As much as we like to clown around and write funny stories about discreet delivery services and zombie engines, our primary intent here at OnAllCylinders is to supply our readers with trusted, comprehensive, and helpful tech information.
We want our articles, engine spec guides, and tech columns to be valuable resources to you as you work through your own project—whether you’re hotrodding a vintage muscle car or just trying to wash your car like a pro.
And we didn’t let our foot off the proverbial gas for 2024, either. We published hundreds of valuable articles on a massive range of automotive technical topics. We combed through last year’s editorial calendar, dove into the data, and picked the 15 most popular, most commented-on, or most shared stories.
Check out the list below—and bookmark our tech section to keep an eye on what’s new too.
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15 of Our Top Automotive Tech Stories from 2024
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15. Jan. 12, 2024 – How to Replace Cracked Shock Towers in a Vintage Ford Mustang
From its inception all the way through the Foxbody era, the Mustang has struggled with crusty, cracked shock/strut towers. And the problem is particularly acute in the O.G. models where, thanks to poor control arm lubrication, many of these first-gens met an early, ignominious demise.
And it’s easy to understand why—replacing them is a tricky and time consuming endeavor. But our resident Ford expert Jim Smart walks you through the process here, in extensive detail.
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14. Jan. 28 – 3 Electrical Multimeter Functions That Every Mechanic Should Know
It’s no secret that even the most seasoned gearhead may get sweaty palms at the thought of any serious automotive electrical work that involves a multimeter. But here’s the thing—despite its scary dial and weird symbols, using one of these essential electrical diagnostic tools can be boiled down into just a few basic functions.
This article explains the basics to start your electrical journey. Give it a read, and we’re confident that with a little practice, you’ll soon be able to give Michael Faraday a run for his money.
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13. Feb. 5, 2024 – 10 Questions on the Sniper 2 System & EFI Conversion Tech
EFI conversions are one of our most-requested topics, so when Holley pulled the wraps off its new Sniper 2 EFI system, we figured it’d be a good two-fer for the OnAllCylinders Podcast.
OnAllCylinders managing editor David Fuller assigned the best journalist on his staff—himself—to sit down with Colin Kinser from Holley for an interview. For close to an hour, they talked all about EFI conversions, including some common pitfalls and resulting advice. If you’re mulling an EFI swap (or want to learn about Holley Sniper EFI systems) this episode’s a must-listen.
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12. Feb. 21, 2024 – How to Clean Your Cooling System with an Easy Chemical Flush
Our pal Wayne Scraba was having some cooling issues with his big block-swapped Nova drag car. Thankfully, he’s a smart guy and figured it all out pretty quick—but his final step was cleaning out all the old coolant and some minor corrosion from the radiator and engine coolant passages.
This article walks you through that process and will show you how to use some effective chemical flush products to clean out all the gunk and buildup in your cooling system plumbing so it’s able to work efficiently to keep your motor running in a safe temperature range.
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11. Mar. 4, 2024 – How to Choose the Right Luggage for Your Motorcycle
Just in time for the spring riding season to begin, we gave you two-wheeled folks a good look at the ins-and-outs of buying motorcycle luggage. As you’d imagine, there’s a lot of nuance involved in picking what hard cases, saddlebags, and luggage racks will work best for your ride, so we break down some of the key factors to consider.
Whether you’re taking your two-stroke dirt bike out for a day on the trails, commuting to work, or gearing up for a cross-country trek, this article will help you carry along whatever you need.
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10. June 7, 2024 – Helping a Jeep XJ Cherokee Breathe Better
OnAllCylinders contributor Christopher Campbell likes to off-road his XJ a lot. That means he knows that, if there’s one complaint about the trusty 4.0L six, it’s that it could use a bit more power—especially if you’re running big tires and tackling aggressive trails.
So, being a performance-minded gearhead, he cured the issue by improving the airflow both into and out of the engine. With a cold air intake and a series of exhaust upgrades, follow along as he gives his XJ Cherokee a bit more giddyaup.
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9. June 27, 2024 – How to Correct Your Car’s Paint & Keep it Looking Factory-Fresh
Steve Swisher’s been a Summit Racing employee for a long, long time. He’s also a bona fide gearhead that knows a ton about car care and maintenance. So we suckered him into…err…politely asked him if he’d like to contribute his knowledge to our humble blog from time to time.
His first piece was a really in-depth article on car detailing and paint correction. If you want your car to shine like his Fiero (that’s still wearing much of its original paint, by the way), then follow his instructions.
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8. July 15, 2024 – Summit Racing’s SPC Engine Blocks May be the Best Ever
Have you tried to find a venerable Small Block Chevy core in a scrapyard lately? The once-ubiquitous V8 is alarmingly scarce nowadays and the blocks that do come up usually need a lot of machining to bring back up to snuff.
That’s why Summit Racing developed its own line of better-than-new SPC Engine Blocks. Veteran automotive journalist Jeff Smith got his hands on one for a closer look to learn why these new SPC blocks are so special. Hunting for an SBC? This is an article you’ll want to read.
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7. July 20, 2024 – Car Alarms & More: 8 Methods to Prevent Vehicle Theft
This past summer, a friend of OnAllCylinders came dangerously close to having his classic car stolen from a hotel parking lot. Thankfully, the attempt was thwarted by some smart preventative measures but it was a good enough reason for us to cover the topic here.
With specific regard to older vehicles, this article discusses clever, effective, and sometimes easy ways to prevent some scumbag from making off with your ride. Learn some interesting tricks that could save you from a dreadful incident later.
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6. Aug. 21, 2024 – Ford’s 7.3L Godzilla—Push Rods & Cubic Inches are Back
As much as we like the Ford Mod Motor and Coyote families, there’s something about trusty cam-in-block V8 that makes us smile. Our buddy Evan Smith agrees.
Follow along as he explains some history behind the Godzilla’s development and learn how it is now gleefully embraced by both racers and the aftermarket industry. Better still, see some cool builds and get a good idea of what’s coming next for this beefy single-cam pushrod V8 from Ford.
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5. Sep. 1, 2024 – Seal Up Your Jeep’s Windshield Frame for Good
Owners of Jeep CJs and early Wranglers know the misery of having soggy feet from a leaking windshield cowl seal. And it’s far more than an inconvenience, as the poor seal can allow rust to take root in the bottom of the windshield frame, where it’ll quietly eat away at the underlying metal.
This article explains how to replace the seal with a quality OE-spec replacement one, and gives you a few things to look for (and fix) while you’re in there doing the job too.
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4. Sep. 26, 2024 – Pump Gas Performance! LS Stroker Engine Builds
It doesn’t take much for us to get excited about a Richard Holdener article—but this one was particularly interesting because it was a real world test of a rather practical build.
It’s no secret that Mr. Holdener can create really wild engines using power adders like turbos and superchargers, yet this one was all about stroked displacement, heads, a cam, and pump gas. Like always, he includes a dyno chart so you can see the actual test results too.
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3. Oct. 11, 2024 – Tips for Right-Sizing a Wiring Harness
Veteran drag racer Wayne Scraba is back at it here, showing car builders how to modify and tweak a vehicle’s wiring harness to suit a particular application. Not only is this a good read for hotrodders and customizers, it has benefits in the racing and off-roading community too.
Again, gearheads sometimes dread making electrical modifications, but with some smart insight from Mr. Scraba here, it takes a ton of stress out of the job.
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2. Nov. 14, 2024 – Tips for Using Your Classic Car or Vintage Vehicle in a Parade
Just before holiday parade season hit, Steve Swisher swooped in with some good advice for anyone taking their collector car of vintage vehicle down a meandering parade route. Steve and his cars have done plenty of parade duty before, so he shared some tidbits of his accumulated wisdom here.
And the article doesn’t skimp on the details either—from brake service and tire inspections to what kind of candy to buy, this article is about as comprehensive as it gets.
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1. Dec. 8, 2024 – Lug Nut Torque, Tightening Sequence & Other Wheel Install Tips
Even if you’ve got decades of wrenching experience, it’s easy to overlook the basics—and that’s doubly true if you’re in a hurry to get your fancy new aftermarket wheels bolted up.
To that end, our favorite Summit Racing tech writer Dave Matthews contributed this good primer on the dos and don’ts of wheel installation. As an added treat, the story is enhanced by some good illustrations created by our friend—and a guy who literally has “art” in his name—Craig Artzner. Consider this one a good refresher course.
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Again, we published hundreds of articles this year, so we had to look past some really, really good posts to get this list down to just 15 entries. But if you had a particular OnAllCylinders tech article from 2024 that you think we missed here, let us know about it in the comments section below.
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