Pathogen's Vehicle Feed
Basic Specifications
Vehicle Color: BlackEngine Type: 6 Cylinder
Transmission: Manual
Est. Horsepower: 270 HP
Mileage: 90,000 miles
Pathogen's Other Previous Vehicles
Pathogen's 1998 Pontiac Firebird
The Virus
About this Previous Vehicle:
When I found this car, she was owned by someone else and broken, and I worked hard to put her back together... Time and time again things failed and I never did see her run right. Then (for non car related reasons) I didn't see her for a while... The owner eventually called me and offered her to me for $1500 and I couldn't turn down the deal.
Vehicle Journal:
Sep 02
Farewell (12/15/2005)
The Virus came back 7 days ago ... body damage, interior damage, no supercharger, fried clutch. This morning she left on a trailer with no engine or transmission... stock suspension, roll bar removed ... etc. She's bound for NY and a new owner who's going to deck her out with a 6spd LS1. 
Jul 12
Undeniably Fleeting (07/12/05)
Tonight two people slowly rolled back door #1 on a private garage. Inside sits a quiet black shadow, just as I left her – my heart goes out to the car.
She’s ready for inspection now … but I’d argue not ready for the road. My shoulder’s shag, there’s no time left for anything other repairs.
“I’m really going to miss this car.”
He looks at me like I’m crazy, “But it’s just a V6.”
“But she was the first of her kind.”
For a moment we’re both quiet.
He tells me where the battery charger is because she wouldn’t hold a charge when I brought her in, but I want to see if she’ll start first … and she does… on the first try. I back her out of the garage and let her sit for a few minutes. We talk about her some more before I take off for home.
Somewhere on the Interstate, I turned on the radio … and it goes right to my station … I look just to the left … the tripometer reads 14.x miles.
My eyes tear up and I have to blink them back as it dawns on me… she remembered.
I ask her for full throttle … and she stumbles.
My eyes tear up again.
Maybe she’s trying to tell me something. That she’ll never forget? That I can do better? That she’ll never be all I think she is or was … that there’s something out there… that there’s something better... That she’ll never forget.
I can’t bring myself to tell her this is the last time she’ll ever see me…. I hope she doesn’t know.
May 29
Waking up the Virus (May 29, 2005)
It wasn’t quite as glamorous as I thought it would be. Beneath a young elm tree in an apartment parking lot, she’s dirty, pollen covered, and looking nothing like what I remember. It’d been well before the first snow since she’d last moved.
I gave her 15 minutes on jumper cables before even trying to start her, but she fired at the first try for me.
That’s how I started a drive which would lead just 55 miles up the interstate.
We made one quick visit to a friend’s house before continuing north to the shop which is normally closed on the weekends, but tonight two of us are present for her arrival. A stock airbox is installed, some sensors connected, a few things looked over. Then she’s washed, taken for fresh fuel, and some more miles are racked up on the old girl.
I took her home that night and parked her out front. The land lord doesn’t like loud cars …. but once won’t hurt.
Come morning I’m reminded that to her I’m just another driver and she’ll eventually forget me like the others. I turn the key to see her Trip meter set to 0 … she’d already forgotten yesterday.
At wide open throttle she stumbles, her wipers don’t work, one headlight stays down, the CD player has quit and a fog light is burnout. Her state inspection expired nearly two months ago … that’s why she’s with me.
With the T-tops off, we cruised back north to the shop. I try again, and she stumbles.
In my heart, I want to rebuild her… restore her to the car I had built and driven before, but that time is gone and never to be revisited. Never again will she scream as she had before … but she’ll always remember.
She’ll be mine so long as there are problems, but once those are all fixed, I’ll have to give her back. Today she sat in the garage with 10 second Camaros and a Pro-Stock Corvette … tonight she’s sleeping under a cover in the shop owner’s private garage and I have her keys, because right now she’s my car. Because right now, she’s my project … again.
Factory Options:
CD player, power driver seat, power windows, power mirrors
Exterior Modifications:
SunCoat Creations Raptor hood
Interior Modifications:
rear seat delete, rksport 4pt roll bar, 5pt harness, Autometer shift light, boost and fuel pressure gauges, in A-piller pod.
Performance:
3-core Intercooled ProCharger P600B custom application
8.5 compression 3.8 V6 engine rebuilt by TideWater Machine
RKSport headers
"Almost a cat" and Flowmaster catback exhaust
Suspension/Chassis:
Hotchkis SFCs, LCAs, Panhard Road, Front and rear swaybars.
Bilstein shocks
Dunlop sport 5000 tires
Driveshaft safety loop (unknown make)
Eibach lowering springs
Drivetrain:
3.73 gears
LSD
Hurst shifter w/ short stick
Centerforce clutch
1LE drive shaft
Electronics:
Had a wicked sound system at one time - had nothing when I bought her.
To-Do List:
N/A
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