So the 930 was fast, loud, beautiful to look at from any angle and had a bit of a quirky personality. Mostly it made me a little anxious every time I took it out. But there was something missing, I wanted to conquer my respectful fear of driving it, so I signed up for my first track event. The first time you go, you are not sure what to take, so you take everything. Every tool, power tool, chair, cooler, air tank, jack, jack stand and on and on鈥hat will fit in the front trunk, back seats and passenger seat, filling every nook and cranny of the interior. Funny side note, now days, I take my torque wrench, extra oil, air gauge, air tank, chair and small cooler, and鈥hat鈥檚 about it. It helps to have friends who take every tool they own, much bigger coolers and lots of snacks. But then again they trailer their cars so they have the room. Anyway I arrived and found my spot, unloaded my car and started setting up.
After the drives meeting, I met my instructor for the weekend. I remember that he was a Brit, drove a race prepped BMW and was national champion in his class. Not a bad guy to have as your first instructor. Long story short, I had a great time and learned a lot. Yes even that first day, I distinctly remember being bit by the track bug. Crack. I think you get the gist. Anyway, I remember being so tired when I got home. The next day, several people came by and asked what I was doing. Normally Porsche people think if you own one and the wheels turn, it should be out on the track. But that was not the love I got that day鈥?I had one guy almost yell at me, telling me that a car like mine should be in the garage and only come out for the occasional drive and concourses.
Wow, I did not expect that! But they had a point; it was in fantastic shape. OUCH, that hurt just thinking about it. So after Bad Boys first track weekend, it was retired from track duty. Don鈥檛 worry; I bought other cars for the track. A few months later, the engine started making a funny noise when I came off the throttle, almost like a loud clicking sound. Some Rennlist Forum discussions yielded a worn out helper spring for the turbo, it was a pain to replace and after several busted and skinned knuckles it was fixed. But after that and a few other minor maintenance items, we settled in for a long period of uneventful ownership. In 2003, the Porsche 911 Turbo Carrera / 930 was 27 years old and even though it had been well maintained and pampered, it only had 52K miles on it, stuff was wearing out. The biggest problem was a bad second syncro in the transmission; it made this distinct high-pitched grind if I did not shift just perfectly.
Other 911 guys will know exactly what I am talking about; it鈥檚 a noise they can distinctly hear in the back of their minds or in their car鈥f they have not fixed it yet. So it was time to roll up my sleeves and get to work. So what is the best (and only way) to remove the motor from a 911? 1. Had one of the best local Porsche shop do the necessary transmission rebuild. It only needed a few things besides replacing the syncros. 13. Replaced the tired trombone shaped oil cooler with a Porsche sourced version from the 930S, installed the fan and wiring to activate it. 14. And I saved the best for last. Replaced all the AC lines. OK鈥he motor was back in the car, it would have been impossible to put the lines in with the car at such an extreme angle. The hood would never have stayed open.