Brian and Chad live the life, don’t they? Every time you visit the site, they’re off doing something that’s gearhead related and damn cool…but think about some things before you assume that they have a cake job. The travel. The airports. The long hours, time away from home, the planning, scheduling, rental cars, the TSA-sponsored “Freedom Fondle”…essentially, Brian and Chad have all the hectic pace of a touring rock group and they wouldn’t have it any other way.
So why in the living hell did I sign up to be their roadie, you may ask?
For those who don’t already know me, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Bryan McTaggart, and I’m BangShift’s new Contributing Editor. I’ve been around since the start of BangShift, back when it was CarJunkieTV and Freiburger’s Junkyard. I’ve also been on numerous automotive forums under the “Remy-Z” name since the turn of the century. When it comes to the automotive world, I have no real brand preference (though lately I’ve been on a Mopar kick), drive, wrench, race, and have automotive tastes that border on the ADHD scale of things. “Oh, you can’t be that bad,” you may be saying. Currently, I’m dreaming of a 401-powered AMC SX-4 to hunt Subarus with and a small-block Chrysler powered ’82 Challenger set up for rally. That will change within the hour, by the way.
Now, to address the question: Because I absolutely believe in what BangShift has to offer. I first met Chad in Bonneville during a 7,000 mile roadtrip I took in 2009, and Brian at the 2010 SEMA show. It was a nice change of pace to meet two guys who shared my savant-level automotive addiction. For the last several years, BangShift has been my go-to for anything I need…whether it is automotive knowledge, a place to vent when things are going bad, or a place to show off my latest hack. I’ve met numerous friends from the site in person, and I can say that I’ve yet to be disappointed by the nature of anyone I’ve actually met from the site, but instead amazed by their friendly attitude. Hell, I even owe the site thanks because I met my wife here! (Editor’s note: True story!)
It’s really hard to ignore a place that has given so much to me don’t you think? So when Brian asked if I’d be interested in the gig while I was at work, I shouted a positive obscenity so loud that a co-worker inquired if it meant that my wife wasn’t pregnant.
So bring on the long hours and the rental cars. I’m ready. And if you are a TSA agent and are reading this…easy with the patdown, okay?
What was your most questionable decision when it came to the world of cars?
The Overlords –
Why I let my mother talk me out of becoming a gynecologist and becoming a car mechanic instead.
When I was about to start my senior year in college, I decided about two weeks before that I wanted a car to have on campus. Didn’t want to expose my ’66 Dodge Dart to Cleveland’s road salt, either. So I bought a rusty LeBaron Turbo that had been brought down from Canada for $900. You might be thinking from Cleveland and a Canadian car that I was right up North. Nope – this was in Atlanta, so it was about an 800 mile road trip to college. And no, I didn’t have the car completely sorted out before setting off. Found out the radiator was so rusted out that it would overheat if I drove over 45 mph…
Slamming a 409 motor into a ’55 Chevy.
What the hell was I thinking?
There have been so many . . . I can’t possibly narrow them down to fit in this space . . . .
“Dukes of Hazzard” flight in a ’63 Belair wagon . . . Parting out a wrecked ’68 GTO with hide-a-way lamps instead of fixing it . . . Buying a ’69 Grand Prix SJ instead of a ’70 GTO because it was $500 cheaper . . . Missing out on another ’70 GTO because I didn’t leave a deposit while I was going to get the cash for it . . . Missing out on an 390 h.p. H.O. 428 because I had to go ask Dad for permission . . . Skipping semester finals to help a friend buy a ’37 Willys and haul it cross-country . . . Buying a new Diesel Tempo . . . Letting my relatives talk me out of buying a Model T Speedster because it wasn’t “original”. . . Not mortgaging everything in sight and maxing out my credit to buy a $300,000 ’48 Tucker before they became million-dollar cars . . . Not buying a ’35 Desoto Airflow that the guy who bought it immediately flipped for a 100% profit . . . Not buying a ’16 Model T (guy who bought it flipped it for ~ 80% profit) . . . Not buying a ’60 Edsel . . . Not buying a ’63 Marauder . . . Beating on a nearly new, unprepared car at Drag Week with an untested nitrous kit hacked on in the wee hours of the first day . . . . And many, many more . . . .
I think the Tempo wins the award there. Aack.
The greatest things about a diesel Tempo are:
A. All acceleration (if you could call it that) could be at full throttle without attracting LEO attention;
B. When (not if, but when) wifey overheated it (again) and cracked yet another $750 aluminum Mazda cylinder head, it became a bitchin smoke/steam machine;
C. You’ll never have to guess where all of the carcinogenic particulate matter imbedded into your lungs came from;
D. Two oil filters to spill all over your shirt!
. . . Mindlessly consenting to wife’s purchase of an MG in winter with her student loan money instead of paying her college tuition bill . . . . and finding out by spring the joys of: (a) Wife not finishing the semester; (b) MG overheating; and (c) convertible top replacement outside during “April Showers” . . . . But at least we got 25% of the money back when we traded it on . . . the Diesel Tempo . . . .
reading silly post instead of turning wrench
Congrats! I’ve enjoyed your other blogs so I imagine it’ll continue to be good stuff.
Leaving my assembly line job at Nissan of Smyrna to work from home for a tech company. So far so good, but sometimes I worry. All I had to do was show up every day at Nissan and I could have rode it out till retirement.
Buying a 1970 SS454 Monte Carlo sight unseen on ebay because it looked great in the one picture and was dirt cheap. Showed up to pick it up, I drove it around the block once, then headed straight for the interstate to drive 500 miles home.
Trading my 1974 Dodge Shortbed for a 1984 Camaro Berlinetta
Congrats on the gig!
Justin
Selling my 66 Chevy II that I had nearly all the parts I needed to finish it gasser style.
Congrats on the gig, Bryan!
I have to say, when Brian and I decided that we probably could stand to bring some more help on around here, it was a tough decision. Do we spend that money on something else, like food? Do we hire someone so we can have even more content on the site for our readers?
The answer came easily. More content!
And when we started talking about possible candidates, the list was short, with Bryan right there at the top. We are both very excited to have him on board, and know that he will do us, and his fellow BangShifters, proud.
Thanks for taking the leap with us dude!
Hey, I owed you for the donuts at Bonneville. Yeah, I know they were DF’s donuts, but you offered them up. LOL!
I’ve seen you guys, the food budget is far from exhausted =P
automotive mistakes, past—the many now rare cars I used up, sold cheap or passed on cheap—-present– thinking it was a good idea to completely rebuild a V8 MGB ( new f&r suspesion, full frame, new disc brake, cooling, rewire, freshen SBC, clutch, starter,pedal arrangment, firewall, really everything except some body panels)–stupid money and not on the road yet, oh well, thats Hot Rodding, would probably do it all again, just more of everything
Mine would be me quitting my job of chauffeuring around the celebs in LA to take a job in Nebraska at a crate engine company with only a couple of phone calls and the word of a someone I only knew from the internet.
Big, huge, Yeti sized congrats to Bryan. I am a bit envious of the fun you will have working really hard.
Selling my 427, 4 speed, 1963 ford Galaxie 500XL. Buying a 1975 Charger site unseen. Something I’ve always known better than do.