What goes around comes around.....

Or, why exactly did I buy another turbo dodge.

So I currently have 1 running vehicle and it belongs to my wife. The van is still moving at glacier speed towards completion, the old work truck needs a new engine, and my other truck has no reverse. All the while I've been broke as a joke and all those other funny quips people make when they are poor. I finally have some extra money, and when I realize it was coming on this paycheck, I make plans to buy and engine for the Dakota and get a 2nd vehicle running.

Enter the crappiest Dodge Daytona in the world.

Now sit back and get comfortable because this is going to get confusing and probably cause a lot of TL;DR. About 3-4 years ago I was at a customers house and notice he has a red with tan interior Daytona in his back yard. Saying it was neglected is like saying the Kardashians have daddy issues. One door had been poorly swapped with sagging door pins and wouldn't shut all the way, meaning it had been rained in for who knows how long. I strike up a conversation and he mentions he has a GLH-T in his backyard and a bunch of parts in the garage. He mentions he'd sell it all for $700. I'm broke (constant theme here) and mention it to another local td acquaintance who promptly goes and buys it all. I wanted to get the Omni but could work out a deal so I just assume I'll never get any of it. We'll call him Guy A for story purposes.

Another local at the time (Guy B) had an Omni that was swapped to turbo and we discover how rusty it is one night when the entire unibody bows while jacking up one side. He makes a deal to get the daytona shell straight up for his omni shell so the omni can be stripped for parts. He puts his turbo drivetrain in the car (2.2 with mitsu turbo) and starts to drive it as a straight up E36 M3box. Soon he gets bored though.

He decides to trade the car straight up for a fiat 2000 spyder with another local td kid (guy C). They had both went to the local trade school together. The kid with the Fiat has no title for it and makes the trade just so he can get a car with a title instead. He soon sells it to another kid from the local trade school (guy D). By now the turbo is wasted and soon another local td-er that also went to the trade school buys it from that kid for 400 bucks (guy E).

At the same time the guy A buys another car from another local td-er. They get into an argument and he offers to trade guy E the car he just bought for the car because he doesn't want to see the other car anymore (people have weird reason I know). So now guy A owns the car again, he pulls the head and puts a garrett turbo on, has the head reworked with some very mild port clean up work and put a FMIC in. He then decides about 6 months ago to sell the car to the now previous owner (guy F). I meet guy F after he responds to an ad on a t-d forum about parting out an omni I had bought in a package deal from guy A. He mentions he bought a Daytona and after asking a few questions realize it is this car. He tells me they plan on srt4 swapping it because they think the motor is hurt and I inquire about purchasing the engine that is currently in the car.

Apparently the guy got hard up for money and calls me telling me a scrapper has offered him 400 for the car and if I want it I can have it for that price. I go up yesterday and look at the car and find out he can't find the battery or the key. He is desperate for money and tells me if I don't want it he'll just scrap it since I couldn't hear it run. Today I decide to bite the bullet and buy it as it sits. He told me he plans on getting the battery tomorrow and a locksmith is cutting a key for it so hopefully I'll get it home and get some pictures of it this weekend. As I'm leaving the shop I see a maroon/silver Shelby Charger, I decide to tail the guy and he pulls up in front of a familiar house. I then realize that the original owner that had the car in his back yard lives 1.5 blocks from where the car now sits, for about the same price as he sold it for, but now (supposedly) running and driving.

TL;DR. Found a car 3 years ago rotting in a backyard. Just bought the same car 1 1/2 blocks from where I first saw it, 7 owners later.

Stay tuned as I plan on doing some minor suspension/brake upgrades and try and make the car into a not so crappy driver.

I have no idea what you just said, but turbo dodges are badass

I am not a daytona fan and it kind of sounds like the one you bought is super crappy but i AM all for buying cheap junk and then driving it around for no good reason, so this still gets a passing grade from me!

Pics?

In reply to Vigo:

Pics are coming, Didn't think to snap a couple when I went to exchange money for the title as it was getting dark. I'm not a Daytona fan either, but I bought a Sundance that also went through three people including the same "guy A" this car did, but he screwed me over on the title so it is a useless hunk unless I spend more money than I have in it to get a title since the scumbag has a tax lien against it, so I jumped at the chance to get a "running" car with a title for a low buy in. We have a strange tangled web of t-ders around here, most local cars have gone through at least 2-3 of our hands.

I'm with the master of evil.

(Vigo)

Wow, that was a mouth full. For some reason, I imagined you saying all of that in one breath, as fast as you could. It was funny.

No, I haven't been drinking.

Good luck with the new wheels.

Is that the single longest post ever, seriously it should have had an index...

To answer your question.....because alk you have to do is apply boost

I've talked to mopar before. I heard this entire yarn in his voice. It was hilarious.

Come on guys I even put a TL;DR because I knew half of you people are too ADD to read it all.

Toyman01 wrote: No, I haven't been drinking.

why not ?

wheelsmithy wrote: I'm with the master of evil. (Vigo)

Ha!

I understood that... I get that reference.

moparman76_69 wrote: Come on guys I even put a TL;DR because I knew half of you people are too ADD to read it all.

I read it all, I love a good story. I got confused by about the 5th owner though.

My wife got confused about half way through me explaining it to her. She just looked at me and said "you have problems". Which I cannot refute.

Mine just quit asking questions about 5 years ago.

moparman76_69 wrote: My wife got confused about half way through me explaining it to her. She just looked at me and said "you have problems". Which I cannot refute.

This needed to be said.

This sounds like the worst set of random non-plans ever laid. Looking forward to what the result ends up being.

Ah the joys of boneheaded people.

Thursday 10/16 I see the car and agree to buy it pending having a key and hearing it run

Friday 10/17 seller says, buy it as is or I'll just junk it. I exchange my doll hairs for a title and a "I have the lock at a locksmith key will be done tomorrow"

Saturday 10/18 seller says, "key is ready but I have no way to pay for it, if you can pay for it I'll put the lock back in and bring you the key." At this point I'm about done with the guy as I could have had the car towed Friday if he would've leveled with me. I reluctantly settle up with the locksmith, then a couple of hours get a call from the seller "we put your lock in but the key only works the passenger door." Great, you used the door lock to get an ignition key cut, genius. He offers to have another smith come to the car to get it cut but I'd again have to pay for it. I tell him to pound sand.

Today(Monday) 10/20 After a relaxing day Sunday looking at covered bridges and eating enough calories to make the collective judges of biggest loser heads explode, I wake up at 6 to take the wife to work so I have a car and then go to the shop where the car is. End up having to wait until 9 for someone to show up and ok me to work on the car. I had it started by 10. Pulled the lock plate to defeat the locked steering wheel, and dropped the column to get at the wires to hotwire it. Car started right up! Drove it to my mom's for now until I clear some room at home.

Oh yeah and crappy cellphone pics of a crappy car.

Looks better than i was expecting..

What drivetrain again? I know you said 2.2 with mitsu turbo, is it 5spd?

Sweet! Paint the whole thing Army green!

Probably just me, but as I was reading the original post, every time I came to a td, I read it as turd. Then, later on when you started referring to the various guys as td-er I was really entertained. I would have to draw a picture to even try to figure out that story.

I think this is the story. Not any less confusing in this format. M is Moparman.

Vigo wrote: Looks better than i was expecting.. What drivetrain again? I know you said 2.2 with mitsu turbo, is it 5spd?

Its a 2.2 Garrett and a 555.

It runs like crap. I bypassed the baro and it got better but still sputters when cruising at part throttle. I'll probably end up putting new harnesses in it since they've been hacked pretty bad.

So is this going to be a $2015 Challenge car?

In reply to sethmeister4:

Mayyyyyybeeeeee

With TL;DR summary: That's a very unusual set of circumstances!

Without TL;DR summary:

So this piece of crap is now residing in my driveway, now what...

I rigged up the column out of the sundance currently taking up room in my mom's garage to see if everything worked once I put in a proper ignition switch. Surprisingly both power windows go up and down and everything mostly works.

I ran the codes and got a bad baro solenoid, no charge temp sensor, and alternator field. So I bypassed the baro, found the charge temp wire and plugged it in, and now need to check the charging system.

The car pulls hard all the way to boost cutout (15 psi) so the manual boost controller needs to be turned down to 14. But, at idle it is dumping raw gas smell out of the exhaust and at cruising it acts like it is overfueling. I talked with the last guy to touch the engine and he says the injectors might be oversized. I'll have to pull one out and run the part number.

I pulled off the monster truck front struts of unknown origin and put on the daytona struts and cut springs I had on the front of the van.

I know I'm short on the pictures here, but I'll get some more. It is getting dark too early now lol.