924Board.org

[D Hook]

It was a beautiful day to be at a race track. One of those picture perfect days, slightly darkening sky in the morning giving way to a spectacular sun-filled day. The couple rain drops that fell early were immediatley defeated by the brightening sky. As the morning started, the mixture of aromas wafting through the air brought about adreniline rushes as car after car pulled into the paddock area. Porsches, Vettes, a Cobra, some Hondas, Toyotas, Subarus, Camaros; all there for the same single purpose; to see who's got the biggest d**k!

By the time I got there, just before the drivers' ed meeting, most of the 924 contingent had arrived. It was 8:30 am. Already, one 931 had the hood up due to a stubborn refusal to restart after being shut off by its owner, Stan Hoppe. Not a promising start to the day.

Paul and Sharron Stewart have made the trek all the way down from Wisconsin to partake in the 1st Annual 924 Gathering and to track his car. Over 400 miles. And Dave (Grenadier on the board) also came from the same neck of the woods. <<<<(This note is intended to make the guys from Iowa and Missouri feel guilty.)

Austin drove his '79 924 down from Norfolk, NE, a couple hours northwest of Omaha. Sporting a new rear brake cylinder and a new clutch, he's the youngest member of our soiree today and ready to learn how to do this right.

9:00 am--drivers meeting. Go in to learn the rules; no spitting on other drivers, no flipping them off, no dissing their choice of vehicle to drive. (I have no idea what the rules actually are since I didn't attend the meeting. Those are just the rules I would've mentioned. I'm sure there was some safety stuff mentioned but who knows. They must make you swear a blood oath at the meeting not to discuss with "non-drivers" like myself.) Paul, Stan, Dave and Austin all partook of the informational pow-wow while a safety "officer" guy came out and checked their vehicles for potential interior missiles and the usual what's-under-the-hood look-see to make sure no one had a small IED or something hiding under the intake. After the inspection, he placed a sticker on the windshield and a note under the windshield wiper telling the next safety person what needed to be checked before being allowed on the track.

Even though I wasn't racing, a polite note was left on my windshield as well, telling me to get the numerous spare parts and tools out of my car and that someone needed to check under the hood before being allowed on the track. I FELT like a racer all of a sudden! I thought about throwing all the crap out of my car and heel-toeing all the way to the track gate enterance but then the feeling passed and I continiued helping Tom set up the shade awnings. The only racing I would be doing that day was to see how fast I could get out of the sun before my skin started looking like lamp shade material.

Stan's car still needed a diagnosis. Paul looked at it, along with Dave, Tom, myself and a couple of the janitors. It was a unanimous diagnosis. Busticated. No noise from the fuel pump. New fuel pump relay made no difference. Stan calls his car "Baby" normally. Today brought out adjectives from Stan that I don't think are actually in the English language. Maybe Klingon or something. I don't know. I started to slowly back away and go back to awning setup duty. I was safe there. I could dream-race. Dream-racing is better because I always win and it never costs me a dime.

Meanwhile, the other guys were lining up on the grid to go for their first practice laps with an instructor. Dave's intercooled 931, Paul"s Boxster, Austin's 79 924. All gleaming in the sun, showing promise of speed and handling.

In the mean time, Rob from Blair, NE shows up with his minivan. (Yes, I said minivan.) Rob drives a 931 normally but today's duties involved taking care of his 4 darling children who came along to see what daddy does with all their college funds. We all walk over to the grid, Tom, Rob and the kids and myself and meet Paul's wife there while the guys are out sitting in their cars, strapped in, helmets on, sweat running down into their eyes after sitting in hot cars on the tarmac for 30 minutes. Paul fell asleep. Stan is riding shotgun with an instructor so he can get an idea of what to expect when he gets out there. And to say he was at least ON the track.

Finally, the cars start to move out. Three practice laps with the instructors. Maybe more. I snap a few pictures of them coming by in front of the grandstands but, of course, they're crappy pictures because the cars are about 300 feet away. Tough to get that blood-lust look from their faces. Of course, they're only doing about 45mph so not sure how much blood-lust there was. Not yet anyway. When I look at the pictures later, I keep expecting to see Steve McQeen's steely glare piercing through the helmet visor.

Not so much.

So after the practice laps, they park on the grid, get notes from instructors on what to look for on the track, etc. Robs' children are having a blast on the grandstands, which are as empty as a soccer match at Packers Stadium. Just me, Rob and the kids, Sharon, Tom and some young ladies watching the Honda contingency run.

Oh, and that blasted SUN!

When Tom mentioned there wasn't much shade there, he was putting it mildly. This place is where asphault goes to explode. The ants were wearing sun bonnets. Weeds were growing out of the cracks in the asphault and immediatley turning brown. It was starting to get hot!

So when they finish the practice laps, they park in front of the grandstands just off the track behind a barrier, get out and start milling around. "Fast Friday" cars are now taking the track. Out come screaming Hondas and Subarus, Toyotas and Vettes, Camaros. Speeds are fast along the straightaways but a sharp hairpin in front of the grandstands catches more than a few drivers as they get behind in their braking activities. Hard braking, sqeals and clouds of blue smoke as two or three cars go by, entering the hairpin just a wee bit too fast. Okay, A LOT too fast. NOW I feel like I'm at a track! But no one goes agricultural racing as they all make it through. It's good.

Okay, kids have had enough sun so Rob starts the process of getting them back to the minivan after feeding little Benjamin in his six-wheeled stoller. I notice some serious tread is missing from the stroller tires. I'm pretty sure Rob is a closet stroller racer. Nothing wrong with that. As long as no one gets hurt.

Stan, Tom and I walk back to Stan's car to take another stab at getting it going. We've checked all the obvious stuff so now it's time to get serious with it. We pull out the volt meter, start checking for voltage at the fuel pump, (none) voltage at the pins on the relay board, (none) and check all related fuses. All good. We break for lunch to read up on the wiring schematics, brainstorm and apply sun screen. What?! You didn't bring sun screen?!!! My face now has taken on a pink, rare-steak look by now.

We head towards the track where the concession stands are and we find Dave. Dave has made the trek all the way down from Wisconsin to partake in the 1st Annual 924 Gathering and to track his car. (Did I mention that already?) He's pulled it off the track after a bracket holding his intercooler onto the intake manifold has decided to grow a butt crack. The intercooller keeps pulling away from the manifold and causing a massive air leak, shutting down the car. I try to convince him the intercooler is completely shot and I would take it off his hands for $50. He looks at me like I've had too much sun. He's right. We all break for lunch again.

There's just something about food you get at a race track. It's not bad, mind you....well, okay it is. But by this time you're ready to eat the ass-end of a wallabee's carcus so you don't really notice. Chilli dogs, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, phillie steaks....all food with good solid reputations. To sum it up, their reputations have been sullied. Tom's wonderful wife has sent along a deli-looking sub so he's eating good. Each of us is mulling it over in our heads....."Hmm....I think I could take him. Knock him out and steal that sub. Yeah." Civility returns as the lemonade and two cheeseburgers hit my grubby hands and I hand over my $11.50. Guess I should've skipped the cheese.

Over lunch, we discuss welding the bracket on Daves intercooler. I offer to take it to my workplace in Omaha and do it but it's a bit of a drive. Not sure we could get it done and back on before track time expires. It's about 2 pm and track closes at 5. We go back to his car and he mentions another problem that popped up, a new noise he's never heard. He starts the car and cranks the steering wheel far to the right lock and there's a grinding noise coming from low and at the front of the engine. I tell him it's probably that damn intercooler and I up my offer to $75 cash. He doesn't go for it. We start to looking and turns out the sway bar has decided it's had enough of the track s**t for today. It's come loose from a bracket and has decided to kiss the front crank pulley whenever he pulls a hard right turn. It would've been REALLY cool if it would've shot sparks but no such luck.

I drop my offer back to $50 for the intercooler. Hey, that sway bar could've caused hidden damage to the intercooler. You never know. He's not going for it.

Terry, another member of the club shows up after lunch. Terry owns a 2008 Boxster. But we let him hang out with us anyway. We need to have SOMEONE in the group who's car actually works. Gives us all a goal to aspire to.

Stan, Tom, Terry and I head back to give Stan's car a hail-mary pass at making it work. So we run a hot wire straight from the positive cable to the fuel pump. Voila! Pump runs! I try to convice Stan that the safety guys won't notice the #2 ga. battery jumper cable duct taped to the side of his car but he's not so certain they'll let him on the track that way so we close the hood. Serious work is needed to track down the errant power supply problem and I told him I wouldn't be a party to pulling the dash out right there at the track. Especially with no A/C and no beer and NO FRICKIN' SHADE. I mean, whaddya' crazy! He calls me a "girl"; I call him an "Air Force guy". (He's retired Air Force.) I win that round.


So another 931 is retired. Stan and Dave discuss having Dave take Stan's car back to Stan's house on the trailer so Stan doesn't have to have it towed. Arrangements are made and we load Stan's car on the trailer Dave has so generously offered. I tell him I'm upping my intercocler offer back to $75 just because he's such a nice guy. A polite chuckle tells me I'm not making any headway. I ask him if he's going to leave his 931 unlocked while he's hauling Stan's car to his house. He's goes over to lock it. Drat!

I have no idea what I'd do with this genuine 931 factory intercooler, since I don't even own a 931. Maybe a nice couch tray or computer laptop holder. Plans are still on hold. Sure be cool to own though, eh?

So we push Stan's car up on Dave's trailer. It's the fastest the car has actually gone since arriving at the track. They leave for Stan's house and I go back to the awning sun-shade to try to let my skin cool off. I'm a delicate flower, doncha' know. Off in the distance, I see Austin's 924 off the track and Paul and Austin and Austin's dad looking under the hood. So I stroll over to see what's up.

Seems Austins fuel pump isn't quite up to the task today. Car runs for about 1-2 minutes then slowly dies, while the fuel pump is making noises like fingers on a chaulk board in back. We get it back over to the sun shade spot where we have tools and stuff and pop in a new fuel pump relay, just to see if that's overheating and causing the pump to run funny. Besides, we don't have a spare fuel pump. No change after the relay swap. #3 924 meets the Porsche gods. I feel like I'm arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

So where's Paul during all this? Hell, he's out there racing! He's making laps! BASTARD!

There's more to this story and pictures too but it's getting late and I need to wake up early tomorrow to do the fun run so I'll have to finish later. Hopefully other participants will add to this thread, just to straighten out the record.

But suffice to say, you guys REALLY should've been there.

BTW Rasta, the Red Lobster waitress should be calling you anytime now about the tab. Thanks!!


Okay, so here's the rest of the story and the accompanying photos in the order taken:


To the untrained eye, this might LOOK like Tom Cooper bottle feeding the battery on one of the instructor's (Sally, who rode with Dave) 968. Or maybe trying to steal the battery. But he's actually helping her with a stray corroded wire that came loose from her battery. (Later, he DID discuss using her roll bar as a pattern for his own 944S convertible, if he can just convince Sally to let him take it out of her car. Good luck with that Tom.)


On the left is Tom's 944S being used as a transport for life saving awnings. In the middle is Sally's 968 and my 924 is on the right. This was early in the morning, clouds in the background threatened to dampen things a bit but deserted us and left us to the baking heat. (Shaking fist) DAMN YOU CLOUDS! Paul advised me that my rear wiper was in the wrong position and could shave a couple MPH off my speed. Good advice. I ignored it.


Dave's very business-minded 931 ready for tech inspection. The 'Vette next to his MAY have been the one that became a flame thrower later in the day out on the track when one of the turbo seals let go but I'm not sure. They all look alike to me.


Austin's beautiful '79 924. Can you believe this thing was once totalled? His day would be cut short for want of a working fuel pump.


In the background, Dave waits outside his 931 for instructions. Dave! Get in the car! Drive fast! There.....driver's meeting over. Paul in the foreground being....Paul.


Paul's Boxster in line. Love the lines of that car. In front of him is an Audi being driven (literally) by a little old lady. Paul later said she blew his doors off on the track. Well, words to that effect anyway. No word on if she was from Pasadena.



Austin getting ready to go out for practice laps. Black Top Keds...racing shoes of the new generation. Comfy AND stylish.


I can't believe they let these junker cars on the track. What is this....a 24 Hours of Lemons race? Sheesh! Honestly, this thing was VERY nice and made some fast laps. Just not certain if it's an authentic Cobra or a home-built. Either way, I told him I'd trade him straight across for my 924 and I'd throw in Dave's intercooler to seal the deal. He said something about me being a meth-head and to stay away from his car and his trailer. Sore loser, I guess.


I know what you're thinking. The pickup with the trailer was the pace car. No way. That would be nutty. Dave's 931 is bringing up the rear during the start of the practice laps with Paul's Boxster in the middle.



Still on practice laps with the Wild Audi Woman ahead of Paul.


Dave on his practice laps.


Austin coming by the front grand stands towards that notorious S Curve. At least, I THINK it was an S curve. Some tried to make it an "e" curve instead.


Paul pulling in after practice laps. No cones under the car....that's a good sign.

Dave pulling in behind. Everything looks good....for now.


Rob from Blair after feeding Benjamin, the cutest baby on the face of the earth.


Paul and Dave enjoying their sauna.


11th commandment: Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Fellow Owner's Factory Intercooler. Tough one to keep.


The offending crack that caused the problem that helped end Dave's day.


Dave, hands on hips, willing the crack to close. Not working. Terry (Boxter owner) in the background wondering what all those parts under the hood do and why there isn't a spare time there instead. Captain Obvious arrived just in time to point to the problem.


Tom Cooper on the left. Terry in the background, Dave Fink to the right and Stan with his back to the camera. They were having a contest as to who could get their hands on their hips the fastest. Sorry, Tom, not this round.


Dave under Stan's 931 after we pushed it up on the trailer. Very disheartening.


Nice looking 931. Stan won an award at a gathering we went to several years ago. He still has a very nice acrylic trophy. Ask him about it sometime. Be sure to block out a few hours of time first.


Picture is worth a thousand words sometimes. Mainly because a lot of the words are not repeatable here.

Okay, that's the end of the track pics. I have some more I'll post up tomorrow involving the after-track dinner and todays fun run.

But special thanks go to a bunch of folk who made this happen and happen so well. Rasta for germanating and feeding the idea in the first place. Your presence was missed and your name was mentioned often, usually with the prefix of "that SOB...". But hopefully you can make the next one. Tom Cooper for putting together the track info and getting us in there with no issues. Stan for putting together the fun run stuff. And especially to the guys that made the trek, Austin, Paul, Sharron, Dave,....it was all good. And especially to all of our wives/girlfriends/SO's who put up with us when we want to do these crazy car things. They are, indeed the pride of Porsche.

EDIT: And a special thanks to Terry ('08 Boxster owner) who single-handedly found, promoted and organized a place for the swap meet. Terry is an avid golfer and keeps the rest of us on an even keel. The presence of him and his car "classes up the joint" and we're lucky he doesn't mind hanging out with us. He's a class act.
_________________
'80 924 n/a SOLD

[Khal]

_________________
'80 924 Turbo

[reilly525i]

pics?
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"There are no kings inside the gates of Eden"

80 n/a 924.
76 alfa romeo spider
e34 525i.
xj6 vanden plas
vintage Sunbeam 6 speed bicycle

[924RACR]

Dayum I wish I coulda been there. Might've gotten a few cars out on track.

This building racecar crap really kills any chance at having any fun during the summer...
_________________
Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype

[Rasta Monsta]

Wow, Don, nice! Didn't know you had that many words in you!
_________________
Toofah King Bad

• WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

[bnoon]

Feeling bad that I couldn't make it out there, but feeling good that I still have a job AND that my 931 is back home safe and sound. Hope you guys have fun... and REEEEEEEEAAALLY hope that I make it out there next year!!!
_________________
'80 924 Turbo - SOLD!
1986 Porsche 944 Turbo - SOLD!
Porscheless

[D Hook]

We just finished the fun run. More words (and pictures) to follow.
_________________
'80 924 n/a SOLD

[Paul]

The fun run was FUN! And the peach pie at the orchard was delicious! Thanks to the Ohama Crew for all the hard work that resulted in a very fun event.

Just one post event activity left, whisky tasting at a local bar known for having hundreds of brands of scotch....

http://www.dundeedell.com/single%20malt.html
_________________
White 87 924S "Ghost"
Silver 98 986 3.6l 320 HP "Frank N Stein"
White 01 986 "Christine"
Polar Silver 02 996TT. "Turbo"
Owned and repaired 924s since 1977
Porsche: It's not driving, it's therapy.

[Harm]

Nevermind pics:
This is better than excellence!
Major CHEERS guys, enjoy

[Grenadiers]

Damn nice write-up Don! Sounds like fun! Oh wait, I was there! I had fun, the sun was not fun, and losing the opportunity for track time to 30 year old spot-welds was unfortunate. Had the car on the track though, with an instructor for 7 laps or so. Didn't count, didn't look at gauges like they said, didn't look in mirrors like they said, missed all turn-in cones, maybe hit one correctly. Hung on and whipped the spiker around corners that I didn't think was possible. Too bad I didn't turn on the video camera, thought I had all day to record stuff!! My instructor Sally, a 'young' grandmother, was great, encouraging more speed, better braking, turning, apexing, etc.

Then I heard that icky hissing noise, the intercooler mount broke again. Then, as Don mentioned, the driver side sway bar mount was broken from the frame rail. Had to have occurred on the track, the alignment guy didn't mention it last monday. The 924s didn't hold up on the bargain, but it was worth the trip. Thanks Omaha crew!
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'83 944 Track car.
'88 924S Track car.
'89 944 Turbo
2004 Winnebago Vectra monster RV
2012 Jeep Wrangler
2014 Kia Soul
2001 Ford F350 powerstroke

[Paul]

I had to smile and then feel sorry when a late model turbo charged Corvette that I had just left pass me suffered a huge oil leak that resulted in enough blue smoke to obscure a small town. When I passed him as he was sitting on the side of the track, the oil had caught fire on his tail pipes. Had to be pretty scary for the owner of a fiberglass car......

Later when I saw the car being unloaded in the Paddock, it looked fine. The owner thought one of the rear mounted turbos had blown a seal which resulted in a lot of oil being ingested by the motor.
_________________
White 87 924S "Ghost"
Silver 98 986 3.6l 320 HP "Frank N Stein"
White 01 986 "Christine"
Polar Silver 02 996TT. "Turbo"
Owned and repaired 924s since 1977
Porsche: It's not driving, it's therapy.

[Rasta Monsta]

Yikes, two 931s and they both broke?
_________________
Toofah King Bad

• WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

[D Hook]

'Fraid so. It was a dissapointing day in that respect.
_________________
'80 924 n/a SOLD

[Rasta Monsta]

Really wish we could have made it. I say pencil in next year's date ASAP.
_________________
Toofah King Bad

• WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

[bnoon]