The Internet has been a boon to like-minded people. People with similar interests can share in real time, whether they live in Poquoson, Virginia, or Punjab, India. Sometimes, there’s enough interest in a particular Internet group to spark a face-to-face event… and so it has been for the vibrant group in the 6.9L and 7.3L IDI section of the OilBurners.net forum. OilBurners covers a wide range of diesel interests but the Ford/IH IDI section is second to none for friendliness, helpfulness and fanatical devotion to the Ford/IH 6.9 and 7.3L diesels.
For 11 years now, this group has held a get-together in some part of the country. Mel Agne, the owner of an ’83 F-250HD diesel he bought new, has been the driving force in this group of IDI Gearheads and has attended most, if not all, of the rallies. The love of these rigs must be in the genes, as you will see, because the whole family drives IDI-powered trucks.
This year’s event was put on by Ron Butts, a Michigander who grew up with an IDI diesel and would probably like to be able to say he was conceived in one. His father still owns the inspiration, an ’86 F-250, and Ron now has a collection of them. Some 80 people and 32 trucks attended the week-long event at the Indian Creek Camp and Conference Center near Tecumseh, Michigan. People came from as far away as Canada and California to attend the annual get-together.
Events included a convoy to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, a tour of the Rouge River
Ford truck plant, a Dyno Day and Timing Clinic at Pure Tuning in Toledo, Ohio, and a Show & Shine and swap meet that included firefighting demonstrations from the Ridgeway (Michigan) Township Volunteer Fire Department.
Other activities included a Fourth of July fireworks display, a raffle to benefit the Ridgeway VFD in which a 4-inch IDI performance exhaust, Smittybilt ground anchor, and many other donated products were raffled. A total of $865 was raised for the VFD. Other side trips include a convoy to Cabelas in nearby Dundee and several trips out to eat. Over the course of the event, several impromptu tech demonstrations occurred and valuable information exchanged relating to the care and feeding of the Ford IDI truck.
If you’re a fan of the ’83-94 IDI
Ford diesels, visit the OilBurner.net site for information on future events.
Sources:
Indian Creek Camp and Conference Center
www.indiancreekcamping.com
517-423-5659
OilBurners IDI Group
www.oilburners.net
Pure Tuning
www.pure-tuning.com
419-474-7992
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| The Bullnose end of the Show & Shine display. The trucks in the IDI
era are divided into three categories: ’83-’86 Bullnose, ’87-’91
Bricknose and ’92-’94 OBS (old body style), which also serves the Power
Stroke truck through ’96. The Bullnose body style started in ’80 but the
diesel wasn’t introduced until 1983. The IDI engine lasted partway into
the ’94 model year when it was replaced by the Power Stroke. |
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| The Bricknose/OBS side of the Show & Shine lineup. |
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| The surprise winner of the Dyno Day horsepower competition was John
Geese, whose ’91 Crewcab 7.3L IDI punched out a whopping 217 hp at
around 3,600 rpm and a 372 ft-lb of peak torque. His truck was a
surprise because it didn’t really have a lot done to it compared to the
other trucks in the lineup. “Goose,” as he’s known on the board, has a
wastegated ATS turbo with a 3-inch exhaust, the better BB injectors but a
“mystery” DB-2 pump. This pump was built by a well-known pump builder
for his own truck and Goose bought it used. He really doesn’t know many
of its stats, so that could be the game changer. |
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Very close to Sutton was Corey Zakeosian, whose ’94 “Truxarossa”
dually conversion made 206 hp and 444 ft-lbs. Corey’s ’94 was originally
a turbo IDI but at some point in its life, the Ford system was removed
and a Banks wastegated Sidewinder system was installed. Corey has also
installed a Moose pump and BB injectors. The truck also has a custom
dual exhaust system.
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Ron Butt’s ’90 F-350 Crew Cab ran with the big dogs in the group and
made 205 hp and 392 ft-lb of torque. It mounts an ATS non-wastegated
turbo, Moose pump, BB injectors and a custom 4-inch exhaust system.
|
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The Ridgeway Township Fire Department showed up with several trucks,
did some demos and provided judging services for the Show & Shine.
They left $865 richer after the raffle. Ron Butts, the organizer of this
year’s events, thanks Chief Jim Frayer and some of the firefighters.
|
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| Ron Butts and Darrin Tosh award the grand raffle prize of a 4-Inch
Dynomax performance exhaust to Kelvin Owyang. Kelvin also won the
Farthest Driven Award, having come all the way from Santa Clara,
California, to attend the event. |
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| If your last name is Agne, IDIs are in the blood. The IDI “patriarch”
is Mel on the left, who bought the first one in the family in 1983 and
called it “The Moose.” Suzi Agne (we’re sure you can pick her out) has a
’93 Crew Cab Dually called “Lady Moose.” Matthias Agne’s black ’94
F-150 Stepside is a conversion with a NA 6.9L and is called “Nite
Moose.” Graham Agne’s ’86 F-250 SuperCab is called “Iron Moose” because
it’s being done up in an Iron Man theme. |
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Matthias Agne’s diesel-converted F-150 was built for fuel economy.
The lightweight Flareside truck mounts 3.08 gears and had an overdrive
trans in front of an ’84 naturally aspirated 6.9L that has 300,000 miles
on it. It regularly achieves mid 20s fuel economy and Matthias reports
it once achieved a whopping 34.5 mpg.
|
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| Corey Zakeosian took his ’86 F-250 in an unusual direction by turning
it into a multi-purpose off-roader. The 6.9L diesel is mostly stock and
still pounds the original NP-235 four-speed behind it, but from there,
the truck pretty much falls off the map. The wheelbase has been
shortened to 115 inches and a full cage installed. The alterations to
the bodywork are obvious and the truck mounts 14x41-17 Iroks. The Dana
60 high pinion front and Sterling rear axle have been welded up, and
Corey built a custom 4-link suspension. |
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| When J.P. appeared at the rally with this, heads spun like a movie
star had showed up. Not many people have seen the Centurion conversions.
Sometimes known as the “four-door Bronco” they were converted F-150 or
F-350 crewcabs built by Centurion Vehicles, Inc. in Wisconsin. For the
F-350 version, a SRW crewcab was married to a Bronco tail section. This
entailed shortening the wheelbase to 140 inches and modifying the
chassis. Mostly Ford parts were used for the conversion and it was
Ford-approved. Various trim levels were available and you ordered the
truck through a Ford dealer. They could be ordered with any powertrain
available in the base chassis. They were built from ’89 through the end
of the Bronco’s run in ’96. An unknown number were built, but number in
the several thousands. |
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| A swap meet was part of the event and among the new and used gear
available were Mel Agne’s Moose, Baby Moose pumps and Moose Mister
injectors. Years of R&D and collaboration with a well-respected pump
shop led to the creation of the Moose pump, which is designed for
well-built engines with turbos and intercoolers. It can supply 90ccs of
fuel vs. the stock 50-60. The Baby Moose is for NA engines or mild turbo
engines where only a little more fuel is needed and is more an
optimized… very precisely optimized pump. The Misters are modified
injectors with an increased flow rate but, unlike some of the
“performance” injectors out there, retain a perfect conical pattern. |
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| You can’t get away from the Cummins phenomenon even at an IDI rally…
but that the owner was taken into the woods for an attitude adjustment
just shows how all-inclusive the group is. Andy Blauser’s ’92 crewcab
dually has been converted to a ’96 12-valve P-pump engine with an NV4500
behind it. |
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| Ever see a “Truxarossa”? They made a minitruck conversion in
the ‘90s and were patterned after the Ferrari Testarossa. You either
like ’em or you don’t, but to our eyes, the Testarossa effect is not a
bad fit on Corey Zakeosian’s ’94 SuperCab dually. |
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| Crewcab
dually IDIs were much in vogue at the rally, as they are generally, but
“back in the day,” they were a lot less common. The survivors today are
highly prized. Ron Butt’s ’90 F350 crewcab is the family hauler…
fifth-wheel, kids, pets (large and small) as well as IDI parts and whole
trucks as necessary. |
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| Bone stock and loving it. Frank and Marsha Butts bought this
’86 F250 SuperCab new in ’86. He used it for a time in his veterinary
business and as a family truck and hauler. It’s still in the family and
still doing more or less the same thing. It’s only showing 75,000
original miles. It’s a top-of-the-line XLT Lariat 4x2 with the C6, and
3.55:1 gears. |
By Jim Allen
Photography by Jim Allen & Darrin Tosh
Source:
Diesel World Magazine
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