Platinum 7.3L: A 1999 in 2016 Clothing

When you’re addicted to modifying vehicles, you will oftentimes do things others would look at as irrational or a waste of time and money. Some would say (not us, that’s for sure) that taking a 1999 pick-up and transforming it into a 2016 would be a great example of that for “some people.” After all, wouldn’t it just make sense to spend just a few more bucks and get a new truck?

Robbie Bryant is definitely addicted to modifying, and that’s exactly what he did with his tired 1999 Ford F350—he made it new again. And he did so in such an epic way that it’s making us rethink our project-vehicle goals.

Robbie Bryant is the owner of KEG Media. At KEG, Robbie spends his days creating renderings for the truck industry’s best builders. Not only does he do renderings, but he also builds a few trucks himself. After years of building everyone else’s trucks, it was well past the time to build his own truck. Having had the 7.3L for (Lorem Ipsum) trouble-free years, Robbie decided that he liked his old truck and wasn’t willing to see it go just yet. So the process of making it new again began.

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2015 Conversion

The new front end was sourced from a 2015 F450, and all the work of making it fit was done by Custom Motor Concepts in Lowell, Ark. While the cab on the 1999 is extremely similar to the one used on the 2015, there was still a large amount of fabrication that needed to be done to get everything to fit just right. Out back, a bed from a 2015 F350 was sourced and swapped onto the 1999 with minimal headaches. After (lorem ipsum) months at Custom Motor Concepts, the conversion was finally finished, and the truck was sent to Wilson’s Auto Body in Alma, Ark., for a fresh coat of bright white paint.

Custom headlights were painted flat black, treated to a set of projectors and LED blinkers.

Helping light up the road ahead are a set of 40-inch Rigid Industries LED bars, as well as dual D2 LED fogs also from Rigid.

With a new coat of paint laid down, the bumpers were customized with lights from Rigid Industries, and cab lights, tail lights and a third brake light from Go Recon were also added. For headlights, of course Robbie wouldn’t be happy with stock, so the factory 2015 units were heavily modified by Gold Standard Lighting to both look good and improve visibility on the road at night.

The interior was kept clean and simple. A stainless dash cluster overlay, as well as seat covers from Roadwire, help class it up a bit. For engine monitoring, the nod was given to an Insight CTS2 from Edge Products.

Rolling stock is a set of American Force Titan Dually wheels that have been custom powder-coated with a Prismatic Powders translucent red over a brushed-metal finish.

A Regulated Return fuel system from Driven Diesel makes sure the injectors have all the fuel they need on tap.

Tucked under the cowl is an Aurora 4000 turbo from ATS Diesel.

Power Stroke

Since the Ford would be used mainly as a tow rig for the remainder of its years, the engine was treated to a whole slew of smart but power-producing mods, all done by Flyin Diesel Performance in Kerrville, Texas. The folks at Flyin Diesel completely rebuilt the 7.3L. Everything in the short block was kept stock, except for a set of ARP head studs for reliability and drivability reasons.

The 7.3L under the hood was rebuilt by Flyin Diesel Performance in Kerrville, Texas.

The bed got a fresh coat of Rhino Liner, as well as a B&W Goosneck Hitch and Backbone Truck Rack.

The Power Stroke was then given a set of 230/100 injectors from Holder’s Diesel, a FASS fuel system and a Driven Diesel Regulated Return system to handle all fueling needs. To get enough air crammed into the engine to help burn the added fuel, an Aurora 4000 turbo kit was installed from ATS Diesel. Gearhead Automotive handled tuning the new beast, and tunes can be swapped out on the fly via a six-position Hydra Chip. Flyin Diesel estimates power output to be somewhere around the 575-hp range at the crank. From the amount of fuel they put in it, we’re sure that’s a somewhat conservative estimate.

Coincidence?

Since the 2017 Ford Super Duty will be getting a complete redesign, and will no longer be using the cab that graced the Super Duty since 1999, it’s pretty cool that after all the work was done, Robbie actually has a first-year Super Duty (a 1999), adorned in the final year’s body panels. Robbie now has a bit of the first generation and the last generation, all in one truck. Whether he set out to do this purposely, we’re not sure. But it’s got to be a good feeling to know you’ve got the newest-looking, oldest Super Duty out there. And on top of that, one we’d love to drive every day. DW

The Truck That Almost Wasn’t

We had actually planned on shooting Robbie’s truck back in February, but a week before the photo shoot, the truck was stolen while Robbie and his family were watching Supercross in Arlington, Texas. Luckily, Robbie has a very large social-media following and a ton of friends in the industry. After making a post on Facebook, the truck was located within 10 hours. Robbie says, “Some other truck guys on social media [whom Robbie had never met before] saw the truck and videoed the thieves. They then contacted me and the police.” The thieves were caught, but not before causing $9,000 in damages to Robbie’s newly finished truck. After a couple months of work, the truck was fixed and the photo shoot was rescheduled.

[divider]Specifications:[/divider]

“KEG Hauler”

1999 F350
Crew Cab/Long Bed/Dually/2WD/MT
172,000 Miles

2015 Conversion by Custom Motor Concepts:
2014 F450 Entire Front Clip Used
2015 Dually Bed, Taillights and Rear Bumper
2015 F350 Power Mirrors
Paint by Wilson’s Auto Body
Standox Paint Ford Bright White

Lighting:
Gold Standard Headlights
Morimoto Projectors from The Retrofit Source
LED Blinkers from LED Concepts
2 Rigid Industries 40-inch RDS Midnight Series LED Bars in Bumper
2 Rigid Industries D2 Midnight Series Fog Lights
Recon Smoked Cab Lights, Smoked 3^rd Brake Light and Smoked Taillights

Interior:
Roadwire Leather Interiors Seats

Performance:
7.3L Power Stroke – 575 HP (crank)
Built by Flyin Diesel Performance
ATS Diesel Aurora 4000 Turbo Kit
Holders Diesel 230/100 Hybrid Injectors
FASS 125-GPH Fuel Pump
Driven Diesel Regulated Return Fuel System
ARP Head Studs
5-Inch Flo Pro Exhaust
S&B Intake
Edge Products Insight CTS2
Gearhead Tuning and Hydra Chip
Valair Dual Disk Clutch

Wheel and Tire:
26-inch American Force Titan Dually Wheels
315/40R26 Carbon Series Tires

Misc:
N-Fab Harley Bars (under cab)
Backbone Truck Racks V-Back w/ Skull Screen
Rhino Liner Bed Coating
B&W Gooseneck Hitch
HornBlasters Train Horn Kit
VIAIR Compressors

[divider]Sources:[/divider]

KEG Media
KEG-Media.com

Custom Motor Concepts
CustomMotorConcepts.com

Flyin Diesel Performance
FlyinDiesel.com

Wilson’s Auto Body
479.474.443