Ok so I'm young but will be graduation college next may and going to work in line service or in other words as a lineman. While I'm young I would like to obtain my dream truck. If I gave y'all some specifics of things I want I would really like y'all to price it for me. I found a 2001 ford f250 powerstroke 4 door short bed for 11,000. I want the black mamba 7.3 crate engine found it for 6,000. Other then that I would like an 05 grille conversion 9" of lift 40" toyo open country mud terrains 20" wheels. Haven't decide which ones. Banks aftermarket turbo waste gate exhaust. You know the basics in a BA powerstroke. Any suggestions or advice I would welcome. I'd like to keep it below $25,000 if I can and if I reach that I might have to wait a while before continuing with more stiff

 

One other question. Does the black mamba come with a better turbo and other stuff then what banks has or others. I'd like some specs on it and everything please. If y'all have the time

 

just by doing a little google searching you can find that those black mamba motors are nothing but a studded rebuilt motor, and they don't make close to 400hp. Banks products are generally made fun of in the real diesel community.

 

find a 2000 or older powerstroke they have forged rods. forged rod 7.3 are stronger and good for higher horse power. 2001 to 2003 7.3s had powder metal rods that are good to about 400 horse power. stay away from any thing banks go with a custom tuned flip chip like beans diesel performance, power hungry performance,gearhead tunes just to name a few. the 7.3 is not the fastest ford diesel but it is the most reliable.

 

Ok thanks. See I don't know **** about diesels as far as modifying them. I know about forged rods and stuff but not how to build it up after words. I'm not really concerned about hp I just want an *** load of torque. Any other ideas

 

If your looking for good torque I'd put garret turbo in it that will give you a good sound when spooling and more boost but if your looking for much cheaper route I'd change the ppe increase valve one the stock turbo and that alone should give you 5-8 more pounds of boost

 

Ok I may be stupid but I would like to know what exactly the. PPE valve do

 

Forget the black mamba motor. Like has been said get a a forged rod engine. 99-00. They come stock with a Garret turbo. You can drop in a Garret GTP38R for more horsepower and response but I would go with a T22 turbo and mount as they are rebuildable and better for long term power building. Stay away from the Banks intake, and everything else Banks. Look up napa 6637 filter for powerstroke, best bang for your buck and great filtering.
You need gauges asap so you know the boost, egt, trans temp, fuel pressure etc. Go with PHP, Beans, swamps for tuning. Stay away from DP tuner.
If you get an auto trans, custom tunes will help it last a little longer, a John woods or similar valve body as well as a cooler off a 6.0 will really extend the trans life.

Diesels are awesome because you can build so much power fairly easy with them. The problem is that it is an expensive hobby, you can go as fast as your wallet will let you.

My 99 7.3 would blow the doors off my 05 screw...but a gasser is cheaper to maintain lol

 

I'm off of the black mamba. I just saw big numbers and relative price so I wanted it but I know they aren't that good. Would it be better to find a 99-00 with the forged rods that's over 200k or a newer one and have aftermarket forged rods. I feel like I'm giving up that 25,000 budget. I just want to build it till its right and having the block in good condition is very important to me so I found a rebuild kit for not that much. And another thing. I see 7.3 with 05 grilles all the time. How do you do it. Is it just a bunch of screws on the hood or what how does it work. Also where can I get a 05 grille

 

The block you go with really matters with how much power you plan on making, a well cared for forged rod engine will run past 200k easy with mods on it. If you plan on going over 500hp I would put aftermarket rods into a block that you know is good. I have a guy dropping stock forged rods into his 02 pmr motor so he should be reliable up to 500hp. It really depends on how you will be driving it, if you have it on the track every weekend trying to break numbers, eventually you are going to break something, I don't care what engine internals you have.
Id start out with a clean 7.3, if you can't find a nice forged rod, go with the newer engine and drop forged rods in it. While its out, stud it for extra protection then go from there. For what it sounds like you will be doing that will be very reliable for you.

For the 05 front end you have a couple options. The 05 grill is taller than the older grills, it bolts to the top of the core support just like the old one but it sits too high on the bumper. You can either cut about an inch off the bottom to make it fit( have done seen this done plenty of times) or you can buy a custom cut grill from mkm customs that will bolt right up and you can hardly tell a difference.
What I would do is a full 05 conversion. Get your parts from ebay, craiglist, certifit, etc. Get the 05 grill, headlights, core support, front bumper, bumper pad and bumper mounts and everything bolts right up and it really changes your truck up. I like doing it that way because the 05 bumper looks better and with the other parts really makes your truck look newer. Go with the black harley davidson headlights and the truck will really stand out.

Of course you can always install the 05 headlights seperate too, just have to trim the core support to make them fit