When news of the Show Car Buildoff began circulating, the team at DuPont Hot Hues saw it as an excellent opportunity to not only become involved, but also to provide a sound platform to help all of us better understand what is involved in painting a car. The color selection is a process in and of itself, but having a better understanding of the characteristics of the materials used, how to use them and what is involved in using them is helpful as well.
Trucks are hot, and this interest in trucks has been getting hotter over the years. This is not something that started recently, and now with so many companies like Chevs of the ’40s, Early Classic Enterprises, Street & Performance and SSBC offering specific performance parts, you are now able to find such truck-specific parts as replacement sheetmetal, LS1 engine swaps, tubular suspension components and enormous brake systems.
So, you’ve contemplated and weighed the pros and cons of driving an older pickup or decided that one would make a great addition to the newer pickup you already own, then you are ready to make the leap of faith and turn that older pickup into a vehicle that could be used as a daily driver.
Question: What has 861 all-wheel-drive horsepower and 773 lb-ft of torque-driven “grunt,” which can carry around an object the size of a grand piano? The answer? John Frey’s Loveland, Colorado-based twin-turbo 1991 GMC Syclone pickup truck, that’s what! Ah, better cancel that piano—this light-duty sport utility vehicle’s hauling days are over. The only thing Frey (who’s the CEO of Bully Racing Enterprises) is interested in hauling is—well, you know what we mean.
What Do You Do When You Want the Power and Performance of a Dodge Viper but Need the Utility and Space of a Quad-Cab Pickup? Well, you can buy a Dodge Viper and you can buy a Dodge Ram pickup, or you could buy a Dodge Ram SRT-10. The Ram SRT-10 is a limited-edition pickup that Dodge built as a regular cab from 2004 to 2006 and in a Quad Cab from 2005 to 2006. These trucks appear to be the result of some aggressive engineering, combining the racing pedigree of the Viper with a pickup truck, resulting in outstanding performance—and it works!
When updating an early truck to five-lug disc brakes up front, the six-lug rear bolt pattern should be changed to match, as this directly affects the wheel selection and fitment for the truck.
If you’ve ever imagined a time when you could simply pick up the phone or send an e-mail to General Motors and order the engine of your dreams, pull it out of a box delivered to your door and plug it into the car of your dreams, then stop dreaming as that time has come. While it’s not new information that GM Performance Parts provides an assortment of engines to choose from, it’s never been easier to select the one that is best for your budget and the intended purpose of your car.
In this day and age, getting the most power out of your late-model truck or SUV is both difficult and easy. Now that we have covered ourselves technically, we will give you the reasoning behind this convoluted theory. New vehicles are hard to work on but easy to upgrade. See? That was easy.
When Cisco Farias decided he wanted a classic pickup truck, there was no question about what type of truck it would be. Farias has long fostered a love of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and it was as a kid that he noticed that the one truck that all shops and bikers seemed to have was the second series Chevrolet pickup.
When GM introduced the Gen III small block in the F-body, it rekindled a dying performance flame with its new-generation small block. While the Gen I small block actually kick-started the hobby and got it into gear, it’s the latest family of small-block engines that has grabbed the attention of enthusiasts everywhere—and for good reason.
