Archive for month: May, 2023

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May 21: SOBO Porsches and Coffee Report

After a lengthy rain on Saturday, I was a bit surprised that Sweet Berry’s grassy field was not soggy. Rosemary and I got there about 9 AM to make sure the grassy field was OK for parking the cars and inform some of the regulars that the lawn was open for parking. The sun broke thru around 10 AM and made for a very pleasant morning. 

Shamous and Esly Ellinwood were early arrivals in their gleaming White 2014 Boxster S. With a Black interior;  the white gauges really stood out.  Options include Eibach lowering springs and 19” Wheel Dynamic rims. The couple are also owners of a 97 Cab and a 2014 Macan; they previously owned a couple of other Porsches.  Shamous does some light work himself and defers the more complex stuff to German Motors. What’s to like about Porsches , “it’s the German engineering”.

A true eye catcher was Jamie Barnes’s Aubergine (a purple hue) 1974 Targa.  Restored interior, exterior, and engine,  Jamie is the third owner of this car from Indiana.  This is her first Porsche purchased from a good friend.  The car is maintained by Jerry Pellegrino.  Jamie is most fortunate in choosing this fine restored Targa classic.  She relishes driving  the Targa with the top off ,with the heater during the cool weather.   

 Bengt Perrssol arrived in his literally untouched Slate Grey 1962 356 Notch Back.  A California car; he purchased it in 2017.  He has the car’s tax receipts until 1974. He purchased the Porsche from Paul Russel in Essex, MA.  It has about 65k miles and the body is straight  and the doors don’t sag.  I think he has it serviced by, Andrew Fung in, Warren RI.  Bengt is a long time Porsche guy previously owning about 15 Porsches.  I did suggest  that he replace all the external rubber so the car does not deteriorate further.

Matt Goldsmith parked his very clean Ivory 1958 356 A (with a 356 C) engine and , I commented that I liked the magnesium racing rims.. A California car that came to Rhode Island in 2021.  Matt has owned numerous Porsche and this one, with the red interior,  (to me) is a keeper.  Although we didn’t discuss specifics, Matt said that it has Outlaw attributes.

Paul and Joanne Whooten entered the field driving his recent purchase, a White 2011 Turbo S with just 43k miles showing on the odometer.  Paul is the third owner of this car and this Porsche  has three years left on the CPO. An after-market Tech Art exhaust seems to be the only change.  South Shore Autoworks does all the heavy lifting.  This Porsche couple also own a 2011 Cayenne and an award winner 1986 911 Turbo.  

 The next SoBo is scheduled for 4 June (10-Noon) at Sweet Berry Farm, 915 Mitchell’s Ln, Middletown, RI. The event as always is FREE, and no pre-registration is necessary. The only requirement to park on the grass is your Porsche. A Porsche logo sign should be in place directing you to the parking area.  Sweet Berry Farm is child friendly, encouraging small children to enjoy a working farm, so when entering and exiting, drive carefully. And, as always, for any SoBo related questions, please email me at:  [email protected]

Author: Roger Slocum

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Shop Talk Vol. 1: “It’s not a 911 Turbo. It’s a 911 with a Turbo.”

In late 2019 Keith Harley, owner of KMH Automotive Corp in the Merrimack Valley (which specializes in Audi and VW), decided it was time to “get a real sports car.” After years of owning “a lot of fast Audis”, his choice, was a Porsche.

Keith really wanted a 911 Turbo but there was a larger consideration– the high prices that even high mile 996TT’s are seeing these days, and we all know about some of the issues on the M96 engines (I am not knocking it, I have one and love it). All that said, Keith had an idea and he ended up finding a base 996 C2 in, Maine.  That’s where this Porsche article ends…

After giving the seller the cash, he spilled the beans… ”I’m going to put an Audi engine in this.” 

After extensive research it seemed the envisioned 2.7t engine swap had never been done but for one example Keith found online, in Austria with little to no detail about the “how.” Then, shortly after the purchase the first covid wave kept us at home, so Keith got down to business. With no instruction manual and not assembling IKEA furniture the big questions started. How would the engine fit, what kind of mounting setup did it need, what would he have to do to the B5 S4 engine before installation and how was the wiring for all of this going to work?

With more online research about the wiring, Keith met, Carlton Brule, owner of 27Swap located in the Boston area. As an avid VW and Audi enthusiast himself, Carlton and 27Swap have supported ~200-300 Audi projects over the last 3 years.

“ I knew Carlton was the guy for this. “ It’s just fate that he lives 30 min away from me.” When these two masterminds met and decided to put their heads together, the result is the birth of Renn27 Engineering, based out of, MA.  The business specializes in engineering 2.7t swaps and provides you the mounting parts and electronics currently, with phase 2 in the works, delivering their custom made turbo kits at scale.

So what happened with the car you ask? I caught Keith on his way to a Cars and Coffee when we spoke and you may see it in person at PCA events since, Keith is also a member of NER.

Do you still want a 911 Turbo? The guys at Renn27 Engineering think “this is a good way to bring life back to 996s and get Turbo power for half the money.”

Get the full project details here:

    6-12 months after the stateside completion, Keith met a fellow online who was taking on the same task in France. Keith doesn’t speak French and apparently Google Translate doesn’t either so communication about this technical project was a little tricky. Call it synchronicity or tapping into Carl Jung’s collective unconscious but these guys are onto something…

    Author: Luis Rivera

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    DE Crier Report: DE Hooks a New Fish and Father Time Goes Electric!

    NER Driver Education Ground School at Palmer Motorsports Park on April 23rd

     

    Well, the weather sucked and that scared a few people away – HAH! – they lost out
    on a really good event! NER’s Driver Education team held the annual “Ground
    School” event – again at Palmer Motorsports Park – on Sunday April 23 rd . The
    thinking behind this is simple: we know there are folks out there who haven’t been
    to a DE event but might be lured in. So we chum the waters with some free food,
    put up a presentation with some racy pictures and then turn them loose (well, not
    really – there is an instructor in the car and they are parade laps) on the track. And
    voila! They are hooked and start to sign up for events.


    There were 45-50 interested students and 30 or so instructors/regulars to guide
    them through the day. And despite the weather all of the “students” I talked to
    reported a fine time and an interest in actually signing up for a DE. I rode in the
    passenger seat of a 2006 Cayman S (I felt right at home, of course) piloted by
    JoseAlberto Betances. Very nice fellow, originally from the Bronx (we didn’t
    discuss baseball) who said he was new to driving a manual but acquitted himself
    very well and did a good job of learning the racing line in the 5 or 6 laps we did.
    We had time to talk about tires and the minor mods he might make to his car
    before he went to a DE (brake fluid and pads). I encouraged him to sign up early
    for Thompson since it might sell out for novices but not to miss Watkins Glen. I
    think we landed that one!


    While the primary bait on the hook is the driving, let’s also note the strong social
    attraction of the DE events. There is a lot of time at a DE event for making new
    friends – people with similar hobbies and similar cars are pretty easy to get to
    know! – plus there are the beer/wine/dinner socials when the track goes cold. It
    was great to see my many friends after a winter of no driving events.


    Thanks are due to many for putting on a well organized event and let’s start with
    Track Chair Charlie Kenney who put the whole thing together. Chief Instructor
    Dave Berman did yeoman duty in herding cats and matching up students and
    instructors. Stan Corbett did his usual registration chores (and reports that he
    already has 4 new fish in the net). Ed Mansing was responsible for the nicely done
    powerpoint. Dennis Mascetta was there to represent North Country Region and we had 5 NER Board members in attendance.

    There were a lot of presenters who did a great job and they won’t mind that I don’t list them all. But let’s thank the food providers. David Peterman (who is now competing against my teammate
    Nick Shanny in SRO GT4 America racing – sorry David but I have to root for
    Nick) donated a ton of delicious Panera pastries and HMS Motorsports provided
    pizza (and Cody also presented and brought some merch for display and sale).
    And finally thanks to Al Sandy and Palmer Motorsports Park for hosting.
    And speaking of reacquainting with friends, I had noticed that Aaron Walker, a
    long time autocross buddy who lives near me, was signed up to go. (Let’s put in a
    plug for autocross – a great way to learn your car’s limits before you head to the
    race track.) I invited myself to ride with him in his Rivian pickup. I got to drive it
    home. Wow. I understand that its 115mph speed limiter hurts its quarter mile time.
    Think about that! Aaron points out that if he uses it to tow his GT3 to the track it
    might actually be able to beat it. Very impressive and lots of fancy tech as well
    (but let’s not talk about the range issues – there would be a lot of downtime towing
    to Watkins Glen). I’ll stick with what I’ve got.

    – Courtesy: Father Time AKA Bill Seymour

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