Bye Bye Exhaust
The old stock 3.5-inch rusty-looking exhaust came out quite easily. While it was sill on the lift Maldonado, who has been with Powerlabs Diesel for over four years, started installing the new starter from Mean Green. Beside the fact it was filthy and looked worn out, I was surprised at the size difference between the two starters. The new one is a beefy version of the stock one, but it did cause some initial concern when it didn't appear to fit in the limited space that the old one came out of. But in the end, we got it in and I'm glad we now have a manly starter on Big Blue. When I turn the key, it sounds like a starter should.
The new exhaust from aFe Power went on without a single problem. It's the aFe Turbo Back version that is just for 7.3L trucks.
"This exhaust went on easily, normally we have to fight the downpipe a little on most installs, but not on this one," said Johnson. "The install was simple, we didn't have a single issue to deal with."
Together Maldonado and Johnson were able to quickly install the new alternator, starter, intake and exhaust, leaving us a little extra time to install the performance chip from Wide Open Performance before the day was over.
Hooking up with WOP was an easy call because these guys really know their stuff, especially when it comes to Ford trucks.
"A stock motor with our custom chip, intake and exhaust should make 290 to 320hp, depending on the condition of the stock high pressure oil pump and whether or not the fuel pressure holds steady at wide open throttle," says Jacob White at Wide Open Performance.