Where are you located? If its within 500 miles I'll take you up on that offer - seriously.
The IDIs aren't the most powerful out there but you can't beat them for simplicity and inexpensive/easy repair and maintenance...

 

You forgot this part

 

im alot further than that from you. and you dont want it. its got 240,000 miles on it. my grandpa bought it new and in that time tis had 2 head jobs, three trannys, 4 injectors pumps, 3 sets of glow plugs, and 3 sets of injectors. he wasted more money on this stupid truck than i can ever believe. so as for easy repair and maintenance i dont know where you get that from.

have you ever actually worked on one yourself? they suck. there are so many vacuum lines and stupid stuff everywhere it makes working on them a nightmare. especially with a turbo on them there isnt room for anything

x2

 

Heck yeah I've worked on them - I currently have an 86 in my driveway. Dunno what compicated vacuum lines you're talking about - mine's got a couple from the vac pump to the reservior cannister and then to the braking system and that's about it. Electrically it has a facet pump, manually operated glowplugs (pushbutton) a starter solenoid and a couple of connections to the IP (cold start advance and fuel cutoff). Couldn't be simpler.

What I like is I can buy a full set of reman injectors and a reman pump for the same price as 1 or 2 of the electronic injectors in the newer trucks.

But you're right, if he wants to be able to tune it and detune it at will an IDI isn't what he wants. No computer means no quick tuning changes. Of course it also means no computer to go wrong and leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere...

 

parts are definitely cheaper you got that one right on the head. but IMO they are a headache to work one. like i said especially with a turbo on em you cant get to anything.

my 12 valve cummins is a million times easier to work on and easier to find parts for as well. and much easier to upgrade.

with the large 6.9l diesels theyre huge motors. the advantage of an L6 is its half the swidth, leaving much more room to work and add stuff under the hood

not to mention the IDI diesels arent even intercooled at that. and as for computers i never have computer problems, especially with a manual trans there isnt hardly anything on a 12 valve

with the 6.9L IDI with an ATS turbo, new injection pump and injectors, running perfect, ran 120 horse and 180 ft lbs of torque not too impressive in my book

 

PM me a price on the 6.9. actually all I want is the turbo system.

 

I don't particularly like the ATS - I have a Banks on mine and the only thing it is in the way of is the PS rear injector & GP. And with the right hand-tools I can even change those without too much trouble.

120HP and 180ft/lbs? You're talking WHP, right? 'Cause the bone stock non-turbo was rated 185HP and 320ft/lbs CHP. With the Banks and the pump turned up mine makes well over 200 CHP. I know I guy who did a rebuild on his and milled a set of pistons to lowered his CR to around 19:1 then put a wastegated turbo on it running right at 20 PSI. After 50k+ miles its still running strong and he can pull or drag with any of the new trucks.

I'll admit out of the box they aren't major powerhouses, but a good running one with an auto OD tranny (or better yet a ZF-5 manual) will perform quite respectably and run bullet-proof reliable for 75k-100k at a stretch. A little tweaking and they come to life pretty well.

I have no doubt that the L-6 makes for a lot more room underhood, but space under the hood isn't everything. I guess I'm just old school. I like manual GPs and mechanical injection.

BTW, you want to see a vacuum system, take a look at one of the 80's Mercedes. Now THAT is a complicated vacuum system.

 

never seen one of the 80's mercedes under hoods before and neither do i want to

the 12 valve cummins motors are all mechanical injection and what not. the only power you need on one is a 12v lead to the injection pump for the kill switch solenoid and power to the starter thats it.

the ZF-5 speed without a doubt is a great tranny to use as well. i wouldve thrown one behind my cummins if they werent 1500 bucks for a used one plus the adapter plate.

as for the space underhood though, there is nothing wrong with a little more side to side room. i mean can never complain about enough room for some twins

 

wow guys...Im glad quite a few people are looking over this. I have had lots of fun reading over most of the performance pages on all the big 3 diesels.

I really dont want a 6.9 nothing against it but there is alot of work that needs to be done to them to get any stout performance out of them. I thought about the 4bt but now that I have really thought about the project some more I have decided not to use my Bronco and just buy a junk Bronco with a decent body and build it up off that using most of the diesel trucks parts including the frame, just shortening it obviously.

I think I have decided on a 6.4L to be original. I have not heard of anyone doing a 6.4 Bronco yet. So I decided to be the one to put the idea out there.

Im thinkin find a wrecked or salvage truck strip it down, shorten the frame, use all the stuff from the new truck including interior, dash, gauge cluster, pretty much everything. Or at least try and use everything, to keep it "green"...ha

But feel free to keep posting up ideas because this project wont have funds for close to 6 yrs or so. I might change my mind between now and then.

 

well however you go about it, make sure you look into smog before anything. sucks to go through all that work to have a vehicle you cant ever smog.

and there is an up and down to being original

the up: is that your original

the down: resources are low, knowledge isnt as high, and conversion parts arent readily available.