experience any form of surge. Injectors will stay the way they are for now, unless they go out on me, in which case Ill jump to either stage 1/2's. And I may go with an adrenaline HPOP next year, havent decided yet. I really just want a reliable driver, but still have a little fun with it.

Speaking of which, I got my 3 gauge Isspro kit in the mail, the gauges will be going in this weekend, want to keep an eye on those EGT's. Will post pics then.

 

[-Nathan-]

Well, didnt get my gauges in this weekend, but got a bunch of the Ranger parts moved/sold. Did however manage to install my pyro in the drivers side manifold tonight. A little nerve racking, but with shop-vac in hand it wasnt too bad. Drilling the hole, I just stepped up sizes until I reached 11/32. Than tapped it with a 1/8 NPT tap. Installed the fitting with some anti-seize, followed by the probe. Ill get to installing the actual gauges and other bits sometime later. Pics for clicks...

 

[chrwilkins30]

need updates!

 

[-Nathan-]

Got a couple things done tonight,

Finally got my HPX (high pressure crossover) line installed. Pulled the 3rd plugs on each side of the cylinder heads, and got the JIC fittings in place, and then finally the connecting hose. As an aside, these hoses are available in both hard and soft lines. I would suggest always getting the soft line, as install was a breeze, just pulled the plugs and turned in the fittings. With a hard line, you would have to remove the intake spider.

Got my billet thermostat housing, and 203* thermostat in as well. There is a reason for these billet housings, the old one was a rusty thin piece of crap, just glad I caught it before something bad happened.

Boiled thermostat...it opens.

you can see the difference between the international thermostat, and the factory ford one.

And in place.

The HPX line definitely smoothed out the idle, and the engine seems a little more happy. For what little it costs, I would highly recommend this mod. Hopefully next weekend Ill get my coolant changed out for some ELC, and my coolant filter in place. I drained some coolant to be able to put my t stat in, and there was definitely some gunk in there.

 

[-Nathan-]

 

[-Nathan-]

Well, had some time tonight to dick around, and looking at the pile of parts I had sitting int eh corner for the duty, I decided it was coolant flush/change and coolant filter time.

First drained the old crap...its not ford gold, so I assume it had been changed before.

Thats only part of it, keep in mine that the 7.3 system holds 32 liters...yes thats right, 32 L.

Drained the block as well, and then plugged it up and filled with water. Ran it round the block, drained, filled repeated, until the water came out of the block clear.

Now for coolant, I used Rotella ELC (extended life coolant).

Now why ELC you may ask?

Well, as far as the water pump is concerned, ELC is silicate free, as well as being free from phsphate, borate, amines, and nitrates.

Green coolants, and others of teh conventional type all have those things. Our concern primarily is with the silicate, as over time silicates become insoluble and precipitate out of the coolant as microscopic abrasives. For those of you who dont know, silicate is basically (in its raw form) sand. Now keeping that in mind, the water pump on the 7.3L is not like other diesel water pumps.

The water pump on a 7.3 has a seal that is always exposed to the coolant. If the silicates find their way between the pumps seal and the shaft, it WILL cause failure.

There are a number of other advantages to ELC as well. It better protects against cavitation and corrosion. It has better heat transfer, requires less maintenance, and has a longer life.

So, in an attempt to even further make my cooling system bullet proof, I installed a coolant filter. First remove the plug in the side of the water pump on the drivers side.

Than installed a barb.

got my filter head ready; I installed ball valves, so when I change the filter I can shut them off, not waste coolant and minimize mess. Also note the temp probe for my gauge.

I preinstalled the filter and bracket. For those of you wondering, filters are about 10$ a piece.

got it installed

and then hooked up hose from the water pump to the head

and T'd it into the return line.

and filled back with ELC.

With my billet thermostat housing, 203* international short stem thermostat, ELC, and coolant filter, my system should be bullet proof, and help prolong the life of my baby



For those of you wondering if a coolant filter is ACTUALLY necessary, take a look at this, this filter was taken off of a 7.3 after the first 3 months of its installation,

Next project...oil filtration bypass system....and new parking brake shoes/hub seals.

-Nate.

 

[-Nathan-]

Also got a chance to bolt on some bling today.

Before:

After:

 

[-Nathan-]

Well figured Id make use of some time while I had it. So as it happens, the Bilsteins I had on my ranger (Bilstein 5150's, 12" travel fronts, 14" travel rears) were almost the perfect lengths in compared to my Duty. The pro comp es 9000's were kinda of crappy, and a bit rusty. Figured why not?! Anyways, heres a few pics. Truck rides a little better. Still like a dump truck, but better than it was.

front before:

front after:

rear shock comparison:

and installed.

 

[-Nathan-]

well hows that for updates? hadnt been updating this thread, kind of forgot about it, so these things were done sometime ago. cheers.

 

[chrwilkins30]

nice job man.

 

[TheTopher]

Good stuff, man. I never knew that about coolants.

 

[-Nathan-]

whipped these up out of 1/4" plate, am making a light/push bar for the front.

will mount 5 100W halogens on the front.

 

[-Nathan-]

Well, didnt get anything done on the light/push bar, have to wait to get some steel, so I worked on my bypass oil system. I needed to make a bracket to locate the filter head, so I made one, out of 1/4" plate :biggrin:

came up with a design, made a template

traced and prettied up

drilled some holes, and had to make a bend in the bracket to fit the contour of the bell housing

cleaned it up

test fit

and test fit with a filter

will install it and the rest of the bypass system when I change my oil, but Im itching to get my light bar done first.

 

[chrwilkins30]

Can't wait to see the completed light bar.

 

[-Nathan-]

did a bit more work on the light bar.

made template

got some steel, 6x3 0.250" wall, cut it in halves

cut out pattern tediously with an angle grinder...uggh...torch was out of oxy, band saw bearings cracked.

drilled holes, and test fit on truck

now I just need to make one for the other side, bend some tube, weld it all in place and put my lights on.