Porsche

[seankanary]

#52 is sweet.

4.2L 422 hp at the crank, 380 ft lbs of torque.

[MarkC]

Damn, that's a liter and prob 200+ more HP than mine. Maybe I'll just put some scotch 33 across the headlamps and call it even....

Ever put one of those puppies in a wind tunnel and try to tune for aero? I'm looking at the front valence with the slots thinking that is a wind catcher. When Mike Giraud was at A2 we spent some time discussing how GT types were realizing power gain was harder to get than aero gain. That was between TT bike runs, I don't do cars at that level.

Regardless, sweet cars and great to see them being used properly.

[seankanary]

We don't really fuss much with aero because we try to build them time period correct as they raced in their day. #52 needs all that stuff because of the size oil cooler needed to cool that engine down.

[Honus]

Such beautiful cars. Going over to my friend's house soon- he has a 914/6 he runs in GT5R. He hasn't raced much in the last couple of years but he used to race quite a bit. His car is #991 in the pic.

[MarkC]

Figured it was the oil cooler parts. Aero for sports cars came up as we went from the big tunnel tour to the little tunnel for bike work. The little tunnel isn't that little but compared to the big tunnel....

What block do you start with to get 4.2L? Panorama just had a story on a 4.2 in the Cayman. Sounds like a bomb waiting to go off.

I'm very interested in 3.4 or 3.5 when my 3.2 finally needs top and bottom done. Figure it will be 30 years old by then. Not sure I want to go to dual plugs and all that for 3.5 but the extra torque is attractive. I'll probably get in over my head when the time comes :)

[seankanary]

We start with a 3.6 case. Technically we can bump it up to a 4.4 but that would involve dry sumping it and another 10k. This fella just arrived yesterday.

photo_2.jpg

And will go in this

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[Too Tall]

4.2L 422 hp at the crank, 380 ft lbs of torque.

Sweet baby Jeebus what a line up.

[MarkC]

Sean,

Any build stories or blogs online from your shop or the fellows racing them?

If I wasn't hell bent on keeping mine "stock" it would have a duck tail and RSR front. Always liked that look. But it draws enough attention as it is. Couple more rain storms to get rid of all the road salt and she comes out of the garage for spring.

Mark

[MarkC]

From the last drive of 2013 before being put up for winter. What a normal car looks like before guys like Sean and his ilk get hold of 'em

[seankanary]

You've got a nice looking whip! I'd keep it cosmetically stock but maybe do some light engine/suspension mods. These p-cars are holding value well right now, and a clean stock ride will keep your resell value at the top where it needs to be. That said, if you DO want to make your lady into a big booty monster, you know where to find me =)

I don't have any blogs or anything special, but our website is:

John James Racing

and my stock facebook page is:

https://www.facebook.com/JohnJamesRacing

I'm gearing up to work much more on our web presence so I expect there will be much more updates and content in the near future.

[MarkC]

Exactly - stock with fresh bits but nothing over the top. Last fall BodyMotion (Mike Bravaro) did a re-do of the suspension. It was mostly original and very, very tired. Shocks, struts, bushings, new bars, turbo tie rods, big brakes, tires. All the stuff you can't see but which makes a nice improvement to driveability. Car only has 80K miles on it and the motor is solid and leak free. But I suspect it's getting tired too. Couple years to let the bank account recover and I think we'll do a full rebuild. Once that happens I can't see touching it for many years. Just Sunday drives to breakfast with the wife.

It's not for everyone but hopping into the red car and going for a 50 mile drive is just a blast. Miles of smiles as the phrase goes.

When I retire and if the bank account can take it I'd look for a mild track car. For my skill level (very low) it probably makes no sense to go with 911s but they are around for not many dollars. 12-13 years ago I was thinking of tracking the red car and the folks at AJ gave me some good advice:

Don't do it. If you want to go play on the track spend 20K on something that someone else has already taken the hit on and which is already track ready. Put your money into gas, tires and learning to drive well.

The feeling was you can always sell the track car and recover some of your investment but it's hard to find another street car in such nice condition. I took that to heart and other than planning some DE in the near future won't mess with the red car.

If $$$ were unlimited I'd get into an early 90s car and do an IROC replica or something. But totally impractical at this point in life.

But if #52 comes up for sale.....

[seankanary]

haha, everything is always for sale. If you want to get into some cheap track stuff, pick up a spec 944. It's a well balanced momentum car and will teach you the fundamentals...Plus, it's fun as hell to drive.

[MarkC]

944 was the suggestion back then too. Tempted by go-karts but the thought of getting my arse kicked by a 7 year old kid is too much.

[seankanary]

The sad thing is, you'll spend almost as much karting as you would on 944's.

[BShow]

I love this thread... When I was a young boy, my old man brought my brothers and I to the races at Watkins Glen, NY. I have a lot of fond memories of those races and always gravitated to the porsche cars. We watched a good bit of the classic races as well as the IMSA/GTP. I loved everything about being at the track... the sounds, the smells, the cars. every race was just awesome. Al Holbert was my "favorite" of all the drivers and his Lowenbrau 962 the most memorable car of all my experiences as a kid.

Whats a ballpark cost to transform a typical 911 into one of these racing classics that you're tantalizing us with?

[seankanary]

Our base starts at 85k. As you can imagine, it can escalate quickly from there depending on the add-ons and upgrades you want or need.

A few years back, we were pitted next to a gentleman at Road America who happens to own 3 962's... The Rothmans, Kenwood, and Dunlop livery cars. They are absolutely beautiful.. and so effing fast!

[roseyscot]

944 was the suggestion back then too. Tempted by go-karts but the thought of getting my arse kicked by a 7 year old kid is too much.

i'm looking forward to taking the 1983 944 out of the winter garage in another week or two. my old man raced it at limerock, ct when i was a kid, so it's been lowered and stiffened, but everything else is pretty much stock. such a fun car. makes 40 mph feel like 90. of course, i don't it'll actually get much above 90 mph, but it's a blast to drive around in 3rd and 4th gear on twisty new england roads.

[summilux]

I've been fantasizing air-cooled Porsche 911 coupe of late. Before I let this fantasy get too far out of hand, I've got some biking Qs:
-If it is just me in the car, is it possible to put a bike (56 sq) INSIDE a 911 coupe without taking off the rear wheel or futzing with the stem and bars?
-If two adults are in the car, can two frames and four wheels be carried without resorting to an external rack?

[Too Tall]

Summilux. I don't knok the older P cars as well as newer water cooled jobs however the space from my pperspective is not much different. You can fit a 55/56 with both wheels off and would be hard pressed to get two in there. The "frunk" can hold a couple wheels. Actually, the P car forums are pretty good with this stuff. Ultimately most drivers opt for something like a seasucker rack or a P car rack made for the beast.
I like how you think. Why WOULDN'T you carry your bike with that car????

[summilux]

Thanks TT. I think putting a roof rack on a 911 would be pretty awful. For P forums, I've found Pelican. Any other good ones?