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Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region

By Steve Ross, SLR944@AOL.com
NOR'EASTER Online - May 2006

Let’s start out this month with a number of tech tidbits I have picked up over the first couple of months this year. First off we had a customer with a ‘97 993 whose engine lid cable had pulled out of the latch in the engine compartment. To make matters worse the car needed some oil added and she was on the Cape. Well thanks to member Ken Conway in Cohasset who was able to figure out that by elevating the rear mechanical wing he could see and reach the latch from above with a long screwdriver. Before discovering this trick he was resigned to possibly drilling a hole in the rear deck lid as there seemed to be no access whatsoever from underneath or behind.
   
Next fellow autocrosser Bill Caterino tells me of a small red clip that can be slipped into the receptacle where the top latches on Boxsters and allow the motion sensor to be activated with the top down. Originally all Boxsters came with this neat device, but if you lost it or can’t find it the part number is 986-504-986-00 and it cost about $5. As a follow-up to the dialogue on wheel changing on 996 and Boxsters here is the part number for the aluminum pin that holds the wheel on the hub while you bolt it up; 999-571-074-30 cost is about $7-8. Another issue that we have seen often both on Porsches and Audi’s is the steel valve stem caps, both the ornamental ones that people buy and the ones that come standard with the tire pressure monitoring system, tend to seize on the threads. In one case a roadside assistance person destroyed the valve stem of one of these, and the cost to replace the damaged part was almost $100 for the pressure sensor stem. A simple preventative measure is to apply a very light coating of Vaseline or other light lubricant to the threads and you will never have a problem.
  
In the process of selling my winter car last month one of the potential buyers was a car less resident of Boston who told me about this relatively new rental car service call Zipcar. Apparently for a reasonable enrollment fee you are eligible to reserve a car for short term use by the hour; cost is around $13 per hour, depending on type of car and day of the week. It would seem this is rather exorbitant but thinking of the number of uses a city dweller would need transportation (shopping, pick up out of state friends at the airport etc.) it really is quite practical. The only obvious downside is that vehicles may be in short supply at some periods of time. Should they need to make a trip of any length there are always traditional rental car companies. To give you an idea of the cost of having a car in the city, the guy I bought my Boxster from 3 years ago parked it and another car at a garage for $450 a month each, plus the usual outrageous downtown city insurance rates.
   
Another conversation with this potential buyer centered on those ubiquitous neighborhood parking stickers that you see on cars parked in the various neighborhoods around Boston, allowing the holder to utilize those coveted on street spots possibly near their residence. Well it seems Boston, in its admirable drive to make sure there is no abuse of these stickers, requires the remnants of the old sticker ( also being  readable) to be turned in before another new one, for a different neighborhood  is issued, great idea. However a problem; ever try to get one of these pesky stickers off your rear window (where they are required to be attached) without destroying them or slicing your rear defroster wires? Fortunately if you are very careful you can get enough material to read the stick then use Goo-Off to melt off the remaining glue around the wires. One further note on the system, the city in its infinite wisdom has decided that it is too much hassle to reissue these stickers every year (ever see the line of parking permits on city cars) so has now moved to 3 year stickers, great idea except as my buyer mentioned, what if you move out of town to the suburbs? Gee, and you now have a great parking permit for up to a few years of trips to Boston. 
   
One update in the membership area, as many of you have read in National President Tom Bobbit‘s column,  individual members can now update their personal information as far as mailing and Email addresses, Porsche models owned and other pertinent information. All that is needed is a password (if you don’t already have one) for the national site, your member number will be your key to getting it.
   
This month’s member profile focuses on Jon Swanson who joined our group in 1998 with his father as a way of accesses the technical resources of the club as they worked on their newly acquired non-running 911. Since getting the car running, Jon and his father have participated in most of the club’s autocrosses, some Driver Education events and shown up at monthly meetings. Jon feels that membership is a great way to meet a wide variety of people from very different backgrounds who treat one another as equals while discussing their passion for Porsches in particular but also cars in general.
   
His current car, a 1973 911E, has recently had an engine transplant substituting a later model Euro 3 liter for the original, but tired, 2.4 liter MFI unit. Jon’s profession is Network Operations Manager and he lists his age as 34 this July. He advises the “wallflowers” of the club to get out there and try the many activities of the club, you may like some and not others, then participate in the ones you like, it may change your life.
  
Jon’s major outside activity has been raising awareness of the great things the March of Dimes has done especially at home where their twin boys, who were born 16 weeks prematurely on new years’ day of 2003, and have amazed the doctors by surviving despite great odds against them. He has explained that the March of Dimes original mission was to fight polio which was the scourge of the American population until a vaccine was developed in 1952, since then they have spread their assistance to many other areas including the understanding of premature births. Should members be interesting in learning more about this charity check out the following websites www.marchofdimes.com  and www.walkamerica.org .