When And How To Move On From A Car?

"LemonsEngineer" (cegan09) 09/16/2015 at 15:04 • Filed to: Dodge, Daytona, 24 hours of lemons

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I’m facing a dilemma. How do you decide when it’s time to move on from a car. Actually no, that’s not the dilemma. I’m struggling with how to move on.

For the past 4 years I’ve campaigned a 1989 Dodge Daytona Shelby in the 24 Hours of Lemons. The general consensus from just about everyone in the world is that is approximately 4 years too long for such a god awful car. And yet here I am, prepping to pull the engine and rebuild it for the car’s 12th race. It’s been an insane ride.

Let’s start with how I landed with a Daytona in the first place. In college I decided I needed to learn how to work on cars. So I did what any sensible 19 year old who had just landed an engineering internship would do. I bought a car off craigslist. I set a budget of $600, struck a deal with my parents to take over the lower level of their barn, and started searching. Eventually I narrowed it down to two cars. First was a 1987 Porsche 924S. Second was a 1988 Daytona Shelby Z with a spare engine. I bought the Porsche.

Unwillingly however, I had planted a terrible seed in my head. Because years later in 2011 when I was searching for a car to build for Lemons with some friends I happened to land on a $500 Daytona Shelby. I owned it less than 5 days later.

Now we arrive at why I’m moving on and why it’s so hard. I don’t want to get rid of the car. I know it inside and out, it’s running great, it’s hilarious to drive. But it’s disintegrating, and I mean that literally. From the wheel well I can look into the foot well through the seams that are tearing apart. Putting it on a lift is terrifying because I have to get creative with what I lift on; the stock lift points and pinch seams wouldn’t hold half the required weight. I really think the cage is providing most of the structural support of the car right now.

But the thought of throwing away this car brings about the same feelings as having to put down a dog. The Daytona has been one of the biggest constants in my life for the past 4 years. It was there when I broke off a 7 year relationship. It was there when I was dealing with mental issues. It was there when I started feeling happy again. It saw me gleefully trade in my Camry for a brand new WRX. It was there when I started a new relationship. Through all my other random motorcycle projects the Daytona has been a welcomed familiarity. One of my happiest memories is crossing the finish line for the first time after a few races of failure. Whenever I’m having a bad day spinning a wrench for a few minutes on the Daytona completely changes my mood.

I fully believe that you can build a relationship with a car, and it’s easier with an old one. A car with faults has personality. And as you work through the faults, fixing things, breaking others, fixing it again, you learn to talk with the car. I can pick out the difference between the noisy but perfectly fine lifters, and a more menacing knock developing. I can feel when the car is starting to run worse. I can rebuild the engine blindfolded. I know exactly how the torque steer is going to kick in and use it to help get around a corner, how to throw it over to the bump stops and muscle it around tight corners. There isn’t a component, wire, or square inch of sheet metal that I haven’t touched in my Daytona. I’ve transformed it from a beaten ready to die car, to the Lemons Waahmbulance, to a multicolored art car, and now finally the magnificent HellKitten.

So the dilemma: How do you move on? Even talking about it near the car feels like betrayal. Pieces of the car I’ll keep. The engine will land in something else, hopefully something that annoys a new owners group. The wheels will become tables and wall ornaments, mementos of thousands of miles driving in circles. The “Daytona by Dodge” badge from the dash has lived in the center console of my WRX for 3 years now, it probably won’t move. The steering wheel, as dirty and trashed as it is, will find itself in a place of honor. The seats, belts, fuel cell, switch panel, and all the other race bits will land in something new.

But the shell... There’s a real chance a tear will be shed the day I have to drop that off at the scrap yard.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > LemonsEngineer 09/16/2015 at 15:08

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Wire brushes and rustoleum, bro! You can beat the rust monster!

Twism > LemonsEngineer 09/16/2015 at 15:12

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If you got space and time, I’d say keep it. It’s a fun track car, and you obviously bonded with it.

Fix what breaks and keep on racing.

Nonster > LemonsEngineer 09/16/2015 at 15:14

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It may not make any sense to do so, but I think it would be fun see how long it can go before the tech inspectors deem it to be a hazard to yourself and others

LemonsEngineer > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 09/16/2015 at 15:17

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Without going too into it. It’s really too much. It’s literally tearing apart at the seams. Soon I’ll have to completely rebuild the passenger frame rail/rocker/side. Most of the floors are gone and replaced with sheet metal. The exhaust tunnel actually started tearing at the firewall. There’s a point where I no longer feel safe taking a thing to triple digit speeds, even with repairs.

LemonsEngineer > Nonster 09/16/2015 at 15:24

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If by “fun” you mean “hugely dangerous”. It’s perfectly possible for me to patch/paint/hide all the things that scare me and make it so the inspectors won’t find it. At some point it truly is dangerous and I need to call it.

Dusty Ventures > LemonsEngineer 09/16/2015 at 15:29

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Hey, I saw that car at Thompson!

uofime-2 > LemonsEngineer 09/16/2015 at 15:32

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Sounds like you’ve learned everything you can from that car. Time for a new challenge with the right mentality that should be super exciting.

LemonsEngineer > Dusty Ventures 09/16/2015 at 15:33

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Yup, I race the northeast region under Futility Motorsport. We’ll be at Loudon in October for probably the car’s last race. Still Chasing that C-Class win.

Dusty Ventures > LemonsEngineer 09/16/2015 at 15:38

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I feel for you. I had to sell my first project race vehicle a year or so ago. I’d put hundreds of hours into that car and it sucked to watch it go. But much like with a significant other, I was able to eventually love again.

A bit of advice to help the next relationship last though: seam welding.

Because Racecar > LemonsEngineer 09/16/2015 at 15:40

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I’d say when you start losing copious amounts of money to the Daytona is when you should get rid of it.

LemonsEngineer > Dusty Ventures 09/16/2015 at 15:40

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Next project won’t start out with so much rust. A lot easier to mange that way. Already have the shell in my driveway. Just going to suck to dump the daytona.

BorkBorkBjork > LemonsEngineer 09/16/2015 at 15:42

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It’s hard, I know. I am struggling with the same thing on my LeMons Thunderbird. The old gal has been through way too much, and right now she sits idle with a blown engine and a sloppy transmission. Since I got married last year, and bought a “fixer-upper” house, I simply do not have the funds of the time to get her running again. But I’ll be damned if I sell her, because there are memories in that stamped steel bitch, memories worth far more that I would ever get with a fistful of sweaty Craigslist $20 bills.

Echo51 > LemonsEngineer 09/16/2015 at 15:42

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Right in the feels. Im gonna cry snot when i have to get rid of my current car :(

Nonster > LemonsEngineer 09/16/2015 at 15:48

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My bad, I didn’t mean to imply hiding actual safety hazards or real structural flaws or driving it if you or anyone thinks that the car isn’t safe.

After re-reading your post I saw I missed the section where you say you’re legitimately concerned when putting it on a lift and whatnot. So yeah I would agree that it’s probably time to retire it.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > LemonsEngineer 09/16/2015 at 15:57

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Retire it with a demo derby. No holds barred.

LemonsEngineer > Because Racecar 09/16/2015 at 16:36

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yeah..... that happened right around race prep for race #1. You don’t go ameture racing because you like your bank statements to have a lot of zeros.

ITA Hondaboy > LemonsEngineer 09/16/2015 at 20:13

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From personal experience, I know it is very hard to let you car (especially a race car) go. My CRX, that I’ve now owned for a little over three years was in a chain reaction on the opening lap of a sprint race a few weeks back. Both front and back were damaged, frame is bent and rear suspension destroyed. I want to rebuild, but I don’t know that if I do, will it ever be the same? As a back-up plan, I think I might have another CRX lined up.

I wish you well with whatever you decide next, but my money is on get another Daytona!

deekster_caddy > LemonsEngineer 09/20/2015 at 21:01

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Get another one! That makes it easier to let this one go. Sounds like the structural issues are telling you it’s time.

CalzoneGolem > LemonsEngineer 10/15/2015 at 10:43

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You just need a new shell.

LemonsEngineer > CalzoneGolem 10/15/2015 at 10:44

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I thought about it. It’s not worth it. I’ve done the daytona thing for 4 years. I can’t swap the cage in without cutting off roofs and welding them back on. It’s time for something new.

CalzoneGolem > LemonsEngineer 10/15/2015 at 10:46

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Yeah but you’ll probably have to a get a cage put into anything you replace it with.

Keep us posted with what you replace it with.

LemonsEngineer > CalzoneGolem 10/15/2015 at 10:47

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Exactly. If I’m building a new cage, I might as well try something different. New project is started. Building the BMW 313rx. I’ll share more when I have something solid completed.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > LemonsEngineer 10/15/2015 at 10:55

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Saying goodbye is though sometimes, I’ll probably never scared my 91 Civic, event hough it hasn’t seen a road in 3 years, and no longer starts under its own power, and it’s starting to return to the Earth. But that car was my daily driver for almost three years, and now it’s provided hours of rallyX-ish backyard fun. Who cares, if you have to push start it, and the windshield is smashed, and the shift linkage makes shifting a cross between an art form, and total guessing game. I still love the car, and as soon as I get some land of my own I will get it off my father-in-law’s land, and start rebuilding it.

GreenN_Gold > LemonsEngineer 10/15/2015 at 16:01

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You should do something ceremonial, like a car funeral. What that would be exactly, I don’t know. Have some friends over for a BBQ and some beers, call it a “carbecue.” Take some pics, and call it good.

Nice post, and thanks for the laughs on “Hellkitten.”

Stef Schrader > LemonsEngineer 10/15/2015 at 21:15

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This happened to the Alfa Milano at Miller. There’s always the option of welding it all back together somehow. I like that option!

Stef Schrader > LemonsEngineer 10/15/2015 at 21:20

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Man, I have the worst mechanical sympathy for a car I know and like. I still feel bad that the Type 3’s owner crushed the little Fastback shell. It was getting dangerous, so it went for similar reasons, but darn it if I didn’t want to find some capable hands to weld the Bunnywagen back up again.

It’s sort of like the Lancer. I need a tow vehicle more than I need a regular car, but I like the Lancer. I don’t know if I could get rid of it. I’ll probably hoard that car until either it breaks or I break.

I don’t know what to tell ya here. I’d probably patch the sucker up, but then I’m a total sucker.

The Daytona rules! That is all.

The Rusty Hub > LemonsEngineer 10/15/2015 at 22:19

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Nope. Chuck Testa. Buy a Spirit R/T. You know you want to and I know you know you want to. Look how well the first one in LeMons did last weekend !

What you should really do is build an ‘83 Diplomat and bring it to Gingerman next October. Because reasons.

Suzyadams > LemonsEngineer 10/16/2015 at 01:59

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If it’s dangerous, then yes... you need to let it go. This might sound totally stupid, but take it out to a place you used to drive it all the time, get one last, really nice picture of it, and then let it go. For me, it helps if I keep the old keys. I think that all of the things you plan to keep in one way or another will help.

I had a 01 Volkswagen New Beetle that some idiot sideswiped in the street and the insurance totaled it. I LOVED. that car. To other people, it wasn’t really special, but it was special to me. I searched months for that specific car with those features. That car taught me to love turbo. I learned to drive stick on it and I will never go back to automatic. I loved it so much, I was brave enough to ask my dad to teach me how to do an oil change (and from there, brake pads and some suspension work—and to think I was scared of changing my own oil once!) I saved and scrounged for it. It wasn’t just a car. I generally don’t consider myself sentimental, and I DEFINITELY don’t become attached to objects, so I actually surprised myself with how I actually mourned the loss of that little car.

It’s a little different situation than yours, but where you said: “I fully believe that you can build a relationship with a car, and it’s easier with an old one. A car with faults has personality.” it really resonated with me, and it was refreshing to hear someone who feels the same way. Obviously, mine was newer than yours, and I don’t really race, but the buggy still meant a lot to me, and the worst thing was when people tried to tell me that it shouldn’t have.

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > LemonsEngineer 10/16/2015 at 07:00

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When you are judging how to safely lift it... Yeah, I think you are there.

For me, my Forester XT ripped the bolt that is welded inside the frame out where the bracket holds the rear antiroll bar. Just yanked it out.

Then the turbo went bad spraying parts into the intercooler.

Then it jumped a tooth on the timing belt.

Then the reman turbo went bad again.

Done. Could I fix it? Yep. But done.

5 Liter Beater > LemonsEngineer 10/16/2015 at 07:19

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I feel the same thing coming on with my 1988 Mustang. I've rebuilt the engine, upgraded the suspension, driven the hell out of it in the snow and on dirt roads... and all the rust that was on it when I got it (kept the price down) is starting to grow. I would like to transplant that small block and 5 speed into something else.. but I'm not sure what. I feel like a fool if I keep sinking money into this car.. but I'm starting to love it.

LemonsEngineer > Stef Schrader 10/16/2015 at 08:57

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I thought about welding it up. But then I tried to weld one of the cracks. The metal is cheap 80’s steel with some rust. You just burn through it, or get no penetration when you drop the voltage enough to stop burning through.

I’m resigned to accepting that the daytona’s time is done. But i’m not done with chrysler 2.2/2.5 turbo engines. So many terrible ideas. Must locate rampage come the spring.

LemonsEngineer > The Rusty Hub 10/16/2015 at 09:03

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I want the engine from a spirit R/T for selfish reasons. That 16V head flows way better than my 8V head. Plus it was designed by Lotus! Trouble is those heads are very sought after and worth a lot. Hard to find ones that haven’t been scooped up. I’ve seen a few bare 16V heads (no valves, cams, springs, etc) go for over $700. That’s a blown budget on just the head.

chicagoE36 > LemonsEngineer 10/16/2015 at 11:14

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Don’t get rid of it.

With a little work, this car would make a neat Aussie-style ute conversion what with the Avalanche style flying buttresses.

Anthony Miller > LemonsEngineer 10/16/2015 at 19:21

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DAT BODY ROLL THO

LemonsEngineer > Anthony Miller 10/17/2015 at 11:33

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Right? And I still put 30 yards on that BWM through that chicane.