EMP

[rob86]

If an EMP went off what part of the car would be affected? I currently have a rat rod 53 chevy truck and its bare bones. So I was wanting to make it my SHTF vehicle since it doesn't have all the computer b.s. on it.

[ranger1968]

 The "pulse" of an Electro Magnetic Pulse acts like a massive power surge; it essentially burns out the circuitry of printed circuit boards;  pretty much any sort of electronic device- a laptop computer, a TV, a clock radio, a cell phone, etc, that is not shielded properly against an EMP will be fried;

 In a vehicle, that would include the cpu and modules that run the fuel, electrical, and ignition systems; pretty much everything that regulates the fuel and spark to the engine.

  As a result, most cars made in the last 30 years would be incapacitated immediately, just like  everything else electronic.

  Or at least , that's the theory.

[rob86]

So there really is no way of getting around it.

[60ratrod]

You may be looking at having to swap the starter solenoid and possibly the coil if you are still running points, otherwise you would be looking at replacing the coil and ignition module if its an hei

[Scratch]

You could buy the extra electrical parts that would be affected, then store them in an EMP proof box.

[jlwilliams]

  There is a lot of information online about EMPs.  Some of it is even true.  There is really not much real  research available.  At one point I found some, but never saved it to my computer.  I'll dig through the forums I go on and see if I can find the links.  There was a similar discussion to this somewhere and a knowledgable guy who posted some good links.

[ranger1968]

You could buy the extra electrical parts that would be affected, then store them in an EMP proof box.

 This.

[wolfgang2000]

***DISCLAMER***
 I'm not a expert but I've tried to research this topic.

To the best of my under standing the EMP pulse will fry the compastor on circuit boards.  Older cars (prior to 82 IIRC) shouldn't be effected.   

There are many conflicting statement about EMP's and the protection of said EMP's.  Example some people say that a car is a natural Faraday cage, and all you need to do is ground it.  Other say all computers in a car will be zapped no matter what you do.  As I said lots of confliction information.  However I can't tell if the coil of the older vehs will be effected.

To protect from a pulse, items need to be in a Faraday cage.  Again IIRC the original Faraday cage was a "cage" made of copper screen that allow the Pulse to be conducted around the object being protected if the object was insulated from the screen.  To the best that I can determine any metal container should work if the items are insulated from the metal skin.

Some say the container needs to be grounded.  Some say that wires coming from objects will act as an antenna and draw in the pulse.  Too be honest I don't know which is right. 

Some say a Mylar bag will protect a object that is in a cardboard box, or even in a zip lock bag.  Some say that an actual nuclear EMP will "burn" through something as thin as a Mylar bag.  Again I don't know.

I can tell you what I'm doing, and plan to do.  Presently I have some items in a old metal travel trunk.  It's better than nothing at the moment.  I plan to get a metal trash can, insulate the inside with a foam material, and keep some items in there.  I believe the solid sheet construction of the can will be better than the trunk.  Whether I ground it or not is still up in the air.  Believe it or not the metal garbage cans go for $45.00 these days!!

I hope this helps some, and I will gladly listen to others info. 

[yugoshooter]

There are conversion kits to use a magneto distributer and a points system for carburetter cars. With that kind of set up you could adapt a crank to the vehicle to start it if the battery goes dead.

[Mancat]

I don't think the potential effects are fully understood or even known, and so potentially we could find that even commodity electronics MAY continue to function, perhaps in a limited state.

Greatest threat to equipment such as vehicle PCMs, or any PCM/electronic for that matter, is the potential for corruption of an EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read only memory), which typically store the software used to control an embedded device. Newer PCMs and electronics do not even use EEPROMs any more, but rather use NVRAM/flash memory. These require less power to program and are potentially more prone to corruption of the stored data by external electromagnetic fields.

I posted some links a while back to some basic EMP testing that was performed on basic electronics.. Most of it was not even effected. I'll have to see if I can dig them up again tomorrow. It's already late here.

[John A.]

post voluntarily withdrawn

[maloy]

About 10 years ago my '98 Chevy truck was struck directly by lightning.  I thought I was screwed when we saw it from the bottom of the hill. The dang thing started up and ran fine. Other than some paint damage the lightning must have run over the outside and to ground. There is more energy in a direct lightning strike than EMP.

Most scientist feel an EMP pulse will do more damage to the electrical grid than anything else. Also cell towers will be vulnerable. Home electronics and vehicles will be a "Hit and Miss".

Maloy

[yugoshooter]

If a solar flare from the sun burnt telegraph wires and tappers to the point they caught fire in the 1800s then you can be sure that todays fragile electronics will fry from a strong enough EMP.

[wolfgang2000]

What I read, and have no way to prove, is that (paraphrased) that the reason we have outside antennas for the car radio is because the metal body blocks the signal.  (The writer) extrapolates that the car body would do the same to an EMP.

There is a guy selling ground straps for cars on the survival blog.  The sales pitch is that will protect your car.  In the old days a lot of vehicles had grounding straps.  They seem to go by the way side in the late 60's.   You could probably use a length of chain polted to the frame as a ground.

As I previously stated there is a lot of contradicting info on the protection from a EMP.  I'm always open to more educated people and what they have to say on the subject.

[jlwilliams]

Yet another reason why flathead powered vehicles with magneto ignition are cool  If there ever is a major lights out, you are more likely to be able to keep an old military Harley (or other sinple old machine) running that most other types of vehicles.  They can be adjusted to run on different fuels and if you keep a few little electrical parts safe as backup, you can keep it running for a long, long time (better have some chain and sprockets in reserve too).  And, if there is never any sort of disaster like that you still have a valuable antique.  Good investment either way.