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Pickup With Two Engines Boasts 700 HP.
"Haven't been beaten yet," says Don Duree, Turlock, Ca., truck-pulling enthusiast who built one of the world's first twin-engine pickups.
Starting with an engineless "junker" 1964 Chevy pickup, he salvaged only the cab and chassis. He installed two used 396 Chevrolet car engines and tied them to a transfer case salvaged from a 2 ton GMC military truck.
The rig pulls in the 5500 lb. and, with 500 lbs of weight added to the front, in the 6000 lb. "super modified" classes.
"Tying the engines together wasn't too difficult, except that I had to set them to fire 22 degrees apart so the cylinder in one engine doesn't come up and fire in exact sync with the corresponding cylinder in the other engine," Don told FARM SHOW. "The secret is to get total weight properly distributed. I took off the radiator to make room for the two engines. A 4 1/2 gal. water tank sitting off to one side takes care of the cooling."
In pulling competition, Don puts the truck's automatic transmission in second gear, and the transfer case in high gear. He didn't keep track of actual costs but figures the rig is worth "about $10,000 as it sits." He uses the stock pickup he formerly drove in truck-pulling contests to tow his new "twin engine special" around the country to compete in pulling contests.
If you'd like to compare notes with him on how to equip a pickup with twin engines to get up to 700 hp., his address is: FARM SHOW Followup, Don Duree,161 Oleander Lane, Turlock, Ca. 95380 (ph 209 632-5388).


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1979 - Volume #3, Issue #3