Thursday 12-4p
The team travels on making a stop in Lincoln, Nebraska as 2-o-clock approaches. The group is seen sitting in a booth at a diner. They talk as they wait for their food.
N: “I think we have a good chance at completing this.”
J: “You say that now, barely into the trip? I think you might have jinxed it.”
C: “James is right, our chances of completing the trip just dropped by like 15%.”
N: “Aaagghhh, They did not. I’m just being hopeful, as this car has not shown any sings of quitting. But please, do be more careful avoiding potholes James. One of them woke me up from my nap.”
J: “That wasn’t a pothole.”
Nathan looks at him with a slow creeping realization.
J: “That was the torque bind.”
N: “Oh…” pauses “It wasn’t that bad, was it?”
James gives him a slight condescending look.
N: “…Well, you two were the ones who gave me the task of buy the car.”
C: “True, we can’t fault him too hard on that one.”
J: “But of all the cars you could have picked, you chose the teenage wet dream!”
N: “Are you saying you don’t like having 300 horses powering all the wheels?”
J: “I- Uh…” He stammers slightly. “Well it is nice.”
N: “Then it’s settled.”
Charles gives a chuckle, knowing Nathan had just closed the debate.
The team gets ready to head out, car gassed up and ready to go.
J: “Hey, Nathan, did you see where our water bottles went?”
N: “They’re right in the trunk like they should be, are they not?”
They open the trunk to find all their water bottles missing.
J: “Charles, didn’t you load up the trunk?”
C: “Yeah, and I put the waters in right here.” He points to a spot inside the trunk.
J: “Well, they’re not there anymore.”
N: “Why thanks, Sherlock.”
J: “Look, whether they were forgotten about before the event, or were stolen during the event, the water bottles are not here. We should pick up some more along the way for the evening camp.”
N: “Right. Shall we carry on then?”
The Pit Stop team moves on to the next destination on the route, Fort Kearny. They stopped for an extended amount of time for a quick photo shoot, and tourist-y stuff as well. They noticed a beat-up truck and an extremely rare to find Bonchon Masterpiece, both who were contestants in the tour. They also noted the Bonchon had no hood, and Charles remarked about how it was a turbo car just as unreliable as the Corzippa they were driving, if not more.
Also noted at Fort Kearny, they saw the remains of what was said to be an ex-LeMans Leeroy Racecar. It apparently ate a differential when entering the on ramp, was promptly smashed by a big-rig, and soon after caught aflame and burned up. This gave the team a somber chill as they left Fort Kearny.
The team refueled at Ogalalla, Nebraska. And, sometime near California Hill, the team noticed a red car on the side of the road with its hood propped up.
Thursday 8-Midnight
Down the road they traveled. The Pit Stop team decided to stop by Chimney Rock. While going around the bends on Chimney Rock Park Road, the car shuttered, on one occasion almost killing the engine.
James: “This is not good.”
Nathan, caressing the car: “Please baby don’t do this to us…”
Charles: “Damn back, this ain’t helpin none!”
They get to the filming location. Chimney Rock itself is seen in the background. They decided to do the intro sequence here, in case they don’t finish the tour.
The car coughs as Nathan lets off the throttle, and hits the brakes. He takes it around a turn, the car visibly shakes in the corner. He then takes another jab at the throttle to come back in front of the camera before making a corner… The car jeers once, makes a bang, then a rear wheel locks up as fluid violently pukes out from underneath it.
James: “Oh, now you’ve done it!”
Nathan sheepishly smiles as he realizes how bad the car just got.
James: “Well. Let’s see how bad the damage done is.”
The car doesn’t move very well, the rear wheels don’t cooperate and the front are straining to do something, but succeed in nothing.
Nathan, trying to shrug off the guilt he is feeling for braking the car: “It’s baaddd isn’t it?”
Luckily, due to James’ planning, they do have enough tools (though, not necessarily the right ones) to try to salvage the AWD. Nathan, still sheepish, is tasked with running to the nearest store for miscellaneous stuff and more fluid, while James and Charles lay on the ground trying to see if they can rig up the car to still drive, but on fewer wheels.
James starts talking to the audience as he works, “The nice thing about this Corzippa awd system is that it’s basically just a front transaxle attached to a transfer case of sorts. Though this looks bad, all we have to do is disconnect the transfer case from the transaxle internally. What makes this hard is the way American Eagle designed this. It’s a single case, so there’s a single case pan, which means dropping it will drop all the fluid, well most of it anyway. But, once that’s out of the way, access to the middle differential is super easy.”
Meanwhile, the cameras catch Nathan as he starts making his way back to the car. He is carrying a case of synthetic fluid, a long tube, and 2 tubes of ATV sealant. He stands on one side of the road waiting for quite a while until it is safe to pass. He whistles while he waits with a face of mild amusement.
Charles: “Holey shit! That thing really did explode.”
James: “Wow, yeah. Look at that damage!”
Camera gets a good look at the broken bits and the little bits of metal flake in the oil.
Nathan comes back with the supplies, and they get the pan back on the awd system using the ATV to re-seal it. They use the tube Nathan bought and the funnel they had with them to pour the new synthetic fluid in.
Nathan: “This is the correct fluid, right?”
Charles: “Well if it isn’t, then we’ll find out soon enough.”
James: “Hopefully, the seals, or what’s left of them, don’t decide to puke now, either.”
With the car sort of repaired- It’s FWD only now -the team heads to the next, and final destination of the day; Riverside Campground. They roll in just before midnight.