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Spec 944 comes to Texas


rmj951

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would have loved to have been there but needed to hunt for a house.

 

House? You don't need no stinking house!.. You know the old saying. "You can sleep in your car, but can't race your house!"

 

Of course you are married with Kids so... Better find that house!

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Joe- I talked my wife into the 1,250 mile DRIVE instead of flying. The drive was with 2 kids under 2 and a 50 lb dog so I could haul the race car in a 20 ft haulmark and have it here in Texas and not wait to have it shipped. I am a hell of negotaitor but getting her to buy off on staying in the corporate housing longer than we have too would be impossible.

 

Even with the long history and pedrigee of the vaunted MR2 in the racing world-

I will make this bold prediction, kbrew8991- the 944s will out number the MR2s before the end of the season.

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Go 944 SPEC!

I, too, raced alone at my first race in SoCal March 2003, at Cal Speedway. The following year at the same event, we had 11 944 Spec cars racing! Build it, and they will come!

 

ONE WORLD!

ONE CLASS!

944 SPEC!

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Joe- I talked my wife into the 1,250 mile DRIVE instead of flying. The drive was with 2 kids under 2 and a 50 lb dog so I could haul the race car in a 20 ft haulmark and have it here in Texas and not wait to have it shipped. I am a hell of negotaitor but getting her to buy off on staying in the corporate housing longer than we have too would be impossible. ...

 

Wow... You did better than I could have done. My wife would never have wanted to drive that far. She probably would have told me to keep the race car here until we found a place and got settled. I might have been "down" for months!

 

 

The 944's will take over Texas...

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Hey, that was me in the lone 944Spec car at MSRC last weekend. I had a blast. I started the weekend in the Comp Licensing program, and was granted my provisional at the end of Saturday. My goal on Sunday was to not do anything terribly stupid, get through the race without incident, and to get comfortable with the things you don't necessarily learn in the DE groups. I am proud to say I accomplished that goal and even managed to put a pass on one of the RX7s.

 

I'm looking forward to us growing the class here in the Texas region. Todd, good luck with the house hunting and I hope you're able to make the TWS event next month.

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Hey, that was me in the lone 944Spec car at MSRC last weekend. I had a blast.

 

Kevin, do you run the blue 222 car? ParalletTanget on Rennlist?

 

I used to be able to keep track of all the 944 spec drivers nationwide, but we have grown so much it is nearly impossible.

 

Probalbly time to update the driver list.

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Well, I am beginning to rethink the selling my 944 spec car. If I can get enough sponsor ships to cover my new project, the 944 will stay with me. I hope it works out that way, because I have 100s if not 1000+ hours in my 944 and over $35k. <-- that's what happens when you try to replace every bolt in the car. (and over pay for the donor car) The cool thing is that even with all I've spent, it's still not any faster than a $7500 spec 944. (Yes, I mean that. It shows that it doesn't matter the budget--if you play within the rules our racing is very equal.) Hopefully, it will break less than a $7500 car, though. The motor is the only thing that wasn't completely rebuilt for the first season of racing. I'm taking care of that, now. Well and changing springs, swaybars, control arm bushings, and adding fire supression system.

 

So hopefully, there will be another 944 Spec car racing in TX soon. If I have to sell it, hopefully it will stay in the region.

 

-bj

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  • 3 months later...

Just picked up a 88 924S to be converted for a LeMons series, but

when done (and not crushed) we'll migrate to Spec 944/924S.

 

No time table for Spec yet -- but it's in the plans.

 

BTW, I read folks talk about getting sponsorships -- is that really practical

and what kind of deals are folks working?

 

Mike

Lone Star RPM, LLC

Austin

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Just picked up a 88 924S to be converted for a LeMons series, but

when done (and not crushed) we'll migrate to Spec 944/924S.

 

No time table for Spec yet -- but it's in the plans.

 

BTW, I read folks talk about getting sponsorships -- is that really practical

and what kind of deals are folks working?

 

Mike

Lone Star RPM, LLC

Austin

 

 

Mike,

I see one sponsor

Lone Star RPM, LLC

 

Really most of us wear decals to support contingency sponsors or some other logo for personal or firiends businesses. My car wears Two Sisters Jewerly Boutique and Gina Marie Paper Designs. They are two of my wife's small businesses. Raintree autobody helped me out with some painting supplies so they get some coverage. Most of us don't have any real soponsors, but stickers are each worth about 5 hp.

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so far I've seen one regular 944-Spec car. So if you can get one more regular I'm sure they'll start multiplying

 

I have a 944 Spec in the works...should be ready at the end of the year. Had considered buying BJ's car, but needed to sell a bunch of other toys to make that deal work. Sold some, but not the big ticket items yet, so I am heading down the path of building one over time this year.

I have been steadily picking up parts and stripping the tub. Once the Harley sells, then the speed of the build will pick up (seat(s), cage, freshen motor, tires).

 

Keeping an eye of where next year's tire rules go, before I invest there. I am expecting the RA1s to remain the spec tire, just hoping percieved availability issues aren't a problem.

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Keeping an eye of where next year's tire rules go, before I invest there. I am expecting the RA1s to remain the spec tire, just hoping percieved availability issues aren't a problem.

 

 

I would expect the RA1 to be the tire for 2011 as well. At worst there will be transtion period as most active racer have stock piles of tires and we always give time to burn up tires before we force a change.

 

Few of us in 944 spec have $$$$ to burn so we always recongnize the issues related to any rules changes and how it impacts build and sustainment costs. If you have any rules question on the build let me know and I can help.

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I would expect the RA1 to be the tire for 2011 as well. At worst there will be transtion period as most active racer have stock piles of tires and we always give time to burn up tires before we force a change.

 

Few of us in 944 spec have $$$$ to burn so we always recongnize the issues related to any rules changes and how it impacts build and sustainment costs. If you have any rules question on the build let me know and I can help.

 

Thanks Joe! I have been looking around for Toyo distributers online...most are east or west coast. I am looking around and sourcing suppliers and have found some sites with fairly decent/comparable tire prices ($690 a set shaved/shipped). I haven't talked to any local (DFW area) Toyo dealers yet, but I am guessing they probably won't beat online prices.

 

I have been looking for bargains out there as I shop around for parts...don't want to spend big $$$ on things, but still want to put something solid together. I am foregoing the LSD for now, and not welding the diff, but I did pick up a short 5th trans. Considering silicone hoses to deal with the TX/OK heat. I am probably going to go with a cage from Hank, and ultrashield containment seat (they are local). Think I am going to go with the Welt/RE bushing kit and Spec3 koni kit from Paragon. Will pick up those big ticket items once the bike sells.

New belts, seals, rod bearings, rod bolts, oil cooler, radiator, water pump, wheels, belly pan, lug nuts, lexan windshield(s), camber plates, and strut brace etc have been sourced so far. A/C delete is in the plans, and considering new gauges/dash (that may wait, depending on budget).

 

Rules seem pretty straight forward so far. Just learning all of the Porsche stuff right now My past experience has been with Ford V-8s, Triumph Spitfire ( TUBA - Totally Ugly British Automobile), and a FF2000. The 944 is a new beast for me with lots I need to learn But I am sure it will be fun!

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Just an addendum...got an email from a tire supplier today. They told me that once their current inventory of RA1s runs out, they won't be get any more for around 60 days due to being on national backorder status . They also said the price was going up about $40.

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I am foregoing the LSD for now, and not welding the diff, but I did pick up a short 5th trans.

 

Good move. The short 5th is really a must have for any track you need to go to 5th gear. The LSD is ok and you can do well even with a open diff. You do give up something, but it much less noticable. Get an LSD when you have the $$$ or fine a great deal on one.

 

Considering silicone hoses to deal with the TX/OK heat.

Why? Arizona is hotter then Texas a rubber works just fine for all the coolant hoses. Despite how dry it is here rubber is still perfectly fine on a race car. Don't waste money. Go with stock and be fine.

 

I am probably going to go with a cage from Hank, and ultrashield containment seat (they are local). Think I am going to go with the Welt/RE bushing kit and Spec3 koni kit from Paragon. Will pick up those big ticket items once the bike sells.

New belts, seals, rod bearings, rod bolts, oil cooler, radiator, water pump, wheels, belly pan, lug nuts, lexan windshield(s), camber plates, and strut brace etc have been sourced so far.

All seems good. Lexan windshields are not a must have by any means. In fact I perfer glass.

 

A/C delete is in the plans, and considering new gauges/dash (that may wait, depending on budget).

AC delete is good thing to do as it saves weight. Keep the stock dash gauges. 95% of guys run on stock gauges so don't waste money replacing what works. My only aftermarket gauge is an oil temp gauge. All the rest are stock 84 gauges.

 

Rules seem pretty straight forward so far. Just learning all of the Porsche stuff right now My past experience has been with Ford V-8s, Triumph Spitfire ( TUBA - Totally Ugly British Automobile), and a FF2000. The 944 is a new beast for me with lots I need to learn But I am sure it will be fun!

 

Don't buy aftermarket stuff for sake of it. Porsche make tough car in the 944 and about 80% of our cars are stock. Since the chassis are old you may need to replace old worn parts with new, but these should last a long time. I have been driving my 944 spec car on track for just about 10 year now. There are still alot of stock parts on it. To make a 944 spec fast an reliable you need to do the following.

1) Replace old worn out parts with new fresh parts. Donor cars are 20+ years old now and often beat. So replacing parts is good idea. However many time just get stock parts to replace them.

 

2) Install the suspension upgrades most run with. To be fast the suspension need to work. That means springs, sway bars, shocks and bushings.

 

3) Get the car down to weight. Getting the to 2600lbs with driver is not always easy. Depending on the chassis it takes work. It is possible even for larger drivers, but you can't just pull the interior and be done with it. You need to really think about it.

 

4) drive the wheels off the car. If you don't drive the car to very limit you will not be fast. The talent level among the top drivers in the class is high.

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