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In a way I'm glad we don't have those in CT and even emissions exemption after a certain year. Glad it was minor stuff!
I'm not convinced having mandatory vehicle inspection is "good." Certainly the intent is to keep unsafe vehicles off the road, but what percentage of accidents are caused by burnt tail light or any number of things on their inspection? I suspect unsafe drivers and driving habits account for a much greater number of accidents, so why the inspection?
It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the shadyness of the inspection stations. It's so very hard to find a trustworthy shop. They all have an agenda and it's to extract as much of your money from you as possible.
I spent most of last Sunday removing and replacing the intermediate steering assembly on my 944S. The inspection report shows "worn" beyond limits. I'd certainly like to see the calibrated tool they used to determine the limits, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt when they handed me the report. It is, after all a 30 year old car.
I ordered the new part the same day as the failed inspection, received it on Friday, and set out installing it on Sunday. After jacking the front end high enough to get under, I reached up and twisted the shaft by hand. Sonuvabisket.
Now I Googled this in advance. I saw a YouTube video and I fully expected to find some slop in the shaft due to worn universal joints on this steering shaft. What I found instead was ZERO play - ZERO. Hmmm.
I ran through that conversation I would be having with the inspector and decided I could not possibly win. "It was loose when I checked it" or "Feels loose to me" or "That's not the same part that was worn."
I had the new part in hand and resigned to changing out that good part could be partly justified by knowing that part was 30 years old and had 126k miles on it. I put the old part in the passenger seat and returned to the inspector on Tuesday. It passed re-inspection. I was charged an additional $25 for the re-inspection and got no comment on the old part.
I can check that box done. I returned to the MVA for my new registration sticker. I also checked the box for the emission test the same day - PASSED.
Lastly, I can also check the box on never going back to that inspection station.
Maybe I missed your reason earlier, but why are you bothering with the inspection? You could tag it as historic in MD and bypass the inspection and emissions.
Bill, where did you purchase your steering shaft...Rennbay?
When I Googled the part number, the first hit was Amazon. Since I have a prime account it was free shipping so I ordered it from Amazon. When it arrived, it was labeled from Rennbay. I think the Rennbay website with same price plus shipping.
Maybe I missed your reason earlier, but why are you bothering with the inspection? You could tag it as historic in MD and bypass the inspection and emissions.
Maryland just recently (Dec 2016) tightened up the law regarding vehicles registered as historic. I have a 1984 Honda V65 Sabre registered as historic, so I received an email about the new law. Specifically, they added that you can't drive your historic vehicle to work. Well that's BS. Parades, car shows, special events - I don't really do any of that, so I'm left with drives to and from auto cross and HPDE only???
Now, I would normally rebel and dare those MFs to try and catch me, but I've mellowed a little bit in my old age and don't need the hassles. I put standard tags on it for now. When I'm ready to make more significant mods uncluding a cat delete, I'll get historic tags. For now, I'm leaving it mostly stock anyway and I can enjoy driving whenever and wherever I want.
Maryland it a totally PITA for a lot of things. The MVA is just one of them in a long list. If our state motto was "Live Free or Die" the morgs would all be full.
I have 3 cars and one motorcycle registered as historic here in Maryland. It always feels good to screw them on tags and emissions fees I got the same letter but use mine pretty much as I please (guess it's just the anarchist in me) since I'm retired, don't drive to school and don't use them for hire. I would be willing to bet my "Historic" vehicles are in as good or better shape than most of the well used police cars out there.
Maryland just recently (Dec 2016) tightened up the law regarding vehicles registered as historic. I have a 1984 Honda V65 Sabre registered as historic, so I received an email about the new law. Specifically, they added that you can't drive your historic vehicle to work. Well that's BS. Parades, car shows, special events - I don't really do any of that, so I'm left with drives to and from auto cross and HPDE only???
Now, I would normally rebel and dare those MFs to try and catch me, but I've mellowed a little bit in my old age and don't need the hassles. I put standard tags on it for now. When I'm ready to make more significant mods uncluding a cat delete, I'll get historic tags. For now, I'm leaving it mostly stock anyway and I can enjoy driving whenever and wherever I want.
Maryland it a totally PITA for a lot of things. The MVA is just one of them in a long list. If our state motto was "Live Free or Die" the morgs would all be full.
Originally Posted by jhowell371
I have 3 cars and one motorcycle registered as historic here in Maryland. It always feels good to screw them on tags and emissions fees I got the same letter but use mine pretty much as I please (guess it's just the anarchist in me) since I'm retired, don't drive to school and don't use them for hire. I would be willing to bet my "Historic" vehicles are in as good or better shape than most of the well used police cars out there.
I'm familiar with the change as well, but I'm more like Jhowell. I'm not going to let it stop me from using my cars how I want. I feel like that legislation was more aimed towards getting the polluting deathtrap econoboxes that people tag as historic off the road.
I've replaced the castor blocks and bolts and the intermediate steering assembly. Now the steering wheel is slightly off and the car pulls slightly to the left. I fully expected I would need to get an alignment, but after some searching online, I'm not confident about where I should go for this alignment.
I've read several posts about alignment for these 944 being a bit trickier than most cars. Certainly, there are some special tools too. There's also a difference between getting a standard alignment (following standard Porsche manual recommendations) and what a knowledable specialist can accomplish for setting up the car specifically for auto cross and track use.
Any recommendations for a Porsche or specifically late 944 alignment specialist in the vicinity of Baltimore/Washington/Annapolis area?
I've replaced the castor blocks and bolts and the intermediate steering assembly. Now the steering wheel is slightly off and the car pulls slightly to the left. I fully expected I would need to get an alignment, but after some searching online, I'm not confident about where I should go for this alignment.
I've read several posts about alignment for these 944 being a bit trickier than most cars. Certainly, there are some special tools too. There's also a difference between getting a standard alignment (following standard Porsche manual recommendations) and what a knowledable specialist can accomplish for setting up the car specifically for auto cross and track use.
Any recommendations for a Porsche or specifically late 944 alignment specialist in the vicinity of Baltimore/Washington/Annapolis area?
Any decent alignment shop should be able to handle a front end alignment, it's not really any different than a "normal" front end. The caster adjustment is a little unusual in that many modern cars aren't even adjustable for caster, but a decent tech should be able to figure it out.
The rear alignment is the one that's a bit oddball, and it requires a special tool. A shop that works on older VWs should be able to handle it, though, since it's basically exactly the same setup as an aircooled Beetle.
Did you make sure the LED's were setup in the correct polarity? they won't fire if they are in backwards.
I just checked again and I can't see any markings indicating polarity and they came with no instructions. You're probably right though. Now that I've installed the new 194 bulbs, the dash looks pretty good. If anybody's reading this and wants to try out these LEDs - FREE plus shipping.
That rattle is your Torque Tube, you'll probably be fine for a long time though. A bad Throwout would be a rare thing IMO.
That's what I'm hoping. I'm not planning to do anything about it unless something goes <BOOM>.
Thanks for the link jhowell. It's a bit far to go for an alignment at this point. I haven't made any significant suspension upgrades yet, so there's no ride height adjustment or corner balancing beyond just the rear eccentric bolts.
I found a local shop recommended by Clark's Garage walking distance from my work here in Annapolis. I spoke to them on the phone yesterday and made an appointment for tomorrow. They are a Porsche/BMW/Audi shop and said they could dial-in some camber for me if I gave them some numbers. For $129 it can't hurt to try them out. I'll post here how it goes.
03-08-2017, 10:26 PM
I got the same letter but use mine pretty much as I please (guess it's just the anarchist in me) since I'm retired, don't drive to school and don't use them for hire. I would be willing to bet my "Historic" vehicles are in as good or better shape than most of the well used police cars out there.
