Just how dumb would it be to take the PowerStroke diesel out of my 250 and plug it into a readily available and cheap-ish 96-down reg cab/short box F150?
Pretty much it is all just unbolting and bolting in stuff, reason for staying with the OBS body....
extra points for using a flareside box.
why?
i mean - it sounds like something i would do, but is the 250 rotting out around the engine? do you not need the carrying capacity of the 3/4 ton?
In reply to patgizz:
It doesn't look it, but it's a MI truck. I need to fix a crumpled door and rocker on the drivers side, but there is rust in under the weatherstrip at the pinch weld. It needs a B-pillar. The frame needs to be stripped down without any body or drivetrain on/in it to be fixed. So I am looking at an $800 cab swap plus paint or get another truck for the same $.
And no, I really don't need the 10k towing capacity. The wife's Av will do 6k plus no problem. No fifth wheels around in the driveway.
Only if you have an 8 inch chrome stack sticking out of the bed....
Do it, since you're bored anyway. You could swap the 250s spring over if you wanted. As a matter of fact you may need to on the front if the diesel is way heavier than what's in it now.
The 10th generation trucks (which your '97 F-250 is) have 2 completely different lines. The SD trucks are on a different frame, and share almost no parts with the medium duty trucks (the F-150). The diesel didn't come in the F-150, so I'm not sure what that means for things like dash gauges (glow plug indicator, tach), lift pumps, fuel tank, intercooler mounting, etc. Pretty sure the suspension won't swap over.
I'm not sure about the ninth gen '96.
If you've got time and a welder, then... 
In reply to SVreX:
97 was the last year for the pre-SD, mine is a heavy duty not that junk 7lug light duty crap, unless you really had the F450 SD. So, it is very much the same as previous years, prior to 96, F-series. That is why I would do the OBS truck over one of those overglorified, cushy, junkass limo F150's from 97-current. Just an FYI, the cab swap I mentioned earlier, can be a F150 cab, provided you swap in all the interior harnesses, cluster and surround.
Suspension wasn't meant to be carried over. It is only a 500# gain in front end weight, if I keep it as is. Lift pump is engine mounted, although using the gasser fuel system is an impovement. A fuel tank is a fuel tank, only thing to change is the filler neck to accept big rig pump nozzles.
It can and has been done multiple times.
There are several build threads of Broncos [essentially an F150 from the doors-forward] with PSDs on FullSizeBronco.com, and quite a few go into great detail on engine mounting and getting the front suspension to hold the weight.
I'm also with Gearheadotaku, bonus points for the Flareside box.
7.3 or 6.0?
I approve no matter!
It would be a 7.3/auto/2wd.
Unless I could magically just trip over a 4bt in my yard. Then I would put a 4L80 behind that......
Ranger50 wrote: In reply to SVreX: 97 was the last year for the pre-SD, mine is a heavy duty not that junk 7lug light duty crap, unless you really had the F450 SD. So, it is very much the same as previous years, prior to 96, F-series. That is why I would do the OBS truck over one of those overglorified, cushy, junkass limo F150's from 97-current. Just an FYI, the cab swap I mentioned earlier, can be a F150 cab, provided you swap in all the interior harnesses, cluster and surround. Suspension wasn't meant to be carried over. It is only a 500# gain in front end weight, if I keep it as is. Lift pump is engine mounted, although using the gasser fuel system is an impovement. A fuel tank is a fuel tank, only thing to change is the filler neck to accept big rig pump nozzles.
Very good. Carry on! 
Yes, you should absolutely do it! Wait, gimme a minute to read the thread.... Oh, okay. Yes, you should absolutely do it!
Are the frames the same? One reason my truck was swapped from a V10 is because the V10 Rams used the same frame as the Cummins versions. The other gas engine trucks had different frames, even otherwise similar 2500 & 3500 models.
(The things you learn after buying a frankenstien truck...)
Matching frames would certainly make it easier. Having to section the body would suck....and not just a little.
Dooo eeeeet.
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