I was up at 4:45 AM for my flight to Ohio, in order to prepare John’s tC for the race.. As of 12 hours before this, it was confirmed that his rear main seal would be replaced by Friday (7/10).. It was also confirmed that his input shaft for the transmission would arrive Friday afternoon. Until this point, a lot was touch and go, but it was assured that everything would be where it needed to be to make the trip worthwhile.

In the past, while dealing with companies like Titan Motorsports and Clutch Masters, a date was the date for John. If he ordered something or needed warranty work, these companies would come through or tell him it was impossible.  This was not the case for Tansky Toyota in Columbus, OH or Phillips Racing, also in Columbus.

After catching the first plane to Columbus, and drinking several Red Bulls, I was more amped to work on his car than ever. Initially, the plan was for me to clean up the wiring while he made the necessary arrangements so we could finish the rest of his Car for Scion Exposed.  While I’m sitting in his tC passing time by cleaning up the reckless wiring left by previous installers, he comes out in mumbling in frustration about Phillips Racing not answering his phone calls. . I assure him that the employees couldn’t have left before close, and they were possibly just busy.  If only I knew what I know now, we could have come up with a “Plan B.”  There was no word from Phillips, for the rest of the weekend. Neither were the parts received from Tansky, parts which were solely ordered because they were needed for Saturdays events.

What’s strange is that these were both simple tasks, this is not like when John broke his clutch and needed Clutch Masters’ assistance, whom showed amazing customer service during the whole process. John was in a similar situation, where time was an issue, CM Gave a date and delivered by that date.  Not to mention the time where he needed a GT35R during his turbo build, and found Titan to not only be able to fulfill the order, but also do so quickly.

After I finished with the wires, John and I decided to take a drive to Akron and work on our friend Nick’s car, in order to get some APC seats in the car before Exposed.