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Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region

By Dave Weber, 38RSR@PorscheNet.com
NOR'EASTER Online - May 2001

Spring glorious spring! Finally, a New England weekend with moderate temperatures and some sunshine! Easter weekend's balmy weather enabled me to tackle a number of tasks that have been on hold for some time. The numerous winter storms we suffered through have wreaked havoc on our trees, so I spent time hauling downed limbs, then even more time raking up hundreds of pine cones. The driveway needed to be cleaned of sand, and debris, which I accomplished with a newly purchase leaf blower (lots more power than my previous and now non-functional unit). Then one of my most favorite projects, that being cleaning the garage. Six or seven months of mess needed to be addressed.

Before I could do anything the Porsches had to be fired up and repositioned. What a glorious sound they made at the turn of the key. I left them idling on the driveway for a while, as much to listen to them as to warm the engines.

With the Porsches repositioned I freed up space for reorganizing the garage. As fastidious as I try to be, I still qualify as a pack rat in some ways. For some reason I hang onto things like retired electric switches (might need one some time), old magazine articles (might be useful reference material some time), and half full cans of brake fluid (no chance I'll use them!). Once the trashcan was full, and everything moved out of the garage, it was time for the spring cleaning highlight - cleaning the garage floor. I carefully mopped and dried the floor, eliminating most traces of an automobile's presence. The glowing result is highly satisfying. Unfortunately I spend the next few days trying to maintain the floor in pristine condition - a state far from normal for a daily use garage.

This year's cleaning effort took a bit longer as I also was relocating a number of items into our nearly completed garage annex. The new space is plenty large and has been designed to accommodate our Porsche hobby in an appropriate style. I had great fun finding places for everything. I don't know what it is about spending time organizing a garage, but I find it very therapeutic. With the departure of the painters, I'll soon relocate the cars and will finally be able to enjoy the new space. Susana's already laid claim to some of the space for some Porsche logo design work.

With the move into my new garage I now have sufficient space to set up my slot car racing track. The 45 feet of track didn't fit well in our house! Of course once the track is operational, racing will be the next order of business. If you're interested in participating in a slot car racing event send me an email and I'll try to organize a competition. Of course we'll have to have rules about modifications - things like numbers of magnets, and sizes of motors; and classes - we can't race F1 cars against NASCAR models of course. Just kidding!

In preparation for the 2001 autocross season, Brian Gill, Andy Jenks and I recently setup our autocross timing system in the garage, so we could checkout the region's new laptop computer. Everything worked correctly and Andy and Brian gained some familiarity with the timing software. My first run was very quick, so we'll probably hang onto that time in the database, I might need it in the future!

Recently, Grassroots Motorsports sent me a form email message advising of a contest they have run, and a second one they will be running in 2002. The challenge for their first contest was to buy, build, and race a car for less than $2001. Apparently 40 people took up the challenge and participated in the contest. One entrant was an '87 Porsche 924S that apparently acquitted itself quite well. I rather doubt I'd want to race a car that cost less than $2001 to purchase and prepare. A new set of tires for a club racecar would cost about half of that $2000! You probably also don't get a lot of safety related equipment for that amount. I wonder if the completed cars would pass our Driver's Ed tech inspection?

Next year's contest raises the investment limit to $2002! They're looking for more competitors; if you're interested, check out their web site at www.grassrootsmotorsports.com. Sounds like a unique challenge - anyone in NER want to enter?

Porsche Club of America The Northeast Region

Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region