I said it before and I will say it again...A vision that came to a beautiful fruition...
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I said it before and I will say it again...A vision that came to a beautiful fruition...
Great analogy Tom. I can picture both objects perfectly.Quote:
It was the same sort of tense feeling I remembered from years earlier when my buddy next door showed me the Colt auto sitting in his old man’s desk drawer. Its worn, oily, Parkerized finish only heightened the sensation of confrontation with the forbidden. Just like that nasty old Colt, this particular 911 looked flat out illegal. In other words, it was nearly perfect.
Some day they both will probably be truly illegal, but until then.......:)
Well, this last posting just about does it for me. This thread is now an automotive literature classic. It'll be a while before someone can better put into words the passion you described on the first chance encounter with that magic car. I feel I was there. And the analogy 911/1911? So many times I thought of it, the two machines being so similar on many points. Both timeless, both beautiful while not trying to be, both designed by engineering geniuses with skills that appear so remote today.
If you can convey all of this and more as well as you do, you should indeed write full time.
And the amount of correct research that went into the build is astonishing. Some "secret" details such as the dome bars coming from the 917 parts bin I know have been used to tell apart real from fake s/ts a few times in germany. Even the factory doesnt approach the knowledge you accumulated here.
Congrats.
Can I now know which was the actual car on 72nd and 3rd on that balmy evening?
PS: what's the deal with the Italian references such as "Gommista". You travel to the old country a lot or is just a bit of hermeticism.....
Porschist:
Thank you for your very kind post. It seems I owe you a few answers.
I took a liking to the Italian word gommista (“tire dealer” or “tire changer” in the old country) after reading one of Henry Manney’s great stories in Road & Track about the fabled Cyclops.
Because I hung around Gofaster, Inc., just across the 59th Street bridge in Long Island City, I had occasion to the use the word from time to time as Mr. Ray Cuomo, the proprietor of the establishment, busted tires at the track and was of Italian heritage. For some years he drove the Goodyear track service truck up and down the eastern seaboard. He referred to me using terms far less polite than gommista of course as it was his custom to use only the most objectionable epithets relating to one’s ethnic and/or religious heritage in referring to friends and customers alike. A Saturday morning at Gofaster would have made the screenwriter of the film Gran Torino wince. But Ray was the dean of race tires. Because of this, perhaps Mr. Manney would have referred to Ray as a gommista virtuoso. He really was, too.
And, as you point out, both John Browning and Dr. Porsche were graced with first class engineering minds and a remarkable acumen for invention. The M1911 is still kicking 100 years later (ha ha).
As to the identity of that magical car, appearing incongruously near the intersection of 72nd & 3rd, here is what little I recall.
Heading down past J.G. Melon and Joe Allen’s normal pedestrian traffic prevailed and the flow of yellow cabs headed uptown seemed entirely normal.
But just north of 72nd & 3rd, on the east side of the avenue, it seemed I was suddenly quite alone on the sidewalk. The otherwise busy traffic thinned to a trickle. Perhaps the traffic light had changed to red at the intersection, thus halting the main flow of uptown traffic.
Just then, the normal hum of the city turned unusually quiet.
I was pressed for time but that magnetic car nevertheless pulled me in close to examine what I would learn much later to identify as an ST.
But it was getting late and the reverie passed. The spell broken, I turned away and hurried off to meet friends for dinner. Later that same night, I retraced my footsteps only to find the car gone, never to reappear.
So, its identity remains a complete mystery to me.
It's hard to say after so many years.
Who knows, maybe it was just another hot rod.
Well, each detail is a story on its own it'd seem. I revel at the thought of you hanging around Mr. Cuomo on a busy day.
It's clear you started to collect these carachters even before you did S/T parts. Both Porschista Virtuoso and Artista then.
When a proud owner begins to raise the engine lid of a factory-built R, ST or RSR the enthusiast knows what mysteries it will reveal. Raising the lid really whets the appetite for the kind of detail that the Porschista’s eye so eagerly awaits.
As the lids swing open, our eyes check attendance for each bit of hardware the Race Department bestowed upon its progeny of twin sparked air cooled exotica.
We know by rote the familiar incantation, the naming of parts. First there is induction, 46s on tall manifolds, high butterfly or slides; then a 906 fan; grenade filter; amber tin; sandcast mag chain box covers; center oiling cams; Bosch coils; twin CDI boxes and so on goes the incantation. Towards the end come the magical words, Marelli twin spark dizzy.
I like the details of the old Marellis: the chunky, russet brown colored twelve-lead bakelite cap and the lovely little i.d. tag rivetted to the rough alu sandcast upper housing. Finally, I like to see the proper Marelli decal on the distributor cap.
I remembered the words emblazoned on the decal: Magneti Marelli Competizione. Maybe it was in the paddock at the Bridgehampton Nationals so long ago on Buzzeta’s 906 that I first spied one. But if you want proof that the Race Deparment used these Marelli stickers during the era of ths ST, well, just take a close look at the 2,5L race engine shown next to Franz Blam in Rick's post #676 just above and you will see the outline of the Marelli decal on the twin spark cap - and it appears again below.
To have a nice decal on the cap is a great finishing touch. Heck, I would have settled for one that is faded, oily and soiled, or even torn. You see for me, the naming of parts is incomplete, the incantation unfinished, the final amen unspoken unless the proper decal is on the cap.
But unfortunately I never found one to grace the project car’s cap. Until now that is.
Manuel Campuzano made up a brilliant reproduction of the original three color, finely detailed Magneti Marelli Competizione decal for the cap on the project car's distributor.
Manuel will make one for you too if your own personal naming of parts requires one! It seems these were used by Marelli for Porsche applications only and look great on any twin spark cap: R, ST, RSR or hot rod alike.
Watch for Manuel's post comng soon in the board's For Sale/Wanted: 911 Parts.
Thanks Manuel. It's a great way to cap off a hot rod.
Now, if Reza would be so kind please as to say the words.
haha
Amen brother !
Flunder,
Fantastic thread. Thanks for sharing.
A couple of questions:
What's the weight difference between steel and alu door skins?
Without heat exchangers, how do you demist the windshield?
Dana:Quote:
Originally Posted by dlp72t
Well, it did not make it to N.H. in May.
Just when things begin falling into place, the treachery of pride is certain to strike.
The test run you witnessed revealed a lack of integrity in some of the old "tousseled head" fuel lines and a faulty ignition system. The fittings on the old fuel lines that came on the ANDIAL engine had not been properly crimped and as it turns out were past their serviceable life.
New lines were made up, this time with proper factory style crimps. But it took quite some time…
The ignition issues were traced to the newly re-built CDI boxes. They went back to the re-builder for further attention.
But the car did eventually find its way to the dyno and here is the update from Scott:
“We have the new injection lines on and the car is up and running. The rebuilt cd boxes do not work properly so the rebuilder is taking care of it, so for now I am using another set to run the car.
We ran the car on the dyno for extensive tuning and it looks great. I have the sheet attached, and if you look at the top line that is the initial tuning with 110 leaded. I use this for initial tuning so there is little chance of detonation while dialing in the timing and fuel mixture.
The next line down is with 93 octane and slightly richer fuel mixture, and the bottom green line is 4 degrees less ignition advance.
I stopped at 7700 RPM but the power is still climbing, so if I run it to 82-8400 we would get some more power.
I do not think we need to, I am happy with these numbers. The sheet says flywheel, but it is at the wheels on our dynapac.
This would put the HP in the 290-300 range.”
You can listen to the Olive Tart give her very non-pc version of the 2,9L flat six shriek, amped by megaphone exhaust and gassed with leaded 110 octane race fuel.
Kenny recorded a nice clip while Scott rolled on the throttle. Please find Ken's video and sound track from the dyno session posted here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsb-oNy3kh4
Wow that sure sounds mean! :eek: