I took a vacation day and went to pick up the car today! Had my friend come by the house pick me up and we cruised our way down to the shop. We get to the shop and there the car is ready to go. The mechanic was installing a new driver's side rear view mirror for the final touch. There are some little other bugs here and there that need to be finished, but the car was very driveable. Well, the mechanic and I get into the car for a quick 15 min test drive (even though the mechanic has been driving it every day this week to fine tune everything). The car roared, cornered flat, and was super stiff. Between the electric fuel pump and the engine, you couldn't even here the turn signals clicking along. I still need to get used to the side door bars as well. It's definitely a lot more race car than I'd like, but it's still an awesome car.

Well, my friend and I get going. We drive two blocks away to the local gas station. My friend is admiring the car from behind. We get to the gas station and my friend comes up to me and says, "Your right tail light was out, but besides that, your car is cornering super flat." So, I call the shop and tell them I'll be back even though the lights were working 2 minutes ago when I was there.

I make a right turn out of the gas station and almost immediately the car shuts off. As I'm coasting I turn the key and the car starts up I [censored] into second, and then again into third and it shuts off again. So, I turn into the closest side street and call the shop. The mechanic comes over and we found out the engine has no fuel pressure. Turn the key and we can here the pump. We unscrew the line leaving the fuel regulator and not much is coming out. So, either my brand new fuel pump crapped out on me, which wouldn't surprise me as the fuel regulator that came with that kit crapped out last week, or the gunk from the fuel tank clogged up the filter (first time the tank has been completely full since the build started 2 years ago). So, we had to flat tow the car back to the shop. Since they're going to have it, I'm going to have them fix even more minor stuff.

Starting the day off, I knew something funny would happened. When my friend asked me if I was excited, I really wasn't. Me and this car have this weird history and connection. Nothing can never be right between us. At the end of the day, while everyone was bummed, all I could do was laugh. It's just another memory in the books. We'll see what happens in the next week or two.