MAX Update No. 60: An Unplanned Body Modification

Reader Contribution by Staff
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Those who read “Sadly, without MAX” at the end of MAX Update No. 59 may be wondering, “What, is MAX still hung up on that root wad?” Nope, the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, which has dealt with this sort of thing before, rescued me quite efficiently once daylight hit. And though the nose was grunched a bit, it responded well to roadside fiberglass repair. I let the resin cure over a late lunch (yep, I mixed the resin pretty hot) and by the time I was blotting Tall Town Deli’s salad dressing off my lips, MAX ready for the highway again. Yes, MAX was ready…but was Jack?

Good question, and one that didn’t occur to me to ask myself until (quite literally) the dust settled.

So there I was, jamming down Highway 140, a fun swoopy canyon road with little traffic, perfect for a sports car to make up some time. And I had a good load of time to make up, I’d used up all my extra time last night and this morning, and I was going to have to jam to get to the Fair. But I’ll tell you, I had just the car to do it in – the new body has transformed MAX from a Classic Sports Car to a Vintage Road Racer, and while it still doesn’t accelerate with great enthusiasm by modern standards, it hangs on to momentum with a steely grip. With the early body, as soon as I eased off the throttle, aerodynamic drag sucked MAX back, but now, backing off the throttle doesn’t do much, and if there’s a bit of a downhill slope, backing off the throttle doesn’t do anything.

You probably see where this story is going.

Oh yes, one big difference between MAX and a vintage road racer is, MAX doesn’t (yet) have the tires for the job. It still wears the tires that came on the Corrode Warrior (the rusted out ’80s era Toyota Corolla that provided the wheels and other running gear) and when I was driving MAX like an economy car they were acceptable…but now I had 2-1/2 days to get from Eastern Oregon to Western Pennsylvania and it was time to make tracks (preferably on the road).

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