Apocalypse-Proof Transmission
In regard to your Doomsday Diesel (Jan. ’12) ’91 Suburban, the project has one Achilles Heel that hasn’t been taken into account. There’s an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) that generally occurs when someone detonates a megaton-class thermonuclear device (atomic bomb) in the atmosphere. The resultant inductive pulse will fry any semiconductor (read: transistor) circuitry that isn’t shielded (usually by being stored inside a faraday cage with an earth ground).

Back in 2007, we set out to prove that the lowly VE-pumped ’89 to ’93 5.9L Cummins Dodges could indeed be made into rocket ships capable of mucho power, performance, and fuel economy. Four years later, we’re done with the project, and after boosting our fuel economy by 8 mpg and our horsepower by 802 (up to 972 hp at the rear wheels), we feel we’ve done a good job at proving early Dodges do indeed have awesome potential. Read on as we take you through the highlights of Project Rust Bucket, our ’89 Dodge D250.

’71 Chevy C10

With stormy weather comes wet, muddy boots that track water inside our trucks, especially the driver’s side. Getting in and out with wet boots is not the only issue causing rust in our classic trucks but rather a drainage problem. If you look next to your wiper blades you will see some elongated holes that are better known as the cowl section. The cowl job is to let fresh air into the cab to help cool the occupants in the summer months.

Running across a Willys usually puts us in a nostalgic mood, since so many Willys owners take a retro approach when tackling a build-up. Bill Gildersleeve from Paulden, Arizona, took a totally different approach with his beautiful ’41 Willys pickup, and the results are terrific. Here’s what he has to say about it.

Jim Tugwell from West Plains, sent us the story of Ol’ Red, the ’67 Chevy longbed Stepside his father bought in 1974 and gave to Jim in 1979.