Lesson #5,283

Don't ever replace (1) set of wheel bearings

.....she's not howling anymore at 75mph after doing the other side :)

Yeah Baby! Heated winter driving!!!

I still have some adjustments and work to do to this little project but I'm happy to report there little puffs of warm air coming out around my knees. I do live in way South Alabama where admittedly we don't have much of a cold problem but there were plenty of days last winter where just a tiny bit of warmth to cut the chill or defog the windshield would have been appreciated.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/595880-poormans-heat-exchanger.html I give all credit for this idea to that Pelicanite who exhibited his own setup using headers like mine with just the same goal. It's simple and not particularly pretty but sometimes the best ideas are :)

Come on cold weather.

It's a wonder these old things keep going down the road

I discovered this a few weeks ago while trying to isolate an annoying little leak. Call it a lack of attention or blissful ignorance that I've tinkered with this thing for a year and a half without noticing it, and it wasn't even moist but after I found it, coupled with my leak being at one end of the line it was time for a shiny new one.

Not nearly as much oil poured out as I thought would and the swap was easy. I did find my thermostat end was a tad "buggered" making me think that's the leak source and still needing to find a final solution. Oddly it came "buggered" as I've [obviously] not touched that line in my ownership but wasn't leaking till I made the mistake of running synthetic oil through about 6 months ago.

New line, including a proper Porsche part that holds the oil lines instead of a big washer and zip ties. One of these days I'll make a post exhibiting all the "creative solutions" found so far, but I'm hesitant to exhibit those as I feel like they speak as much about my lack of pre-inspection as their poor stewardship.

The continued saga of the Porsche Targa Top

If you have been following this, or read from the beginning you will have noted my obsession/location of/tinkering with a Saratoga Top

Not a small amount of this obsession spurred from acquiring my car with a Saratoga Top that never made it home as it failed and sailed off into the wild blue yonder, on the highway while my big collection of parts [later known as Glenda] was riding on a trailer to Alabama.

Well, fast-forward not quite a year after obtaining the object of my desire and I've gone and sold it. I best equate this experience to "the hot chick", you saw her from afar, man she was pretty, wouldn't it be nice to spend some time with her! So by some twist of fate you landed that beauty, but after living with her for a little while you started to see the realities of day to day life with her and the picture loses some gloss......you get the story.

A Saratoga Top is made of lightly tinted Lexan, this is particularly nice to look out of on a moonlit night (one that for some unknown reason you didn't want the top off for) but try hoping it gives you any respite from 100°+ Gulf Coastal summer sun and you might as well expect a 3 year old not to argue with you.

Secondly there's a storage issue, when I first got it I was proud to announce that "I have a '75, without a brake booster, a hardtop was designed to fit in the trunk" Well, in theory this is correct, in practice it's not so great. It JUST fits, it rests uncomfortably on top of the battery, and has a tenancy to wiggle into just the wrong place to want to unlatch the hood. The alternative is that it "will" fit behind the seats, problem here is that just like the trunk it just barely sits there, it rubs on the top corners and against the rear seatbacks (laying down). I lived in regular fear of harming this pretty thing irreparably.

All this combined to leave me less than thrilled with it as a useable item, the only time I loved it was when my car was sitting parked and I could stare at how pretty it was. My 911 is not a showpiece, it's not a garage queen, I don't drive it daily, but I do drive it once or twice a week and my ultimate (and likely years long) goal is that it functions as a real car. Combine this with the fact that I tend to run on limited funds (unfortunately) and thus am not really in a position to hang something as nice (and valuable) like this on a wall, buy an additional top, and use it as an occasional change.

So I placed an ad on Pelican and within 30 minutes it was sold to a new admirer (there are a lot of admirers of this hot chick, I could probably have fetched 3 times more on evil-bay but I'm not that kinda guy). And I was able to procure a fairly nice example of the folding top Porsche found to be the best solution for about 30 years. It needs a little adjustment (what on my car doesn't) but so far it may not be quite as gorgeous but it's not nearly as demanding of my space and stress level and been a little easier to live with ;)

I so love my 911

We have had a very odd string of humidity & rain free [August] days down here on the Gulf Coast. I've been able to drive my toy to work 3 days in a row and not bother to put the top on it, worry it's going to get soaked and enjoy the drive without baking.

I came to my senses from my last post in that Glenda has a safe [fairly] permanent spot in the garage :D

The temptations we face

So I was taking my son for a haircut early this Saturday morning when what do I see by the side of the road? A 3.2 Carrera sitting in a popular spot for sell it yourselfers in a drug store parking lot. I stopped to take a peek around it and headed home. Half way there my curiosity got the better of me, I turned around and went back to call the owner. I've mentioned before I live in a small southern town, 911's are a very rare site and finding one for sale by the side of the road is quite odd.

Now in the interest of transparency I couldn't help but think for at least a few moments...."Hmm, G50, maybe it's A/C works (HA!), EFI"..... All for a few grand more than what mine might be worth. Then cooler heads and a wife's one raised eyebrow prevailed. By the time the owner returned my call I quickly thanked him for calling me back, apologized for wasting his time and hopes and explained exactly the above statement telling him I had a beloved '75.

That led to a chat for a few minutes (as Porsche owners are apt to do) where I eventually asked if he had the time and inclination I'd love to take his car for for a spin, I'd happily toss him my keys for a 5-10 minute experience in a car different from my own just to know what it felt like. He acted quite willing to acquiesce but we shall see.

I've put back away any thought of obtaining that particular car (several good reasons) but I'll report back if I actually do get the chance to hang out with the current owner and give it a spin.

dammit all to hell

I gleefully reported a while back about once again knowing how fast I was going. Apparently that was short lived. Driving to work the other day one second I was doing...umm the legal speed limit....and the next I was doing nothing.

I know why this is, I tried the cheaper, easier fix which apparently was also tried by the previous owner with the same results. I replaced only the cable, and not a whole cable & sheath. I noted when I installed it that the cable seemed a little bit long, I felt like I had to shove the last 5-6" into the sheath. I was afraid this would mean it would cause a problem and after a few hundred miles the new cable snapped :(

That's what I get for trying to do the easy(er) fix. Back to the drawing board.