4BT installations

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Calfdemon
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Re: 4BT installations

Post by Calfdemon »

Hey Dustin,

I just spent the last few hours reading your original thread from 2007. All 29 pages... lol.

Anyway, now I am VERY interested in putting a 4BT in my 72 F250 (2WD). I had been planning on buying a rebuilt 390 (I dont have the engine skills to do it myself) and dropping it in to replace my worn, but still running, 390. But with the gas milage the 4BT can pull, I am more interested in doing this since I want to make this my daily driver.

I know you said there is no "ballpark" figure, but what range are we talking price-wise to even get something like this done? As someone else mentioned early, if someone was to bring their truck to you (me), what would the turn-key cost range be to get this conversion done?

And for myself, i am looking for a conversion for my truck which will make it a daily driver, usually with an empty load. It will rarely pull anything and if it does, it is not going to be too heavy, maybe a boat or light trailer. As for what I would need to do to it, I would not be against raising it a little if need be as it sits stock height right now. But I just got some 16.5 inch rims so I would probably be putting 33" tires on it anyway. A lift is not out of the question.

Anyway, not trying to lock in any price as I know all things fluctuate, but just looking for an estimate on the price range so I know what I am looking at and what I would need to budget for. Also, I like what you have done with your installs, so I am serious when I say that I might very well be bringing my bump to you in the future. And with that in mind, how long would a normal conversion take for you? I have family in Oregon, so planning something like this in conjuction with a family visit might work. :)
-Rich

Current toys -
69 Ford F350 Crew Cab - 460 / C6 - http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh67 ... lqgskp.jpg
31 Ford Vicky - 1955 270 Red Ram Hemi / 4 speed - http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh67 ... bsibvn.jpg

Former toys -
67 Pontiac Firebird 400 convertible (sold 9/13) - http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh67 ... bird-1.jpg
67 Ford Fairlane GT - 390 / 4 speed (sold 7/15) - http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh67 ... c5hu8z.jpg
dieselcruiserhead
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Re: 4BT installations

Post by dieselcruiserhead »

Either that, or I was tired of some freeloader who was attempting to build a business off our site, PMing people with private sales and posts that claimed you were a business, while blatantly not valuing or respecting our very clear rules that keep our community alive,that are on our forum and have always been on our forum since day one. Our hosting costs are now $85 a month because of the bandwidth we serve now. Since our 2007 launch, we have just under $2900 in hosting and software upgrade costs. Where do you think that money comes from? Should I personally have to pay for that out of pocket? - while some businesses make even thousands of $$ from the customers they get from our community in a single year? Or, should I just charge a measly $100 to our 10 vendors businesses or so, who pay this fee without fuss, year after year, for this?

And which vendors are misrepresenting their product? Tennessee Diesel Conversions, the Cummins dealer? Proffitt's Cruisers, that has done over 60 4BT conversions, more than anyone else in the country?? Do you have any inkling of what it takes to successfully run a business that does diesel conversions, and what this takes, as you so quickly knock Proffitt's which is arguably the best or one of the best Land Cruiser shops in the country?

And how am I personally supporting misinformation? Should I form a censorship police of the things people write on our our forum so every time someone is interested in performance of out of a Cummins diesel, I should call them a retard? Should I police every single post on our forum? And who is advocating 40PSI, and TH400s? Do you see this in the stickies anywhere referencing the how-tos? How about this article from all the way back in 2002, do I or any one of our moderators on 4btswaps ever say to not pay close attention to gearing? Can you point to a single spot where I or anyone of any leadership on 4BTswaps.com ever says this?

It's pretty obvious -- our rules are the same as Pirate 4x4 and a million other boards, except we don't automatically enroll you in a reoccurring subscription so your paypal gets dinged annually. I noticed a banner on the front page of this site asking for donations to help keep this site banner free - have you given a cent to them to advertise your businesses and services here for free? Does this site have 16,000+ members, and all of the bandwidth they serve, yet are looking for donations?

Good luck, Average F250, in your business endeavors. I hope you don't need it.

Andre (site owner, 4BTswaps.com)
averagef250 wrote:
DieselSchlepper wrote:Nice installs, but you can go over on 4btswaps.com and find out all you need to do your own swap and more!
Andre's attitude and the widespread support of misinformation on 4BTswaps has influenced my choice to no longer recommend or support the forum. Andre's core value appears to revolve around anyone who is willing to pay the $99 vendor fee can peddle thier wares regardless of how much they blatently mis-represent them.

The internet is chock full of information- Some of it is good, much of it is opinion, exageration or just plain ignorant. There is some useful information on 4BTswaps, but you have to sort through a lot of BS to find it. From a beginner's standpoint, How do you tell the difference? How do you seperate opinion from fact?

If you wade through hundreds of build threads on 4BTswaps how many of them are actually representative of an informed, realistic, safe, decently thought-out conversion? Maybe 5% being generous. The majority of threads begin similiar to "Hey, I want a 4BT in my CJ7 and found a breadvan for $1500". The thread progresses something like "The turbo 400 is an awesome tranny behind a 4BT, just drop it right in with minimal thought to gearing, drivetrain angles or reality" "Oh no, I installed it, it shakes real bad and it's a turd for power! What do I do now???" "Just get an HE351 turbo, 4" exhaust, install a P7100, 4000GSK and some giant slobbering injectors." "Ok awesome!" "OK, I did all that and can now hit 40 PSI, I can smoke out my neighborhood and almost do 65 on the freeway at 3000 RPM and I get 17 MPG WOOHOO!" (That's a terrible end result)

In a nutshell you cannot be ignorant or broke and get a reasonable end result installing a 4B in anything. There is intelligent life on 4BTswaps, but they rarely post anything because they're outnumbered 50:1 by the ignorant, the broke and vendors attempting to sell stuff nobody needs.
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averagef250
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Re: 4BT installations

Post by averagef250 »

I do give to Kieth. This is a worthwhile, good natured member supported site.

Good luck with your website Andre.
1970 F-250 4x4 original Willock swivel frame chassis '93 5.9 Cummins/Getrag/NP205/HP60/D70
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papabug71
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Re: 4BT installations

Post by papabug71 »

:pop:
Image
Matt
1971 F-100 Sport Custom - My grandpaws truck
Been in the family since 10/3/'71 (Brand spankin' new)
Mine since 5/7/'94
302 / 3 speed / 3:25's
--Currently undergoing full frame off resto/mod--
DieselSchlepper
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Re: 4BT installations

Post by DieselSchlepper »

papabug71 wrote:Lets say I wanted to 4BT my dodge truck, turn key swap. What is a ball park guesstimate on price? 5-10K?
I bought a 4bt from a Ford Grumman p30 conversion. It came with the Ford adaptor ring and the bell housing. It cost me $2000.00. All the mounts are set up to slide right into a ford engine cradle. Cummins into Fords is one of the easiest swap there is and you can do it if your careful for about $3000.00 depending on what parts you use. Meaning transmission etc. Mine has the bell housing for the T19 which means the T18 will bolt right to it. Basically all you need is a Cummins engine of your choice and an adaptor ring from the Cummins engine to the Ford bell housing.

The Dodge is even easier because all the 6bt parts will work for a 4bt. You can do it yourself or hire someone and pay labor.
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eggman918
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Re: 4BT installations

Post by eggman918 »

My 4bt project has been on hold for awhile due to too many vet.bills,however I am in $3,800.00 and have the motor in and the M5R2 rebuilt and in.
I am saving for the turbo upgrade and inter cooler,I am extremely happy with what has happened so far.
Averagef250 has been very patient with me, thank you Dustin I can be stubborn when I get a idea good or bad .
If all goes well I will finish this winter :pray:
http://s1042.photobucket.com/albums/b429/eggman918/
build pics
Steve.
Steve

The"Filthy Beast"- '68 F-250 Crew Cab 131"W/B 4x4 4BT compounds hx30/Wh1c,5x.012" sac injectors/ZF 5/NP203-205 /3.54 44 trutrack front/60 trutrack rear on 33's. 2nd owner

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It is more important to understand what you don't know than what you do know,because then you can start to learn..???
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Calfdemon
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Re: 4BT installations

Post by Calfdemon »

And now that the sidetrack and thread hijack is over, back to our regularly scheduled programming.. Dustin, any info on a price range on how much I should put away to get this done from start to finish?
-Rich

Current toys -
69 Ford F350 Crew Cab - 460 / C6 - http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh67 ... lqgskp.jpg
31 Ford Vicky - 1955 270 Red Ram Hemi / 4 speed - http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh67 ... bsibvn.jpg

Former toys -
67 Pontiac Firebird 400 convertible (sold 9/13) - http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh67 ... bird-1.jpg
67 Ford Fairlane GT - 390 / 4 speed (sold 7/15) - http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh67 ... c5hu8z.jpg
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