Hey Bombers! I was just wondering how difficult it would be to remove a 300 6cyl. from a Ford F150 4x4 gas and install a diesel motor, like a 7.3 (oh baby!)? Would I have to install a different Transmission? What about matching up the bolt to the engine mounts, would I need additional equipment? P.S. What is a good source for used diesel engines? P.S. This is for you Dodge buffs... Would it be possible to install a cummins diesel in a F250? No flammin' please Thanks, DannZegos

if you got the time and money its possible, you wont want to put a fullsize diesel in a F150, go for a 4BT cummins (4 cylinder) and it will fit fine and probably work with the tranny.....if staying ford diesel its just better to get a diesel that hassle with a 1/2 ton unless its a 4BT swap......

I agree, put the cummins 3.9 in there. Depending on what year the 3.9 will actually have torque then the 7.3. You will get better mpg then you can ever hope for with the 7.3 too.

And as for the cummins in a f250 absolutely it can be done.Try fordcummins.com, and destroked.com.
Destroked will do it for you.

what year is the truck and do you know what trans? If you have the 88-mid90s? Zf 5 speed manual a 4bt with ford manual adapter plate(came in a lot of bread trucks) will bolt right up. I know where you can get such an engine for around $1700 as well. Now I'm not sure about the half ton transmissions but I know for sure the 3/4 is a direct bolt up.

the guys over at www.4btswaps.com can tell you for sure.

Another big plus about the 4bt is that it should bolt right into the 300 engine mounts.

88-96 F150 stick wont have a ZF5 its going to have a mazda m5r2, good behind a 300 but a 4bt will tear it up

hey how much would that cost putting a 3.9 in an f150

my truck is a 1999 f150 ext cab short bet 4x4 gas engine had spark plug trouble so quit fixing and started to get parts to put 4bt in truck have all parts now have started to put in hope to have runing by spring hopeing for better fuel mileage than gas engine. will talk later i have $5000. in parts now.

HI Diesel Charlie, WELCOME TO DIESEL BOMBERS, Let us know how your project turns out !!

I've always liked those 300's, not fast or super powerful but smooth and torquey, well, more torque than a 300cid 6 cyl gas engine should have, anyway; an underrated little beast, in my opinion.

Is yours finally starting to die? An intercooled, 4BT would definitely be the way to go...the 7.3L's are heavy and while they're not necessarily a bad engine, I don't think it's worth the trouble or expense of doing an engine swap with that one, you'll be money, power and reliability ahead with the 3.9L 4BT.

as for a 6BT Cummins in an F250, that's by far the most common Cummins 6BT transplant.

hey i have a similar question, i have a 95 F-150 with the L6 in it and i wanna see if i can swap out that bad boy and put a 5.9L cummins 12V in that pig. cuz im talkin to a guy selling a 93 cummins engine for 500 bucks and its pretty mint. help me out guys

The 4BTA is a great engine for any 1/2 ton swap project. The suspension will handle the extra weight but I would upgrade to hydroboost brake (my experience). They help alot with the extra weight up front.
You can even drop one in a dakota or S10 with the right suspension upgrade. More work though adding the suspension and working in tighter quarters and a lot more work if you are working with a 4x4.
A turned up intercooled 4BTA gets you the same H.P. and torque as a 1st generation Dodge 6BTA; Again, my experience. I had a one ton 1993 6BTA before I made my half ton
4BTA. Expect 25-28 mpg in a 1/2 ton when you are not loaded down and about 15-17 mpg when hauling about 7,000#. The 4BT with the VE injection pump is really easy to turn up and double the H.P. and torque without paying a penny to do it. Another real plus. The only down side compared to newer diesels is that you are stuck with those settings until you climb under the hood and change them with some wrenches and screwdrivers. Not a bad trade-off if you are on a budget. It takes about 1/2 hour and some wrenches for me to change from stock 105 h.p 283 ft. lbs. to 180-190 h.p. and 383-400 ft. lbs.
You can go up to about 300 H.P. on this engine with twin turbos. Guys have used the
HY35W that has a smaller turbine cross section and combined it with larger turbos for the series setup. Expect something to rapidly show itself as a weak link if you do this. 1/2 ton truck drivetrains won't take this large of a torque in the lower RPM range for very long.
I also make bio-diesel if anyone needs more ideas on that. The 4BT is tolerant to fuel grade changes and thus lends itself well to bio-diesel useage. You just need to be sure you start off with high grade race rated gasoline fuel lines for bio-diesel exposure.

Hi, I just joined this site, I'm wanting to do this very same conversion, 99 F150 4X4 extended cab short bed, 5.4, 4R70W auto, the 5.4 is shot, can you give me any advise on this conversion, I've been researching it for a year or more and want to do it real bad. I've read that the transfercase support, crossmember, is a real headache, I would appreciate any advise, help or insight. Thank You, Doug

that 7.3 b alittle too heavy for a 1/2 ton go with the 3.9

A newer 04+ F150 with a commonrail and a big lift would be straight up awesome!

Thanks for the input, but I already have the 99 and am on a budget, my main objective is economy and the ability to burn WVO and biodiesel, so a cummins 3.9 is what I'm leaning toward.