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Oh, gotcha. She definitely smells different, and actually you notice a difference in the exhaust smells when running Dino oil vs full synthetic (I think I just admitted to huffing my diesel exhaust a little too much lol). When I broke in the long block that’s now in the car, I broke it in on...

thank you much! It’s been a bunch of test fit and repeat, but it’s still a blast. It’s actually more fun than many of the custom crawlers that I’ve built with buddies because this one presents unique challenges that fit within an envelope that is the car itself. Tube chassis you just add steel...

And then finally, finally, here's the video of the very first start I put in the car. My little girl hadn't heard that engine run in over a year, so it was pretty special that she got to hear it run again, and that the old truck that she had ridden in since birth would be resurrected in the car...

Finally it came time to mount everything up, wire it, and plumb it. I only plumbed a coolant loop from the inlet and outlet of the water pump, purely because I haven't purchased my radiator for the car yet. There were a few other odds and ends things that needed to be taken care of before I put...

Now came the fun part of figuring out how to stuff all of the 7.3 electronics and wiring into the engine bay of the Monaco. More arts and crafts for a couple of mounting brackets, and I ended up building a bridge to mount the IDM to that would span over the bulkhead electrical connections to the...

Next came the very similar process of creating a new transmission tunnel to wrap around the E4OD. Once again, more arts and crafts (my mom would be so proud!), and then turning those arts and crafts into steel with a cutoff wheel, some body hammers and some metal putty. After that I started...

From there came the chore of actually stuffing the subframe with engine back into the car. There was a lot of cutting involved, and more arts and crafts, but effectively what happened was I recessed the firewall and cowl to accommodate the engine. Theoretically I could've moved the engine...

Finally getting around to posting pictures of my fab pics. Bear with me, it'll likely be several posts because there was a decent amount that happened within the months between my previous post/announcement and when I finally put a start in it in my previous video. So as is a common theme with...

lol thank you much. It's been a blast creating it. the excruciating part of it all is how slow it's going.

Many thanks! She's a labor of love, that's for sure. Part of the fun of being a machinist and fabricator prior to being an engineer is that the fab itch never goes away. And since I can't scratch that itch at work, what better way to do so than to build a family heirloom. This is true, weight...

Lol the short answer is sort of. Back when I had it built, I basically custom selected the strongest components within the first and second gens to create a more robust engine that could hold big power if I wanted it. The block is actually a 2000 block, but it’s got 97 forged internals, o-ringed...

Thank you much! Lucy ran like a top, and even the tow truck driver was surprised that she started in 10F weather when I went to get her off the rolldeck and into the driveway. That'll actually be one of the really cool parts about the car is that I'll have 7.3 reliability and strength in an old...

Hello All, it's been a while since I posted, but wanted to let y'all know that I'm still alive, and I've still been working on the car. The long and short of why it's been so long since I've posted is because after my last posts, opposing counsel (my divorce) tried to claim that the work I was...

Rock 'n roll man, I'm digging the build!

Finally got the engine and transmission set into the car, and oh man, it’s a tight fit. It’s actually pretty crazy how well everything actually does fit into the car, as well as how well a lot of my previous fab actually adapts to the engine and trans. Unfortunately I am going to have to cut out...

The pictures actually make her look a little cleaner than she was on the body. She was fairly straight on the driver's side (with the exception of the cancer in the cab corners and rear fender), but the passenger side was crinkled up in a few spots to where it couldn't be straightened without...

Looking good! I got Lucy loaded up over the weekend. The metal recycler here that I use was closed by the time I got her loaded up, so I'll scrap her at some point in the week. My poor little girl cried when we got home and she saw the old girl on the trailer. Makes me pretty sad honestly. The...

Yuck, been there plenty of times before. Glad it's coming back together though! This was what I encountered a few weeks back on my '99 7.3. Had a cylinder drop out on the way to work, and had to drive it home shuddering the whole way. Buzz tested it at our shop at work, all buzzed good. Not...

Working on one of my turbines at work right now. We had a vibration event that led to some blade damage about a week or so ago. It's only a little guy at 15,000 hp, but it's a screamer at 5,100 rpm (for a steam turbine at least). Getting ready to ship the rotor off to have it inspected, and...

No worries at all, thank you tons for the sentiment. I've had some fantastic Spirit-led people that've been walking through this with me and discipling me through the entire ordeal. That was actually the first realization in this was that I've always believed, and I've been redeemed for many...