A 914 Porsche Story: Smoked!! Keep an extra rotor!!

914 Porsche Distributor Rotors do not come in three pieces.

Too bad my camera sucks balls at close range but this is what I found under my 914's distributor cap. I spent the afternoon investigating why my 914 stopped running on the freeway a couple of Saturdays back. Not fun racing up to 70 MPH and have nothing left but burning smell and gas on the side of the road. I had it towed home and could not get the thing to turn over.

After checking the plug wires this afternoon to see if anything was loose, I decided to take off the cap since it was the only other thing I could look at without tools. I swear to God, Porsches must be made by little German elves with like stubby little fingers made of hard rubber. You can't take off one thing without taking off another unrelated part or without a few "Awe Shits!!" when you jam your fingers into the side of something. As soon as I finally got the distributor cap off I immediately thought, "Hey where is my Rotor?" It wasn't there. It was gone! I found it in three separate chunks seen in the photo and the rest of it was dust. I am not a mechanic for cars. Car Washes maybe. You know mechanics and engineers, when they see something wrong and people are around who don't know any different, they sort of freak out leaving the bystander going, "What, I don't see it?" This was pretty obvious that most novices would spot. But you are talking to a guy who rebuilt his fuel system from under the car by touch so... perhaps there is some knowledge.

Of course, I immediately had to post my findings as something really cool on the 914 BBS I belong to. Turns out it isn't that special. Avid 914 drivers keep two or three rotors with them at all times. Shit... it wasn't really that cool. It's one of those parts that just go out. A mechanic's dream... bad rotor? Hmmm... no labor hours but we'll charge you 3 hours at $90 an hour for a $8 part.

I have undone and replaced lines, hoses, and other things without really thinking about it at work for years. It doesn't matter what it looks like, I am always good with flows of fluid, air and electricity. I re-installed everything on the Porsche and jumped in the front seat. And the car was trying to start and would keep trying after I turned the key off. I wondered if my car was really screwed up beyond the rotor. I kept starting it and it kept trying but I noticed the battery power was low. I threw this super charger I have on the roof and tried to start the car that way. Nothing!! WTF. I looked under the hood and found all kinds of smoke and shit. I wondered WTF Now! I thought this had gotten expensive. I kept staring at the distributor cap... Wait a minute!!

I had crossed the two plug wires on the driver side spark plugs. I just crossed them back and POOF!! My little car came back to life. Seems to run a whole lot better too. So I can spot a bad rotor but not a crossed wire...

I drove it around the block twice going, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"


Moral to the story: Yes I Can... I can do it on my own.

(Note: The above statement is not an endorsement of Obama, if I did endorse him a few months back, I was miss-guided)

The Zen of Porsche Driving

Elijah is sick again... I get to watch him tomorrow. He has an ear infection again... No seizure this time. I took a break today and went for a drive.

I fired up the 914 and cruised the foothills.

I started out going into Ione. I went by the old Rancho Seco "nucular" power plant. It is kind of crazy because there are all these vineyards out there now and I'd be scared to drink wine from those grapes. It was fun though humming along in the Porsche. I kept the top on and I just listened to the sound of the wind blowing through the window. I passed a bright green 914 in Ione. I waved at the guy I thought might have been the owner. He sure gawked and mine. It is really bright with the orange roof on versus when it is off.

Once I got through Ione, I turned up 88 and headed into Jackson. Not the Jackson from the Johnny Cash song but the gold rush town in Amador County. I have always had a strong attraction to Ione and Jackson. For example, I remember going to Ione on vacation when I was three and I got new shoes because my old ones got muddy. I remember them vividly because they had stop and go on them and one was red and the other was green. I was 3 when I got those. Jackson has different memories. Again on vacation from the bay area, we'd go to Jackson while camping to do laundry or get donuts or site see or whatever. It was fun coming into down. They still have an active gold mine and all that going on. I have other memories of Jackson too. It was the place you went to hang out at in high school. My family liked vacationing so much up there, we moved there 20 years ago to the lake down the road where we vacationed.

I stopped, regrettably at Taco Bell for lunch. It's been kicking my ass ever since. I ate my food staring at the only car wash in town. I was wondering why they were not open on such a beautiful Sunday. You'd think it would be a popular day to be open (like the 2nd or 3rd best of the week... not that I know anything about car washing).

Once I finished I trekked up 49 through Mokolumne Hill. That road is a blast in the 914. I zoomed over the river for the turny road up to the top of the hill. Then I blasted through the historic district of Moke Hill. 10,000 people lived in the town 140 years ago. Maybe 700 or so there now. They struck gold there and mined it out back in the 1860's or something like that. It was a rough place at one time too. They had a very diverse group of people living there... Indians, the Chinese, Mexicans and white bread Americans all fighting for the gold. I wanted to stop for a beer but the Taco Bell was wreaking havoc on me.

Once at the top I headed down into San Andreas, the town where I went to high school. It's funny a town named San Andreas and the San Andreas Fault is 100 or so miles west in the bay area. There ain't much to the town either except that is where Elijah was taken for his last seizure and some drug store that seems to be popular around the area. High school was fun. I liked the history of the area a lot. It was a cool place to grow up.

So I headed out the back of town down Dogtown Rd. I hadn't been down the road in years until a few weeks back. This time I had the right car. The 914 hugged this road tight. I never went over 50 miles per hour once but even that was a bit fast!! When I came through Calaveritas I heard a pop. My engine lid on the 914 blew open on me. I had to pull off and refasten it. It was fun... when I stopped, all these cows came running at me and they stopped at the fence line. It nearly freaked me out. The majority of Dogtown is a narrow one lane road. It was a fun ride hugging all those corners and squealing the tires and slamming on the brakes. But the pavement was way too uneven for my suspension. I bounced all over the place for 11 miles. Once I got into Angels Camp, I stopped for a break at Starbucks.

I felt better at Starbucks. I got some relief there. I had a little cappuccino and a bottle of water. I had a little biker group stop and ask me about the car. That was kind of cool. I mostly sat there checking the college basketball scores on my iPod. I drove into downtown because one of the biker people told me they saw a bunch of Porsches earlier. I didn't find any so I turned around and headed back down to my parents. Highway 49 is fun in that car.

Overall I had a great time, not thinking about anything. I didn't think much of the pain. I had such an unusual time last week with the pain, hardly being able to walk. Today I felt fine... I felt normal as normal could be. My shoulder is killing me but that is probably from driving. The road seems to calm my nerves and helps me think clearly. I got a busy couple of weeks here so I just needed a little break.

I had filled up before I left and I refilled the car once I got down to Valley Springs. I drove 115 miles and took 4.3 gallons. Not bad for a souped up 35 year old car and all the hard driving I did. About 27 miles to the gallon there. Not bad at 4 bucks which is now the price for super unleaded in California. I have to buy it for the 914 and the Cayenne. I buy super for the 914 because engine burns cooler. In the summer I run octane booster too with that. If not I don't I seem to have more vapor locks with that hot engine. Didn't burn any oil which was really cool this trip.

I like turtles.


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Steve Chased By Cougars

Not literally but...

The weather in Sactown (Sacramento to those in Peoria) is perfect! It has been in the 70's all week and it is convertable weather. It's like that Goldilocks time of year wear you can walk outside in a t-shirt and jeans and not be too hot or too cold.

So I had the Porsche out... flying around town, doing my things that I do. It's amazing what people say to you in the car. Here are somethings I heard:

1. What kind of car is that? (The car is 35 years old so some people have never seen a 914)
   
2. Dude... what kind of engine do you have in that thing? (Usually a motorcycle guy or an older black gentlemen in a Crown Vic or something will ask this)
3. Wanna trade?
4. Sweet!!!
5. Pollute!!! (Prius drivers getting bitch slapped from each stoplight)
6. Mighty fine, dude...(Scared me a little because it was a dude that said it)
7. Give us a ride!!!

Give us a ride? A couple of 50 year old women roll up next to me and ask me for a ride? I smile and say there is only room for one.

"We'll fit, " they say. "Just take us now!!!"

Um... Holy crap!!! Steve got picked up on by some older women. I didn't no what to do so I sped off!!! I was scared and kept looking behind me to see if they were coming.... Sure, enough... they followed me into the Jamba Juice parking lot. Oh my God !!! I panicked when I got out of the car and ran into Walgreens to hide. I could see them eyeing me as I trotted across the parking lot. They went into Starbucks. I was safe.

I am sure they thought it was funny.

Scary... I am getting up there...

Country Flyin' in a 914

I really need to invest in a camera mount and turn off the radio next time.

Really nice day in California. Temp is probably 70 outside, no wind... This morning I set out for a drive in my 914 Porsche. Started first, by-passing coffee at a major chain coffee shop and had breakfast at Sactown's best greasy spoon, The Lucky Cafe. Breakfast here is the shit. No one was there which is rare for a Sunday morning like today. Great food!! I had the French Toast and Egg combo, I believe it was the #15. Two cups of coffee.

There was a light chill this morning so I had my leather jacket on. I started heading out south of town down 160 along the river. It was really cool with the sun up midway, the river levee road just flying along. The car has been running great. I have slight squeak in the front brakes before the car really gets warm that is annoying but it ran great. Nice and quick acceleration. Not bad for a 35 year old car. (Born date: 9/8/73)

I got off on Hood Franklin Rd and tore it back over to I-5. I got a lot of waves from bicyclists as I sped by. Once on 5, I headed down to Twin Cities Rd. A problem with a car like this, is when you haven't driven far in months (you'd be an idiot driving a 914 in the rain) is the tires get flat spots from sitting. So at the beginning of the season the front end was a little jumpy. A little scary at 75 mph. I knew they would wear smooth if I kept driving.

I headed down Twin Cities through Galt and then onto 99, finally arriving on Liberty Rd. Once I made the boring, straight, cow pasture laden, trek down Liberty I got to North Camanche Pkwy. Here is where the fun starts:

The oakie driving the camper pulled off so it was me and a windy road along Lake Camanche. I just gunned it, not exceeding 60, but not slowing through the turns too much. The car just hummed along. No squeals, nice braking and handling, smooth as can be acceleration.

The video up top is a section of road with not a whole lot of turns. It was fun revving the engine up but I should have kept the stereo off. I reached into my jacket and pulled out my digital video camera. One handed driving... third gear... going from 40 to 60 mph and revving up to 5 grand. You can kind of hear the motor in the video but there is a lot of background noise. One of the first things I did when I got the car was to remove the rusty HEAVY muffler off the back and modify in a Magna Flow muffler. I even have new flanges on the old 914 headers. The gaskets fit a 53 Buick. It's tucked up underneath pretty good but what I really have is a 2 1/2" exhaust on a muffler that would feel at home on a 289 Mustang engine than a whiny 2.0 914 engine. I had the intakes matched to the headers, installed some Mahle pistons, shaved the fly wheel and then added a MSD ignition to the car. The car goes from 30-60 in a couple of seconds. It takes a little to get going but once you hit the power band... the car is a lot of fun.

I winded my way around the back of Camanche to the south side to my parents house. I had noticed that my horn was not working so I stopped for a pit stop to re-wire the horn at my parents. A simple fix.

After a piece of Angel Food cake and handful of M&M's I head back. Once on 99... the car was smooth even at 75 MPH. The flat spots were gone.