Packing List

If you bring your Corgi, I'm sorry but they may not be allowed to drive!

For driving events like track days and autocross events, I like to check my packing list just to double check that I don't forget something important. You know, important stuff, because forgetting your car would be bad! Now if you have a car trailer, you can probably just leave your important items (like the car!) in the trailer from event to event. For the rest of us that drive our car to the event, our important stuff has to fit inside the car. Or on a small trailer. Or on a roof rack. Or in your friend's car trailer!

Helmet? You only get one head!

1. Helmet, good for safety!

Check those brake pads and tire pressures. 

2. Tire pressure gauge, handy for maintaining tire pressures all day. Or you might have a car with onboard TPMS that tells you the pressures on your dash!

3. Tire pump, for you know, pumping up tires! I tend to lower my tire pressures for autocross, and then when I leave the event the tires have cooled off and my pressures are too low. Before leaving is a good time to check those pressures for the ride home. 

Make those numbers easy to read! 
PRO TIP: Don't use blue painter's tape on your blue car for numbers!

4. Car numbers, I've used magnetic numbers, plastic ones that cling, and just used blue painter's tape for numbers. Any system works if you don't have a permanent number on your car. Pro Tip: If you have a fiberglass car like a Corvette, you might want to go with something besides magnetic numbers!

5: License. Some groups say to have your regular drivers license, and others might want to see your club membership or racing license if that applies. Whatever the homework assignment is, just follow the directions and avoid having a problem. 

Check with the event organizers to see if there will be food on site!
At the track weekend we did in Alabama they provided dinner on Saturday night!
Our local Porsche club provides pizza at lunch for autocross. 

6. Water/Food. Since a lot of driving events are in the hot summer, it's important to stay hydrated. If you can't get hydrated, just drink a lot! Along with this one, don't drink and drive, have some food, and just take care of yourself for many more years of fun filled driving. NMS prefers the PBJ sammich along with some water! PRO TIP: Put the peanut butter AND the jelly INSIDE the sandwich!

7. Chair. There just might be some down time, and you may not want to sit in your hot car, so having a folding chair is handy. Another good solution is a big 5 gallon bucket, which can also be an emergency drain pan if someone has a car leak. If you have a lid for your bucket, it's a good place to store your owners manual and other papers if it's a rainy day. 

8. Camera/Data system. If you have a cool Go Pro camera or a fancy data device for recording your performance, or just your cell phone, it's worth keeping track of your events, sharing videos, and reviewing your performance in between runs to make improvements the next time out. From the free Track Addict app on your phone to very expensive transponders and other gear, there's something in your budget. 

9. Torque wrench. Before and after your event (at a minimum) it's important to make sure your wheels are torqued to the proper setting. If you're traying to go fast, I'll guarantee you that your car is faster on 4 wheels than 3!

10. Breaker bar, goes with your torque wrench just to make sure those wheels are on. 

11. Clothes, hat, jacket, as needed. DON'T DRIVE NAKED! If you're on a track you might go with the full protective driver's fire suit, gloves, shoes, etc. For autocross, a t-shirt with shorts and a helmet is fine.  Keep an eye on the weather!

12. Trash bags, for storing your gear in the rain. For any competitive driving you will empty your car of all those napkins, floor mats, spare tires, and etc. Throwing it in a storage bin, bucket, or at least a big trash bag is just a handy way to keep it together and dry on a rainy day. 

13. Sunscreen/bug spray. I don't think I've had any problem with insects at an event, although we spotted some fire ants at an event in North Carolina last year. Use sunscreen even if it's cloudy, and your cancer free skin will thank you later!

If you're changing wheels on site or before the event, the Milwaukee 1/2 inch impact will get 'er done every time. 

14. Gas/tools. Kind of a catch all category, but if you need any special tools and fluids, bring those along. If you need a tool, ask your neighbors in the paddock if you can borrow theirs. Make sure you've got enough gas for each driving session. You might think that's a funny one, but I have seen OTHER drivers run out of gas on track. 

Good news! The track you're at has gas pumps!
Less good news: $10.99 a gallon. 

Made a Mistake in the Garage!

I just put all this back together, and now have to take it apart again to fix my mistake? CRAP! 

Recently I was celebrating the end of a big job replacing some power steering hoses, which was a big accomplishment for a DIY'er mechanic at home with a mid-engine car. Anyways, no leaks there, but when I test drove the car, there was NO AIR CONDITIONING. Maybe you live in Northern Europe or the North Pole and scoff at AC, but I don't! Immediately I started imagining the worst case scenarios of having to replace the entire AC system, which would have been a big challenge for my skill set, much less an even bigger challenge for my wallet!

Luckily, my Army Resiliency training kicked in, and I realized that while it's normal to CATASTROPHIZE right off the bat with any bad news, it was more likely to not be that bad. Yeah right!

Anyway, since I had just disassembled the intake on the car, disconnected a bunch of hoses and wires, removed the Oil Separator, moved the AC Compressor, etc, I figured maybe I goofed up something and would be purchasing a new compressor soon. That was one possibility. Another LESS expensive possibility was that somehow I'd released the refrigerant, in which case just charging it up wouldn't be bad. However, if your refrigerant has all leaked out, that probably means you have a leak, which will turn into more dollars quickly. 

To rule out the easy stuff, I was able to drive the car (it drove fine, just no AC, in SC, in the summer, with the humidity, but I digress...) to school and with my friendly Automotive instructors help, we hooked it up to an AC machine. The high and low side pressures hopped right up to where they should be, so that meant that the system had plenty of refrigerant. GOOD NEWS: we narrowed down what could be wrong!! BAD NEWS: The problem could still be on the expensive side. REALLY GOOD NEWS: My instructors knew that I'd been working on the car and suggested "Maybe you have something still disconnected." REALITY NEWS: OK, I can live with this mistake, and it would be free to fix, other than a few hours of my labor looking for a loose connection. MORE REALITY NEWS: This meant I'd have to start taking off all the parts I'd just put back together, and see if there was a loose connection buried under the intake and/or compressor. Let's go!

The central Resonance tube is loose, any loose wires in there?

From my repair manual, I listed 10 steps to get to moving the compressor, which is as far as my previous repair had taken. I figured that if I just retraced my steps (no, I didn't leave any breadcrumbs in the car, but on second thought, maybe I did, and the breadcrumbs were interfering with my AC...) I'd find the issue. 

Checking the manual for removing the compressor.

Step 1: remove top and rear wall covers to access the engine bay, remove negative battery cable. No problem, too early to find loose wires. 

Step 2: Remove resonance tube, which is part of the air intake system. Now I can see more of the suspected area, no loose wires yet. 

Step 3+4: Remove Oil Separator and loosen serpentine belt. OK, I've done all these things before, so it's not too hard to do. I knew that the belt was a pain to put back on, so I only loosened it off the AC compressor, which made putting the belt on at the end very easy. No loose wires in sight yet. 

Step 5: Loosen battery terminal #30 in engine bay: OK, this is just moving another bunch of wires out of the way, so let's keep looking for a loose wire....BINGO! 

HEY LOOK, A LOOSE CONNECTOR! I'm a moron!

With a little more looking around, I found BOTH ends of the connection, and sure enough they matched, clicked right together, and then I just had to reverse steps 5-1 so I could turn on the car and the AC system. Believe it or not, this connection is what powers up the AC Compressor, so I was looking at really good chance that this fixed the problem!

Somebody needs to click these two parts together so I can get some AC!

Fast forward to starting the car, and it ran fine. Hit the button to turn on the AC, wait for it, and BOOM WE'VE  GOT COLD AIR! I turned on the recirculate button and the AC got very frosty, as in 34 degrees frosty! '

AC on recirculate, 33 degrees. AHHHHHH!!!!!!

Bottom line: I made a mistake in the previous repair, but was able to fix it. It's a good thing I'm not a real mechanic, or I'd have been doing about 3 hours of work to fix my mistake, and not getting paid for it. Oh well, it's always a good day when you learn something. It's also a great day when your AC works!

49 degrees without the recirculated air. It was 82 ambient, so right in the ballpark for lowering the temp by 30 degrees. 

Cars and Coffee: COFFEE REPORT!

Highlight of the day, this Lamborghini racecar. 

On Saturday I attended two Cars and Coffee events in Charlotte, and figured I should be serious about this. Sure, there were cool cars there. Yes, many of them were more expensive than 4 new Corvettes! So, Let's get down to the real nitty gritty and report on the COFFEE at both locations!

Highlight #2: Porsche GT3 RS with Weissach/Manthey package. 

First up, Hendrick Porsche of Charlotte held their monthly Stuttgart Saturday, which believe it or not happens on a Saturday! Stuttgart is the city in Germany where the Porsche cars HQ is located, but what about their coffee? In a major upgrade, this was the first event there that I noticed a shiny new Nespresso machine for coffee. After someone explained to me how to use it, I enjoyed a delicious cup of coffee. Yes, it was free. Yes, they also had doughnuts from a local bakery. Overall, I'd rate the experience as Excellent, but what about up the road at Lamborghini?

At Lamborghini Charlotte, they provided the guests with boxes of Dunkin' Donuts coffee, and I imagine Dunkin' Donuts donuts. Since I like Dunkin', and the goodies were also free, I would rate them as Very Good, so maybe just one small step below the Porsche coffee experience. Oh, there were some cars too!

50th Anniversary of the 911 Targa model. 

SPOILER ALERT! Porsche with the Weissach package. 

2025 Porsche Macan Electric Turbo. The electric Macan is new this year, and even though it does NOT have a turbo, Porsche still uses the Turbo badge to show it has more horsepower than the base model. Sure, that makes sense!

I liked this dark green on the Lamborghini.

License plate time: Create Value. Must be an investment advisor. 

Hey, nice car! Thanks I Know.

Lamborghini Countach. 

The Countach was built from 1974-1990, and was one of the cars that really put Lambo on the map! That map would be the "Map of Awesome Cars."

Big crowd inside the Lamborghini dealer also. Must be the free coffee and donuts!
Or the cool cars. 

Very nice Aston Martin outside. 

1st edition Lotus Emira. 

Lamborghini Huracan Evo with all wheel drive. 

Rear wing on the Lambo racecar.
To be honest I thought Roger Dubuis was the driver, but that's the name of a watch company that sponsors the racecar!

Some serious aerodynamic goodies on this thing. 

Speaking of aerodynamics on a fast car, here's some more details on the Porsche GT3 RS. Sure, it was over $300,000, but I get the idea that it's fast. 

Big rear wing for down force and better cornering. 

Vents and airfoils in the front hood to get the air moving where it will make the car faster. 

Vents over the front wheels

Large wheel covers on the rear wheels for better air flow. You can read the tire size, 335 (that's WIDE) on 21 inch wheels. 

More aerodynamic goodness behind the front wheel to shape the air flow over the rest of the car. Right behind the top vents is the oval gas cap cover. 

Lamborghini COFFEE (via Dunkin)

I think this was a Lambo Urus (SUV) interior. Along with the GREEN trim, you still get the red cover (by the cup holders) over the start button, so you can always pretend you're launching missiles when you start it up. 

An Audi R8 pulled up too. I saw a kid with a "Lord of the Rings" T-shirt, and of course it also had the Audi 4 rings logo!

Back at the Porsche dealer, I saw this row of 2025 electric Macans that are being sold as used cars. The ones I looked at had 3,000-5,000 miles, so maybe they were demonstrators, or used for VIPS at the local pro golf tournament or something. Could be a good price, who knows?

Cayman Power Steering Lines Replace PART II

Bottom line up front: I finally FINISHED replacing two power steering hoses, and the car runs fine! Oh sure, that sounds easy, but like anything else I've never done before, it was a learning experience, and getting it done feels like winning the lottery. 

Total new tools bought: 2 

     -one special Porsche steering line disconnect tool 

     -some E-Torx sockets

New procedures performed: A LOT!

    -Remove air intake, remove intake resonance tube, remove Oil Separator, Install new serpentine belt, remove power steering lines, disconnect a bunch of clips/wires/etc, 

    -Removed one frog that hopped into the garage.

Total Cost: $636 for two new lines and two new tools. 

    -My guess is that just the labor would have cost that much. 

    -FREE LABOR!

    -FREE LABOR assists from Julie Nixon and Brian Nixon!

    -FREE use of a lift at school!

Total Savings compared to having a Porsche Dealer do the work: PRICELESS!

Besides getting to use a lot of tools and work all over the car, another really fun part of working in your garage (in South Carolina in the summer) is the heat.  Oooh, and don't forget the humidity. With my infrared thermometer I can state that it hit 90 degrees in the garage on one humid day, and I can confirm it felt a little warm. That explains the new garage fan. It also explains the new garage portable AC unit! This repair job mostly hit during some 99 and 100 degree days, so thanks to whoever invented air conditioning!

Just for fun I looked up how long the book answer is for labor on replacing power steering lines. I'm not sure if this includes all the work, but for the high pressure line my reference at school said it was a 2.5 hour job. Let's just say it took me a LOT more than that to do this job! However, now that I've done it, bought a special tool, and learned my way around the car some more, I'm sure I could do it a lot faster. on the other hand, I never want to do this one again!

There was some good luck involved, the 100 degree temperatures went away near the end of the job, and that made things much easier. We even had a bunch of rain, so maybe that explains the frog that hopped into the garage!

One mistake I made involves the bolt in the photo above. Near the end of this job I had put everything back together in the engine bay, and it was time to start the car up! I ran the engine for a minute or so, turned it off, and checked the power steering fluid. After doing this another time or two, the engine made an odd noise. I did a visual inspection of everything, and there was a bolt missing from the 3 that hold the power steering pulley on. Sure enough, the other 2 bolts were loose, and I knew that I'd forgotten to tighten them AFTER putting the new serpentine belt on. 

To put the pulley back on you can only tighten these bolts a little, and I SHOULD have gone back to tighten them AFTER putting the belt on, but managed to leave out that step. Well, ok, now I had to find the missing bolt. Ah yes, THE CASE OF THE MISSING BOLT, starring Sherlock Holmes the Do-It-Yourselfer mechanic! Luckily I had a flashlight and a telescoping magnet to retrieve it, but I didn't see it inside the car. 

This is where I knew that I also had removed the covers underneath, so JUST MAYBE it was down on the floor of my garage. Sure enough, there it was! Some luck involved there, guaranteeing that I will never win the lottery! After tightening all 3 bolts, the odd noise went away, and life was good again!

Underneath I disconnected one of the lines. This step was easy, really nothing in the way down here, so the exact OPPOSITE of working on the other end of the lines on top of the engine!

New line, ready to be inserted. 

Back to the engine bay: Upper left is the Air/Oil Separator that has to come out. Everything else here has to MOVE OUT OF THE WAY! I've already disconnected the black line that clips into the white part near the top. 

I learned that the main part of the intake here is called a "resonance tube." The air intake comes up from the lower right corner, into the resonance tube, which splits the air left and right (you can see one of the runners on the left with the word PORSCHE on it) to the 2 cylinder banks down below, where the 6 cylinder flat boxer engine lives. 

This is the Air/Oil Separator. Not visible on the far right is where the PCV hose comes in. The circular part catches the oil which drops down to the left where the green O rings are. This gets installed rotated up 90 degrees. Closest to the camera is one of the two bolt holes, very simple to attach. 

Looking towards the engine through the opening behind the 2 seats we see the Power Steering Pump pulley with three bolts removed. In the upper left is the high pressure hose coming down into the pump, so I'll get the pulley off and loosen the line there with a 16mm wrench. These steps were easy. 

With the pulley gone, you can see the pump with the line going straight up out of it. 

Line is removed, and I just stuck it in this empty bottle, but no more fluid came out at this end. 

One of the power steering lines. 

                                                

Porsche tool for disconnecting power steering lines. 
If my car was a year older, it wouldn't need this tool because you can use a regular wrench on them. Oh well, now I know!

Since I ordered a new Air/Oil Separator, this is the old one taken apart just to look at it. Pretty simple diaphragm that stops any oil in the air in the engine, oil then drips back down through those two tubes with O rings on the left. 

Looking into the engine from outside the car on the driver side, #1 is the air intake runner for three of the cylinders behind the driver, I've loosened 6 bolts that hold it just to get it out of the way of #2, which is the AC Condenser, now pulled back onto the engine, so that we could get to the steering line UNDERNEATH it. The 2 AC aluminum lines are still attached, so this is a great example of just moving parts out of your way without totally removing them. In the case of the AC system, sure, you could remove it, but that would require bleeding all the refrigerant and oil out of it first. 

 

One of the old lines is hanging down. I think we removed one by pulling it up and out, and the other pulling to down and out. Upper right you can see the gold connections where the loose line connected, and the other line is still connected. I wanted to get one line totally free before loosening the 2nd line and risk confusing which was which!

TIP OF THE DAY: When you remove bolts that you want to put back in an exact order and not get them mixed up, just punch some holes in cardboard and label it. This is handy for head gaskets, or in this case, the bolts on the air intake runner. 

Here's a funny FUSE BOX story and YES I made a mistake! At some point I unhooked the battery and then closed the lid on it, forgetting that this car has electronic hood openers. In other words, I now had NO WAY to open the lid and reconnect the battery! Although, Porsche solves this issue by providing a hand EXTRA Positive Battery Connection in the fuse box under the driver side dash! You can't jump start the car here, but you can energize the battery enough to use your key or the car switch to open the hood. 

The upper right red battery connection is pulled out. Just connect a jumper cable to it (hopefully the positive one) then ground the negative, and hit the button to open your front trunk (frunk.) 

Switches to the front trunk and rear hatch on the driver sill. TIP: They don't work when the battery is disconnected. ASK ME HOW I KNOW!

Nearing the end, everything is connected and the car runs, so I've replaced the aluminum rear wall engine cover. Next up is the thickly padded carpet piece that goes over this. Need to remove that piece of trim up on top of the wall. Even when you drive and your seat is almost up against this, the engine noise isn't too loud, and the heat doesn't come into the cabin. 

Not a big deal, but the trim piece is removed. Never had to do that before, even though I know I've take the carpet off. 

                                         

Above is the carpet in place, and the top trim. Behind that is the aluminum engine cover, so just missing the carpet piece for back there next. 

More finishing up is to replace the plastic covers over most of the bottom. Here I'm standing under the front of the car looking towards the rear. The biggest metal pipes are for coolant, since the two radiators are above my head, and they cross while heading back to the engine. 

Covers installed. FUN FACT: German engineering results in all these panels being attached with two different kinds of fasteners. Some are Torx and some are 10mm nuts. I'm not sure why they couldn't make them all the same, so I had two power tools underneath to deal with both kinds, instead of having  to swap sockets every two seconds.