vanster

A number of years ago I attended the Vintage Trailer Academy in New Mexico (Airstreams) It was a 3 day structured event covering everything from polishing, electronics, shell off removal, metal bending and riveting etc. About 200 people attended. We went twice and learned how to build an '67 Airstream from the best people in the business not to mention new friendships.
This started me thinking about a 928 Academy. There are enough experts, suppliers and wanna be experts in our group that would or could benefit from this, I know I could. It could be held anywhere in the country as multiple day event.
Not sure why Texas comes to mind but I thought it could be a fun educational get together that everyone could learn something.

Any thoughts, I know it would not be easy to put together but I think it would be worth while and fun. Possible that we could get Porsche Classics involved, Tire Rack, Griot's, maybe Greg Brown, OCD Andy.
Of course there would be a fee to cover things like, tents, fly speakers out or pay for lodging and transportation.

Any thoughts?
Van

RSMartin

👊 North Texas

928 GT R

Superb concept!

I would absolutely attend an event of that nature...

"Knowledge Is Power, and only the Curious and Diligent aquire it".
Warren Witherell and David Evrard, The Athletic Skier pub:1993.

>

Crumpler

I think it is a great idea.
I would love to take a week off work and do a full on 928 immersion.
And like any professional CE, would expect to pay a fee.

giddyupp

You can count me in

granprixweiss928

We do very similar things in the Delorean world. I will be planning a 2020 event in Norcal.

GT6ixer

I think this would be a great idea. I would love to attend something like this and get to learn from those in the know. If it ever came together I would be up for holding a short course on 3D printing for those interested.

dr bob

We often try to get specific tech sessions on the agenda for 928 events, when there are relatively large numbers of owners and cars together already. I think our first Sharktoberfest included a GB session on timing belt replacement, engine out of the car in Mark's lift bay. Devek Days events near San Francisco always included tech sessions on something. I tag-teamed a limited presentation on 928 AC systems with their local AC specialist from San Carlos Radiator.

Challenges: Many of the tech subjects really deserve hands-on time with a car. There's barely room for two pairs of eyes and one pair of hands. At a Frenzy a few years ago, some HVAC airbox work was camera'd and projected so the guests could see the work, and there was good narration. But it was an extended effort, beyond my already shortening attention span. Turns out that a serious offering of knowledge-sharing and hands-on demonstration can easily consume a whole day or more per subject.

There's a reason why a Porsche dealer apprenticeship was at least a year way back when (1960's at my first exposure), and you go to a trade school like UTI with extended class schedules that include months of intense training just on basics before you start with brand-specific stuff. Folks who read and scratch their heads with the WSM quickly discover that it was written for the tech who has already been through the basics, and offers only the model-specific details needed for any particular task. It's hardly a "How To Keep Your 928 Alive For The Compleat Idiot" or a "928 For Dummies" guide.

In my spare-time consulting gig, my 'students' are drawn from a broad spectrum of experience. One project started with a few who had been selling burgers at the drive-through, another included some experienced Navy nuke school grads. As a result, my OJT classroom material starts out assuming a fifth-grade reading and comprehension ability. That's the Reader's Digest model, BTW. Some folks swallow that up, while the more experienced members of the audience would rather have a checklist-style instruction to work from. These days they get both, and with modern tools they can click a help button by a checklist item and get the full background about why the software is making a particular decision or them. Circling back around, the focus moves to how best to address the diverse experience levels of our 928 "students". Does our academy start out with Introduction to 928 Basics 1, or move directly to 928 Electrical Diagnostics 101? I used to teach a "logical problem solving" course series in industrial settings. Same issues come up there, where nobody feels they need to start off with basics, but most do in fact need to start there. If for no other reason that to have a chance to gracefully un-learn bad habits they'd already picked up. Not everybody is ready for upper-division coursework on the first day.

Kevin in Atlanta

In the early years of Sharks In The Mountains tech sessions were the norm. I looked forward to Wally's sessions and even brought my mechanic along one year.

Really miss them. Frenzy still has them - Sean demonstrated how to install one of his front engine harnesses. Good stuff.

Christopher Zach

Is SITM going to do a tech session this year? I'll volunteer my car for a timing belt change :-)

C

Kevin in Atlanta

It would be quite feat to do that in the Holiday Inn parking lot. :-)

Bulvot

The tech sessions at the events are invaluable. But, my impression of the intent of this thread was something much more in depth. For example, a four hour class on SharkTuning, including the theory behind each aspect of it. Or, electrical troubleshooting including tone tracking, proper multi meter use, connector repair, basic electrical theory and how to read circuit diagrams and how to solder. Suspension, transmission, interior recovering, repainting, etc. All of those have a lot of depth to them far beyond the basics that the time available in tech sessions allow for. Things which require significant time to prepare, teach and absorb.

Either way, any sharing of technical knowledge in any fashion will be beneficial.

GregBBRD

We've talked about having classes, at my shop, covering specific topics, like early transmission rebuilding, late transmission rebuilding, automatic transmission rebuilding, 16 valve engines, 32 valve engines, Sharktuning, etc. Jerry Woods used to do things like this for the 911 people (maybe he still does.)

There really wasn't "room" at the old shop to be able to do this, but there is certainly room here.

I used to try and do a tech session at every Sharktoberfest, but unfortunately now that this became a one day event, I have not been asked to do this in the last couple of years. Mark Woodsma and I talked about the possibility of turning Sharktoberfest back into a two day event with one day at 928 International and another day, here. Or If Mark Anderson is "burned out" (certainly understandable) about hosting this event, we could move the entire thing here. We have a brand new $80,000 dollar Hunter alignment system and we talked about having an "alignment special" (like Mark's "windshield special"), here.

Christopher Zach

Oh I thought we were going to go over to the sponsor's shop. However the parking lot probably has better amenities than my driveway, so not that big a deal. :-)

C

dr bob

It would be way easy to offer a subject-specific clinic day at your place on either Friday or Sunday. I'd vote for Sunday to avoid infringing on your normal shop hours, plus getting to your place on a Friday from more than a few blocks away can be an, um, ordeal. What's decision process for choosing the date and the subject(s)? I'm all in for alignment and your new toy, and for an extended clinic on automatic gearbox work. I happen to have a guinea pig for the trans class if my spare '88 box goes in, freeing the original for some PM attention. How much extra does it cost if I help?