Corner Balancing the SPEC Car

The last item on my list to get my SPEC 944 ready for a test day was to corner balance it.

Ideally, I should have done this before I got my alignment, but the timing didn't work out. And I knew the car would be close to balanced as it was sitting level at 4 3/4 inches at all four corners as measured from the rockers.

So, having borrowed some scales from 944 SPEC director locally, I set them up in my garage and got to work. The number I was really concerned about was my cross-weight.

Now, I won't explain, but you can find out all about corner balancing here.

Right from the get go, my cross-weight was 49.81%. Which is about perfect.

But wait, I didn't check how level my garage floor was. Checking, it was 2 inches lower in the back than the front. Oops. After leveling the scales my cross weight was 48.1%. Not good enough.

So, with some minor,(less than a quarter turn of my coil overs) on both front corners I was able to get the cross-weight to 49.51%. Ahh, good enough.

The above chart is courtesy of here. My numbers are on the left. I was not about to try and get to their perfect numbers as it is a bit of waste of time. I mean fuel load, tire wear all effect the corner balancing.

But, I am in the sweet spot and can't wait to get out on track.

How to Save $5 but Waste 4 Hours Making a Racecar Safe

Most racing sanctioning bodies require that the cars on track have the fire extinguisher and the tow hooks clearly labeled.

I could simply have ordered some decals up to add to the car, but since it was a long weekend I thought I would paint them on. Painted lettering on a racecar always classes it up a bit.

So, I made the decals in photoshop, the less scrupulous could simply print them out, and then cut out the stencils.

For the E, it was a simple one-piece stencil.

For the tow arrows I made a background stencil in the shape of the arrow(black part), then a stencil for the word 'tow'.

Simple. I used paint I had on hand or this would have been foolish to purchase paint for this.

For a tacky glue, I used Elmer's spray adhesive as it is easily cleaned off but did a good enough job to stick down the paper.

A couple of the lettering edges are not perfectly straight, but, that is what makes the proper.

WTF Deaver? Bond in a Subie.

Seriously Jeffrey Deaver? Really. James Bond driving a new Subaru STI, blue no less, in Carte Blanche the newest continuation Bond novel. And you have him "becoming quite fond of it."

NO -F-N-WAY.

Not for all the flat-brimmed DC hats in the world would James Bond be happy to drive such a Bro vehicle as the STI. He is all about subtle style. Panache. Not peacocking. James looks ridiculous in that DC hat right? Well, he looks just as odd in an STI.

Sure James has been put in some questionable cars by continuation authors(Flemming never put him in anything but the classics) including a Z3 and Saab turbo. Why, oh why do continuation authors insist on tweeking Bond's character. Write a story with Fleming's Bond, not your idea of Bond.

But no one has made as egregious Bondian automotive error as you Jeffrey Deaver. You should be ashamed.

For the rest of the book, you should be ashamed as well. Yawn. Really, your plot for a Bond novel is based on someone locking up food donations to Africa? Bond caring about a potential loss of life of a few people? Really? Ugh. And, making Bond quit smoking. Guilt over women. And dress in loose fitting clothes. FAIL. You have removed all of his Savoir Faire. I love American Chardonnay's, but Bond would not. He would choose a white Burgundy.

And if you look at the reviews on Amazon you will see I am not alone in being shocked how Deaver f'd with Bond.

A Subaru? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH(he says screaming as he hurls his kindle against the wall.)

Thanks to Subaru and DC for photos. I did the hack PS job.

Four Hour Paint Job Video. In 30 Seconds.

This saturday the 901 Brown Bomber became the 901 Li'l Leprechaun.

Seriously, it only took four hours to wash, tape, prime and paint the car.

Before that I had probably 20 hours in sanding and prep.

Material costs, including misc. supplies was $408. And that was with single-stage urethane. There is no such thing as a cheap paint job with shortcuts.

It came out really well. Can't wait to buff it out and reassemble. And then, place my new decals on.

Almost too nice to race. Almost.

New Race Number Design

I love old racecar numbers. To me, this is what transforms a car into a racecar.

And there are many looks available. But I wanted something classic, but with a twist.

So I had an art director friend I work with put these together. It solves the problem most three-number rondels have of lots of white space in the middle. Me likey.

Here is more inspiration at this design website.

500E Photos

Just had to share these pics of my neighbors' beefy 500e that I snapped.

That is all.

Happy Friday.

A Murder of Crows for Cars. Naming Car Congregations..

First, thanks to rodcollins.com for the pic. Spooky.

Now, I always thought those animal congregation names are so evocative. I mean, murder of crows, it is perfect. But how about a Troop of Apes, a Charm of Finches, a Kettle of Hawks, Cackle of Hyenas or Bloat of Hippopotami? All are great. Many more here.

But no car equivalent exists. Until now.

So, for future reference to gatherings of three or more of a single marque I suggest:

A Fetch of Ferraris

I mean, Ferraris are fetching. And they fetch quite a bit of cash. So, perfect. Start using it.

A Miasma of Lotuses

Lotuses are light. Airy. Their design is fleeting and so is their durability.

A Yoke of Porsches

Porsches are the hardest working exotics. Period. They are also rather brutal cars, especially the turbo variants.

A Club of Bentleys

Obvious. Clubby British car. Clubby owners. Just plain Clubby.

A Bonfire of Corvettes

Polarizing. Just like Corvettes. Some would like to see them burn in a bonfire. Others would like to use theirs to turn their tires into bonfires.

A Jury of Jaguars

The whole JCNA 100 point scale and condescension of many owners has this one going down a more serious, as opposed athletic, path. Remember, I own a MK2 so I mock myself.

An Obstacle of Rovers

They can go over most obstacles. As well as most turn into an obstacle in the owner's driveway with their repetitive breakdowns.

More to come. Please send me your suggestions.

Porsche Ring Anyone?

I was checking out Etsy the other day and came across this Porsche ring.

Let me say, I never wear rings, not even my wedding band. But if I was say of a certain generation or demographic, I might wear this.

I love the rugged tooling of it. Like a university class ring. Of sorts. Maybe the horse looks more like a urinating Poodle, but who cares. Check out more Porsche stuff at Etsy here.

Sanding. Sanding. Sanding for...

A 944 doesn't look too big until you start to sand it.

I am sanding down the 944 in preparation for a new coat of paint. Scheme is a secret, but I think all my readers will be pleased. I am only going to tell that it will not be a respray in Sable Brown Metallic.

Lots of excellent inspiration out in the world, that is for sure. So, this is exciting. And arm-numbing preparing the car.

Cayenne Gets Hitched

So, I installed a Curt Hitch on my Cayenne a few days back. I got mine from Extreme Hitch because they are local to me.

Now, this topic has been covered a lot on rennlist and 6speed.

But, my one twist was mounting the plug directly into the rear valance. This allowed me to cut a much smaller hole than is usual in the valance. It also makes hooking the wires up much easier than reaching up under the dirty valance.

To install it this way I took the adapter(the piece with the flap and mounting flange) and placed it on the valance and traced around the circumference. I then dremeled a hole in the valance and slid it through and hooked up the trailer wiring harness to it.

It then used stainless self-tapping screws to affix the mount to the rugged plastic of the valance. After I took the pics I touched up the screw heads with matte black paint.

Done. Just another option. Looking forward to maybe getting the 944 SPEC on track in August.