Radiator Grille Install: Porsche Project 6

Flying Car?

We've been loving the 2009 Cayman, and taking care of minor maintenance this winter too. Today's project is designed to help prevent problems with the two front radiators. This is something I've read about in the past, that the design of the car can result in road debris getting stuck up against the radiators, so you have to clean them out. The radiators are located low to the ground, with one on the driver side and one on the passenger side, hidden about 15 inches inside the front of the bumper. This design results in plenty of air flowing to the radiators, but also allows leaves, pinecones, and other foreign debris to get trapped in these little caverns, and just clump up in front of the cooling fins. The part of the bumper in front of the caves has some cool looking slats, but they are still just wide open, so that's where all the leaves get in. 

Orange circles show you the radiator grill ducts

Luckily, there are smart people out there who have developed screens to install near the bumper opening that will block the debris, but still let plenty of air get where it needs to go. After Googling around a few different designs and different price ranges, here's what we spent our money on for this: 

This screen will go on the passenger side. It comes with the 3 zip-ties already attached!
Another screen in the kit takes care of the driver side. 

From the cleverly titled Radiator Grille Store, we will install these beauties, one in each radiator duct, and hopefully help keep those radiators working like they should, and eliminate the risk of any damage from extra "stuff" getting in the way. 

You could do this by removing the entire bumper assembly, or 
just squeeze the new cover and your hand in between these slats in the opening like I did. 
Also in this photo you see the opening leading back to the radiator is plenty big enough
to let in leaves, trash, small rocks, etc. 

Bunch of leaves stuck in front of the radiator. Step 1 was to reach in, and pull it all out, 
with a little help from the shop-vac. If you've got really skinny arms no problem, otherwise
plan on scratching up your hand and arms a little bit. 

No more debris! Time to install the grills to prevent this from happening in the first place!

Here's the grill in place, now I just have to tighten up the zip ties around the original grill slats. Other than the shop-vac, and something to reach the leaves in there, no tools required!
Oh, and get a knife or something to trim the zip ties. 

This all might sound like over-kill to keep the radiators clear, so I just think of the NASCAR or F1 races I've seen where just a little bit of blockage in front of a radiator can ruin a race by slowing the car, causing it to overheat, or even knock the driver out of the race. Not that I'm being paid to drive or anything, but getting my money's worth out of the radiator makes sense to me!

Goals for 2021

Pre-Pandemic visit to the Ghostbusters, I mean, a Firehouse in Manhattan

Mostly in 2021 we're looking forward to the end of the COVID pandemic! A  return to normal life (like in the photo above) for all of us would be much appreciated, thank you vaccine makers and health care workers!  Hopefully, the new year will include these items on the NMS-North wish list: 

-Not driving related, but just staying healthy and returning to normal as we go through the year. If this comes true, everything else will just fall into place. 

-If we get around to driving, then I'm hoping to compete in most or all of the Metro NY Region Porsche Club of America autocross events, and then if I'm fast enough, qualify for the end of season Top 10 Shoot-out.

    My work schedule sometimes gets in the way of other things (whaaaa) but I should be able to do the majority of the monthly events from say March-November. The club has the top 10 drivers on PAX scoring compete at an event at the end of the year, so my goal is to drive fast enough to qualify for that. The fun part of this shoot-out is that each driver takes turns in the same car, with the same set-up, so it's just driving talent...although now that I think about it, if I can manage to be the last driver, and that same car has now used up a gallon of gas, and therefore weighs about 5 pounds less and goes faster....

NASA Track Day, yeah, that's the ticket!

-Drive at some great tracks like Watkins Glen for some more High Performance Driver Education (HPDE), and move up from the NASA group 1 to group 2

    Besides my positive experiences with NASA at CMP, Pocono, Watkins Glen, and Palmer, the NASA Northeast region will be be hosting weekends at Lime Rock and New Jersey Motorsports Park in the Northeast, so experiencing more tracks sounds like a great idea! In addition to NASA, I have a half price coupon for a track day with the Porsche Club of America, so I'll be sure to cash that one in during 2021 too! This half off deal is just one of the membership benefits of PCA, so if you happen to own a P-car, I'd recommend you look into joining up. BMW, Corvettes, Mustangs, and other makes and models have clubs, so I'll bet there is someone near you into cars too.  

They call me Ruby, as in Ruby Red Metallic

-Keep the Cayman in great shape, oil change, brake fluid, belt, spark plugs, etc.

    With the winter time here, I've gotten a good start on some basic items like the oil change, so I should be able to get all this done over the holidays, and then keep everything maintained next year with a lot more driving along the way. As my only car, the Cayman isn't racking up a lot of mileage now that I can walk to work every day, although I suppose there is a slight increase on wear and tear of shoes and socks to balance out whatever few pennies I save not driving every day.  

Formula 1 tickets, yeah, that's the TICKET!

-Drive in another Lemons Race

    The only Lemons Race I've done was a lot of fun, even when I overdid it and went off track, and even when the gas tank developed a leak and the fumes got pretty bad...so naturally it would be even more fun to do it again. Hopefully, this time getting to drive more than one stint would be great. I remember seeing an interview with pro bicyclist Eric Vanderaerden right after he raced in the toughest bike race in the world, Paris-Roubaix. After listing all the horrible things that had happened in the long race (mud, crashes, broken bikes, cobblestones, crashes, rain, more mud, more cobblestones, etc) the interviewer asked if he'd ever do it again. "Yes, of course!"

-Attend the US Grand Prix Formula 1 race in Austin TX in October

    The race was cancelled in 2020, but we had way too much fun at the race in 2019, so going back to Texas for some more racing, more BBQ, and all the other fun things to do in Texas sounds like the Anti-COVID secret to happiness. Compared to 2020, we'll see some new drivers, all new cars, and even some new teams (sort of) in F1 during 2021. Team wise, the Renault team remains about the same, but changes names to Alpine, which is the Renault high performance brand. Over at the Racing Point team, they also remain the same but change main sponsor, resulting in the return of Aston Martin to F1. Driver wise, lots of big names switching teams, as 4 time champion Sebastian Vettel moves to Aston Martin, and 2 time champion Fernando Alonso returns to the sport with the Alpine team. At Haas, two new drivers move in, including Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin. Other moves include Carlos Sainz Jr. moving to Ferrari, Daniel Ricciardo moving to McLaren, and Sergio Perez now at Red Bull. Whether you are a fan of a particular driver, or a certain team, 2021 should be another good year of racing.  

Whatever makes you happy, I wish you a whole bunch of it in 2021!

NMS-North 2020 Review

Cayman at Palmer

Ah yes, the good old end of year review, with a fun filled look back at 12 months that were chock full of automotive excellence. In 2020....

As I was saying, 2020 has been a tough year all around, with the pandemic, economic hardships, and the challenge of just day to day wanting to have things normal again. While this put a stop to a lot of  normal everyday stuff, as well as motoring, there have been some driving events and car news along the way. So, with due respect to everyone still having a tough year, let's look at some positives. 

Here at NMS-North the big news was remaining employed, selling the FIAT 500 Abarth, and buying a 2009 Porsche Cayman this summer. While the FIAT was a great car, and carried us through a lot of autocross and other events, it was time for about 100 more horsepower, rear wheel drive, all wrapped up in an older car. After two autocross events with the NY Metro Region Porsche Club of America, the Cayman has taken two class wins, along with a 3rd in PAX out of 24 Porsche cars at the final event. I've really enjoyed the events with this club, and as you might imagine there are some awesome cars that come out to compete. We're already looking forward to a full season in 2021. 

Cayman engine from passenger compartment

The new-to-us car also brought some new-to-us car maintenance events to check on the mid-engine Cayman, so this has been a fun part of the year too, spending more time in the garage and with the car up on a lift. 

Earlier in 2020, pre-pandemic if you will, we attended the Philadelphia auto show, and loved seeing plenty of cars. One special exhibit they had was record setting fast cars, which included the first public view of something called the Tuatara. This car made news later in the fall by claiming a new top speed record, but then also made news when the accuracy of their measurements was questioned. Last I heard, the Tuatara folks were going to make another high speed run, and be sure to verify the top speed beyond the shadow of a doubt. 

Possibly the fastest 300+MPH car in the world, the Tuatara
Spotted at the Philadelphia Auto Show, pre-pandemic

The switch from Italian to German autos is also interesting, since the Italian FIAT was built in Mexico, and this particular year German Cayman was built in Finland. After reading an article about the Porsche ice/snow driving school in Finland, I'm putting that on my bucket list, right up there with winning the lottery so that I can afford to go to Finland! The article pointed out that a lot of Finns speak English, and that there are more people in Wisconsin than there are native Finnish speakers. There's your fun fact for today!

At the final autocross of the year, I managed to place 6th overall on PAX time out of all the drivers there that day, so that marks my best overall placing. Was it luck, the new car, the new tires, the pavement at Tobay Beach? Probably was all the above, I'm not going to say it was all the driver!

On the track, the Cayman visited Palmer Motorsports Park in Massachusetts, and once again with our friends at NASA Northeast, had a great weekend on a twisty and hilly track during some prime leaf viewing season in October. The Cayman is a blast to drive, and the extra horsepower makes it even more fun. Over two days of coaching I improved my lap times, and managed to keep the car on track! If you're looking for a twisty AND hilly track, I'll recommend Palmer!

Other than driving, we attended a few Cars and Coffee events, where we kept a safe social distance and wore a mask. Well, other than the one in Carlsbad California before the pandemic really hit. In a future blog we'll look ahead to some specific goals for 2021. For now, I think we can all agree with saying good-bye to 2020!

Also Pre-Pandemic, Ferrari F-50 Prototype

Farewell 2013 FIAT 500 Abarth, seen here a few years ago at the Tidewater Sports Car Club annual awards dinner held at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, VA.
FIAT has announced that they are discontinuing the 500L and the 124 Spider, so maybe once they finish the merger with Peugeot this year, well, who knows!