Airplanes, 2 kewl guys, Various leaking fluids, A fast car, and a great night!

**RTjunkie** · 10-20-2006, 05:36 AM

(WARNING: Very long read...hope you all like it!)

It was Wednesday, the 18th, just 2 days ago...and I had an eventful night planned!

One of our esteemed members, Dookie, was gracing my fair city with his presence. Comming from his home town in Louisianna, Kyle and his best friend Eric boarded a plane bound for sunny Florida. Without fail, the fun had already begun!

A few weeks ago, I decided volunteer myself, a full day, and my car to Kyle. His plan - To fly into Orlando in order to travel to Cocoa Beach to finally complete the long journey of a complete motor rebuild. His SRT-8 experienced various trials and tribulations as he suffered through the process of waiting multiple months for his car to reach this point of finality. Today was to be the day. The day where man, and machine would finally reunite like long-lost brothers who were once so close, but were forced to seperate...

I spent the morning taking care of some stuff here at home, but before getting too busy, I decided to give Kyle a call. I wanted to be sure there were no changes in plans, and to get a feel for his level of excitement for what was to come later this day. He was unsurprisingly very excited as he was taking care of all of his pre-trip duties. His level of excitement only marginally exceeding my own as I was given the honor and privelage of being able to partake in this experience! I was going to see what many have not... An LX car whose engine has been completely rebuilt from the ground up to take advantage of a portion of the immense reserves of power in our motors, and to enjoy a full day with the owner of such a fine car!

His plane was to land at 1:55 PM, and from there I would pick him up and drive him to Cocoa Beach where we would meet up with Marty over at KRC Performance. From there we would pick up the car, drive back out West to Bithlo in order to make a few passes at our local 1/4 mile strip - Orlando Speedworld. From there he would be driving back up to Louisianna to return his beloved car to her rightful place of rest. It is here we pick back up with the story...

Moments after Kyle was dropped off at the airport, I recieved a call from his cell. Having already programmed his cell into my phone, I was given his name immediately when the phone rang. I connected the call, and immediately blurted out "Hey Kyle!". I was a bit shocked to hear what sounded to be a female voice on the other end. Quickly evading the thought that Kyle had fallen down and busted his nuts, leading to the higher-pitched voice, I listened attentively as the mysterious voice identified herself as Kyle's girlfriend... I worried for an instant but disregarded that train of thought based on the lack of trouble in her voice. This moment marked the beginning of the "fun" as she explained to me that Kyle had managed to forget his cell phone in the truck when she dropped him off at the airport. Oh Boy! - Ok, now what? He's got no cell, and no way to reach me. Luckily, Kyle decided to bring along his best friend, Eric! Eric has a cell phone...GREAT!! So she asks me to wait a moment while she pokes around on the phone in an attempt to retrieve the phone number for Eric's phone...as I sat waiting, I could hear her feverishly hitting buttons to get the number..was kinda funny. She gave me the number...which turned out later to be off by a digit or two...but I won't hold it against her. :D We hung up after I thanked her for the call, and so began the waiting game for his plane to arrive.

I finished up a few tasks here, and left home around 12:30. I figured I'd have plenty of time to get to the airport early so I could park and meet him at baggage claim. I went downstairs, got in my car, and looked over my hood through the windshield. That annoying yellow tinge of tree pollen was riddled all over my paint. Awww HELL! Ok, going to pick up a fellow LX-er in a dirty car just WASN'T gonna cut it. Ok, lets see...I've got an hour and a half. It shouldn't take any more than 40 minutes to get to the airport.....

You know what that means....

CARWASH TIME!!

I cranked the car, slammed her in gear, and hauled-ass to the local Spray-n-wash to get a quick cleanup in! I washed the car quickly, and spent the next 25 minutes or so drying my beloved car off. Water spots are bad....mmmmkay?

Off I go! It's about 1:20 now...damn! Guess that wash wasn't as quick as I had planned.. :eek: Time to haul ass! I quickly work my way through traffic at a moderate 5 - 10mph over the limit as I work my way to the airport. I couldn't manage to stop myself from checking the clock every couple mintutes to try and make sure I'm there on time. I really didn't want to answer his call when they landed and have to tell him "Sorry bro! I'm on my way, just got...ummm....hung up at the carwash!" Approaching the main roads entering the airports I see I've got about 10 minutes before his flight lands. I quickly enter the parking garage and drive around looking for available parking with virtually nothing to be found. Found a nice parking spot at the end of a row on the roof! That works! (Hey, it's a 50% less chance of getting a door ding...I was happy)

I run down the lengthy isle of cars and reach the elevater, checking my watch every few steps. I finally reached the baggage claim just moments after 2:00 PM, and immediately checked the arrival boards. I see his flight labled "Now 2:35 PM". SWEET!!....well...ok, sweet for me, not for him.

So I figured what the hell, I'll go upstairs to the food court and get something quick to eat. Hadn't had a bite all day...and as it would later turn out would be the only thing I'd eat until I got home...lol. Good thinking Nate.

I quickly finish my meal and run back downstairs and check the boards again. It's about 2:25 now, and the flight is labled "In Range". Sweet! Looks like he's about to land. I sat around waiting impatiently for the long 10 minutes it took for the flight to be declared "Arrived". My excitement level heightened as I thought about getting to meet another fellow LX-er.

I then recieved a call from a strange number. Upon examination I noticed its origin was the same area code as Eric's proposed phone number. Weird...guess I'll answer it. Sure enough it was him! Sweeeet. He lets me know he's on his way to the Baggage Claim area where I was waiting. We had exchanged pics previous to all of this so we'd know what each of us looked like. We spotted each other at the same time and immediately approached each other. I knew right off that he was "one of us"...

The urge to yell out loudly "DOOKIE!" in a crowded room of 400+ people was almost more than I could suppress. I can only imagine the faces people would have made...rofl. We greeted and headed for the parking garage, talking along the way. Kyle vocally noted that he needed to call Marty/KRC to let him know that he had arrived in town and was on his way.

As we got into my car, and following the "Man it's hot" and "Man it's humid" comments, Kyle proceeded to call Marty. As I was exiting the garage, Kyle kindly paid the parking fare, and we were on our way! I noticed the tone in Kyle's voice dropping as he spoke with them. "Uh oh" immediately came to mind. I asked "What's wrong??", and was given no answer. Kyle finished up the call, and loudly exclaimed "F**K"! When probed for an explaination, he said that the car has a leaking front seal. F**k indeed!! I asked if they said they'd have it done today...to which he replied "They'd better!"

Fast forward through the ~45 minute trip to arrive in Cocoa, we proceeded up US-1 in search of Marty's shop. We pull into the parking lot moments later. From here I can see a bit of the rear end of his car hanging out of one of the two open bays. Damn that car needs a bath. Now I didn't feel so bad about washing mine before hitting the airport. :D

We park, and walk up to his car where Marty had his head buried in the engine bay working to fix the problem. I watched and listened as they discussed the issue at hand, hoping that this wasn't going to be a bad day.

Marty told us that he'd be able to have the car done this afternoon for sure, and that we'd be able to take it to the strip later in the evening. He suggested going ahead and getting a hotel room for the night just in case, and that we should come back in about an hour so we could see where we stand.

At this point there wasn't much left to do but go ahead and hit the hotel and try to get a room... So, off we went! The mood was calm, but a sense of worry could still be felt. Marty decided to loan one of his trucks to Kyle so he would have transportation as needed until the car was ready. It was a white Ram 1500, which had obviously had a bit of work put into it. Installed was a 4.7 Magnum V8, a cam, headers, heads, and who knows what else. Admittedly, she sounded mean as hell! Sadly though, even with all that work, she couldn't hold a candle to my Charger R/T. :D

We found the hotel, and Kyle got a room for the night. We went ahead and decided to just hang out in the room until it was time to leave again. While there, Kyle and I talked over various car subjects while Eric napped. He had been up late the night before and hadn't gotten much sleep.

About 90 minutes later we decided to head back to KRC to get a status on the car. We pulled out of the hotel and into a turning lane to perform a U-turn in order to haed back to the shop. I followed Kyle closely as he pulled forward. Immediately uponstraightening up in the outside lane, he abruptly stops in the middle of the road! I quickly stop behind him, all the while thinking "WTF is this guy doing??". Brake lights still on, I begin to hear the Ram's noisy motor crank up. No traffic was comming from behind, as smoke started to roll off of the truck's tires. He releases his brake, throttle still wide open, and leaves his mark in Cocoa for all to remember. We play around while driving down the road, dodgeing the tiny handful of cars that were sprinkled on the highway. Again and again we find out just how little of a fight the Ram put up against the churning HEMI.

We arrive back at the shop, this time to discover Kyle's car backed out of the bay. This looks quite promising!! We find Marty on the driver's side with his head still stuck under the hood, water hose in hand refilling the overflow resivior. At this point the thermostate wasn't opening due to an air bubble. A little time and heat will help fix that....and it did.

To generate heat, Marty used the simplest method of all...carnk the car!!!

This is the first moment that myself, Kyle, and Eric have heard this beast....all I can say is...

O H M Y G O D!!!!!!!

You can't even imagine how mean this beast sounds....

Or wait...maybe you CAN! Yay for video!!! :D :D

Ok, so now you can agree...that thing sounds MEAN AS HELL!! Woooo-boy!

So the event continues! Marty continues to play with the water levels as we watch. Suddenly, while on another idle run to generate more heat, the thermostat opens! It was neat to see the water go from the brim of the resevior, and drain to almost empty in a matter of seconds! Marty was right on the ball, adding more water so the cooling system wouldn't suck in more air.

Time for another install! This time...GRILLE LIGHTS! :D

I did this one without going through the trouble of removing the grille, just to save some time. Thank God I've got small hands.

Kyle sounded about as excited about the Grille Lights as he was about the car itself! LMAO

I found it kinda neat that if you leave the covers off of the fron of the radiator area, you get some ambient light on the underside of the hood...tell me THIS doesn't look kewl!

**RTjunkie** · 10-20-2006, 05:37 AM

After the car sitting and idling for another few moments, the long awaited question was asked by Kyle. "Is it ok if I take 'er for a test drive?" he asks. Marty swiftly replies with a "Yeah, go for it!". Oh man it's on now!!!!!

Despite Eric being Kyles best friend and all, he chose not to be the first rider! He wanted to hear her running from the outside! WOOT! That works for me! I get first ride! :D :D :D

We work our way forward and back to get out of the fairly tight parking lot which was packed with cars all over the place...in AND out of parking spaces...lol. We get to the edge of the lot, and I can feel my heart begin pumping harder..I knew this was about to kick some serious ass! He slowly pulls out onto the side street to head the few yards to the main highway. Low RPM's reverberating throughout the cabin like the engine room of a cruise ship, she slowly rolled towards the highway. As we roll to a stop, we see Eric briskly moving to the street corner to hear her in all her glory. Kyle throws it in Neutral and gives her a nice hefty rev! Then...out of nowhere...

it stalls....

Hmm...high-lift cam + stock stall converter = fussy idle in [D]. Luckily a high-stall converter is up for install next after he gets home! :D

After a couple failed attempts to restart the motor, Kyle gets her going again with a little feathering of the throttle. Sounds like we're back up running normal again! We wait for the traffic to clear with the left turn signal flashing. Oncomming traffic from the North clears enough to move to the median. Kyle gives a nice 1/4-1/3 throttle stab to move up...ooo, that felt nice!

Again waiting for traffic to clear we sit...the excitement growing by the millisecond. A break! Lets roll!

We move out merging into traffic at a medium pace...man she's got a lot in her, but we haven't felt much...yet...

A bit of an opening appears in the cars ahead and he drops the hammer...

........omg I think I just died and went to heaven.........

Ok, do it again...AGAIN I SAY!

HOLY SH*T THAT PULLS HARD!!!!

Ok - so here's my description...this has gotten some laughs already.

My take on SOTP feel. - Alright, we know she pulls hard....but HOW hard?

I'll put it this way...you don't get pushed back...you don't even get pinned to your seat...

YOU GET PINNED TO THE BACK SEAT!! Bloody HELL!! I think my eyeballs just touched my brain!?!? Oh! Wait, now they're back...he's off the gas.

Alright, that right there was FUN! .... AGAIN!!!

So yeah, we get back to the shop, and Kyle talks to Marty again for a few moments. Meanwhile, I'm describing to Eric the experience I just had. Kyle comes over and grabs Eric to take him for a ride. - Heh - I know what he's about to feel like... :D :D

And there he goes!

And here they come!

After they return, they talk a bit more, and it's off to the drag strip we go! A quick stop at the hotel so Kyle can grab his helmet, and we're on our way!

We shoot out S.R. 50 about 20 minutes and arrive at the convenience store right by the track. We need ice! Heatsoak + high humidity = lower power.

We get to the track around 8:45 and pay the $15 to run. Looks like we don't have too much time...the track closes at 10:00!

We pull into the pit area, and immediately get ice on the manifolds. Time to talk-shop with some locals and snap some more pics.

After about 30 min of icing down (definately needed longer) we decided to hit the staging lanes before it got any later. By this time it was 9:30.

We drive over, being careful not to rev the motor very much to keep the heat down, and pull into the lanes one behind the other. Kyle was in front of me, and we slowly worked our way up the line. As we neared the front, I was hit with a SERIOUS need to relieve myself from the liquids I had taken in. Time to RUN to the bathroom!

Off I went, and waited behind another gentleman who informed me it was occupied. Damn, this sucks! Well, might as well wait a moment and see what happens.

While waiting, I watch a couple of the other lanes progress a bit, getting a bit nervous that I may need to ditch the bathroom and return to my car.

This was to be my first run ever on a drag strip...I was very excited!

Waiting a bit more, this guy STILL hasn't come out. Myself and the other guy are getting very impatient. Suddenly, a break! Literally!

The guy in the left lane on the track blew his radiator hose. Yes! Looks like I've got a few minutes while they clean that up.

At this point, Kyle was in the #1 spot in our lane, which means he was next, and I was soon to follow.

Now comes the big bummer of the day...

It wasn't the waiting for the bathroom....that urge soon left me after having to wait so long...

In typical Florida style...it decided to rain.

:(

:(

It was a light rain, just enough to get the track a bit wet. It only lasted for about 5 minutes, but in that 5 minutes....they closed the track for the night. :dead:

Again, Kyle uttered that single word of frustration....

"F*CK!!!!!"

Even that couldn't express my dissapointment.... I guess there's always next time. :(

We got turned around and drove out of the staging lanes, and back over to the pit area where Eric was sitting in the stands, patiently waiting for our turns on the track so he could video them for us. Of course that would never happen...

The night did still end on a positive note. Kyle got his car, and is again in love with his HEMI beast.

Oh, and there was this...not sure why he wanted the pic....

Kyle - It was a great honor and pleasure to meet you. I hope to see you again in time. I had a great day with you, and would do it again in a heartbeat if given the chance.

Eric - Hope the nap was good buddy :D Glad you got a little rest. It was just as much an honor to meet you.

You both have great personalities, and great senses of humor. I look forward to hanging out with you guys again in the future.

**IDD** · 10-20-2006, 11:53 AM

Anybody have the Cliffs notes on this epic?

**Dookie** · 10-20-2006, 12:37 PM

AWESOME write up, pics and vids...Please excuse the two FAT boy models, Jenny Craig hasn't made it to Louisiana yet. We Cajuns like ta EAT!

Nate, you are one of the finest fellas i have ever had the pleasure in meeting. Was more than willing to help me out with any thing i desired...Your hopsitality and good nature were a God send for Erik and I. I really appreciate all you did for me during my short stay in your beautiful, yet HOT and ridiculously HUMID state...OMG...I thought we had it bad here in La., I didn't perspire there, i RAINED sweat just standing outside...I enjoyed the time we had to share stories and knowledge we had with these fine cars. Your Brylcreme exhaust was the first i had ever heard, and i must say, it should be one one the first thing an owner should consider after purchase...For a under $50.00 exhaust system, it's a must do...Your car really sounded good, i was impressed with the perfromance it had, and the ride quality. Your Charger R/T was the first i had ever riden in. You know your car well, and it shows in the way you handle it. Thanks again for everything, and taking time out of your life to make mine better...I owe you bud, BIG TIME!

**DeafCharger** · 10-20-2006, 01:13 PM

Great write-up as usual! Wish I was there at Bithlo.

Hey, did Nate install lights in hood scoop?

**Dookie** · 10-20-2006, 01:18 PM

No, not yet...We did look at it and Nate gave the indication that it would be very easy...plenty of room and a way to route the wiring.

I can't say enough about Nate, he is one class act!

**Ozzie** · 10-20-2006, 01:34 PM

Terrific write-up! Great vid & pix. Thanks for taking the time to share.

**DeafCharger** · 10-20-2006, 01:47 PM

Originally Posted by Dookie

I can't say enough about Nate, he is one class act!

Yep! He is a great guy! Good thing we both live in same city.

**Dookie** · 10-20-2006, 02:31 PM

I wish i would have gotten to meet you. It all seemed so hurry up and get to the track before it closed...I hope it cools off for you guys soon, you deserve it for sure.
Nate told me about a Shindig in the Spring in Alabama...I'll be there for sure, to meet more of the great guys from this forum. From what i hear, it will be a blast!

**DeafCharger** · 10-20-2006, 03:08 PM

Originally Posted by Dookie

I wish i would have gotten to meet you. It all seemed so hurry up and get to the track before it closed...I hope it cools off for you guys soon, you deserve it for sure.
Nate told me about a Shindig in the Spring in Alabama...I'll be there for sure, to meet more of the great guys from this forum. From what i hear, it will be a blast!

Actually, it's in GA. It would be great to meet you there.

**aries4life** · 10-20-2006, 07:43 PM

Heck ya Dookie, shoot over to GA and party with us. I would love to meet you AND your ride. Don't expect much of a humidity break here, tho. We keep our humidity turned up pretty high too