Mopar Action

it was a gas

UNLESS you’ve been living under the crust of the Earth or beneath an iceberg for the past few years, you’ve probably become aware of the sea change that’s impacting our beloved automobiles. Electrification. ’Course, electric vehicles (EVs) are nothing new. Back in 1828, Hungarian Ányos Jedlik invented a small-scale model car powered by an electric motor that he designed. Electrics peaked in popularity between 1899 and 1900, outselling all other types of cars. There was even a hybrid electric/internal combustion engine sold by the Woods Motor Co. of Chicago, which had a range of 18 miles, a top speed of 18 MPH, and a price tag of 2 grand. Electrics died out in the 1920s when better roads connected cities and called for longer range vehicles. The discovery of Texas crude…

think time! and a little help from my friends…

YELLOW . GREEN! GO! The immediate result was wheel hop, and I smacked my head as I looked down to the button layout on the dash was showing 2WD. My 2018 Dodge RAM 1500 Sport is not heavy in the backend, and the 1/4-mile surface at Bradenton’s DeSoto Memorial Speedway was fully-prepped for drag radials (I have the OEM Goodyear Wranglers on). Legging it through the top end, the results was a 15.266 at 93+ MPH. The 60-foot time of 2.6 told the story about where the ET had gone. My buddy David Hakim joked after I had made some 14.8 passes late last summer at Rockingham. “Stunkard, your truck is the fastest car you have ever owned!” It’s possible. My ’68 Charger never saw track time, but the 3.23 rear…

jeff frossard— the poverty cap picasso!

ART CLASS IS IN SESSION! Van Gogh, da Vinci, and Michelangelo are all famous artists, and I am about to add another to the list in the form of Jeff Frossard the “Poverty Cap Picasso.” Every great artist is known for something unique, whether it be the Sistine Chapel, the Mona Lisa, or, in Van Gogh’s case, of cutting off your ear and sending it as a gift…talk about cheap. Suddenly the monogrammed toilet plunger I got for Mrs. Crec looks like a Tiffany diamond. “Crec? What’s your point?” My point is, that if the Guggenheim doesn’t get your watercolors boiling, then the work of Jeff Frossard just may keep you painting in the lines of your color by numbers and quench your thirst for some wild “Mopart.” I am no…

exhaust: e.t. drone home?

A MATTER OF “A PINION” Hey Rick–Long time subscriber and love your tech. You have helped me in the past on my ’71 Road Runner. This time it’s about my truck, ’86 D100. I put bigger tires on it and need to swap the pinion gear in the tranny to get my speedometer right. Tag on the axle reads 2815. How do I get ratio out of those numbers? Dave Drews Princeton, MN Dave–You don’t. Briefly, three ways to handle this. 1. You can jack it up, count the revs of the propshaft for exactly one rear tire rotation. (This gets muddled if the truck does not have LSD, so only use this procedure if it does). Then look up the revs per mile spec of your tires and do the math. Fact: Nobody bothers…

how to get help:

Address all queries to this address: RICHARD EHRENBERG PO BOX 302 MARLBORO NY 12542 Best bet: Online submission form at moparaction.com GROUND RULES: • If you want to submit your question via e-mail, please use the on-line submission form at www.moparaction. com. If we ask for more info, send back all existing text, or else! • Snail-mail must include a SASE and/or a cash bribe. • All letters, electronic or otherwise, must include a full name and a least your city and state. You can request that it be withheld, however, and, if we had any the night before, we might even honor your request. • “20 questions” letters instantly get shredded and the scraps forwarded to Mopar Muscle. So – ask one clear question please, we’re a sleazy magazine, not an encyclopedia publisher. We won’t tell…

the rust belt

ANYBODY WHO LIVES in the Northeast or upper Midwest will tell you that their state is “the worst” for vehicle rust, caused by road salt on highways. Now comes an exposé and lawsuit forcing state—New York, land of taxes—to own up to some of the damage. Surprisingly, the lawsuit doesn’t relate to vehicle damage, but pollution to water wells and death of farm animals from salt pollution. The incredible fact: NYS’s Department of Transportation—NYSDOT—spread just under 28 tons of rock salt (NaCl) per lane-mile (the stats are for 2018-19, not a particularly bad winter). And, no, that’s not a typo. They even spread liquid brine, guaranteed to reach every nook and cranny. Look under any car just a few years old in NYSrusty suspension components, tie rods, exhaust, brake lines, etc.…