My buddy and I are looking at putting an old 6.9 IH into a 64 Ford pickup.. Never dealt much with these motors, and we're curious how much BS it's gonna be to do the swap..?? Since we're going from a 4x4 donor to 2 wheel drive, will a C6 bolt to the 6.9? And what other headaches are we gonna run into if we do this? From what I know, those old mills are basically pretty simple to get going.. Fuel, air and some power. Any info would be really helpful, and I thank you in advance for it! Thanks much, Quazzy

 

6.9's came with c-6's so you should be good there, but I don't know if just any c6 will work it might have to be diesel specific so you'll want to check that out for sure. Only potential headache I see besides the obvious fabrication to get it mounted is adding a return line to the tank.

 

94Matt hit the nail right on the head. You have to get a C6 that is set up for a diesel. The bellhousing pattern of the diesels is different than any of the gasser bellhousings (even the big blocks like the 460). You'll want a 6.9 injection puimp for an automatic too. They have a VAV (vacuum adjustable valve - or something like that). It mounts on the side of the IP throttle and provides a vacuum control for the transmission.

Other than that - and adding a fuel return line like Matt said - is you're going to have to beef up your front suspension and maybe the frame too. The 6.9 weighs close to 1000 pounds all by itself, and I doubt that the front end and springs of the 64 are designed to handle that kind of weight.

As for power, all you have to have is a key-switched 12v source to the fuel cutoff, a starting circuit, a charging circuit, and a glowplug control circuit. Just about as simple as it gets. For the tach to work you'll want to get hold of the cluster from one of the 83-93 diesels too.

 

Thanks for the input guys. I guess now it's just gonna be a search for a diesel tranny... I think this is gonna be a fun project. Just something different.. Guess we'll see how it goes as we get more involved in it.. Quazzy