Forums » Grassroots Motorsports » Eating crow... a learn me thread 1 2 3

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  Oct. 13, 2009 8:56 p.m. P71 SuperDork

  Soooo... Remember that thread where I said 944's were too damn expensive and listed out the price differences between an 83 RX-7 and an 83 944?

  I want a 944 now. I'm willing to admit my mistake and embrace beer that you chew, bratwurst with sauerkraut , and wear lederhosen. I've done some research, and read the GRM 944 article, and I think I want an S1 (82-85) version. The replaceable ball joints, early dash, and light(ish) weight appeal to me and the lower price means I'll be able to afford maintenance (timing belt, water pump, and clutch).

  Why the change in heart? My local PCA club (ORPCA) is full of just awesome people and I want to be more involved. I realized that I have more fun (and get more runs) at their autocrosses and I can get a car that double-dips.

  I realize a 944 (especially an S1) isn't going to rock the world in the STR class (what with the 2.7, 16V S, and 3.0 968 also being legal) but I was ready to do the same class with an FB RX-7 so I'm cool with it.

  More importantly it can run in I01 in local PCA competition, a class where my RX-7 usually is mixing it up time-wise, and can enjoy a 7 to 9 race season plus all of the benefits of PCA membership.

  Am I nuts? Will my cheapskate brain go insane when I get the first repair bill? All I know is Audra already approved dumping the loud, stinky, finicky rotary for a "pretty" Porsche...

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  Oct. 13, 2009 9:07 p.m. aussiesmg SuperDork

  booo, deserter....hiss, whip him within an inch of his life......

  Cornering is like bringing a woman to climax. Jackie Stewart

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  Oct. 13, 2009 9:21 p.m. Toyman01 HalfDork

  aussiesmg wrote: booo, deserter....hiss, whip him within an inch of his life......

  50 lashes with a wet noodle traitor.

  "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. So is a lot." — Albert Einstein

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  Oct. 13, 2009 9:23 p.m. P71 SuperDork

  Seriously! First I posted that I liked 4.6L Mustangs in TWO threads and now I want to dump the stupid-cheap rotary (which whipped a lot of my Porsche compatriots just 3 days ago...) for an expensive VW!

  God forbid I do something really bizarre like sell my P71. I'd need to be checked into a mental institution.

  Michael Pinto

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  Oct. 13, 2009 9:24 p.m. Woody SuperDork

  Welcome.

  Never approach a friend's girlfriend or wife with mischief as your goal. There are just too many women in the world to justify that sort of dishonorable behavior. Unless she's really attractive.

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  Oct. 13, 2009 9:47 p.m. nderwater Reader

  I stopped in at a local Porsche club autocross to check it out. I introduced myself to a couple of participants who were spectating between runs and mentioned that I lived close by and really should look into joining them at a future event... I was told (not jokingly) to buy a Porsche first. I was a little put off and left soon after.

  What, were they afraid of being beat-up on by my M3?

  24 Hours of Lemons madness: http://kudzukommandos.tumblr.com | photo blog: http://motomania.tumblr.com

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  Oct. 13, 2009 9:53 p.m. RexSeven Dork

  If you sell that RX-7, then you are dead to me. Do you hear me? DEAD! Especially after YOU goaded me into getting MY RX-7!

  OK, seriously, I don't know much about 944s, but if you sell the FB, make sure it goes to a good home. Not often you hear of factory original rotaries with over 234K miles on the clock. It'd be a shame if some dumbass wraps it around a tree or blows it up by neglecting it.

  "A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." -Douglas Adams

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  Oct. 13, 2009 10:11 p.m. P71 SuperDork

  236K now. It rolled over at the autocross on Sunday

  Maybe I should stick it on the GRM Classifieds? It would make a killer challenge car...

  Michael Pinto

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  Oct. 13, 2009 10:14 p.m. P71 SuperDork

  nderwater wrote: I stopped in at a local Porsche club autocross to check it out. I introduced myself to a couple of participants who were spectating between runs and mentioned that I lived close by and really should look into joining them at a future event... I was told (not jokingly) to buy a Porsche first. I was a little put off and left soon after. What, were they afraid of being beat-up on by my M3?

  And see, I have a total 180* experience here. ORPCA welcomed me and my nearly-free RX-7 two years ago and holds a spot for me at every event. I've autocrossed and HPDE'd with the club and they've always been welcoming and friendly. It's 100% the people in this club that make me want to buy a Porsche and join, plus they're parties have got to be off the hook.

  Michael Pinto

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  Oct. 13, 2009 10:40 p.m. ThunderCougarFalconGoat New Reader

  You know what would be even more delicious? If I bought a tan nissan hardbody and tow strapped you to every autocross. We will have to get you a good battery, since the starter is going to be going the entire run. I'll get mark to come up and provide sound effects.

  One word, ThunderCougarFalconGoat

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  Oct. 14, 2009 2:28 a.m. DWNSHFT Reader

  NASA has a very popular 944 Spec series. Try over at www.nasaproracing.com and see what they have to say.

  Short answer, those guys flog the snot out of their cars while the cars do their best energizer bunny impression. They'll never be stallions in terms of horsepower but a good chassis, excellent balance, low running costs, and general Porsche over-engineering make pretty cool cars. Plus, they still look darn good, even after all these years.

  David

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  Oct. 14, 2009 6:48 a.m. White_and_Nerdy New Reader

  P71 wrote: Maybe I should stick it on the GRM Classifieds? It would make a killer challenge car...

  Don't do that - someone will take your awesome original RX-7 and dump a V8 into it.

  A similar experience with Boston BMW CCA 12 or so years ago is what drew me into the club, and autocross in general for that matter. So what if I was driving a Mercury Tracer at the time - they didn't care. I only left because I moved out of the state (and I still help run their Ice Races in NH).

  I ended up buying an '83 320i through the chapter newsletter classifieds for many of the same reasons you want a 944 now. It was great fun until I learned that my daily driver Saturn SC2 was faster than the Bimmer.

  - Justin

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  Oct. 14, 2009 7:06 a.m. alfadriver HalfDork

  Nuts, no. Brainwashed, but not nuts.

  We keep trying to do the same thing for Alfa owners here in Detroit. "You can have 3 fun runs, and when you are done, we will take as many as we want". It has gotten us more members, but not so many Alfa drivers.

  Then again, well, it's a '60's era chassis for most of them. And the 70/80's era chassis are better track cars than autocross cars.

  Good luck with it. Just know obsessions can be expensive- regardless of marque. Wait, you know that already- as part of the GRM self help group.

  E-

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  Oct. 14, 2009 9:13 a.m. P71 SuperDork

  I keep threatening to V8 the thing but the 12A is seriously the best part of my car. It always fires first try and it runs so awesome. It would make a serious donor engine for a LoCost. Stupid car, why do I have to like it so much? Oh yeah...

  • 15 Michael Pinto 1983 Mazda RX-7 65.624
    
  • 82 Marc Frank 1971 Porsche 911T 66.567
    
  • 141X John Russell 2005 Pontiac GTO 68.229
    
  • 98 Lon Jackson 1965 Ford Cobra 72.174
    

  

  Michael Pinto

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  Oct. 14, 2009 9:16 a.m. jwc38 New Reader

  do the V8, then get the 944, and move the v8 into that.

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  Oct. 14, 2009 9:36 a.m. P71 SuperDork

  I have an AMC 401 begging for a car. It's way to heavy to be any good at autocrossing, even with aluminum heads, but 500+ HP is hard to ignore.

  I share my racecar with my girlfriend so the 150HP 944 is going to be enough for now. It's still up 45HP on my RX-7...

  Michael Pinto

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  Oct. 14, 2009 11:18 a.m. 16vCorey SuperDork

  Have you driven one yet? As underpowered as they are, they are SOOO much freakin' fun to drive.

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  Oct. 14, 2009 11:33 a.m. fiat22turbo SuperDork

  Why not get a 924? Narrow body is easier to drive between the cones with all the same suspension and drivetrain upgrades available as the 944. The 924S is a narrow body 944 and a plain-jane 924 is a more pure driver's car with a less complicated engine (that is also less powerful, so it is cheap and more worthy of an engine swap)

  A buddy of mine is building an early 944 for the ChumpCar race, he'd likely sell it cheap afterwards (assuming it isn't completely thrashed come Sunday morning) at the very least, chat the team up and see if they have any contacts for unadvertised deals in the local 944/924 land.

  "I can pretty much guarantee that when you were in both lanes sideways you didn't have your turn signal on." - engineerd

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  Oct. 14, 2009 11:33 a.m. maroon92 SuperDork

  16vCorey speaks nothing but truths...Buy a 944, then save my extension into your phone, I will get you every part you would ever need. (the only thing that has been extremely prohibitively expensive for any of my customers so far is an engine rebuild... Undersize .25 main bearings are INSANE!)

  "there is no horrible way to win, there is only winning" -Jean Pierre Sarti

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  Oct. 14, 2009 11:37 a.m. fiat22turbo SuperDork

  Ahem:

  http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/cto/1410166429.html <--already ready for a V8 swap since it has the 944 suspension, brakes and transaxle with the slow motor

  http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/cto/1411689459.html <--nice looking, but 4-bolt brakes (4x108 pattern, same as the Mustang, Audi/VW upgrades are available)

  This sounds like a deal for you:

  http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/cto/1418901503.html <-- removed the pop up headlights, their complexity and weight and he's willing to trade for an RX-7, etc.

  "I can pretty much guarantee that when you were in both lanes sideways you didn't have your turn signal on." - engineerd

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  Oct. 14, 2009 11:41 a.m. fiat22turbo SuperDork

  http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/ctd/1417794730.html

  http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/ctd/1417748664.html

  http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/cto/1417059246.html

  http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/cto/1416551038.html

  http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/cto/1413613059.html

  http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/cto/1413130728.html

  http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/cto/1411589788.html

  http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/cto/1410167932.html

  "I can pretty much guarantee that when you were in both lanes sideways you didn't have your turn signal on." - engineerd

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  Oct. 14, 2009 11:49 a.m. mad_machine SuperDork

  no no no.. I am not listening.......

  German, Italian, Swedish, Collecting Europe one car at a time

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  Oct. 14, 2009 2:23 p.m. P71 SuperDork

  fiat22turbo wrote: This sounds like a deal for you: http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/cto/1418901503.html <-- removed the pop up headlights, their complexity and weight and he's willing to trade for an RX-7, etc.

  That's the exact car that's gotten me into this mess. He's coming up on Saturday to check out my 7...

  Michael Pinto

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  Oct. 14, 2009 2:54 p.m. P71 SuperDork

  Ooooh, I don't know about that one anymore. The car has a different gauge cluster, hasn't been titled since 95, has no maintenance records, and has been street raced by a 17 year old.

  I'm not sure I want a 17 year old to have my RX-7 either...

  Michael Pinto

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  Oct. 14, 2009 3:48 p.m. EricM HalfDork

  Welcomen (obviously the w is pronounced like a v)

  Afterall the 944 is what the Porsche Engineers drove, by choice.

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