The fickle motorist who wants a weekend warrior.

Do you know anybody with a rollback or a loading dock who could help you hide it in the back of a Penske or Budget box truck?

I'm certain that challenge competitors can figure out how to get it down for you at the other end.

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

That's a great idea! I'll see what rates are for a trip out with a moving truck. The question then becomes how to anchor the car down. 

In reply to barefootskater :

Get one that's exactly the length of the car.

Looks like it's either the mustang or nothing. May end up a solo trip. The plus side is I can fold the back seat down and sleep quite comfortably. 

Still not 100% but I can almost guarantee the thunderbird will not make it to Florida this year. Which realistically means it will not survive long before being stripped and scrapped. 
 

If we assume that car is dead, I have two options (hopefully) to still make it to challenge this year. 
 

 It may be a solo trip which means I can skip hotels on the road and save a lot of money, and I have a place to crash in Atlanta for a day or two to recoup from the drive/event. Cost of travel is huge. I'd need to be as cheap as possible and possibly split the hote room I have reserved in Gainesville.  

1996 Q45. My daily. Free car. I have a set of wheels and decent tires. The car has an undiagnosed issue. I'm nervous to take it far. It is down on power most of the time. Bucks. Stalls. I think it's a fuel pump, maybe. Gets about 16mpg.  I could sleep in the car, but it wouldn't be ideal. 
 

1980 Mustang. Former daily. Reliable, slow. 25mpg. I can pretty comfortably sleep in it. The car is currently for sale/trade. If sold, I could easily hitch a ride to an airport and fly home. If traded I'd just need something fuel efficient and reliable enough for the trip. 
 

I have some money set aside for the trip, and could possibly scrounge a bit more, and I can eat cheaply. Two nights at the hotel and fuel costs will pretty much tap me out though. Possibly too much for the Infiniti and it's v8. 
 

Or I cut my losses and chalk it up as a learning experience. 
 

Minor confession. I'm not nearly as distraught as I anticipated. I've poured hundreds of dollars and hundreds of hours into the car. But somehow I'm at peace with failure here. 
 

I don't know what I can do to help, but lmk if you need a place to sleep, work on a car, drink a beer in Montgomery Alabama.   Is it too late to offer the tetanus special in trade for go fast stuff for the Mudstain and do a parking lot build?  If you need a team mate ill come down and help.  Swap the drive train from the big car into the mustang?  

One thing is for sure, it doesn't sound like you are having fun.  On the guilt subject, ask your wife if you should go or stay, if she says you worked hard and earned it, go for it

In reply to Justjim75 :

She's pretty adamant that I go. No time or budget for modifications, but I'm ok being slow. I'm pretty much looking at the event as a car show anyway. Except with cooler people and cars that actually get used. Racing is a big bonus, but im hardly competitive. 
I'm not sure what my route would be, but if I go through Montgomery I may take you up on that.
 

As for the thunderbird, it is very much available for sale or trade, though I don't have means to haul it anywhere and it wouldn't include the engine or trans. But I'd rather see it finished that scrapped. It's been in my dads shop taking space for almost two years and I can't ask for another year. And no place to store another car at my house. 
A lot is still undecided though, so I'll keep you posted. 

I took an almost stock Miata in 2018 as much to see how it all works and meet people so i know what you mean about car show.  Just throwing ideas.  

barefootskater (Shaun) said:

Still not 100% but I can almost guarantee the thunderbird will not make it to Minor confession. I'm not nearly as distraught as I anticipated. I've poured hundreds of dollars and hundreds of hours into the car. But somehow I'm at peace with failure here. 
 

 

It's not a failure. I assume you learned a bunch and enjoyed the time planning/building with your dad.

In reply to solfly :

The funny thing, no joke, is our motto for this build has always been "embrace the failure"

like what if we don't make it?

what if we're slow

what if it explodes on course

what if it gets impounded

embrace the failure. 
 

It is at least partially a failure on my part for not getting my ducks in a row ahead of time. But like you said, it is something I can learn from. Besides, I learned a lot and did a bunch of things for the first time. 

How flexible is your travel schedule? UT to FL is a long ways with many GRMrs in between. Could you build up the Mustang along the route?

I have some springs and swaybars(no decent shocks and struts though), and enough stuff to do a 5lug swap so you could use the wheels/tires you already have, in Indiana.....

In reply to gumby (Forum Supporter) :

In theory that would be awesome. There are a couple down days planned, I was going to use them to recoup and rest up. I have no budget for any mods though. Maybe I can swing a cheap glass pack and gain some top end? It falls off a bit around 4K. That's about all I'd be comfortable taking on though. I work slow. 

How about drivetrain swapping the mudstain in the parking lot on Thursday? Somebody has to have a cheap 302/C6 combo laying around. We would need front springs, engine mounts but not much more.

I think there would be a lot of people to pitch in on this.

Edit: Found the drivetrain donor, $300

I would be willing to negotiate payment at a later date, after Challenge and after you sell the car, to be part of ensuring you get to FL and have stories to tell afterward. I don't know your starting point on the Mustang, but budget be damned and run exhibition if necessary. Might be the sort of adventure that would reinvigorate your dad's interest in road tripping?

If there were a couple other Fox chassis fans who wanted to participate along the way, some shocks and struts and maybe a brake master cylinder would round out a decent package upgrade. Getting into making more power is probably a bridge too far, beyond your glasspack thoughts, but with a few helping hands the suspension would only be a day's effort as long as the car is not rusty(crosses fingers for the benefits of a UT car). I have a place to do the work, or we could send parts to the hotel for a PLB.

You do you, let me know if there is anyway I can help.

In reply to hobiercr (FS) :

That is possibly a fantastic suggestion. My thinking:

Im not interested in owning this car with a v8 swap. I am interested in selling it there and finding alternate means home. 
 

Proposal: 

I have the mustang listed for $1500. Hobiercr found a $300 drivetrain. I'll sell the car at challenge for $1200 if the buyer makes the swap happen there. I'll help in any way possible, so long as I get to drive it too. 
 

all this pending I actually drive the mustang out. I'll make a decision by Sunday

barefootskater (Shaun) said:

In reply to gumby (Forum Supporter) :

In theory that would be awesome. There are a couple down days planned, I was going to use them to recoup and rest up. I have no budget for any mods though. Maybe I can swing a cheap glass pack and gain some top end? It falls off a bit around 4K. That's about all I'd be comfortable taking on though. I work slow. 

I've got a Cherry Bomb that I'll sell to you for $0.00 with delivery on Thursday to the parking lot of the Gateway Grand!

In reply to wae :

If I drive the mustang out I'll take it! My thinking is the stock style muffler is blown out. Seam split along the top of the inlet side. So the car is loud already. A cherry bomb would likely be quieter at normal throttle levels, and would breathe better up top. Win win. 

In reply to barefootskater (Shaun) :

Rock on!  Just let me know.  The current plan is that we're going to leave in the wee hours of the morning on the 20th.  The ID is 2.25" and the OD is 2 3/8".  I may have some clamps I can scrounge up and throw in as well.

Gumby, you have mail. 

In reply to barefootskater (Shaun) :

Replied. 

Update. 
Q45 sold. 
 

This means less stress in my life, more parking space, and more travel funds. Looks like I'll be driving the mustang. I think I have a line on a 5lug axle with better gearing. I have two wheels for the rear in that case. If I can find a pair of 4x108 17" wheels I can put my tires on for the front I'll be in a great place. 

"Barefoot! Barefoot! Barefoot! Barefoot!"

Plans are still evolving, but almost finalized. 
The plan is to leave early on the 17th and hit Denver on day one. That is the longest stretch. Day two to KC or past. Day 3 to Gumby's place. Day 4 is springs, bars, wheel figment confirmed and tires mounted. Day 5 sees Atlanta. Then the last and shortest leg to Gainesville on Thursday 22nd. Aside from the overnight in Atlanta, I'll be camping*. I can quite easily sleep in the car, but I'll be bringing a small tent for options. 

*if anyone reading along knows good places to camp or park overnight along the planned route, please let me know. I've never traveled that road before. 

Home will be a more direct route and barring any problems, I'll pull up on the 27th. 
 

The best part, apart from the story, will be using my regular tires as drag skinnies! 
 

It appears I will be driving alone, and that will make travel documentation difficult. I'll post the whole thing, or whatever I can get, here as I stop along the way. But being alone, I can remove the passenger seat and have more room for what is turning into the greater Midwest tire/wheel shuffle of 2020. Good thing my paint isn't great, might strap stuff on the roof. 
 

I also want to say a huge thanks to the folks helping this trip happen. Hobiercr (for getting the thread started), Dead sled, Patrick, and Gumby in particular. Wheels, parts, shuttles. This is GRM, folks. Great people, that I've never met aside from the zoom meetings and text messages. Looking forward to the trip, even if it's not exactly how we planned, and even if I struggle to get into the 18s, I'll be smiling. So thanks, everyone. 

This sounds like an awesome plan- we've had decent success with freecampsites.net if you're looking for places to camp on the cheap.  Let me know if there's any way I can help from over here in eastern Pennsylvania.