May Newsletter
This morning I was full of intensions to get into work nice and early to draft the newsletter, the sun was shining and all was well, unfortunately it slipped my mind that Monday was a Bank Holiday and have spent most of the day catching up with customers orders and queries as they have had far too much time on their hands over the long weekend, its much quieter on a Monday morning when folks are at work and not bothering me, still it pays the wages. I must be turning into an old fart, some say I have already arrived
Last month I did not circulate a newsletter, as I was very light of pocket and could not bring myself to draft anything, it would seem that I have not been the only one as the green pig has had some major surgery as well (keep an eye out for an article in torque next month) if you happen to follow the pig please wear ear defenders and keep and eye out for anything which might drop off, Izzy is paying a reward for any parts which fall off, he has also promised to clean your windscreen of any chip fat oil coming out of his exhaust :0. My 996 was in the workshop for a little preventative maitenance for the impending trip over to the Ring in August, for the Old Timers Grand Prix. This will my first trip over to the Ring, the Old Timers meeting is run on alternate years for those who are interested the following link will point you in the right direction
http://www.nuerburgring.de/en/events-ti ... -prix.html. Anyway, my PM started out quite innocently with a suspension refresh I thought it would be a nice idea to poly bush the back end as things were getting a little saggy, anyone following close behind would also agree
, I was advised it would be a good idea to also replace the lower suspension ball joints as these can be a pig to remove and may get damaged in the process, this was agreed. We then started discussing the water pump and yes this was also added to the list along with a low temp thermostat, and as we were looking at the water cooling, one of the rads had a little leak, so this was added to the list. As the front PU was being taken off we decided to have a little look at the AC condensors as well, and yes youv’e guessed it it was decided these had seen better days as well and they were added to the list. The piggy bank was getting a little lighter now, and the tea towel holder was nipping up a little with talk of other things, such as, auto transmission fluid service, brake fluid change, yes these were added to the list as well. As the brake fluid was being changed I foolishly suggested the brakes were a little on the soft side and at the time it would not be a bad idea to bleed the enire system to firm up the brakes. By know I think you get the drift and can anticipate there were a few extras that needed sorting and it would be shame not to do these bits as well, idler pulleys on the serpentine belt were worn and needed replacement, all works were agreeed and arranged to be carried out, then we found out bleeding the brakes would not produce the expected pedal quality, scratching of head and a few more attempts at bleeding the brakes using vacuum bleeders etc were used to no avail, then the servo was removed oh yes it had some water in the unit and had collapsed, so new servo as well. I can’t divuluge the final bill as I would have to kill you after wards and the wife would be seeking a settlement, but what I can say is the car is totally different to drive the steering geometry was set up for the car and it goes round corners very nicely. Can’t thank Chris at Pie Performance enough for doing the work, excellent work guys, I shall be writing up a more detailed review with photos at a later date. Hot news off the press I now also need two new ignition key fobs Ahhhhhhh!!!!!, now living on bread and water for the rest of the month. Well the car is now sorted for a trip to the ring, me thinks the drive over will be as eventful, some cars will be weighed before they leave the UK and on their return just to determine the weight loss as a result of the trip
With everything that has been going on and with the age of some of our cars, we should have a new section to the newsletter comparing repair bills, me thinks the hair dryiers will top the list of big bills
Well whats happened over the last couple of months and whats on the cards for things to do, for those who missed out on our impromptu FB gathering(s) we have been out for a sunday lunch over to The Swan at Little Henny just outside Sudbury, we all rolled up just afetr 12 noon, filled the car park with pork the sun was shining, no sun tan cream was used and we all went home a little lobster but full of food and beer/wine/pop, if you’ve never been to the Swan it's a worthwhile trip (on a nice day) but get there early for a seat etc. Weekend before last we popped over to Maulden for the Coffee Morning, porsche 996 group invited us and we were parked up in our own little section with about 20-30 porsches not all 996’s but a nice selection of 911’s and the odd boxster. For those who have not attended there were about 100 cars on site ranging from european classics to american hot rods and japanese metal as well, afterwards we found a nice pub for a bite to eat afterwards. It seems that with all of our trips out, if a pub is not featured at some time it's not a day out, so mental note if you are organising an event make sure you list all the local pubs and the quality of the grub as otherwise no bugger will turn up
. One of our members has also taken to rating the pubs toilets on a scale of 1-10, if any ones interested a top ten listing of pub toilets maybe published in a future Newsletter, oh dear.
So whats coming up:
May 19th - 22nd Spa Classic, Izzy and his long suffering wife Mandy have organised this event, we have a number of members going and staying the lap of luxury in a belgian spa hotel, Izzy will be having the odd facial and I understand waxing is on the agenda as well, Back S$%^ and Cr*@& are the main areas of interest. The ladies are working on their shopping agenda, chocolates and husbands credit cards are part of the plan :-0
June 4th - 5th Simply Porsche Beaulieu, so far we have a booked out a local B&B for our members, Lorna has been working hard to make this a great event Steve has been assisting, the accomdation looks great and so does the bar/ restaurant, looking fwd to the event
July 7th - 10th Wales. Another Izzy and Mandy event, some time ago Izzy and Mandat took a break in the sheep worrying country and discovered some great driving roads and B&B’s oh and some Brains Beers as well. I’m sorry not to be attending this one as the internery looks great.
August 10th - 14th Old Farts GP Nurburgring, and this is where all the old farts are gathering in germany. Once again Izzy has been leading the way we have 7 cars and 14 members going over in August, this is manly a jolly boys outing as camping is the order of the day promises to be an eventfull few days. We are gathering in the early hours of the morning, sustained by coffee and bacon rolls for the trip over to Mrs Merkels Germany anything we can do to help the Brexit negotiations for good old blighty will be order of the day, showing our german pork around the ring and taking it back home to blighty where most of the german car industry is parked, opps too political reset nobody noticed that slip.
The following are events that have been agreed and we shall attend:
May 14th Kayaking, Upware Cambs, Lorna has her life saving certificate so if anyone falls in they will get wet, budgie smugglers are not permitted, wet suits are welcome if you want to be harpooned as an escaped whale.
June 11th Suffolk Motor Show Lakenheath, our new members have organised this event, they are working diligently in setting up this event, postings on FB should have made everyone aware of it by now we need to confirm numbers as we have reserved a plot and need to fill it up.
July 2nd Peterborough Speedway, joint event with Peterbro group, this event is still in its infancy but interest is gathering, please let us know if you want to attend
BBQ, the dates are yet to be finalised, its looking like a Sept BBQ, the weather has been ordered.
THE ACE CAFE SPRING BH 29th MAY 2017, PORSCHE NIGHT !!!
For those in the know Magnus Walker has posted on FB he will attend as he's in the UK and promises something special.
Serveral cars from our region are going, there is also interest from the Peterbro group who may join us, it is suggested we meet up at a Stanstead Services and drive down, the meeting will be rammed so its important to get and early start and to get on site before 6pm on the 29th. More info to follow.
For those who have no idea who Magus may be follow the link,
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/interv ... s-walker#1 Well thats more than enough for this months newsletter, keep an eye out for impromptu FB meetings, if the weather is good and theres a local pub in the agenda it will be supported.
Kind Regards
John Briggs