Newbie here. Needs opinions and info for a swap idea

[bad5oh]

Hey everyone. New guy here from Boston. Just joined and looks like a great site. Always workin on Mustangs but have been thinking for a long time about a truck I wanted to put together so I need some info for a swap I would like to do.

I always remember my dad buying a brand new black 1986 F250 4x4. Always been my favorite looking Ford and always wanted one.

My thoughts are I would like to put together a 1986 F250 (w/ a soild front axle) or F350 reg cab 4x4. What I would like to do if possible is use a powerstroke out of a 1996 F superduty I will be picking up soon but retain the original dash in the 1986 truck. If I'm correct the 96 uses an electric speedo but the 86 has a cable. The donor truck has an auto trans. I wanted to put either a 5 or 6 speed 4x4 trans in the 86.

Has this type of swap been done before? Would I need a different computer for a manual trans? Any info is greatly appreciated

the 96 I am picking up off the original owner. The truck only has 30k original miles but unfortunately it's been used as a sander only truck its whole life. The cab is in excellent shape but the frame rotted beyond repair

[351fifty]

80-96 is same cab, everything including the interior should be pretty easy swap, welcome to the org and good luck, if you want to retain it all just use the rear axle from the superduty and the vss sensor to work the electric speedo, may have to drill a few extra holes in the firewall and floor as well, and your gonna need a manual PCM for the tranny swap as well or some custom tunes to make the PCM work correctly