Sorry boys and girls, I'm feeling wordy tonight!
Owned since 1981, the current iteration of my car was started in 1999 and "finished" in 2002. New York winters suck, so the car receives tweaks each year when the weather gets too cold and the plow trucks wreck the roads. So just picture if most every winter, your car looked like this:
That picture is from the Bullrun Contest upgrade in 2007. Engine, drivetrain, rear suspension and cockpit were all pulled to allow for a number of reliability improvements as well as a new rear cage structure and fuel cell. What a fiasco! Two months worth of work crammed into 10 days for a contest that we only "might" have won. We didn't. The shoe-in seemed to be a bisexual swimsuit model with size XL bolt ons who also wrenches and races. Given that this was the Bullrun, she seemed like the perfect candidate. We didn't stand a chance. Instead, some gomer with a Datsun 240 Z wearing a Ferrari body kit won. Sweet car, but he pathetically referred to it as a Ferrari--non stop! Very annoying. His win was beyond mysterious. In the end, all we had was an upgraded car and a new friendship. And that's plenty.
Anyway, after 28 years of ownership, this car is chock full of stories like that. Theft and recovery, a near fatal wreck, Power Tour and countless "What seems to be the problem, officer?" stories--the list goes on and on. Wrenching on that car even spawned a business--Twist Machine. The American Dream. All the while, we'd put it together and take it apart. Rinse and repeat. Buddies and I.
The 2007 redo sparked a unique friendship. Jake Parrott shut down his then body shop business to help me prep the car for a contest with no guarantees. Looking back, we were practically strangers. Just fellow members of internet message boards called Lateral-g.net and pro-touring.com? Who does that? Bust ass to help a long distance acquaintance? That takes some character. Jake's effort and skills as a fabricator leave me forever in debt. Thanks Jake.
This years winter upgrades are a little late. I waved goodbye to the car last September after RTH4. I only saw it once when Jimmy Mulvey and I went up to Maine to work on THE NEW CAR.
In two years, Jake's body shop business has evolved into
Jake's Rod Shop . There's a wait list if you want in. We've both been too busy to work on my car and too busy to care.
But spring is in the air. Leaf springs, that is. They gotta go. Jake's Rod Shop will be installing a Jake's Rod Shop Torque Arm rear suspension system and shocks. The gi-normously humungous stainless steel fuel cell, custom built by another good friend John Parsons, will be replaced with a normal sized cell. Gotta make room for the panhard bar. We'll also replace the eight year old, rock hard Nitto NT555 tires, with some Toyo R888's.
The upgrades will be short and sweet. I'll chronicle the suspension swap here. Don't expect any wow-wee show car stuff, this car has always been rough around the edges. I like it that way. At a time when our country seems to be run by slick barbarians (congress), I thought I'd share a little humanity--car guy style--while bragging on a guy who won't brag about himself. Here's some teardown pix. Keep that camera handy Jake!!
The DSE 3" leaf springs sit
perfect. But you give up some ride quality to get the stance. With the torque arm, I'll have it all.
Little by little I get rid of almost 30 years of amateur mods. These muffler hangers are an embarrassment. Somehow they never failed.
Jake has removed the Competition Engineering upper shock crossmember and the front brace of my custom cell mount. The CE shock crossmember has been in place since the late 80's--long before DSE made a much better design. Exhaust clearance was never quite right with this crossmember. And the 9" would just kiss it on bump. Not enough to do damage, but enough to make a loud noise. BANG! More than anything, I will be glad to get rid of this crossmember. It simply was never designed for lowered cars. BANG!
The Moser 9" rear will stay. So will the Baer 12" brakes with PBR calipers. Hey! In Y2K, these were the hot setup! Yes, my brake line tabs are hose clamped in place. Hopefully my welding fairy will tack them in place.
Thanks for looking,
/Steevo
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