By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

The Dodge Dakota R/T was a neat little truck that never quite eeked itself into legit “muscle” territory. They were decently quick, but not the blazing hot rod truck that many expected them to be. In fact, we road in and thrashed a couple of 318ci, 5-speed trucks, that seemed to haul as much mail as the R/T. A manual transmission conversion would go a long way for the R/T trucks. Here’s video of one!

Shafi Keisler of Keisler Engineering takes us on a cruise with his 1998 Dakota R/T that is now sporting a six speed Keisler transmission and far more fun. Everything about this swap is right and unleashing the truck from the factory four-speed auto really seems to wake it up.

We want one. We want one bad!

By David Belau

dartslantsix

My 1992 Dakota was in need of some serious exhaust work this past year. After 206,000 miles, the clamps had worn the pipe down to nothing. So this summer, I decided to replace the exhaust, but I also wanted to give it a bit of an upgrade.

I first started hearing about the new Flowmaster-knockoff Thrush Welded Mufflers about a year ago and was impressed by the price. After listening to a couple trucks on YouTube, I decided to try one for my truck. My local parts store charged me about $40 for part number: 17649. This is for a 3″ muffler, center inlet, offset outlet (in case you want to upgrade your Dakota too). See the full product review below the jump.

Continue reading "Product Test: Thrush Welded Muffler" »

By David Belau

dartslantsix

Last summer my 1992 Dakota looked like just about every other neglected 1992 Dakota out there–terrible. Its paint was coming off in sheets. Coworkers complained that after parking next to me during a windy day, their own car received a new paint job.

After reading this thread on Moparts.com about Rustoleum, I decided to give it a try. I had never painted a car before, so how did it turn out? Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "Cheap Paint Worth the Effort?" »

By David Belau

dartslantsix

I enjoy a good sound system like anyone else, but as someone who has restored a few cars, it makes me cringe to see original interior panels cut for the sake of sound. There’s nothing more infuriating than finally finding a perfect door panel only to discover that it has a 6×9 hole cut into it.

The previous owner of my 1992 Dodge Dakota Club Cab decided to replace the stock 5×7 rear speakers with 6x9s. The problem is that 6x9s do not fit. “No biggie,” said the monkeys at the car audio shop. “Just flush mount them and cut the interior panel with a sawzall! Be sure to reinforce everything with a couple of sheetrock screws!”

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "Interior Panel Monkey Business" »

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

Have you ever noticed that the car model you owned in the past has grown in size, in weight, and in displacement? This phenomenon affects almost every car line from BMW to Honda, with a few exceptions. Remember when the name Honda was synonymous with lightweight, economical cars? The company established itself in the United States in 1970 with the N600, a small four-seater. It hit pay dirt with the introduction of the larger 1973 Honda Civic, a car that was light and fuel-efficient yet could fit four adults in modest comfort. Honda sold many first-generation Civics during its seven-year run, as the car was just what Americans needed during the first OPEC oil embargo. During subsequent redesigns, Honda offered more Civic models. What had been just a two-door truncated sedan became a three-door hatchback, a formal four-door sedan, even a five-door wagon. Engine size increased as well, growing from a 1.3-liter four-cylinder to a 2.5-liter. Read more about the ever growing models, including BMW, and a surprise Detroit entry at Automotive Traveler.