Leona. Beginning to End - Photos & Media Forum

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Leona. Beginning to End
Tuesday, August 28, 2012 6:24 PM
Leona came into my life September 10, 2009. The car was originally bought to be a winter beater. She looked like this when I first got her.


The whole "winter beater" thing didnt exactly last. The car looked like this after 2 days of ownership.

Then after 8 days of ownership, this...


In December of that year, I decided to get the Quarter panel "fixed". She never really recovered from this. The quarter panel needed to get replaced.

That winter, I started collecting parts.
In April 2010, I started installing stuff.


Went from this

To this...

Put on a new rear bumper.

Then I did this.

After getting the quarter fixed the second time, this time shaving the antenna.

Over the winter of 2010/2011. I decided to go balls to the wall. Completely shaved and tucked engine bay, polished supercharged engine and a new look on the outside.
I had to start by gutting it.




These rims lasted 2 weeks, I actually regret getting rid of them

After I was done all the welding, I took it to Wayders, and got this back. Saying I was pleased was an understatement.


2 weeks later, Rob Weatherall and I attacked the car and in one weekend, got it to the point of running, that included re-assembling everything from the engine bay, fuel/brake lines, fuel tank, suspension, completely custom engine, interior and sub harness.


The engine was masterfully polished by Chris Gill.

We got it all assembled and running. Then over the next few weeks, started making it look like a car again. Again, another set of rims.



I didnt drive the car at all in 2011. That winter, I parked the car at my uncles condo. on March 14 2012, I got the call that no car owner wants to get. My car got broken into.
This is what I found.


I already had a few things that I wanted to change, so I just got off to an early start.


Prototype Weatheralls Automotive manual steering rack.



We got it all buttoned up and I started driving it April 15th.
I was very happy with how it turned out.

Ofcourse, another set of new rims. lol



Jeff, Alex and I headed out to the JBOM BBQ on the weekend of May 24th, cruised around like this all weekend.

And came back with a new hood.


June 24th, the beginning of the end for the car. I was being a Putz and did this.

I THOUGHT I got away with being able to reseal the tire and an alignment. I was wrong.
A couple weeks later, the manual steering rack snapped, a short while after that, the left front wheel bearing sheered in half, damaging the Wilwood Rotor and caliper. I had the rotor machined and was able to repair the caliper, but that was enough for me. I bought a new car and let this one sit outside my parents place under a tree.
What most people dont know is that 1cleancav and I worked out a deal for his turbo system. I put the supercharger up for sale and was going to come out next season, Turbocharged, even more tucked and use it as a weekend toy.
I went to the JCO bash and took home this.

My day was ruined however when we took the car off the trailer. The belt somehow got on the inside of the @!#$ty racetech overdrive crank pulley and completely sheered the belt. Even though I was planning on getting rid of everything involved with the failure, it was the final straw.
I decided to part it out and scrap it.
So last Saturday, Alex Priggen, Chris Hooper and I did the deed. It was a bittersweet. It was really hard for me, but I knew that I was moving onto bigger and better things, Things outside of the modified car world. I was comfortable with my decision.
This is the LAST picture of Leona in all her glory.

And this is how I left her at the shop. I never thought I would have to do this, but I did. And Im never looking back.


I can say that I truly accomplished what I wanted with this car. I went further than I expected and I was incredibly proud of what it turned out to be. I DEFINITELY could not have done it without the help of a lot of very talented people. Chris Gill, Rob Weatherall, Wayde Knapp, Alex Priggen and countless others. But most of all, my wife Felicia. Through all the late nights and missed weekends away because of this car, she stood by me and believed in me. If I have forgotten you, I apologize. This car is something that I will look back at years from now and smile knowing that I went balls to the wall and pulled it off.




Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Tuesday, August 28, 2012 6:40 PM
Sad to see her go, you def. built a beauty of a ride bud!

very happy i could also be apart of the build, good luck with whatever you get next!

cheers





Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Tuesday, August 28, 2012 6:51 PM
makes no sense.



FU Tuning



Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Tuesday, August 28, 2012 7:05 PM
(copied from JCO)

I can honestly say that im proud that i was apart of this car. Sadly it was more towards the end of its life with many late nights, long hours and countless repairs. i am sad that it came to an end so soon. Saturday before we started the tear down, you can see Darren was having second thoughts. I think you made the right decision. Take some down time, take a break and enjoy life. Sorry for posting that pic yesterday on FB. i know it was hard and Felicia actually messaged me and asked me to remove it. I know how hard it was for you. Bits and pieces on Leona will live on throughout the JCO. On the bright side, your wife invited me over for dinner lol

You did good buddy.






Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Tuesday, August 28, 2012 8:36 PM
Sucks to see her go man!

On to bigger and better things.





Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Tuesday, August 28, 2012 9:18 PM
Addicted to meth wrote:makes no sense.


This right here...



WHYYYY






________________________________________.
Still not low enough for a signature.

Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Tuesday, August 28, 2012 10:32 PM
Twenty4z wrote:
Addicted to meth wrote:makes no sense.


This right here...



WHYYYY



Eh, sometimes you just know....

I can relate, I almost got rid of my cav, as I figured I would never do anything with it. Deciding to keep a 3rd car around saved it from a sale, which with the way gas prices are heading, may have been a good idea.....


Besides, I've noticed people just get the itch again...


http://www.autotalk.com/pictures/data/1536/medium/2005_Chevrolet_Cavalier_Xtreme_002_autotalk_com_.jpg
Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Tuesday, August 28, 2012 11:19 PM
Sad to see it so bare... But good for you. Sometimes I wish I could do the same, lol. Was a beauty in its prime!



Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Tuesday, August 28, 2012 11:45 PM
Fail.....




Currently #4 in Ecotec Forced Induction horsepower ratings. 505.8 WHP 414WTQ!!!
Currently 3rd quickest Ecotec on the .org - 10.949 @ 131.50 MPH!!!

Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Wednesday, August 29, 2012 5:17 AM
^ agreed, if it were mine.
But things change, and I'm often tempted to just give up on my J's, and some day maybe I will, who knows.
For now J-body till I die. LOL



Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Wednesday, August 29, 2012 6:34 AM
It doesn't need to make sense to anybody else. It wasn't your car, your time, or your life.

Thousands of man hours put in, only to meet heartbreak every time it's time to enjoy all the work and sacrifice. We can't all spend that kind of time away from our families and we can't all have a place to store a sour car while we work up the gumption to work on it again. Darren had neither and decided to do what was best for his mental state - something he should have done after the last car. I'm glad you found peace in it my friend.

I'm glad I could help with both cars along the way, I've learned a lot from you and I know you'll be back someday in the future with something else. Until then enjoy the break, enjoy your wife and enjoy life. Thanks for the parts, I'm glad to see some of this car live on with my "winter beater".

-Chris-


-Sweetness-
-Turbocharged-
Slowly but surely may some day win this race...

Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Wednesday, August 29, 2012 7:37 AM
SweetnessGT wrote:It doesn't need to make sense to anybody else. It wasn't your car, your time, or your life.

Thousands of man hours put in, only to meet heartbreak every time it's time to enjoy all the work and sacrifice. We can't all spend that kind of time away from our families and we can't all have a place to store a sour car while we work up the gumption to work on it again. Darren had neither and decided to do what was best for his mental state - something he should have done after the last car. I'm glad you found peace in it my friend.

I'm glad I could help with both cars along the way, I've learned a lot from you and I know you'll be back someday in the future with something else. Until then enjoy the break, enjoy your wife and enjoy life. Thanks for the parts, I'm glad to see some of this car live on with my "winter beater".

-Chris-


I want to clarify my orginal statement. I understand wanting to get out of the scene. Makes prefect sense.

Taking a prefectly good running car and scraping it. That makes no sense.

I understand taking parts off a car to make it easier to sell. but scraping it, that MAKES NO SENSE.

I have enjoyed what his build. I just hope he is not some others and in 3 months comes back and has another car to build (jbody wise), because that will just make this post retarded, and I would hate to think that about this guy who has seemed to be a great guy and did some great stuff.



FU Tuning



Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Wednesday, August 29, 2012 7:49 AM
It is sad to see this car go ( mostly because mine is 99 too ). I hope I can build mine to this level when I am done




Jason
99 Z24

LG0/LD9 for Life
10 Year Bash Veteren
Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Wednesday, August 29, 2012 8:41 AM
Blwn LD9 wrote:It is sad to see this car go ( mostly because mine is 99 too ). I hope I can build mine to this level when I am done

You know how you can start? Buy the wire tuck harnesses
John, the reason I scrapped it is because its not really something I could de-mod and make a daily driver. Factory wiring harnesses no longer worked, AC and heat had been completely eliminated. And to be honest, it would be a BITCH to track down stock parts for everything that I would have needed to strip.
I WILL build another car a few years down the road, but it most definitely won't be a J body. I certainly have nothing against them, hell, everything I learned about modding came from J bodies and this community. Its just that my time with them has come to a close.
My next toy car will be either a Z06 or a Skyline. But I have time to decide which one. Buying a new house and starting a family is much more important to me now.



Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Wednesday, August 29, 2012 8:58 AM
You've thanked everyone whom has helped you, but if I'm not mistaken you've had your hands in a lot of other builds yourself, so the time invested in the j-body not only came from your multiple cars, but helping others complete their harnesses, swaps, what have you...I know you have done it all.

I applaud your decision Darren, doing such in short time doesn't only emotionally drain you, but the financial part and weight on personal relationships just adds to it. Not saying that's the case, but was my personal experience. I felt the same with my '97, and after taking first in each show I'd entered that first season, I knew I'd proven to myself what I've wanted after having a couple cookie cutter J's prior and I could emotionally detach myself and attempt to recover funds and regain a life.

Take care, eh?






Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Wednesday, August 29, 2012 6:14 PM
Wow! Like everyone else said sad to see it go, but i know the feeling. Ive been trying to sell my car as a whole for a while now. I dont want to but its almost time to part and sell dirt cheap



Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Thursday, August 30, 2012 11:49 PM
Hate to see it go man but believe me I understand about moving on.... I did and do not look back.... Only thing I enjoyed was the people honestly. Glad I can still communicate on here for that reason and try to help too but no more j for me either....



Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Friday, August 31, 2012 12:20 AM
Sad to see her go but just remember, jbodies get in your blood and are like a drug...you may feel like you feel now but a few weeks/months/years down the road your guna be driving and a Z is identical to her (in the beginning) is guna ride by and you will be addicted again.lol



Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Friday, August 31, 2012 7:07 PM
I do have to agree with John... scrapping a good shell is kind of backwards. I can understand wanting out and moving on with your life... I'm in that groove myself, hence one of the main reasons why the Pearl is still not done. But I did see your for sale post on The Book a month or so back, and I'm fairly sure had you hung onto it till tax time, you could have found someone to take the car as a whole off of your hands for what you were asking. In the end, I hope this decision doesn't come back to bite you in the scrotum later down the road, once the relief has worn away.



R.I.P. JessE Gerard 7.11.87 - 1.25.08
The Radiation Nation Facebook Twitter Twisted Metal Alliance
Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Saturday, September 01, 2012 9:24 AM
I agree with the mass that it sucks to see the car torn apart and scraped.

The car raised the bar in many ways and I'm sure people will be inspired by your build thread years down the road. I still look at it com time to time to remind myself on how you did one thing or another.

I can understand not wanting to sell the car as a whole and possibly seeing it driving around town. That's why when I sold my talon I made sure to sell it so it would go where I would never see it again. Its hard to see someone else enjoying all the work you put into "your" car.


"Oil Leak ? What oil Leak ? Oh, Thats Just The Sweat From All The HorsePower!!"

Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Saturday, September 01, 2012 10:07 AM
It's. It that I didn't want to sell it whole. Nobody wanted to pay the price I was asking. I would have taken about 4500 and I was getting bull@!#$ 2000 offer from idiots on kijiji. And I didn't get one offer from people on here or any other forum I posted it on. So at that point, I decided not to sell it as a whole and started to wonder what I wanted to do with the car. This is what I eventually decided to do with it.




Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Sunday, September 02, 2012 8:13 PM
Not surprised on the offers. People are already lowballers, then it's a j-body on top of that. 4500 was more than fair, I thought.. that's just a lot to drop on a car at a moment's notice. I still think had you waited till tax season, you'd have gotten top dollar, but it is what it is, and it's done.



R.I.P. JessE Gerard 7.11.87 - 1.25.08
The Radiation Nation Facebook Twitter Twisted Metal Alliance
Re: Leona. Beginning to End
Monday, September 03, 2012 12:15 PM
Love seeing the pics up until the end. Thats what mine looked like on her final days as well. No hard feelings about the kit, it is what it is and I completly understand your decision. I wish you all the best in the future and look forward to seeing what you may build down the road. Cheers


"Straight roads are for fast cars, turns are for fast drivers"-Colin McRae
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