SPEC 944 Race Video

Just finished up a long, hot, crowded and incredible weekend of racing at High Plains Raceway.

Yes, this writer actually races. Not many of us do.

I had a very good weekend for being rusty from not racing all season. But the car ran great even in 95-plus degree heat. Thanks to the mocal oil cooler.

My rustyness really showed up in qualifying where I was a second and a half off my race pace. In the races I consistently put in a top five lap time. But couldn't qualify in the top five. Ugh.

The video above shows me running in 4th, that is my green car, until 10:20 or so in the video where the sunglare had me miss my braking point at the end of the long straight. Things happen fast at 120MPH but luckily I was able to keep it straight but fell back to 7th. As one of my co-races put it, you had "6 wheels off at turn 4 and 5".

That was Saturday, on Sunday I had my best racing, moving up from 9th to finish 5th. And avoiding quite a bit of contact.

Style & Substance & Tax Write Off - Windshield Banner

We had a mercury-favorable day in Denver today and I was able to uncover the 'ol #901 and install the windshield banner/sunshade I had made at Signspecialist.com. Toby who owns or runs the place was great. Contacted me by email after I submitted my order just to make sure the banner was exactly how I imagined it. Plus, the decal came with a video, an instruction guide, a squeegee and a razor blade. Man, they give your everything you need and then some to do a bang up install.

For like $25 this was a multi-purpose score. One, no sun visors in a race car, so this helps with reducing glare from noon-day sun. 

Two, my car is #901 so this works as another numbering decal.

Three, I can promote my novel Hunt for 901, at every track appearance. I already to that, but this is a visible promotion tool for the IRS. 

Coil Over Started

Started the Paragon coil over install. It seemed to go pretty well. I am using the Mookeh camber plates with it.

Just not sure if this is totally correct. Seems like the top nut is not far enough down and am also not sure if the spring perch is supposed to stay at the top of the strut. Will figure out in next few days...

Passed Emissions. Whew.

After getting an alignment at Eurosport I was finally able to have the Brown Bomber in a state of repair that I could take it to get an emissions test. Since the guy I bought the car from did not need emissions in his county I was quite worried about the test.

The last thing I wanted to do was splash out a few hundred dollars for a new Catalytic Converter that I would then take off the car so I could go racing. That would have blown more than private schooler in prison.

After reminding the emissions "tech" that the 944 is not a front wheel drive car the test was under way. And then it was over in a flash. The car did not just pass. It "fast passed" in about 30 seconds with numbers well under the limits.

So this bit of good news helped temper the realization that I need new tires, shocks and a radiator before I can take the car out and run it in anger. Or even mild annoyance.

Power Window Delete.

Although most racing is done with the windows down or even out, I could not just pull the glass from the Brown Bomber as it does reside outside. So, I needed to put some sort of system in place that would keep the glass in the up position.

With Lexan or Plexi windows this is easy, you just drill a hole in the bottom of the window and attach your pull strap there. But I did not want to pay $300 or even $50 for lexan windows. So I think I came up with a nifty solution. I just added an aluminum bar that connects the tracks on the windows. I was then able to drill through this bar and attach my strap to this. 

For adjustment, I removed the catch from the strap I bought and screwed it to the door. This allows for a minor lowering of the window say, on the drive to the raceway.

I then added a safety catch at the bottom of the door.

Leaving It To The Pros...

I received my first royalty check for Hunt for 901 and splurged by paying my mechanics to do the timing belt and water pump install on the Brown Bomber. That is the name that has stuck in the past few weeks on my track car. 

Really, of all the jobs on a 944 the one that you do not want to mess up is the timing belt because if you do, the whole top end of the engine can be ruined.

And another thing about doing this and oil and gearbox fluid changes is being green. I remember as a kid, no joke, pouring oil in the backyard and flushing radiators right into the storm drains. Oops. Who knew it was bad, right?

So, now when you do these jobs at home you need to bottle up the old stuff and bring it somewhere. Ugh. Might as well pay my shop the $20 to do the change in the first place.

Can't wait to pick up the Brown Bomber later today and rev it up. I was too afraid to bring her past 3k as the belt was ten years old. Good thing too, the old belt had several cracked teeth.

Finally, notice that early 911 Targa in the pics. It is a daily driver. And yes, that is my mechanics finger poking right through the bodywork. At least it is lightweight.

A/C Delete.

You've no idea how much wiring, plumbing and other mechanical bits are involved with a car's air conditioning system until you go about removing one.

There is, on my 944, the condensor, evaporator, extra blower, miles of wire. 12 feet of metal and thick rubber hosing, controls, etc. What a mess. There is even a whole passel of stuff behind the passenger side dash that will be staying put.

And every bit of this cold air making machinery is very, very well installed. Heck, I had to jack up the car and cut through the lines with a sawzall to make the pieces manageable.

But, the benefits outweight the sweat equity. Without a condensor, the radiator gets much better air flow. There are the weight savings of course. And most importantly, maybe a free HP or two with the removal of the compressor and its associated drag on the belt.

Porsche has a very nice A/C delete bracket. It is $160. I will be going this route. For a total of $22 including new belt.

And, contrary to what others have mentioned, I needed to undo almost the entire front valance to a point so that I could pry it outwards enough to let the condensor drop.

Bonus removal - Power antennae. You know, this thing weight 2.5lbs. High up on the car no less.