Hi Folks,

Sorry for the late response but just got back yesterday from a ski vacation with the family.

Ron,
Glad you guys had fun! Finding another sub $500 944 shouldn't be too hard, finding a place to store the car is a pain. It would be nice to field a second team. If for no other reasons then to steal parts from.
I'll drop by EASY tomorrow to pick-up a hood latch to replace the one we "borrow" from your spec car and ship it out to you.

Kim,
We're all proud of you. It was a night and day difference between your first session and your last session. We witness someone who just run HPDE develop into a racer right before our eyes. Congratulations!

Gary,
You missed a fun event. You and Kim were one of my reasons to do the LeMons at such a inconvenient time (for me). I figured if you guys could make it thru a 100 plus field of mayhem and craziness, you guys will do well if you ever wanted to go into 944-SPEC racing.
Also if there was going to be any car to car contact, it was better to get it out of your system with the LeMons car than with your nice car.

Big Dog Jim,
I love this class and how everyone helps each other out. It's not unique to NorCal. I witness this with the other regions when I was a Millers.

Sid,
Our LeMons car is a mechanically strong car, it's not ready to be parted out yet. I wasn't sure if the car was burning oil or blowing oil out thru the dipstick opening. The dipstick keeps popping up and the engine area around the dipstick was coated with oil. This is the same problem Rick had at Infineon and we were fortunate it didn't start smoking. It's a simple fix by just replacing the dipstick with a new one or a used one with a better rubber seal.
Every time the car survives it's come back stronger. I estimated with our suspension upgrade the car was capable of placing in the top 15 if we kept the car on the track. Looking at the data and using a conservative 2:00 per lap we could have placed 8th if we kept the car moving. Of course "could have, should have" is what all the teams say.
Don't know how much we can spend yet until I get the assigned residual value of the car by Jay Lamm (the LeMons promoter) but it will be a faster car the next time out.


Most all of the body damage was done at the last LeMons race at Altamont. This was when the Road Warrior style nerf bars were legal. Throughout the Altamont race I remember less than a handful of black flags thrown and getting hit was a accepted part of the LeMons. After the Altamont race, nerf bars and wheel cages were no longer legal which is a good thing since our 944 was not armored.
What I don't like is now they went the other extreme of throwing a black flag for spins, four wheels off, passing under yellow or incidental contact. Passing under yellow I understand but everything else is part of racing and I think they should just let people race.

paluck wrote:


Hi Mike,

I'll keep you in mind if there is an opening.
The Buttonwillow event is in the middle of our normal 944-SPEC race season so most likely we won't make it. The 2009 Thunderhill LeMons is at a better time Nov. 21-22, 2009 and my prediction is a lot people will want a seat for that race.
We'll see if fielding a second LeMons car pans out.
A 944 or 924S makes the most sense to us because:
1. We're familiar with these cars. Both handling and working on it mechanically.
2. We have a lot of spare parts for these cars.
3. If the car is damaged beyond repair, we just cannibalize it for spare parts for our spec cars.

The $500 LeMons car is very deceptive. You still need a legal roll cage, roll cage paddings, race seat, 5 or 6 point harness, kill switch and fire suppression system which is not part of the $500. If you put the effort and expense of putting all these safety equipment into a 944 you end up with a entry level 944-SPEC car. I can make the argument that running in 944-SPEC is cheaper than running in the LeMons because there is no $500 car entry fee plus $100 per driver and less chance your car will get hit.
Your car won't be very competitive with stock suspension in 944-SPEC but the same holds true for the LeMons. We had quite a few racers that started out with just stock suspension and upgraded when time/money permits. Either format is a lot of fun.
Just a open invitation if you want to join us in 944-SPEC. We have a great group of friendly racers.

I'll know more when the 2009 Thunderhill LeMons gets closer and will keep you posted.

Must have clicked something wrong - thought I posted a response last night...

Thanks Ken
yes - the $500 would be just the start. Add in rollcage, seat, tires and you're already quadruple your initial investment.
Spreading it over several drivers helps though.
I've thought about the spec 944, but do you do any events for the 3 litres here in Norcal? I have a setup already that's fairly similar to what would be run in spec 944
New arrival of a baby will prevent me from hitting regular events for the next couple seasons though - so maybe after that.
Back on Lemons - let me know if you or others are interested in building up a second car - I'd actually prefer to participate in a car prep as well. I'm a good worker - I even do torsion bars

-Mike
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SF East Bay
1989 944 S2

Mike -- I think I was the one to point you here.

There are no SuperCup cars in NorCal so far (Where your S2 would run). It may be the case (like the original group of 944Spec guys in NorCal) that you have to start somewhere and others will join later if you want to run Cup/SuperCup.

Otherwise as Ken mentions -- come run with 944Spec !

The Lemons later in the year at T'hill is probably where we will see the most interest.

Yes - thanks Jerry.
I think this year I'll aim for the lemons and hopefully in the future spec 944.
I would need need a little time anyway to figure out how to obtain another 944 - my wife would think I'm nuts.
"But you already have one of those same damn cars - why would you need a second one?!?!"

-Mike
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1989 944 S2

You say that like it's a problem ! We have 3 944's !

You start by saying the 1st one is too nice to be a race car and you need to get something you can wad up and walk away from, then that that one really doesn't work for what you need (eg no one races S2's ) and then well we should just keep them as spares,

(Bought the 84 originally, then gave that to my son for his project car, and bought the S2 to replace it. Persuaded the wife that the S2 was too nice to track and that there were more racing parts for 911s so bought a cheap 964. Time trialled the 964 with PCA-GGR until I decided it was too good to wreck, found the spec car and built that). Somehow managed to not have to get rid of any so far !