Thanks for everything y'all.
Still letting things congeal in my brain before a real post.
One of the most fantastic and sleep deprived things i have ever done.
We just got everything out of the truck, and im going to spend the rest of the day like a cleaning and organizing zombie.
759NRNG said:So Dbd13 where do you go from here? Any scoosh in the $2018 budget for a power adder?
I'm going to chat with him about that. If the photo shoot leads to something then that might change the strategy for another year. If it's been a feature car once then it's not going to be again, so things like the wing can probably go. I'm also going to keep my eyes open locally for a set of nearly dead XP or CP Hoosiers for the team. Three runs is all they need to have left in them. Hell, with a different transmission and some tuning I think the car has FTD potential with fresh Hoosiers. Since one set of tires is free all they need is a sugar daddy. 
Swapping the drivetrain is another option. I've got some ideas for that too. A different transmission would have made a HUGE difference. They have a very solid and cheap shell. Now it's about optimizing.
In reply to mazdeuce :
Seth...text me your email addy. 6 oh one 6 7 2 four four 8 4. Have some One lap/ Bolus and snopes info.
Jim
This thing ran with the three speed still wounded, right? If they got 9th overall with that trans in the state that it was said to be in not long before the event...
The 302 is a good basis to build on. I just wonder if there's maybe a better engine that would open up cheap transmission options. Like if there was a 318/904 combination trapped in a wrecked Diplomat or truck that would be maybe better for this kind of thing.
EDIT: How did the car turn/brake/etc for the autocross?
pres589 said:This thing ran with the three speed still wounded, right? If they got 9th overall with that trans in the state that it was said to be in not long before the event...
The 302 is a good basis to build on. I just wonder if there's maybe a better engine that would open up cheap transmission options. Like if there was a 318/904 combination trapped in a wrecked Diplomat or truck that would be maybe better for this kind of thing.
EDIT: How did the car turn/brake/etc for the autocross?
The car needs a bit of tuning, but the brakes could lock the tires. I think the chassis is basically solid.
I was thinking of pulling a 318/360 and the linked rear out of a Grand Cherokee. They're basically scrap here when the transmission goes and Duster knows his Mopars.........
The three speed worked, mostly, but even when it shifts the ratios are terrible for everyting.
The trans was hurt prior to purchase, let alone the event. We essentially had no reverse, or neutral. Or ability to know what gear it was in. The trans is garbage at this point. Sure, we could rebuild it and put a not worn out shifter in, but the ratios still suck donkey balls.
We also fought engine temperature all weekend. We saw 260 at one point, and the head gaskets are leaky now.
Ghe clutch was slipping on the last drag run, but thats probably due to the sketchy E36 M3 we had to do to the hydraulics all weekend to keep it going.
The f40s have no end of grip. However, they have no feel, no feedback, not enough weight to get heat in them, and no responsiveness. They would be fine for hpde, but were a failure at autocross.
Were uncertain about the future of the car. Part of me says im done with my involvement and funding of tje car, and to give it to dallas as i have planned.
The other part says to take the 3400 and world class t5 i have 300 in, boost it to the moon, throw some true autocross rubber on it, and see if we can get top 5.
We plan to sleep on the future for a few weeks.
Big shout out to mazduece for being our bard, and detail guy, and stickers guy, and just a truly awsome and friendly guy.
Im half tempted to have him write up the summary post for the event update of this thread.
Hey guys, Kevin here!
Thanks again for the chance to hang with you guys and wrench on and even drive this legend of AMC resurgence.
The only thing that out shown the car was your hospitality, food and comradery.
Note the forum name.
Soon it will be at the top of a build announcement.
Probably something like:
Gainesville, FL 10/23/2017
A_Florida_Man gets his best ideas from bad idea racing, and decides to build a race car for less money than he spends on beer each year.
Film at 11.
Glad you all made it back in one piece, even if it was a little hard on the trailer tires.....
In reply to a_florida_man :
I will happily pitch in however I can.
Thank you so much for throwing in with us. Truly a pleasure to get to know you.
Whatever you do, I think this was pretty fantastic, and while I hope you keep the car and hone it further over the next 12 months I can understand wanting to do something different.
We here....well maybe me and Mduece want the AMC to continue to be a presence (major) in the up coming $2018 thrash....Alfadriver IMHO is spot on with the concours judging being a preference for a thumb drivdescription versus a well executed challenge participant. Please take a deep breath and bring scary GARY back next year......(with midnight blue metallic flares)....... y'all brought it BRO!!!!
I'm not going to do the team recap, I wasn't there for multiple tire blowups while towing and was running around helping other people or generally avoiding work too much to give a good analysis of what went down, but what I can do is fill you guys in on the team. Duster is going to weave a tale for you, but it's going to be better if you know who the characters are.
Duster, Dallas and Steve.
You think you know Duster, but you don't. On the internet he seems like a fairly normal guy. Hard working, great at wiring, makes some pretty cars for cheap. In real life he's a chain smoking North Carolina redneck, and I don't think that description would offend him too much. He has a booming voice, and a particular way of being the guy you want to listen to. On top of that he has a "story voice". When you hear the tone change you know to listen, because it's going to be good. And he tells stories from the heart, from his life, and the well of stories doesn't appear to have a bottom. But again, there's more. There are people in your community that.......help. You probably don't know what they do because you lead a normal life and, thank god, you don't deal with the people that Duster helps. In a career that typically lasts 3 years, Duster has been helping for 17. It's not my place to go into in any more than that, but if you get a chance to really sit down with him, you're going to want to hug him before you go.
Dallas. Oh look, another North Carolina redneck. We're having fun. Dallas is the lighter side. He has a brightness to his smile and his laugh that don't give away the things he's been though to be taking care of his three young kids. He works hard, works with his hands. The big thing about Dallas is that he listens. We talked about kids and family and politics and cars and more things than you could imagine over the course of three days in the middle of the Challenge. And he listened. Asked questions. Listened to the answers, and worked hard. Having Dallas in your corner is worthwhile.
The outlier in the group is Steve, and not only because he's NOT a North Carolina redneck. Steve is the kind of guy who flexes his brain and it tears his hat. He never throws an answer at you, but if you have a question, he knows what the answer is. And he doesn't just know the answer, he knows the answer from first principles. He could draw you a graph, write the equation, and build the machine to test the theory that proves that his two word answer is right. But in all of that he treats his answers as if they're as good as any other answers. There is no way the three of us know 10% of what Steve does, but we have discussions about things. That's harder than it sounds. And then you get him talking about what he knows, and he knows racing. All over the world, with almost any series you can think of. Individual races, evolving engines, manufactures, travel. Those engineering students that were hanging out at the Challenge know what they want to be when they grow up, but they don't know that the dude hanging out by the old AMC is living that life and has been for a couple decades. I'm shocked I haven't read an article, or even a book about Steve. Someday I hope I do.
My life is richer for having had a chance to hang out with these guys for three days.
BAD IDEA Msports thank you and MazD for the insight/retrospective.....Y'All ROCK!!!!
Gentlemen, a massive armchair congratulations on an epic journey. You've achieved the impossible, not so much in the build, but building an AMC I don't hate. That thing looks amazing, I wish I could see it in the flesh. I can't believe it didn't win competitors choice, what the berk could be better than that. I didn't follow the whole build, instead I've spent every lunch time this week reading it from start to finish. Well done.
In reply to a_florida_man :
Kevin, glad you got signed up and at the same time sorry for getting you signed up. This will be fun and crazy all at the same time. We hadn't seen each other in nearly 30 years and I think we both fell right back into our old ways. Welcome to the silliness and we will catch up around Thanksgiving.
In reply to mazdeuce :
Seth, thanks for the very kind words about the entire team and our efforts. They would not have been complete without your effort, so please accept a little of the blame...
My involvement with Duster (Mike) and Dallas was originally to help build a safe car. Once the wheel started rolling down the hill toward the cliff there wasn't much to do but hang on and try to make sure the build stayed safe and fun, maybe with a little bit of crazy. The car has a fair bit more performance left in it. It just needs some adjustments and tuning. Hopefully anyone who reads this recognizes I don't have all the answers, but I am willing to work thru the problem and come up with a good reason for doing things to fix it.
I think Andy Nelson summed the build up pretty clearly in one of his posts elsewhere: We are not building $2017 cars, we are building car with $2017.
That means sweat equity and a willingness to adjust to what is presented, and maybe starting with the most basic parts and shaping them into what you need (sometimes literally).
Later, Steve
I think I forgot to mention it here, but I was called out for saying this MANY times over the course of the Challenge weekend.
The AMC does photograph well. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it as much as we did.
Thanks for watching from BAD IDEA MOTORSPORTS.
Thanks Steve.
I promise that i will do an event write up to put the cap on this thread, but work has been absolutely bonkers since I got back.
It was great meeting you and hanging out over the weekend. Y'all had enough positive attitude going on that it rubbed off on even me.
I'm surprised with how much i liked that car and am the results are definitely something to be proud of.
BAD IDEA MOTORSPORTS...........back in black 2K18!!!!
759NRNG said:BAD IDEA MOTORSPORTS...........back in black 2K18!!!!
How did you know the next challenge car plan? Did stampie tell you?
err... no bro maybe my ESPn told me to channel your inner Rneck and see what appears .....gotta go the ouija beckons to me........late(roll cage tubes storingNO2) 
Hey DBd13 on a diff note iffen yur as busy a one armed paper hanger back at werk can we assume it's all good (wink)?
In reply to tb :
TB, it was good to meet you too. Thanks for the help and hope to see you at the next one.
A week later, im finally ready to collect my thoughts on paper.
We loaded up the truck om Saturday, checked the trailer over real good, and then loaded the trailer, fuel, spare tires, etc Monday night. Wednesday morning, at 7:45 am,
Steve brought the rain tires and his gear, we loaded into the truck, and made it to south Carolina before the first blow out.
20171016_191518 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20171018_084910 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
We got to the host hotel late afternoon Wednesday, and met some fellow challengers in the parking lot. Ate at the restaurant connected to the hotel, met people, and just
hung out. Mazduece came in later that night, and unpacked his gear on the floor. Dallas, me, and mazduece shared a room, steve and a few other guys shared another.
The dinner in the hotel restaurant was the last food bought until the end of the event on the way home.
We got up Thursday morning, and started to get organized. After coffee and omlettes in the best western dining room. Really good omlettes.
20171019_084415 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
Got the car off the trailer, got rid of parts that were sold to other competitors, helped some other guys out some, and prepped the car. This included washing, waxing, and
generally detailing it.
Steve brought some aluminum discs from where someone was using a greenlee punch at work. Fit the wiper and trunk latch holes perfectly. Patrick tattoo the car with a
sticker when I wasn't looking as well. Additionally, we found some contact issues with the flares and competition slicks in a test run around the hotel parking lot. Steve
borrowed a grinder, and freehand trimmed the offending 2 right in the middle of the best western parking lot.
20171021_171540 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20171019_164810 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
Once that was done, we passed tech with flying colors and were issued all our stickers. Mazduece also broght some that he made for the car of our “sponsors”: amazon,
ebay, craigslist, pull-apart, facebook marketplace, etc.
We found all those company logos, and he cut them out of a dollars worth of vinyl. Additionally, he ran with the gary the snail and my mopar roots, making a gary the
snail super bee style logo for the quarter windows. And team shirts. And he did some writing for the build book. Incredibly awesome and intelligent guy. Truly a
pleasure to get to know him, and I look forward to more time with him in the future. He was able to help in stickering the car, and making it look like a proper race car.
20171019_190933 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20171019_184124 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20171019_184117 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20171019_190940 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20171021_171532 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
This year, for the drags, GRM requested we use a number plate on the roof so they could identify the car from the tower. They provided one, but we didn't like it. Just
didn't look right with our car. So, mazduece whipped out his arts and crafts skills, and made us a roof gumball.
20171019_191012 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
Also, in the parking lot, Stampie walked up to me and handed me a bag of lug nuts. They all matched, and more shockingly, matched out lug threads. So we put them on
to replace our mismatched, ugly lug nuts.
20171021_171522 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
Somewhere along the way, we kept banging our heads on the wing. We taped a pair of shop towels to it as flags, and in meeting Mr. And Mrs Shawneecreek, they said
we should put stripper tassels on it. For classiness, you know. At the autocross, Mrs. Shawnee creek brought us tassels. She drove to walmart, bought bicycle streamers,
drove to the track, and taped them on. They stayed for the whole weekend, both as fun and safety. Didn’t hit my head again on that damn wing.
20171020_101853 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20171020_101950 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
Lastly, we hadnt had time or inclination to make lanyards for the safety pins on the fire suppression. GRM, with the reguistration bag, gave us a handfull of GRM
key/neck lanyards. The price was right.
20171019_191000 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
Friday morning, we got to the track briht and early. I had volunteered to work first run group, and let steve and dallas run the car. We had bumped the timing considerably
in the pits, fresh tires, fresh gas, full fluids, etc. Steve took the car first. I could tell something was wrong from my corner worker station. Sounded like he had a
very hard time getting into second gear, the car began to blow CLOUDS of smoke, and it was breaking up under throttle. I still had 45 minutes of corner working before
I would find out what happened. Just as I was getting ready to change, the car came back out for another run in much better shape. Turned out that the dipstick had
blown out, and we bumped the timing way too far, shifter was still pretty bad though. Dallas took it for a run, and beat steves time.
20171020_082654 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20171020_082652 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
I gave all my runs to the pro driver, Alan Mccrispin. He made that old girl dance, despite a trans that never had the same gears twice, and tires we could NOT get heat in.
He was able to get the car down to a 40.8 on his final run, and to do so, I told him to ignore the rising engine temperature. After that run, gaige read 250.....
We pulled back into the pits, where mom and dad had arrived with the motorhome. Mom fed us lunch, dad helped wrench on the car and provided moral support. We
worked on the clutch some, and I took it for the only autocross run I made of the weekend. Where I proceeded to knock over about a million cones. It was UGLY. Car
was at 230 after that one run. Not good, but night was coming.
When the drag time care around, I agreed to take the first two runs. We just needed a time. A bad one would have sufficed, but we wanted better than bad. I hopped in the
car to stage early, and had no clutch at all. All the fluid had disappear somewhere. We bled it with the help of Kevin (high school friend of steves that came to see what
all this was about), and had a pedal again. Not a great one, but a pedal. First run was a 16.xx, with me missing gears and a horrible bog on launch. I came back around at
240 on the gauge, and knew the car had a LOT more in it with good shifts and a decent launch. My second run was a 14.8 at 93 with a 2.7 60 foot and bouncing the rev
limiter a lot. I also had to back out after 3rd gear due to it getting squirmy. On the turn off road, I started smelling coolant. Got it into the pits, where we had blown a
block off fitting out of the block. We fixed that, bumped the rev limiter, strapped Dallas in the car, and proceeded to hot lap it. Dallas would make a good bracket racer.
He has great 60 foot times, great reaction times, and is consistently 15.2x at 96
I had one more run in me when the track was oiled down. I was in the car coming to the water box. I know that I could have ripped a 14 flat.
IMG_4452 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20171020_210313 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
Saturday was the concourse, scales, and awards. Mazduece again came to the rescue, volunteering to climb through the cage bars to clean all the crap out of the floors
that it picked up on track, as well as making us team shirts. We pulled a 22.5 out of a possible 25 points in the show. If we had prepared to present as much as we
prepared the car, and then showed off the undercarriage as well, we probably would have done better. We weighed the car, which came in at 29xxlbs without driver,
full of fuel. The picture of the scales had Dallas in the car, who goes about 180 if you believe his claim. Heavier than any of us thought it was. Mom made me a birthday
lunch and fed the whole team her hommade spaghetti under the canopy at the motorhome. She also did a team picture. Im in front, then Dallas, then Steve, then
mazduece.
20171021_140512 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
imagejpeg_0 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
The banquet was fantastic. Really good time. Really good food. Worth every penny.
Overall, we were able to pull 9th overall in our rookie year with a transmission that barely worked, an engine that ate a head gasket, and tires that in hindsight were a
huge failure in design. We had an incredible time. Met so many awesome people, had so much fun. Honestly, one of the greatest experiences of my life. Its addictive
from a social standpoint alone. Sure theres the competition part, but its the PEOPLE that make this event. I WILL return. Maybe even with a car.
The end result of the weekend: blown head gaskets, garbage trans, broken flare, some more fluid leaks, junk clutch hydraulics, and 4 blown trailer tires. The future of this
car is unknown right now, but its no longer mine. I gave it, and all the parts/supplies collected, to Dallas Sunday when we returned to Charlotte. The car was intended to
give him something to do while going through the custody battle and divorce. Something to work on. Something else to focus on. It succeeded in that. He now has a
capable autocross and drag car that will hold its own at a cruise night. Its something that's a transmission and a weekends worth of work away from doing whatever he
wants. Safely, reliably, and inexpensively. It met my goal of keeping him sane, and blew my goal of bottom of the mid 3rd of the pack far, far out of the water.
I want to thank all my readers, my family, and my teammates, and the friends I have made through this process for sharing the ride, the results, and the blessings with me.
Its been a fantastic journey that I don't think is over yet.
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