Just dumping in an engine powerful enough to stall the Earth’s rotation is not the final answer to a project car…in fact, on it’s own, just adding power without addressing such items as the suspension and brakes alone not only will make the car frightening to drive, but has probably reduced your lifespan. That isn’t good, no matter how fun the new motor might be. Hot Rod Garage’s Tony Angelo discovered this problem on his 12-valve Cummins-swapped 1973 Dodge D200…yeah, the one that Freiburger was ready to hack up for the General Mayhem charger. The worked-up coal roller certainly had the power, but the front suspension redefined “shot” and the peg-legged rear end wasn’t going to work well with a diesel engine that is thumping out serious power. On this episode, Angelo gets to work fixing these issues, with a full front-end refresh, one-ton springs to cope with the weight of the big diesel, a new steering box to cure the 1970s Chrysler “I’ll think about it” power steering, and adding 3.54 gears and a Detroit TrueTrac to the Dodge’s Dana 60. Why? Because nothing sounds more fun than drifting a diesel-powered beast, that’s why.
