Alright fellas. This is my fourth diesel, second powerstroke, first automatic diesel. I'm a FIRM believer in straight drive diesels (for my own reasons) but I happen to run across a crazy deal on my new OBS, so even though it's an automatic I couldn't resist.

It's a '97 extended cab, long bed, automatic 7.3. It's got a 6" suspension lift and 33" tires right now, and I plan to do the following

Stage 1 or II sticks
TW custom tunes
5" exhaust or some stacks (undecided)
Something with the auto trans.. prolly VB and TC? (input on brands and vendors...)
6637 filter
??

I'm not gonna go absolutely nutz, just a few things to really wake the truck up for pulling power and economy. What do you guys think of that list? Since this is my first OBS and I've been outta PSD's for a while now, I"m a touch rusty.

I know these trucks come with weaker hpops; but considering my mods, I think think thats a big deal?

I know these trucks have.... wait... I cant remember the name. But they have the noiser but more powerful injectors as opposed to the NBS, but I suppose that doesn't matter since I'm upgrading them anyways.

And thats about all I know. All input and advice is appreciated!

Matt

 

First off, Glad to have you here with your new powerstroke..

Is your truck a california truck or 49 state truck? If it's a cali truck, it will have split shot injectors instead of single shots. Also, they do have 15* HPOP's but you could just swap in a SD 17* if you wanted...

As far as your mod list... Exhaust, intake and gauges first... Then you need to make the decision about stage 1 and 2 injectors... You can do stage 1's and tunes and the things I've already said and be fine... If you go 2's, you will want to be looking at turbo, rebuilt trans, HPOP, Electric fuel, Intercooler.

It really depends on your power goals and what you use the truck for..

 

Thanks!

I'm not sure if it's a cali truck; i'm gonna wager not though. Would a SD 17* be worthwhile?

I know about gauges and the intake/exhaust first. Will my stock trans (it was rebuilt a few thousand ago.. have receipts) hold to i/e/tuner/sticks stock??? Because I'm under the assumption that if I use a tuner I'm gonna wanna do a better VB and TC.

Is the stock IC not sufficient on these?

 

There is no intercooler on that truck.. Unless it was added by somebody. A 17* HPOP is definitely better than a 15*. Putting a SD pump in would be the cheapest route but you could also do the adrenaline or SRP1, thats your choice.

Stock rebuilt trans will hate you if you drive pedal to the floor with bigger injectors, doing a valve body and torque converter will certainly help.

It depends on how you drive, what injectors you go with and what condition that trans is in... Mine has a factory rebuild 50k ago and it holds my 1's and chip just fine...Knock on wood. I was scared to go with 2's because I figured that would trash my trans plus, I wasn't ready to do intercooler, HPOP, e-fuel, and turbo.

 

I'm a fan of adrenaline. But I guess I should be upfront, I dont actually "have" the truck yet.. the guy owns a landscaping company and he's selling it to me as soon as we stop getting snow. But I thought that starting in the early 90's all 7.3's were IC'd... thats a little lame that the truck isn't IC'd. Boo.

Where can I get a good (but cheap as possible) vb and tc from? I can handle labor myself.


If I do stage II sticks do I NEED IC, hpop, efuel and a bigger turbo??

 

No. The OBS trucks didn't have intercoolers, but they can easily be retrofitted to our trucks...

Call up RacerX, they are a sponsor on this site and would certainly be able to help you with your trans needs.

I would say with Stage 2 injectors, you should have the supporting mods, you will have oil problems without an HPOP, your stock turbo will hate you, your trans will hate you and you will get hot without an intercooler... IMO, if you're thinking stage 2, think about some small hybrids... They use less oil and can be detuned for whatever you want and then as you build your truck up, you can get the chip reburned and tuned for the new mods...

 

Thanks for the advice; I'll PM racerx. Retrofitting IC's seems to be MUCH more work than I'm trying to do right now.. in fact, the hpop's are a pain in the *** too. Turbo I can handle, though with the placement on these 7.3's thats not exactly fun either .

So basically this wasn't really going to be a project truck, per se'... it was going to be my lightly modded backup-truck or the truck I drive for hunting/fishing/offroading/anything else.

So it looks like I might be sticking with just intake/exhaust/trans/tuner for right now. Bummer.


EDIT: Also, my late '99 6spd with intake/exhaust/tuner hauled some serious *** (enough for my liking anyhow..)... how will a similar OBS do stacked up against my late '99?

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Actually I made a mistake.. I might go with stage one sticks assuming I dont need any extra bs to run them...

 

Your Superduty will be very similar to stage 1 injectors and chip in an OBS...

Your SD had 140cc split shots. Stage 1's are 160cc...

If your looking for a mild build...Intake, exhaust, gauges, stage 1's, chip and trans mods if needed...

 

So what your sayin' is my OBS with stage I's, tuner, intake, and exhaust will be similar to my SD w/ just intake/exhaust/tuner?

And are you saying that w/ just these mods my trans wont need a built tc and vb?

Do these EGT's hit these trucks hard, being they aren't intercooled?

 

Here is what I'm saying from my experience. I have stage 1's and a chip and no intercooler and my EGT's are fine...

160cc/stock nozzle's (Stage 1) will be similar to the 140cc split shots in your old SD when chipped.

The tranny issue depends on the current condition of the transmission and how you drive. Mine is a stock rebuilt tranny that was rebuilt about 50k ago... It's holding (knock on wood)