
Renegade Hybrids
www.renegadehybrids.com
4640 South Valley View Blvd., Unit D
Las Vegas, NV, 89103
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Local: (702) 739-8011
Fax: (702) 739-5882
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
07/14/06
Las Vegas, Nevada
HOW RENEGADE, SUMMIT RACING AND LOWE'S BROUGHT A FAMILY TOGETHER
Typically a press release follows a procedure or a format that captures a reader, states the facts, and leaves you with a warm fuzzy human interest ending. This, however, is not your typical press release. It's all about human interest... and we would like to share it with you. If you have a few minutes and want to read an interesting story about one of our favorite customers, then please take the time and read this:
How Renegade, Summit Racing and Lowe's brought a family together:
What? Yep you read it right. Here's what happened... My lovely wife and I bought a trainwreck of a home in Northeastern Ohio in March of 2000. We basically gutted the whole thing and remodeled everything that didn't move. As you can imagine, this did not happen overnight. In fact, it took the better part of about a year.
So there we were, three years later when the only project left was replacing a light fixture in the half bath. We spent a ridiculous amount of money at Home Depot (mostly because the store is really close to the house) but we finally decided to go to Lowe's. On the way there, my wife spotted a relatively clean 911 ish looking car for sale on the side of the road. Bless her heart, she knew that I always wanted one of those things and so she started shouting "There's your car! There's your car! ...pull over, we're buying that thing!"
Riiight, I mean c'mon, it's a Porsche. We CAN NOT afford that. So I pull over anyway, glance at the thing, and jot down the phone number. My wife went and called the owner up and set up a time for me to go and drive it just to humor her. Not knowing squat about German cars, I get under the hood and see that it's a 4 cyl. and figure "Whatever, it's a Porsche, it's gotta be fast." I test drive it get out of the thing and start talking $$$$. He wants $6000, I go home and tell wifey about my encounter, so she says offer $5000 and get it.
By the way, the correct response is "Yes Dear"
So I get the car home and find out that it's actually a 912E. One of about 3000 of the most anemic 911 style cars ever made. What I ended up with is basically a decent rolling chassis / donor car. The car has an era correct early spoiler and the electronic injection has been replaced by a pair of poorly tuned Webers that make the car smell like a Harley. Parts for the electronic injection are pricey, hard to find and not really worth the effort. (a well tuned '76 912E can squirt out a neck breaking 98 HP) Completely intolerable. Besides, after closer inspection, the thing looked like it appeared on an episode of Pimp My Ride that was hosted by the Beverly Hillbillies. So I start looking on e-bay at engine upgrades, restoration parts etc.. only to stumble across RENEGADE HYBRIDS.
Aw shit, here's where things get weird. I cut my teeth on roundy round cars at the age of 13, had some strange life experiences and never got to race or build a hot rod, but always had the bug. Yep THIS is the way to go. Research, calls to RENEGADE, more research, buy a 010 4 bolt main truck block, blah blah blah.
I end up at Summit Racing in May '04 with a good friend from work for an event called Super Summit where life is good and parts are 10% off for the day. I've done some homework and settle on 8 shiny new KB hypereutectic pistons and some other goodies. Now try to picture this, Super Summit has HUNDREDS of show quality cars in the lot, a ton of vendors and a few thousand people at any given moment. I pay for my parts at one counter, meander through the store, fighting my way through people, expecting to wait for an hour to get my stuff from the pick up counter, and not more than a few minutes later, I hear my name being called.
"Huh?" This is weird, I just placed the order. Anyways, I get to the counter and this cute blonde looks at me and says:
"Are you Dan?"
"Yes I am, do you have my parts?"
"I'm your sister"
Not the response I expected by any means. (My parents got divorced when I was 6 and I was basically voted off the island by my father at 12, about a year after he got remarried and Dawn was born. Haven't talked to him since.)
So Dawn, the girl behind the counter who claims to be my sister ends up giving me contact information. My buddy and I look at each other and I said "Well, that doesn't happen every day" We both had a good laugh about it. I've seen stranger things, I just can't think of one right now. Within a week I end up meeting up with her, my step Mother, and guess what, my half brother Scott! He's a gearhead too. One of those guys that takes a perfectly good, brand new S-10 Extreme and tears it apart so he can make it faster than it ever should be.
All good stuff. Top that one!
The rest of the story is an adventure in German Engineering the hard way. The kind of schooling that involves cut off wheels and performance parts for things that usually never touch Porsches. The conversion itself took place mostly in the wee hours of the morn like Igor in Frankenstein's lab.(I have 3 kids, 2 of them under the age of 4 that need a father during the waking hours.) Night time/early morning on the weekend is the only "free time".
So here I am almost 3 years later.
On Memorial Day, a good friend who also does absurd things with small cars (12 second Pinto....enough said) helps me to fire up the "Aporschun." Sounds great, runs well, but let's get it on the dyno. After about a month of pussyfooting around for the break-in, I take it over to Hutter Performance Center for dyno testing and carb tuning. They do a pull on the car and I end up with 312 HP at the wheel. I almost threw up until he told me that I'm losing an honest 20-25% through the drivetrain. I have to believe him, they do a lot of testing. This is the same Hutter that built Dale Jr's engines both years that he won the Busch series. Anyway, after tuning and timing, the thing is a rocket, especially when you get into the secondaries. I was really hoping for something like 350 - 375 at the wheel. The number is just an ego thing, but what hot rod isn't???
I'm still a little disappointed in my component selection though, who knows, I might end up being the next Doozer.
The experience was trying. You know, "trying", one of those terms you use when you are describing your own kid but really mean to say something a little more on the politically incorrect side. This is mostly because I am, by no stretch of the imagination a Porsche mechanic. Poor Scott and Mike took the brunt of my lack of knowledge.
The results though......AWESOME I actually love the fact that it's a narrow body with a sick ass conversion. Kinda makes it a sleeper in a way.
I'm doing as much "advertising" as I can at local car shows and the likes. The best kind though, is smoking a real 911. That's something else I learned, purists HATE being shown up by one of these conversions, but it's so easy to steal their thunder with a small block. Ha ha ha.
Still a long way to go on the cosmetics, don't look too close, you will find something! All in good time though.
You guys are the best! Thanks for all your help and patience!!!!!
"There is no substitute" My ass, it's called RENEGADE !
From: Dan Burdecki
E-mail: info@renegadehybrids.com