6.9 idi Maverick

Ok, Its crazy but im going to do it, i know the engine weighs in at about 900lbs, i know its wide, tall heavy and torquey, and i know it's going to take a whole hell of a lot of work to graphed that monstrosity in there but im going to do it. Im typing this at 12am on march 30th 2016. i just picked up the engine and transmission and plan to start putting the car together in the summer time hopefully. the biggest hurdle ive encountered so far is what to do about suspension. Im planning on tubular weld in subframe connectors so i dont twist the car to hell with all that torque and weight, but as far as what to do with the front suspension set up i have no clue. Mustang ii front suspension seems to be the obvious solution but i dont know how big of a spring that setup will accomodate, so the other options are graphed in some sort of 80s ranger twin I beam front suspension set up or maybe a crown vic suspension set up. does anyone have any constructive thoughts on my insane plan

 

Fill in the clueless (me)......what motor are we talking about. I have no idea what a 6.9 idi is.

 

x2.. never heard of that one either. I just hope it's not a diesel! lol

 

yes it is in fact the 6.9 in direct injection international harvester diesel that weighs in at about 900lbs

 

I know it ain't April fools day yet. Seriously? And if so, why?

And to add to the questionnaire.. have you looked at the trans tunnel in these cars yet? You will be chopping the P right outta this thing to squeeze all that in this car.

 

why not? i love diesels and those things are a dime a dozen. i know im going to have to modify the hell out of the car. thats the point.i know its insane. thats also the point. so if anyone has anything constructive to say im all ears.

 

You completely misunderstood because I been chopping cars up to stuff bigger engines into them nearly all my life and that's wasn't at all the point I was eluding to. The way I see it is that nobody can help you with constructive input if we don't establish a baseline requirement for what you're after.. and also why. So, better to get all these questions out right from the get go.. because they most certainly will come at one point or another as more people see and jump into it. I'm a question asker.. always have been because that's how I learn more quickly.. but many others are not or simply don't have the time and lack of info will surely cut your likely already smaller "diesel conversion" audience down even more.

I completely understand being different but this will be a first that I've seen it done and to me it's far too much work "just because you want to do it". If I spend that amount of work on something it is not ever for mileage considerations, I typically only hunt for more power or better handling. And I'm certainly not one to shy away from "hard" or "making more work for myself" either. In the past few days I just spent nearly 15 hours knife edging and hand polishing a crankshaft that will never even be seen. And I'm still only half way done with it! Silly me all over again. lol

So far my input would be this. Yes.. you will need some massively heavy spring rates on the front of this car with all that added nose weight(much of it ahead of the front wheels plus the cooling system requirements). Obviously you're not trying to build a corner carver here but also be cautious of some of the "economy MII setups" because they are not the thickest and heaviest designs around either. I'm also guessing that you'll need to consider strengthening the front firewall/torquebox area not so much for the power(torque) but more due to the added nose weight. Some of that really depends on how you want to drive it but monte carlo/export bars would also be mandatory due to the major flex of these little unibody cars.

What year Maverick you working with here? Any pictures yet?

 

its a 1972 and its 4 door, i plan on doing everything possible to strengthen the fram, like u said uive heard those torque boxes get ripped apart by people running just big blocks with modest weight, im not going to waste my time with cheapo bolt in sub connectors im going for weld in thick ass steel tubular frame connectors, make the body as rigid as possible, and here is the absolute craziest part of it, when its all said and done i want to make it so its daily driveable and do just that. obviously its not going to corner, but i think if done right with the suspension and tires and structure i can make it streetable in most conditions. Im planning on piecing togethere a mustang 2 front end setup, i believe quality tubular pieces should be ok but honestly if this set up only allows for a limited spring height and weight i have no idea what im going to do for suspension.

 

Still think it is an April Fools prank.

If you must go diesel, have you considered VW - TDI ?

 

i considered them but i like the sound of the idi's and the power output of them is insane. i wanted to keep an american drivetrain as well and i literally picked up the engine for 400 bucks and the zf 5 speed for 350 bucks. laugh at me all you want. i know im insane and thats the point, but i assure u i am not joking. i dropped a 2.3l into the maverick earlier this fall naturally aspirated and carbureted in front of a t5 transmission. but that was way too easy to put together and not nearly as cool as a light duty truck diesel engine. i have the engine and transmission i will post pictures soon to put these jokes to bed, but in short i ahve made my decision and there is almost no way i can be talked out of doing this. unless i come across a lincoln continental or torino to drop this monstrosity into first.

 

You're nuts, I love it! I did some quick googling of the 6.9 and if you get even half of what other guys are getting out of their motors that'll be one heck of a fun car to drive.

 

being it's a 4dr. go for it...

 

If you think a stock Mav handles bad and don't corner good wait till you get that much weight in front you'll be out in the field on the first corner.

 

This motor must be pretty tall too. What will you do about hood clearance?

 

This will all depend on what i decide to do for suspension as i plan to have the maverick sit pretty tall without the engine and have the engine bring it down to a more or less stock ride height. But if the car does sit a bit taller in the front i should have ground clearance to drop the engine down lower. worst comes to worst no hood no problem. batteries in the trunk.but id like to avoid that if i can. the engine itself according to a website i found measures the 6.9 and 7.3 idi engines at 27 inches but that is without the oil pan. with it im guessing another six inches but i wont know till i can take a tape measure to it but it should be in that neighborhood.