Rob S

My good friend Garrick Lew passed away from cancer in March. Some of you old-timers will recall that he was a very active Rennlist and Pelican participant in the early and middle 2000s under “garrickl” on both forums. He was bright and enthusiastic, quick with wit and good cheer, and the busiest and hardest working person I have ever met. He was a very successful and influential criminal defense attorney in San Francisco, a devoted family man and father of two boys, and an active member of his community. And he absolutely loved Porsches,; he participated and contributed to these forums, as you can search back and see. If you want to know more about him personally, here is a published tribute: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sfg...?pid=179407504

Garrick and I got to know each other through these forums; we conversed by phone and email hundreds of times during that period and met on several occasions to about talk cars and the other good things in life. In those days, we were each building up our respective 930s to be track cars, following similar routes, sharing tips and ideas and encouraging each other. It was Garrick who beckoned me over to the “dark side” (as he put it) and influenced me to go EFI in 2003, a path that was fascinating and rewarding, and not all that common back then. I went on to finish my car in 2006; I drove it, enjoyed it, sold it, and have moved on to other Porsche endeavors. But his project stalled in about 2004 as he turned his focus to his very demanding career and to his family, and his car languished in mechanical and body shops for the next 12 years.

I am now the custodian of his unfinished 78 930 project. Just before he passed away, Garrick accepted my offer to help with his car, which his family has now entrusted me to do. In May, I trailered it back to Seattle from the Bay Area along with many boxes of body, interior, and mechanical parts. My work will entail understanding the status of the car mechanically and cosmetically, getting it running, and perhaps working to reassemble and finish the car. It will also likely involve selling it on behalf of his family. I have no financial interest in the car and am doing this for my pleasure in honor of Garrick and his family. I consider it my charter to do whatever is best financially for them. I’m sure Garrick would have liked to see it finished if he were here to enjoy it, but knowing him, I’m also sure that under the circumstances he’d be fine with selling it as is and letting someone else take it on.

I’m putting this on the forum to let people know of Garrick's passing and what I am doing with his car. Ultimately, his family will be selling the car, and I will be glad to consider offers on their behalf. But I can't possibly put a price on it without discussion about what format the car will be in and what value it would have in these different formats. It could be that it is better to finish it further with the existing C2T bumpers and rockers or to source 930 bodywork to make it more original. Or perhaps it's better to sell it as is and let the new owner build it into what they want. It may even make sense to split it up and sell the drivetrain separately from the rolling chassis, though I think it would be a shame to break it up. If I finish the project, I may like to solicit help from forum members in sourcing parts (e.g., 930 bumpers and rockers).

In this process, it has been both enjoyable and cathartic for me to explore Garrick's car and his writings, and thereby more indirectly his life, literally trying to piece everything together. He was a very interesting soul, and I miss him.

To keep this from getting too long, I'll continue with more specific details about the car the next post. Meanwhile, here are two pictures of his car, around 2001, when he purchased it.

Rob

Rob S

The body and some of the interior were since disassembled for repainting in about 2003 (and never reassembled). Unfortunately, some body and interior parts have gone missing in the interim, but most of the major parts are in my possession. Current photos of the car in my garage are below. The odometer show 72,794 miles.

The car is a US 78 930, No. 179 (of 451), manufactured January 1978. The exterior was originally (and is now repainted as) a "root beer" brown metallic. I'm not sure of the actual name; the paint code is 460-9-3. The interior is a "cork" color, that may have officially been called "yellow." I have not attempted to obtain a certificate of authenticity from PCNA to verify these things. The tub and chassis are generally in excellent condition. I can find no evidence of crash damage or repair by examining the trunk, engine compartment, wheel wheels, structure, or floor. And no rust, whatsoever, anywhere. The external body work (doors in particular) have some minor dings and scratches apparently from having been stored in the body shop for so long. The C2T aftermarket bumpers and rockers have been repainted but are off the car. The gas filler door is missing. The windshield is a new 964 part but is not installed. The door panels, dash cover and console are present but not installed. Other interior panels are present, except for the missing rear package shelf. The seats are not 930 parts -- they're later Carrera electric seats. I think that all or most of the interior and trunk carpeting is present but uninstalled. The ash tray is missing -- a gauge box with a Davtron intercooler in/out temp gauge goes in its place. There is an aftermarket mechanical boost gauge in the clock position. The owners manual is present as is the jack. The spare tire and tool kit are missing. An Autopower bolt-in rollbar has been installed. The flag mirrors are missing, but some aero mirrors, painted brown, are in the parts stash. The interior door surfaces have been hammered by Neanderthal radio installers. Headlights, taillights, and parking lights are missing, but there are brown painted headlight rings. The rear center reflector (C2 style) is present and in good condition, but metal was cut from the body to allow its installation. Also, large holes were made in the rear quarters, in front of the wheels, to accommodate installation of C2-style rocker ends.

Rob S

The crown jewel of this car is its engine. It is a 3.4 liter twin plug 930 with a DTA ECU, full bay custom intercooler by Marco Manzie, GHL exhaust, 46 mm Tial wastegate and Tial BOV, electronic boost control, K27 HF turbo, 964 cams, Carrera intake, larger throttle body, and a bunch of other goodies. It was professionally built by Joe Zeiph at Porboys in Oakland in 2003. From my recent conversations with Joe, who can still recall much of the build, the case (original and matching numbers, I think) was shuffle pinned, and the crank was knife-edged. Rods were stock but properly prepared, and good hardware was used for rod bolts and case studs (ARP or Raceware). Pistons were new 98 mm Mahle 7.5:1. Heads were professionally rebuilt with new valves, special valve springs, titanium retainers, and the ports were Extrude Honed to match the Carrera intake. There are twin, Bosch 6 pin coils on a nice aluminum mounting rack and new Magnecor ignition wires.

The engine was tuned on an engine dyno by Dave Capurro in Reno in November 2003; Dave was a real specialist with EFI tuning, and he was very experienced with the DTA system. A beautiful custom EFI harness, using Tefzel wiring, was built by Dave’s associate, Justin Beug, with whom I've recently been in touch. (I followed exactly in these footsteps about two years later). Over several days, Dave and Justin tuned the engine, with Garrick present to watch. I recall getting excited phone calls from Garrick on that day as he provided me with a blow by blow report of progress. The cams were custom timed and the engine was tuned to provide tremendous torque in the lower rev ranges – note that it puts out 426 ft-lb at 2500 RPM, and has 501 hp peak at 5000 RPM (crankshaft numbers). These numbers were using pump fuel, with modest boost (about 1 bar). The dyno chart is attached. Different (stock) cam timing would move the power band up and yield higher horsepower if desired. This engine has dyno time only from 2003; it was never run under load since then, though it was started a few times during fitment in the car in 2004, and driven just a few blocks on the street. It then sat around for 12 years and wasn’t run at all until I started it for the first time in late September. More on that in a later post.

The car is equipped with a G-50 5 speed transmission. Here is an excerpt from one of Garrick’s posts on Rennlist (Sep 03) regarding the transmission: “I had Jimmy Privett shorten an 87 Carrera G50 box for my 930, with billet shift forks, steel synchros, he rebuilt a G50\50 LSD, new sliders, a G50\50 5th gear for top end, plumbed the case for external oil cooler and installed a return squirter to cool the R & P.” The transmission has been fitted to the car with adapter mounts welded to the original mounts, which could be removed and reversed if someone wanted to go back to a 930 transmission . The proper G-50 shifter and hydraulic clutch pedal assembly were installed. None of the original 930 transmission parts are available – when Garrick bought the car, it came with a 915 5 speed that broke after a short time and inspired him to go with something beefier. But since the building and installation of the transmission, the car has probably only been driven a few blocks in this configuration. My understanding is that the transmission alone cost Garrick $7K back then.

Here are photos of the engine and the dyno chart. The first photo is of the engine as it was being built. The remainder were taken recently in my garage.

Rob S

The front suspension has new (green) Bilstein struts. I’m not sure exactly which model they are or if the spindles have been raised. Torsion bars are larger than stock (from memory of discussions with Garrick), but the size is not yet known. Front control arms are fitted with polybronze bushings. A new, large, front swaybar has been installed (not sure of size or brand), with monoball droplinks. There are new bump steer spacers on the tie rod ends.

The rear suspension has new coilovers and dampers; I’m not sure of the brand, or details yet. Torsion bars have been removed (and are not present with the car parts) and 935-style monoball spring plates have been installed. To my knowledge, none of these suspension parts have any road miles on them. The trailing arms are stock 930. I’m not sure if the bushings on the trailing arms are stock or have been changed.

Brakes are big red front and rear. Rotors are cross drilled and appear to be new or nearly so. But they are covered by a thin layer of surface rust that could be removed by media blasting.

The car retains the original engine-mounted oil cooler and is outfitted with two front oil coolers in series that use the factory thermostat. There's a large center cooler and a fender mounted cooler that appears to be a Carrera style with an electric fan. If it’s desired to keep the C2 bodywork, the aftermarket C2 front bumper has been modified with a window cut out to accommodate air flow to the center cooler. The car could be put back to 930 specs with bumpers, rockers, mirrors, and glass, but the big center oil cooler would not fit under the stock valence. When I built my car, which was as 930-bodied car, I used a 930S front valence to allow use of the center cooler.

Wheels are 17 inch BBS three-piece (E88?) with aluminum centers. Not sure of widths or offsets, but the tires (Sumitomo from 2000!) are 225s in front and 315 in the rear. The wheels are in decent condition cosmetically – no gashes or big scratches. But they could stand to be refinished to freshen them up.

Rob S

Garrick's car is a bit of a time warp -- frozen in 2004 or so. The license plates were last current in 2002. Now comes the challenge: what makes the most sense to do with it?

My first goal was to get it running. I managed to do that after several weekends of fiddling. My fiddling included replacing the battery and front fuel pump, draining old fuel and flushing fuel lines, inspecting, and replacing spark plugs, changing the oil and filter, and connecting my laptop to the DTA ECU, which had not seen power since 2004. It woke up just fine, after tracing some electrical connections, and I was able to test the coils and injectors. Coils were fine, but one injector was down (likely from sitting), so I had all six cleaned, serviced, and flow tested by a local pro. I turned over the engine by hand at first, which felt fine, and then using the starter motor to check oil pressure and crankshaft signal, both of which were good. I then applied fuel and turned the key to start the engine, which roared to life. After a short time it emitted a cloud of smoke, from oil that had made its way into the exhaust from the extended period of not running. That oil soon burned off, but not before the mosquito population was significantly reduced in our neighborhood. The engine runs well, sounds healthy, makes no strange mechanical noises, has good oil pressure, produces good alternator output, and doesn't leak oil. It puffs some black smoke when the throttle is blipped, suggesting it is too rich near idle and that the map needs some trimming of the mixture in that regime, which I will attend to. According to Justin, who tuned the engine, they didn't pay much attention to idle performance when the engine was on the dyno in late 2003.

I then drove the car up and down the block to verify that the clutch and transmission both work. I was able to shift into several gears, despite going no more than maybe 30 mph. The car has no windshield installed! But there were no bugs in my teeth because they were eliminated from the aforementioned smoke cloud, which had long since cleared. Brakes work too, but fluid should get changed, and possibly the calipers rebuilt.

My next goal was to characterize the engine condition. A compression check showed values of 130 +/- 9 psi. Leakdown showed values of 8% or less, after I did more fiddling. One cylinder initially showed 40% until I pulled the valve covers and tapped on the valve to allow whatever dirt or carbon to clear, then it dropped to 6%. I'm not a big fan of leakdown testing -- I think the process is questionable and prone to misunderstanding and/or misinterpretation. Nevertheless, I believe the engine is sound and healthy, and in essence, it so far appears to be consistent with being a "new" 12 year old engine.

So, that's a summary of the project so far. I'm open to suggestions as to where to go next. This car is a collection of parts, some very expensive and nearly new -- a work in progress that Garrick Lew dreamed of finishing -- his way -- someday. But it has a ways to go before it will be ready for the track or street. Does it pay (for me) to put the car together the rest of the way? And if so, in what format? Or would someone like to take it from here?

Rob

WPOZZZ

That's a really cool 930! These days, collectors want bone stock cars and this car is far from it. No need to source 930 bumpers, wheels, brakes...as that makes your life more complicated. Finish up Garrick's dream with the 964t bumpers and say, "Aloha, my friend...until we meet again."

Rob S

Yeah, I'm not sure this car is destined for a "collector" per se, or at least, one who wants an all-original car. The drivetrain and suspension are certainly far from stock and original, and it may be hard to justify trying to take it back to emulate completely "stock" at this point. This car is a hot rod, of the type that Garrick, I, and others lusted after and built in those days. It's much less common nowadays to do this to a 930. But it doesn't take away from the fact that it's the real deal -- a very straight, authentic, 930 that's been massaged to a level that most commoners rarely get a chance to experience. I suspect that an acceleration run in this thing, once it's done, will be akin to a space shuttle launch. The torque is so monstrous that it will feel more like a turbo diesel than a turbo Porsche. And on the track, it will probably be so fast that you'll actually get younger lap by lap.

carsandcapp

Good luck with this project.

PVF

Rob S - thank you for posting this story. Terrific to see the shared passion you and Garrick had for your cars and the friendship that resulted. Good luck on the project!

Need4S

Rob, thanks for posting. I was privileged to have known Garrick. He was a terrific lawyer and fine human being. But I had no idea what a Porsche enthusiast he was! Thank you for taking on this project and bringing this aspect of his life to us.

Rob S

Need4S,

It's nice to hear that you knew Garrick. Too bad you didn't know he suffered from the Porsche disease that we all seem to have. He also had a hotted-up 996TT.

I took out all the parts for the car and put them on the floor. Some assembly required...

Need4S

Please keep us posted on the progress. Looks like a long way to go...

I am the Walrus

Sorry about your friend passing
You wrote a great thread, when finished that car will be amazing, I don't know "Art" ie paintings, etc....but since as long as a I can remember the earlier Porsches are pure Art imo, the 930, the turbo 993,... they are just beautiful
Good luck with how it turns out ;-)

Rob S

A buyer for this car has stepped forward and is excited to take on the project. He did some research and found that the color is quite unusual. It's called Timor Braun Metallic (code 460 on the door jamb tag). It turns out to have been a Volkswagen color so it is likely unique on a 930. I think the color is very "alive" and is complemented well by the tan interior.

Also, here's a video of the engine, which is running again after 12 years of dormancy. It sounds smooth, healthy, and ominously powerful. It puffs a little black smoke from the exhaust with throttle blips near idle because it's running rich and requires some tuning in that regime. During its original dyno tuning in 2003, the map wasn't developed for drivability in the low rpm range -- the focus was on the high load, high throttle power so that it would be thermally safe. So some final tuning will be needed.

pdqcarrera

Sad but a nice friendship story. Beyond the human element it saddens me to see stalled project cars that languish incomplete in a shop. This is an all too often familiar occurrence. Been there myself, thus perhaps my added sensitivities? ;-) If not for my own 2 works in progress I'd love to have yours/Garrick's to finish & enjoy. oooooh how I'd love to have that engine!! x10