BA2BE 2007
Well, we had so much fun on the inagural run of the BA2BE rally we just had to do it again. With Fugly the Wondervan off to new adventures a new noble steed must be sourced. Of course we like sourcing cars :)
So, how do you top Fugly the Wondervan
(herafter known as F1)
It was the question that we all pondered during our 20 hour drive home. A
question which we took a little more seriously as she started to show the
tell tale signs of being ready for a rest.
Maybe it was the previous night's excessive hurricane consumption, perhaps it was just 20 hours of white line fever, maybe our brains were just cooked from all that heat and no A/c, or maybe we were just effected by the ever increasing amount of burning oil fumes finding their way into the cockpit of F1. Most likely it was all those things and more, but either way...an idea was born. And the idea grew, and we named it F2 (Fugly the 2nd)
Being the obsessive compulsive type I am I couldnt quite let go of it. It seemed like such an interesting idea. So I started searching...and it seemed we were off our rockers, no way were we going to procure F2 for anywhere near the alotted $250, I had been outbid multiple times on ebay in just the first week of looking. So it was time to change strategy, turn over new rocks and see what we could make happen. I lined up local auctions, I found other sources for the elusive goal vehicle, and best of all (it turns out) I started trying to head these ebay auctions off at the pass.
So one fine morning a new ebay auction is listed for our ride of choice, starting bid $200, no reserve BIN of $800 so at least I knew the owner was in a reasonable ballpark (all the other auctions ended well over $1000) So I sent the seller an email asking a few questions and explaining our goal. We exchanged a few more emails discussing BABE and other automotive adventures and it seemed we were like minded lunatics. Finally the all important email came, "Jim" he says, "you are just the right kind of crazy, so if you think you can make this work for your rally, you can have it for $250" WOOOOFRIGGINHOOO!
Last weekend (June 24th) my wife drove me the 2 hours to go pick her up....what the heck was I thinking, F1 was about 2 hours away and when we couldnt drive her home the towing experience became an adventure unto itself.
*side note* how cool is my wife that she not only has agreed yet again to house another beater for a full year, one that is much more unsightly than F1 by the way, AND she cancelled her plans to go to the beach so she could drive me to pick it up.
My fears were unfounded, it started right up and after a brief excursion to the local title agency to get some temp tags we were on the road. Made it the whole way home, 95 miles....much better than our ominous start with F1. Of course she is not without issue. F2 brings a whole new meaning to the word Fugly, and she used or leaked about 1 quart of oil on the trip home....dear god I hope its just leaks.
The planning, and preparations have already begun to make F2 go excessively above and beyond the rolling party/pimp wagon that F1 was.
She is unfortunately a F@rd...this does not bode well since I have never had good luck with any blue oval product, with the exception of my old F250 truck which had a Chevy engine transplant....although I do have a spare chevy 350 sitting here....hmmmmm
So now without further ado I present to you, F2, FTWB, Fugly The WonderBus
Many modifications are to come. We have already gutted her out so we can outfit the interior in a more pimptastic style.
Some laminate wood floor left over from a renovation project is going down on the floor, and I already have one Lazy-Boy recliner to bolt to the floor. We still have to find a sofa, but those appear regularly in the trash around here.
She will get painted back to schoolbus yellow since busses just look better that way. The last 2 paintjobs were brush jobs so we dont have to feel any compulsion to break out the spray guns and do any better.
Currently powered by a ford 351 with a C6 auto trans behind it. Runs and drives good, but is loosing oil, hopefully once we seal up all the leaks it will be fine, if its burning oil we may have to drop a chevy engine in it afterall since we already have one (and a nice 4 speed auto to go with it)
She has 4 brand new tires and 2 brand new spares too (no rims just tires so I have to scrounge those) They are an odd 16.5 rim size so Im glad we dont have to go looking for any tires.
Of course the disco ball will be back, and it has a friend, we found a second one just like it, F2 is too big for just one ball....this bus has got a pair ;)
Already has dual batteries and a high output alternator so we will be a little ahead when we start wiring in all our gizmo's this year.
And dual gas tanks to help quench her thirst for gasoline. I think the current capacity is around 40 gallons...that should hit the wallet in all the wrong ways. Let's see 40x$3 a gallon....holy crap...were gonna pay more in gas the first day than we did for the vehicle.
Much more to come, stay
tuned for updates as I have time and energy.