This Ford Super Duty Pickup harbors a secret: it’s equipped with a powerful 8.1L Chevy V8 big-block engine.

      If you showed me an image of this 2017 Ford Super Duty and mentioned it had undergone an engine swap, I would never guess what’s underneath the hood. Up until now, I believed I had seen it all—like older Ford Power Stroke diesels swapped into newer models and even a 12-valve Cummins. However, this Blue Oval isn’t powered by a Ford engine, nor does it sport an oil-burning inline-six. Instead, it features a hefty 8.1-liter big-block Chevy V8 fitted with a turbo.

      This project was undertaken by Evan Thompson, who has a reputation among his friends for such endeavors. “I also built a Fox body Mustang with a twin-turbo LS and an all-wheel drive/four-wheel drive system, if you’re interested,” he chuckled. While that sounds like a lot of fun, I was eager to find out more about this unique Ford pickup with a GM engine that was discontinued 15 years ago.

      “As for the truck and the concept, I had an F-150, but it just couldn’t handle the amount of towing I needed,” Thompson explained. “So, naturally, I started searching for F-250s.”

      Living in Michigan, right in the Rust Belt, he sought a Super Duty from 2017 or later since these models have aluminum bodies. Thompson discovered this particular truck listed by a local dealer on Facebook Marketplace, missing both transmission and transfer case, and he offered $6,500, which they accepted. Before long, he was towing the extended cab home.

      “I typically do the overdone LS swaps in everything. I own four LS boosted vehicles aside from this truck,” Thompson said. “But I wanted to try something different this time. Everyone talks about the torque the 8.1s produce, and at 496 cubic inches, I thought it would be exciting to test it out.”

      Honestly, I can’t think of a better reason.

      Fortunately, one of Thompson’s friends was dismantling a truck that had an 8.1-liter Vortec engine. He purchased it and began looking into what he would need to complete the swap. Although it bears more resemblance to older big-blocks, it operates with the same ECU as current LS engines and utilizes a similarly designed wiring harness. This familiarity meant that Thompson was already well-acquainted with most of what was necessary for the installation.

      Armed with knowledge about GM V8s and forced induction, Thompson opted to add a turbo. He chose a billet VS Racing dual ball-bearing 7875 turbo, which he mounted using a custom-built log-style manifold. It operates with between seven and eight psi of boost, yielding approximately 500 horsepower and 700 lb-ft of torque on pump gas.

      “I constructed it as a tow rig, so torque was my primary objective,” Thompson stated. “I aimed to achieve diesel-like performance numbers while retaining the reliability and simplicity of a gas engine.”

      He also kept the transmission straightforward by selecting a 4L80E instead of an Allison. While many 8.1-liter trucks were factory-equipped with an Allison, others like the Avalanche and Suburban had the four-speed automatic, making the transmission tuning quite manageable. Thompson adjusted the settings a bit with HP Tuners, and just like that, it was ready to go. Considering his expertise in rebuilding these transmissions, he believed it would be the better and more economical option.

      The result is a robust workhorse with substantial, dependable power and virtually no compromises. It even features functional air conditioning with "most" of the dashboard operating correctly, except for the tachometer. Not too shabby for a truck that likely cost less to build than acquiring a used 6.7-liter Power Stroke.

      Certainly, it required some effort, but so do many worthwhile things in life. Now, Thompson has an impressive rig to show for his work.

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