Finally..., The -6 conversion has begun, woohoo Options

[campbellcj]

If that's true, it's too bad.

I'll never go to Ottos or buy anything else from Patrick, for the same reason.
They don't know who I am, that I've got as much in my 914 as my Range Rover or not,
and not knowing, assuming the worst is a bad idea, IMHO. Not a good way to run a business!

Sean,

I hear what you're saying. I didn't mean to come across like every shop owner, champion driver, or "guru" is automatically justified to act like a dickwad and think of customers as an interruption.

My point was -- let's say [Bob Bitchen the Successful Independent Porsche Mechanic] has been on the phone for the last 7 hours, wrangling with parts suppliers, the bank, 25 different customers, the ex-wife, the landlord, the race committee chairman, yada yada yada. He just spent the last half hour giving free tips to a guy 2500 miles away who can't get his 75 1.8 L-Jet to run right. He hasn't had lunch yet, needs to take a mean piss, and there are 5 unfinished cars and 17 UPS packages that have to be out the door by 6pm. Imagine you're the next caller.

This is the life these guys lead; it ain't an easy one by any means. As a small businessman myself, I understand the juggling act pretty well.

All I'm saying is I try to cut 'em some slack (to a reasonable degree). I usually find that if I stay cool and flexible, things work out OK in the end.

Cheers,

[Brad Roberts]

I'm not successful, but I fit that mold. I'm going 125mph at all times. We bring it on ourselves. Bontempi is EXACTLY the same way. The best bet is to show up. Dont call.


B

[Mike D.]

Does cutting slack include letting someone sell parts off your car, then when you find out, listening to "Don't worry man, they'll be back on the car before you pick it up"

Bullshit, I'll never do business with Otto's. But yes, he does know his shit. Too bad he doesn't do the work on the 914's anymore.

[Lawrence]

Selling parts off your car? Did that really happen? If so, it's pretty bold.

-Rusty

[campbellcj]

Does cutting slack include letting someone sell parts off your car, then when you find out, listening to "Don't worry man, they'll be back on the car before you pick it up"

Bullshit, I'll never do business with Otto's. But yes, he does know his shit. Too bad he doesn't do the work on the 914's anymore.

No, that would NOT be kosher in my book.

In fact when I put the car (any car) into the shop (any shop), I usually leave explicit instructions about what I want to do with any old parts that are usable/valuable. In some cases I will "sell" them to the shop, i.e. mark-down the price of the replacement parts, otherwise I bring 'em home and put 'em on ebay or something.

You're right Otto (JW) doesn't wrench himself much anymore. He builds trannies and engines on the bench, that's about it. George does all the suspension and fab work, and other guys do the rest of the general wrenching.

[Sammy]

This thread is like Deja vu.
About a zillion years ago I was trying to figure out how to build my first supercharged hemi engine for my drag boat (on a tight budget of course). I stopped by Gene Mooneyham's shop and he obviously was too busy to spend time bench racing with some kid who wasn't holding a blank check.

I hung out for a while waiting for an opportunity to talk to the legend, and in my boredom I picked up a broom and started sweeping up. After about 20 minutes I made a pretty good dent in the mess that had accumulated around the lathes.
He wasn't sure what to think at first but I told him it was just a habit, I'd spent a lot of time in machine shops and hate to see them messy.

After that he treated me like his long lost son, I showed up almost every Saturday and cleaned, he sold me parts at cost and did all my machining free.
Oh, he was one hell of a bench racer, too (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[J P Stein]

You're gonna make a hell of an old fart, Sammy.
Next time you tell that one, you can embellish it a bit more. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

[campbellcj]

It's in, and it runs (IMG:style_emoticons/default/boldblue.gif)

The carbs are at bit gunked up (the engine sat for about 9 months) but other than that, it fired up and drove home with little drama.

Semi-bad news is that the front cooler couldn't get done this week. Just not enough time to get the parts & fab work pulled together on top of the shop's other committments for the week. The weather will be cool enough and the sessions short enough where I think I'll be OK for a sorting-out day.

Other bad news is that it's supposed to rain this weekend...SHIT! I'm gonna head out to the track Saturday and try to get in some timed laps. We should see light drizzle at most tomorrow, hopefully nothing. The storm may hit Sunday, but it turns out I couldn't go Sunday anyway, cuz some other stuff came up.

The front cooler will get done next week, and the exhaust will be reworked with a different header & muffler setup. (The exhaust was cobbled together using some extra parts sitting at the shop.)

That's about it... woohoo

[Brad Roberts]

Which mount did you use ??

Please please tell me they welded a Vellios or RJ mount in the car.

B

[campbellcj]

Which mount did you use ??

Please please tell me they welded a Vellios or RJ mount in the car.

B

Of course...I had a Vellios mount. Factory tank, GPR sheet metal. Install is clean.

[Brad Roberts]

Just checking.

Hows it feel ??


B

[campbellcj]

Just checking.

Hows it feel ??


B

Well...need to get the carbs straightened out, but it is about what I expected other than that. The powerband is about 2K higher than the 2.4/four which will take a lot of getting used to. I could shift the four at 3-4K all day long. With the S cams this six wants to be >4K before it will play.

The sound is bitchen (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

[Brad Roberts]

Nice having that fan behind your head buzzing. Nothing quite like it.

Glad to hear you have it on the road. The journey is just beginning my friend.


B

[Sammy]

JP, that's embellished as much as I know how already. Masybe when I get older.

That is actually exactly how I remember it. Are you saying my memory isn't what it used to be? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

[campbellcj]

Post-track update.

The day started off frustrating as all hell. The car was running like absolute shit on the way home last night and on the way to the track this a.m. It wouldn't pull past 4K and stumbled & popped etc.

Ottos never worked on the engine so I knew it was either just constipation from sitting in a crate for 9 months, or something really bonehead.

Cleaned out the idle and main jets. Changed the plugs. Checked the dizzy advance. Stared and scratched my head for about 2 more hours.

I finally noticed that the plug wire lengths on the 4-5-6 side looked a little "weird". Sure 'nuff; the plug wires on 4 and 5 were reversed! Bingo...

So I made it out for 1 practice session after lunch, timed runs (didn't win; 3rd out of 6) and 1 open practice after that. I beat my "personal best" by almost .5 sec even with increasingly crappy Kumhos and no practice time to get used to the new motor. Not bad, I guess, but I still need to pick up 4 more seconds (whole ones...US seconds too, not those Canadian ones) to be competitive or dominant in my class.

I think it's doable. Some carb tuning, a real exhaust system (the car had a last minute boneyard exhaust), more suspension tweaks and some 16" Hoosiers. LSD and maybe a gear swap. Plus a second or two from the driver...

Oh yeah, I also straightened out my brake issue by putting new Pagid Black pads on the front. I already had Orange's on the back (A calipers up front and 914/4 fronts on the rear; tee in place of prop valve). The Pagids stop about 300% better and the bias is pretty good now. Hauling down from about 110-ish at the end of the front straight was far less dramatic. I should be able to go way deeper with some more practice. A lot of time to pick up right there.

I shot some pics today as well. The fast guys/cars came out of the woodwork today. Alarcon, Hergesheimer and some other folks who don't normally do the short-track events anymore were all there. Some of the cars were so pretty and blatently fast and expensive it was sick...

Last thing and then I'll stop rambling. I got a passenger floor joyride in JW's (Otto) "Rudy" car; the 1800lb open 3.8RSR 914 with 12" slicks. Hoooooooooooly shit. We were just on the access road, but when he nailed the throttle in 2nd from 3000 rpm's and then grabbed 3rd for a split second, my eyeballs squished. The thing idles too, which is freaky considering how fast and hard the revs build. I guess that's the beauty of Motec. Even with crazy cams and compression the car can be driven around the paddock like a street car. As usual, he got TTOD again, in the 1:09 range. My best was a 1:20.49.

[Gint]

Congrats Chris. You're gonna love the noise behind your head....