Bullrun 2008 Recap: Part 1

Ok, so for the past week now people have been asking me for a description and/or some insight into what went wrong with our 1969 Dodge Daytona replica on this years Bullrun from Calgary to Phoenix. Well, let me start by saying A LOT went wrong. We had planned to have a grand ole’ time on this years Bullrun, and we did–we just hit a few snags along way.

Here’s how it went down:

Snag 1: The Daytona: July 2007 – June 2008
As most everyone knows last year we ran my 1968 Dodge Charger on Bullrun, from Montreal to Key West and the bugger ran perfectly. Seriously, we didn’t even burn a drop of oil. So at the end of last years rally we decided to up the ante a bit and build a new car. What car? How bout’ a matte black 1969 Dodge Daytona. I had some professional renderings done by David Stahl of the beast and then production began. We started with a clean 1969 Dodge Charger SE as the donor car. The engine and tranny were stout but the body was tired and needed to be redone so I had no qualms about cutting up this car.  The whole process began in July of last year and we finished on June 13th at 6 am–just three hours before the car left for Montana for the start of the Bullrun. We had a total of 68 miles on the car. Continue reading…

Snag 2: Testing
There wasn’t any. Now I know people are going to say to why did you do it? You’re crazy, you’re a jackass, etc… etc… etc. The deal is this–we knew the car wasn’t tested, but we also knew that we’d be able to handle almost anything that went wrong mechanically. The engine and transmission were in tip-top shape so we knew we’d have no problems there. But of course there are a few more parts to a car than just the go fast goodies under the hood. In the end we just threw caution to the wind and decided to go for it. So at 8:30 am on June 13th I cranked up the Daytona and drove to the pick-up point at the New York Motor Club in Harrison, NY.

Impressions 1.0 – June 13th, 2008
HOLY CRAP IS THIS THING LOUD!! You see we may have gotten a little overzealous in the exhaust depart. Right now the car is running straight oval tubed pipes into Dr. Gas "Boom-Tube" NASCAR exit ports that exit right in front of the rear wheels. Does it sound good? OH MY GOD YES! But as a driver it’s just way to flippin’ loud, so in the near future we’ll be quieting this puppy up a little. When going by any type of barrier the exhaust just resonates from both sides and is quite deafening.

New York Motor Club
Everyone on TEAM ANGRY knew that we were under a deadline to get this car done, so that evening my cell phone was ringing like crazy with calls from friends and family trying to get information as to whether or not we’d make it. One of the best memories of this whole experience was pulling up to the parking lot of the New York Motor Club and seeing Larry Kosilla (NYMC Founder) literally jumping up and down with excitement at the site of the Daytona. Right then and there I knew that all the hard work was worth it.

Tune in tomorrow for Part 2 of my Bullrun 2008 recap.