GPS’s

As those of you who read last month's article know, I bought a Garmin Nüvi 760 to assist with navigating the Porsche, and even provided a 12 volt outlet (connected to the 12 volt inverter that powers my radio) to run the darn thing. The Garmin comes with a very effective suction cup for attachment to the windshield (a little spit helps) or an optional bean bag for cars that have enough dashboard space behind the windshield.

Some options look better on paper than in actual practice. One such option is the capability to listen to voice commands (and play music) through your car's FM radio. The set-up asks you to find a frequency that doesn't have a broadcast station, which is difficult in large, metropolitan areas. The Garmin is then set to that frequency and, voila!, voice commands, MP3 music downloaded from computer and your cell phone's Bluetooth connection all are heard through the car's speakers.

All of this technology worked great from my Jeep parked in my driveway at home. On the road in the Porsche with the windows rolled half way down was another matter. When the radio volume was turned up high enough to hear voice commands, we could also hear strong static and/or distant radio stations. Less volume, and voice commands were lost in the "white noise" of 75 miles per hour with the windows down (the temperature for the first two days driving was in the low 90s). The Bluetooth cell phone connection and MP3 music were both unusable for the same reason. After missing a couple of calls, I disabled the Bluetooth connection and just used the cell phone as, well, a cell phone.

Three features of the Garmin stand out. First, the highway display is excellent, and can be programmed to show more or less detail, zoomed in or out, and scrolled to display the map beyond its normal range. Second is its ability to acquire satellites quickly --much faster than the hand-held Garmin IIIP that I took with me to Nikumaroro. Third is the extremely quick "recalculation" that takes place when the driver does not choose to follow the prescribed route.

To enjoy the full benefit of all the bells and whistles of the GPS, one really needs a co-pilot to make the sometimes complex entries. In that regard, it is not unlike modern "glass cockpit" airplanes. For some changes, the computer voice cautions you to not perform that task while driving.

As fate would have it, the rental for my return to Denver was a Toyota RAV 4 equipped with Hertz Magellan GPS (they call it Never Lost). Being inquisitive, I turned them both on to learn if there were any differences in their navigation.

The location of the Magellan screen is below the radio/heater/AC controls, which discourages even glancing at it when in traffic. The set-up is marginally easier than Garmin, with airports and Hertz locations particularly easy to load (duh!). As with Garmin, home address must be entered while parked. Also, I found the Magellan voice commands somewhat easier to follow. Instructions were clipped, as, "Turn...right...ahead...two...miles...I...70." as opposed to, "Turn right ahead two miles on I-70." Maybe it's a function of my age, but the slight pause between words was easier for me to assimilate. Another was that Magellan always gave a two-mile warning before turning, providing plenty of time to change lanes if necessary.

Garmin has the clear edge when it comes to finding restaurants, hotels or gas stations but I would prefer that it give preference to those ahead rather than looking behind as well.

Twice, the two GPSs disagreed on the route, once at Richmond, VA, and the other time at St. Louis. It wasn't pretty. The first disagreement occurred early on the first day when the Magellan wanted to take the beltway around Richmond, and the Garmin wanted to go through town.

Gidget, the Garmin was the first to speak. "Marcia, you're just a whore for the oil companies. You want this poor man to take the long way around town so that he'll have to buy more gas.

Marcia, the Magellan replied, "Gidget, you ignorant slut, this man is 74 years old and you want to take him right through the middle of town in all that traffic!"

"Get real, Marcia. I know perfectly well that you're in bed with Big Oil."

"Just because you have a plastic carrying case, Gidget, you think you're something special. I heard the driver say that he liked my voice better than yours."

The bickering continued until we were almost through town, but it happened again going through St. Louis when Marcia attempted to take me off I-70 and around the back way. I stayed with Gidget, but I could hear them sniping at each other. After a short time, Gidget switched to another of her programmable languages, and I couldn't understand her after that. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. (11) Skeet Gifford

Four Speeds and Drum Brakes – July

Tom Tate (thanks Bill Frey)

You would think that those of us that play with cars would be sensitive to the rising cost of gasoline. From all indications that's not true. I'd guess that it's the same as a skier facing higher priced lift tickets or a Dressage rider finding the price of feed going up. You just do what you have to do to keep enjoying your chosen sport.

When we were younger the cost of a gallon of gas certainly figured into our daily budget but in a different way than it does today. I know that is going to sound like the dark ages but when I was peddling my first VW beetle around while in college there was no such thing as a credit card. Think about that for a minute. If you were going to buy anything from a candy bar to a dinner to a tank of gas, you had to have the cash in your pocket. I grant you that it would've been less cash than today but you still needed cash.

There were no ATM's and no gas station would take a check. With gas in the 30-45 cent range I can remember taking out the bottom of the back seat in the beetle looking for change.

My Bug was a '58 and didn't come with a gas gauge. What we had was a reserve tank and a lever inside the passenger compartment to access it. Actually there was a turned up rod that went through the firewall just above the gas pedal that went to the fuelcock at the bottom of the gas tank. When the engine started to sputter as it ran out of gas all the driver had to do was push the lever to the right with their foot and the gas began to flow from the reserve tank. To say that it had a reserve tank was to give VW way too much credit. The gas line into the bottom of the tank had two drain points on it. The hole at the top was used as the "regular tank" the drain hole at the bottom was the "reserve tank". To read the owners manual a new owner would believe there was one regular tank and one reserve tank.

By just keeping track of the odometer the driver could easily avoid using the reserve tank. The VW's didn't have a trip odometer, that was reserved for the really expensive cars like Porsches. With nothing but a Sapphire AM radio that wasn't much good outside of the city limits there wasn't much else to do but math problems in your head anyway. Even driving like a teenager the beetle would get 30 mpg so a tank of gas was good for a week of racing about. On a trip from Florida to Maryland following my brother, who was towing a U haul trailer behind a '59 Bonneville, the bug got over 50 mpg. Somehow that didn't seem important at the time.

By the time the first gas crunch was upon us in 1973 I was working at a Porsche Audi dealership in Boston. The worst Audi we sold got 30 mpg and every day Oldsmobiles and Caddys would roll into the lot looking to trade. With so much Detroit iron being traded it wasn't long before the wholesalers stopped bidding. When asked the value of a trade we just asked the owner how much gas was in it or how much it weighed. And that was when gas had just broken through $1.00. We even had stickers to put in the back windows of the 914's that said "Save Gas in Style". I guess we just liked to rub it in back in those days.

Reading an article recently about the pressure that the gas prices had brought to owners to trade for a more efficient ride I sat down to do a little math of my own. Using the national average of 12,000 miles per year I calculated the difference between a car that got 20 mpg and an SUV that got 15 mpg. It turns out that the difference translates into one Mint Moca Chip Frappuccino with a Doubleshot each day at Starbucks. About $25 per week. Just think, if you gave up those coffee breaks you could keep driving those SUV's. Besides their trade in value has dropped like an anvil in a swamp anyway and it's too big to use as a doghouse. Looking at the difference between a regular gas model and a Hybird the trade in logic is even harder to follow. Given the price difference in the Toyota Corolla line a new owner would have to drive over 185,000 miles to recover the premium paid for the Hybird. But they keep adding their name to the waiting list. Why not just go buy a good used 914 or 356 and have some fun and save gas too. You won't have to tie up your retirement funds to do it either. But week after week more and more people trudge down to a local dealer trying to put a windup toy in their driveway. Maybe they just can't give up that Mint Mocha whatever. Or maybe it's just 1973 all over again.

In spite of the rising prices at the pump, the driver's schools are full and the Autocrosses well attended. Our members even drive for hours towing cars just to get to far away race tracks. One of the more popular shows on the Speed channel is Pinks, where hundreds of drag racers show up to blow through a tank of gas in an effort to be on TV and maybe lose their car. Go figure. As much as we complain about the cost, it sure doesn't seem to get us to take our foot off the gas pedal. It takes a little more that some change under the back seat to get us home but we don't care. The good news is the the old bathtubs that I drive do almost as well as that VW from years ago. I guess I can still run it around and make a lot of noise just like a teenager. Besides I drink all my coffee at home. KTF.

A friend of mine writes these monthly all about 356's for the Northeast area Porsche Club magazine.

Bill Frey

The story continues: Four Speeds and Drum Brakes - Sept

The story continues on the Speedster from California. "Little Red" made it from my son's garage in Phoenix to Medfield in just four days and without any bad weather. That was a plus because we shipped it on an open trailer and it arrived on the top shelf above six other cars. We realized that the top might take a beating so the decision was made to fold it down and go for it. Besides it's just a car, right? If it got wet it would dry off, just like the old days. I have to admit that price was a factor as an enclosed trailer was twice the price and it would have been a few weeks before it could be picked up. Besides I wanted to see it and start tinkering as soon as possible.

With the 356 Registry East Coast Holiday (think PCA Parade for 356's) in late Aug. time was important. The plan was to get it cleaned up and running well so that I could give it to my brother to participate in the Holiday with us. Bill and his wife (understanding wife) would drive Little Red and Rob and I would take Blackie. Bill has a '57 Speedster of his own but it's been apart and in the back of his garage since the '80's and I figured that this would inspire him to drag it out of the shadows and get it going again.

The clean up had already been done by Rob and the car looked great when it arrived in Mass. The first drive only pointed out a few flaws like a speedo that didn't work and wipers that only quit when the fuse was pulled. Easy fixes. Then there was the matter of the turn signal switch that was in a box under the seat, not on the steering wheel stalk where it belonged. Some door gaskets, the front trunk mat, and a tunnel mat were missing and the metal plate that covers the transmission was long gone. The rubber items were cheap and came from one of the 356 vendors but I had to fabricate a transmission cover out of a stainless steel dog dish. No, I didn't steal Zach's water bowl, I got a new one at Job Lot for $1.99. With carpet padding inside and out and a coat of flat black from a rattle can, it looks great.

The speedo repair was another matter and the beginning of a very strange tale. Rob had already checked the cable, it was fine and the speedo worked by itself but they didn't work together. I pulled out the speedo and the cable and put them both on the workbench. That's when I saw the writing on the back of the speedometer head. Written in black magic marker were the letters R M Inc. and below that, Sherborn, Mass. It seems that when a repair is done to automotive gauges the shop always puts their name on the back indicating who worked on it. I've seen a number of ID's scribbled and scratched onto the back of 356 gauges over the years, most of which I ignore, but Sherborn was the next town over from where I was standing. I wasn't aware of anyone that did Porsche speedometer repair or speedometer repair in general ever, and I had been in Medfield since 1973. I picked up the phone and called Jack Styles up at Paul Russell Restorations in Essex, Ma. Jack has been traveling in Porsche repair circles since the early '70's and knows everyone everywhere. As I expected, he immediately came up with a name that I had long forgotten, Ralph Meany Inc.

Ralph had a Porsche shop in Framingham when I knew him in the '70's and had closed it to move to the west coast back in the mid '70's. Actually the IRS closed the shop, I was there at the auction and watched Kermit (the green 914/6) go to a couple of brothers that wanted to race it at Bryar, the track now known as NHIS. He was well known in racing circles having won a first in class at the Daytona 24 Hour race in 1970 in a 911 and campaigned a 914/6 in endurance racing. Turns out that the shop that I knew in Framingham was actually the second shop that he had. The original was in Sherborn and sure enough the photo on the website showed the 911 pictured at the 1970 Daytona Race with the words "Sherborn, Mass" written in the front fender.

Jack knew the story of how "Little Red" got to my garage and was interested in it's condition so I filled him in on the upgrades that had been done to the car. The car had disc brakes installed but not just by replacing the drum brakes on the corners. Someone had replaced the entire transmission with a 741 gearbox from a '64 - '65 356. This was a difficult swap because the nose of the transmission is larger that the one it replaces and requires that a larger opening be cut into the bulkhead. Not something that a hobbyist would attempt in his

driveway. That's when Jack mentioned that many years ago he had watched Jay Barry of Stuttgart Northeast in Danvers, MA do that very swap into a red Speedster. He couldn't remember much about the car because it was up on the lift each time he went in and he only saw the bottom. Simple solution, call Jay and see what he can remember. But Jay and Carol are now in their seventh year of a three year around the world cruise so he wouldn't be able to fill in the spaces but I wasn't about to slow down on this chase yet.

Ralph Meaney has a website, set up by his son, that lists all his racing victories and makes contact easy and in just a few minutes I had him on the phone. He remembered that they used to do repairs on Porsche gauges but couldn't remember this one specifically. When I mentioned the transmission swap the lights all came on. Turns out that he had sold the Speedster to Gil Myer who had Jay Barry install a transmission that also came from Ralph's shop. Gil Meyer and his wife Sue were very active in the Northeast Region of the Porsche club and had both served as president of the region in the '70's. Although a dentist by profession Gil played with cars like all the rest of us at the time. He was an active racer, 904 owner, and bought and sold Porsches for fun. Unfortunately he died tragically in a road accident back in the early '90's.

Suddenly the picture of the little red Speedster with Gil at the wheel popped into view in my brain. Back in the day the local club used to race their cars on weekends at Hanscom Field in Bedford, MA. I was autocrossing "Blackie" (he was silver in those days) and Gil showed up with a Speedster he was working on to see how it would do. We lined up together and did our best to outrun each other. Although Gil was a road racer not an autocrosser, he did a great job on the course, pushing me harder and harder. I don't remember who won but I do remember that on one hard left turn his right door came open and we had to bungee it closed for his later runs. Just like today you did what you could to help anyone stay in the game.
Another long term PCA member, Mike Noonan called to say that he too had his hands on Little Red because he had started working for Brian Doherty at Custom Coachworks, of Danvers, in the late '70's and this was one of the first Porsches that he ever painted. He remembered that Jay was using what he called his Hot Rod, as his everyday driver at the time. It's a tribute to his early skill that the car still has the same paint after all these years and except for a couple of cracks and chips, looks great. Mike went on to Gullwing Restorations (today known as Paul Russell Restorations) and in 1988 started his own company, Mike's Auto Body , where today he continues to do fine work on our favorite marque.

We've all heard stories about how people have come across cars that they've owned years before but this is the first one in my garage that I'd competed against and that took such a long road to my door. I really don't have any idea where Little Red has been the last thirty years, the seller said that his brother got the car from a guy in San Diego seven years ago and they don't know anymore history that that. Besides, the guy said, " it's just an old car". Somehow it seems like a lot more that that to me. Just think that if Ralph hadn't put his name on the back of that speedo, or if I hadn't pulled it out to see what was wrong, I never would have known where Little Red had been. Amazing how small this 356 community really is after all.

I'm now looking at both of these old cars sitting side by side in my garage wondering if there is a way that these Speedsters can sense that they were together all those years ago. I like to think that some how they know. KTF

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OVERSTEER Feb. 2008

January Tech Session at Carquip

By Gary Moschetti

On Saturday, January 12, 2008 about thirty of The Faithful gathered at Tom Conway’s Carquip for a Tech Session. Carquip is a great place for 356ers to visit because you’ll always see something interesting. I noticed that many were eyeing a beautiful hot rod engine being built, while others were stopped dead in their tracks by the sheer amount of cool Porsche “stuff” that Tom has. By 9 AM there was plenty of animated conversation and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. I’ve said it before and I know you agree that we sure are lucky to have Tom!

The Club provided forty-five breakfast burritos, a similar number of tamales, three dozen doughnuts and enough coffee and orange juice to float an armored Hummer. After we consumed darned near all of it, we got down to business.

Joe Leoni put Skeet Gifford’s wonderful A coupe on Tom’s lift for a little review with the lube gun. Joe brought a neat grease gun that hooks up to the air supply; you just pull the trigger and it pumps for you! Skeet went to work on his car and it was soon obvious he had done this before. I guess if you’ve owned a car for fifty years, you don’t have to ask where the zerks are! Everyone enjoyed a good look at the underside of such an original car.

As Skeet greased the front end, an interesting discussion ensued regarding the king and link pins. We all agreed that the pinch bolts should be loosened and the link pins backed-out a little to let the grease penetrate. However, there was some exchange as to whether that should be done with the weight off the suspension or not. I had been taught that the weight should be off, but when a racer as experienced and knowledgeable as Norm Pettit says the weight should be on, you have to give it some thought. The consensus was that the weight should be off, although that doesn’t make it right. When I got home I looked up “lubrication” in the Owner’s Manual for my ’59 and it said, first thing, to “jack up the front end”. Your thoughts on the subject are welcome!

Still, there was more to this Tech Session than lubrication. Norm also mentioned that when he took the shocks off his Pre-A race car and then pushed down on the nose, the car wouldn’t “return” -–it would just stay down. And, he just happened to have the trailing arms with him! Well, this wasn’t Tom’s first rodeo and within seconds he was putting one of the arms into a fixture, to check for straightness. I hadn’t seen that done before and found it pretty interesting. Three out of the four arms were bent and all were galled on the (10” or so) tubular part that goes inside the front torsion tubes. So, the front of the car wouldn’t spring up when pushed down because the arms were binding inside the tubes, which eventually resulted in the galling. Tom said to check the straightness of the tubes with a ruler and to expect that they were also bent. Norm bought a set of trailing arms from Tom and I’m betting that he will soon have some new torsion tubes on his car! Since they have to be welded in, the good news is that he will be able to dial-in ride height and caster specs that previously weren’t available.

We next moved Skeet’s car to an empty bay to let Roger Shapiro demonstrate his “poor man’s” toe-in gauge--similar to the one described in Jim Kellogg’s most recent 356 Restore Newsletter. Roger’s instrument consisted of two two-by-fours, each about two feet long, and each with an equally long piece of 90 degree aluminum extrusion mounted on the wide side of the board, with the aluminum sticking up and flush along one edge (see photo). To use the gauge you simply hold the board and aluminum angle against the outside of each front tire and then measure the distance between the aluminum at the front of the tire and at the back of the tire. On Skeet’s car the difference was ¼” inch. Again, there was some discussion about the interpretation of the information. That is, whether that meant there was 1/8” per side or simply ¼” of toe. I’m going with 1/8” per side!

The Tech Session was a hit and the next time the Club holds one we hope you come along!

Big Thanks to Tom Conway, Joe Leoni, Skeet Gifford, Roger Shapiro and everyone who contributed by just being there!

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