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.