G Force!

All about how I got my '84 Daytona, a story of mystery and intrigue ... well, meybe not but there's some nice photos in it

Prologue
When idly browsing around ebay most people see something and think "I've always fancied owning one of those".  Your finger may even hover over the 'Bid Now' button before reality kicks in.  If the pull is strong enough, however, you may be tempted to click on that button and just put in a little bid, that way if you win, it will be a real bargain.  Hi, my names James and I'm an ebayoholic.  I clicked that button.  Yes I was weak, and while things haven't turn out as intended, I regret nothing.  The peach in question here was a non-running 1984 Daytona Turbo, the first generation, the flagship, and the object of my desires since owning a 1/64th scale Matchbox model of one when I was a kid.

But this wasn't just some forgotten rust heap - it was a survivor, never welded, painted or, it seemed, driven; under 50,000 miles and the interior still looked like new.  After some sage advise from the regulars on Turbo-Mopar.com it was decided that the most likely cause of the car's problems would be a blocked fuel line, so I figured a small bid would do no harm - even I can clean out a fuel line.  Well, that small bid turned out to be the winning one; I guess people are put off by the thought of a car that can't be driven home, especially if its an import.  Of course winning the auction then presented a new set of challenges ...

"Honey ... um ... I've sort of accidentally bought a car …"

If anyone is wondering, this simple phrase can put you in the doghouse for a very long time.

Anywho, whats the best way to get a non-running car thats 60 miles away, without a towing dolly or trailer ... and without having to spend any money?  I formed a cunning plan involving a friend, a mobile phone, and a small stretch of the truth.  The friend in question is a local American car fan, who kindly gave me and my toolbox a lift all the way to Nottingham in his daily driver (thanks, Finlay!).  We gave the car a quick check over upon arrival, but it was obvious that the fuel line was fine, so driving back on a ghetto fix wasn't an option; time for plan B.  The car started from cold, so with my friend following I set off to see how far I could get ... conveniently it cut out on a nice open stretch of road, just as predicted.  We then pushed it up onto the curb, and I waved farewell to Finlay, who got on his way back home. 

Above: with all the comfy options like cruise etc, the auto T1 Daytona makes for a fantastic long-distance highway cruiser

This is where the mobile comes in, I called up the AA (the Brit equivalent of Triple A), "Hi there," I said, "I was just on my way home and the car cut out without any warning."  (I figured it was time my membership paid for itself).  It took about 1½ hours by the time they managed to organise a flatbed truck to take me home, and a further hour to get home.  Net outlay for me: £0.00 (though I did give Finlay some money for petrol).  Within a week I got a new Hall Effect Pickup from Tom (thanks again!) and it was all systems go!  The Daytona drove very well, the sensation of driving it felt closer to my old '72 Charger than to the Shelby Charger, with soft comfy seats and a tight auto with stock stall converter.

Above: After cleaning and some fresh rubber parts the engine bay looks presentable.  The air-con still blows cold!

There was, however, something lacking; the nice big factory boost gauge only went up to 0 psi at full throttle, and the performance matched.  Someone had been driving it around with the wastegate disconnected, and by the look of things this had been for quite some time!  Clay Cooke hooked me up with all the bits needed to give it a service (yet more thanks in order) and I started to plan what other work was needed.  By the time it was all tallied up I knew I couldn't keep all three cars.  As the tidiest of the three, I figured my first move should be to try and sell the Daytona on (now as a reliable running car), but first I wanted to do one little thing - take it racing!

Above: I found waiting at the lights more difficult, with the converter loaded and no hand brake to hand waiting for slow-to-stage competitors took more concentration!

If it sold it would be many more years before taking another auto equipped car to the track, so I wanted to have that experience while the opportunity presented itself.  My local strip, York Raceway, is a fantastic place; racing takes place on an old World War 2 landing strip that's now in the middle of a working farm, and is organised by a group of stalwart volunteers.  This isn't grass roots motorsport, its not that sophisticated - there's a sign by the fireup lane asking the farm's tractor drivers not to cross the strip.  I went for a Run Wot Ya Brung session on the first of May, and after eight runs had managed to get my technique down to almost respectable; .7 reaction times and 2.4 second 60' times.  Unfortunately after that point the performance fell flat on its face, I found out later that the cam had skipped a tooth so it hadn't been making any power at all above 3000rpm.

Epilogue

Having advertised the Daytona nobody has made a serious offer, so it looks like I'll be keeping it; this means its curtains for the Charger, which is suffering from typical terminal L body rust.  Keeping the Daytona stock should provide me with a nice reliable runabout for getting to shows ... which is funny because that's why I bought the Shelby Charger in the first place ...