Push on aka Ready Seep Fittings

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I installed the Mocal oil cooler in my 944 about two months ago. It performed well in the 3-hour enduro I ran except for the fact  that is sprayed a fine mist of oil over the entire passenger side of my engine. 

Oil leaks are really frustrating. So I needed to track this one down.

At first, I tracked it down to one of the push on fittings that connected to the sandwich plate. I took off the offending house and redid the line with a new piece of aeroquip hose. Boiling water to soften the hose and making sure to push the fitting all the way on. Put this on the car. Fire it up. Now, a new leak.

This leak was where the adapter screwed into the sandwich plate proper. No instruction said to use thread sealant on this connection. But you should. Again, hose off. I did both adapters even though only one was leaking. Hoses back on. Warm it up again. 

Ahhhhhh! Another leak from the hose/connector connection. The oil just seeped past the barbs and out the top. I threw some hose clamps on as close to the end of the hose as possible. Still leaked. I went and bought two new fittings to see if this would do it. It didn't.

Now, I am determined to get this fixed so I go to Pirtek and am set to have them make up some heavy duty hoses. Well, their heavy duty options was Space Shuttle ready for sure but would never fit in the tight space I had. After an hour, really the guy I worked with was great, he just cut my aeroquip hose off and redid the hose with their pushon/socketless hose. Total cost, $1.28. Not kidding.

He also told me that "sometimes they just leak". And if I used a hose clamp to put it on the first, farthest away from the end, barb. Which was the opposite of where I was placing the clamp. Well, I did that, and for now, no  leaks. 

Pending good weather it will be race tested on November 1st. So what I learned about socketless fittings.

1. Use lots of lube/oil to get the fitting all the way to the end.

2. Put hose clamps as far down as possible on the fittings.

3. Be prepared to track down leaks and keep checking tightness.

picture from speedwaymotors.com

New(ish) Car WTF. First in a Series

It is too easy to make fun of the odd option or piece of trim on a vintage car. Things were not so focused group to perfection back then. There was some room to make a creative error. But in the past ten days big creative faux pas are hard to allow.

Take the hairsute, and if you don't know what hairsute means have the small children leave the room before googling, dash of the Nissan Cube.

I like the Cube. It is quirky. It is right sized. It looks fun. And fun is one thing that most cars are lacking. The outside of the cube is darling. As in dah-ling. Really, it is fun just to see one parked in the lot.

But the inside, to keep costs down of course, is a bit bland. The upholstery has a rather wind-whipped sand dune appearance. OK, there are lots of bad cloth interiors in cars. PASHA from Porsche not being one.

But on the dash of the cube is a curios oasis of carpet. As if the whole dash was rather furry and got a brazilian from the designers. What do you do with the fur pie? Rub it. Place your phone on it. Have it keep your bagel cozy warm. I really am at a loss.

So, next time you see a cube, peek inside. But don't blush, even though it is like looking up a woman's skirt.

My Heart Froze, At the Thought of Large Repair Bill

The above almost happened to my engine.

I was a bit hazy this morning after a few too many Mickey's last night with some co-workers. So, when I walked outside this morning and saw the snow covering my 944 race car I thought, 'gee, that's pretty.'

Walked the dog, that is not euphemism, came back past my race car in the driveway and thought, 'hey, that's pretty. How cold did it get...OH MY GOD IT DOES NOT HAVE ANTI FREEZE IN IT!"

Combine track rules that do not allow you to run anti-freeze because it is slippery stuff with an unseasonable 17 degree low last night in Denver and you have a potentially cracked block.

I tossed the dog back inside and popped the hood to inspect. I squeezed the upper radiator hose and it felt like I was squeezing a Big Gulp full of Slurpee. The overflow was slushy. 

Ugh. I opened the radiator drain and a trickle came out, but that trickle soon froze over.

I poured hot water over the upper radiator hose and overflow. 

I am no gambler but I jammed the key in the car and turned it over. And then I waited and waited for something bad to happen. It didn't. I think I caught it just in time as today is not supposed to get over 32 and tonight drop back down to 25. I drained about a gallon out and added a gallon of undiluted anti-freeze. This should be good for protection down to 5 or ten degrees above zero. 

The good news. The quickening of my pulse chased the remnants of the malt liquor rather quickly. 

Checked the oil, it seemed good so no major cracks. Won't know if I avoided all damage until I run it in anger in a couple of weeks.

Photo Credit - http://piwowarczyk.us/sillypics/icecars.jpg

My Name is Kevin, and I Like the Panamera

Prestige Porsche in Lakewood, CO had a preview Panamera event tonight during their yearly Oktoberfest so I scooted out of the office a bit early and went over to check it out.

It is big. It is imposing. The interior felt and looked like it was designed to withstand the tides wrought by the Bay of Fundy.

So yes, I do like the Panamera. I wish I could plunk for one today. And when I saw the sticker at $89k it actually seemed like good value. For that type of wedge you could get a base level S-class or this wonderful, new 4-place freight train. I know what I would choose. Sad to think if I sold all three of my Porsches at good prices I would still not have half the value of this wonderful creation. 

The one downer was that the example was in Silver with Black leather. A less inspired color combination eludes me right now. 

Or You Can Just Take Exciting Race Photos

A great guy who came and helped in my pit as the fuelman, also took this photos. He calls photography his jobby. Which is a term I like. My writing is a jobby. I get paid. Sometimes.

You can check out more of his stuff at Cooper Naitove.