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Is there a notable classic Porsche scene in Palm Springs? I was there recently and until being there couldn't understand why anyone would prefer to head out there over the beaches in so cal. When I was there in Jan, it was warm during the day but the dry heat was nice. The snow capped mountains in the distance were wonderful. Thank you for sharing I also paid a pilgrimage to Franks house.
There definitely are some big collections in PS, including lots of vintage Porsches. For many residents there, it is a second (or ninth) home away from Los Angeles or other major cities or it is a very common place for folks from LA to retire to. LA is home to some incredible Porsche collections and has long been Porsche's most important market so those folks are among those who have second homes out there and sometimes the cars come with them.
One of the main reasons people go to PS though is the golf. There are multiple country clubs there with a 300k+ initiation fee. One of those, Bighorn, also has a collection called "the vault." It is a facility that 50 of the members built which is a literal vault which holds 1 car for each of them. Inside there you'll find a Carrera GT, a 1973 RS, a 918, Ferrari Monza, and so on. It's a really impressive space, controlled by biometric access (it does a retina scan to provide access to the member) and just one example of the kind of cars kept out there.
However, PS is less flashy than LA is so even though the cars and the collections exist, you're less likely to see them driving around like you do in LA.
@cobalt I've also been to that house, it's an architectural marvel and they've done a wonderful job preserving it. Never stayed there before though, sounds like it was a real treat.
@darylbowden Yes it was an interesting experience. I am rarely impressed but this did impress me and the spirit of the Rat Pack lives on in that house. A small house by today's standards but a timeless well designed home. I'm one of those people that everything is in the details and I drive my wife crazy when I walk into a room and point all the things nobody else notices or cares about but to me are all so fascinating. They had some interesting books on the architect and pictures of Frank standing in front of the twin palms. They must be quite old because they reached full maturity back in 1948.
It sounds like PS/LA is like the NYC tri state area. The collections are amazing many have been collecting for decades and mostly all locked away for the majority of the year. I suspected there are some nice cars in PS but I am not sure I would be driving mine in such heat. Even my Boxster GTS becomes no fun when it hits temps above 95 just hot wind blowing over you. I am not a fan of A/C unless I need it while driving. Thanks for the info.
Meanwhile we did some fine tuning of the suspension yesterday but it needs to go on the scales today and hopefully we can get it done by today or tomorrow. The alignment rack is currently being shared, as they are reworking their Audi dealership so I am stuck waiting until the end of the day and only have an hour or two at a time to work on it. It was nearly 80 here yesterday so I had a nice drive in the boxster though which isn't a bad substitute for a 911.
I am mostly done with my sons Cayman S to GT4 look conversion. The side scoops will have to wait for now. We are getting ready for our first track event this season. Finally track season is here so I pulled the **** box out of hibernation and will be working on getting it fit for the track. Fluid flushes and all that stuff. looking at the market since I picked this up. I can only imagine what it would fetch today. It is no beauty but a blast to drive despite being underpowered by today's standards. The Blue Meanie will be getting the engine finished in a few months if all goes to plan and then we can pick up the pace. Right now my son is much faster in his cayman but he has his youthful reflexes and lack of fear on his side. Not to mention 100+ extra HP and modern suspension.
It was a bit of work and much more to go but he is happy.
The **** Box has some needs after sitting outside all winter covered.Although it started on the first crank and no smoke. I purchased this with the full expectation of it needing everything rebuilt but mechanically it is as sound as they get. A true testament of how good a mechanic Dan Jacobs is. It needs the silver e88's.
Anthony-My wife and I were staying in Palm Desert the last week of March and spent time in Palm Springs (which we preferred). We googled Frank Sinatra’s home and drove to it. It was surrounded by a construction fence and what we could see of it was freshly painted white. The one you where in looks closer to the hills by the Tennis club area. Interesting, Frank obviously had more than one residence in PS.
On a side note, after 46 years of marriage, I discovered my wife, having grown up in SoCal, has always loved mid-century architecture, she just didn’t know it had a name. I didn’t see any air cooled P-cars during my stay there. Just some late model stuff. The same for Newport Beach the following week. We did hear the distant music of Ferraris or McClarens singing us to sleep from PCH a couple nights. Gorgeous!
Love your son’s GT4.
Anthony-My wife and I were staying in Palm Desert the last week of March and spent time in Palm Springs (which we preferred). We googled Frank Sinatra’s home and drove to it. It was surrounded by a construction fence and what we could see of it was freshly painted white. The one you where in looks closer to the hills by the Tennis club area. Interesting, Frank obviously had more than one residence in PS.
On a side note, after 46 years of marriage, I discovered my wife, having grown up in SoCal, has always loved mid-century architecture, she just didn’t know it had a name. I didn’t see any air cooled P-cars during my stay there. Just some late model stuff. The same for Newport Beach the following week. We did hear the distant music of Ferraris or McClarens singing us to sleep from PCH a couple nights. Gorgeous!
Love your son’s GT4.
Thanks,
45 years congrats I just had my 30th but I started late. I'm still trying to figure out what my wife likes some days. This was Frank's first home completed in 1947 AFAIK he built two or three others over the years. I can only imagine what the later houses were like. He had good taste in many things.
Unfortunately as usual something came up so the alignment had to be put off till Monday.
I did a little research and the house google took us to wasn’t the home you stayed in. It was closer to the street and a lot of white. Anyway great area, we had a nice time. Thanks for the pictures and story.
too bad about the non-alignment. I look forward to pictures of you out and about in it.
It has been a long time since I posted last and the car should have been finished months ago but like everything there are always hiccups.
After it taking far longer to corner balance and align the car than I expected I had a nice drive in it which sadly came to a quick end. The car was leaking trans fluid all over the place and it was doing something very strange. It would torque steer to the left under heavy acceleration and back to the right on deceleration.
So I put it back up on the lift dropped the exhaust and pulled the LSD. Well it wasn't that simple. The left side stub axle would not come undone so I had to remove it by taking off the entire cover on that side and pulled the flange cover and LSD as one unit. It was perplexing but in order to get to the LSD I had to drill out the head of the bolt allowing me to pull the cover off leaving the bolt attached to the LSD. When I opened the LSD I was shocked to see what I saw. Initially I thought the bolt I ordered was 5mm too long as it had pushed against the internal shaft splitting a very hard shaft in two. This would account for the strange driving behavior with only one set of gears working in the LSD.
As you can see the one shaft split in half.
I assumed the bolt was too long as it had clearly pressed against the shaft and peened the end of the bolt flat making it impossible to remove.
Replacement shafts now come with a flat relief on on both sides.
So I rebuilt the LSD and reinstalled everything. Installed new seals and was set to go. Well not so quickly.
Another test drive and the LSD was working but the trans fluid was still pouring out. So with other things on the burners like rebuilding the steering rack and rear calipers on the **** box so we could do some track days I pushed it off to the side and focused on my other priorities. Unfortunately I missed all the season opener C&C's and drives which was a major bummer.
So I went back to the drawing board scratching my head as I have repalced dozens of these seals and never had this issue nor could I understand why it was happening.
So you can't make this up.
I pulled the stub axles and started to look everything over. The seals were new and it should not be leaking.
After measuring the axles and looking up the parts in the PET I found that the 993/964 which use the same axles use a 48mm x 63mm x 10mm gasket.
So I measured the flange and, what is this? The matting surface measures 45mm????
These are the axles I had sent out for plating. Or so I thought.
So I rummaged through my spare parts bin and came across two spare axles. One is from a 930 with 930 part number and the other is from a 964 with 950 part number. The axles I have had no part numbers.
Left is 930 axle with a 45mm mating surface and the right is 993 with 48mm mating surface.
So how can this be? I pulled the axles from my stock never opened trans and they should be correct. Well apparently that isn't the case. It appears that while my axles were at the platers so were a friends 930 axles and somehow they got switched. What are the odds?
So I cleaned up the spares I have and bolted them up and now we are finally leak free. I am not sure anyone could have had this on their radar. There is no way to know when bolting the axle up to the LSD that the seals and surfaces were different dia.
The other thing I learned was that the area that the bolt head sits in on the 930 units is recessed about 5mm more than the 964 axles so the reason the bolt mashed up against the shaft was due to the axles and not the bolt. I am just perplexed by how many stupid little things can drive you crazy. It would appear I am set to go and will be driving the car as much as I can now. Finally!!!!
BTW the MCS with 400/500 springs and the 225# tenders do an amazing job together. It is no stiffer than my Boxster GTS with X73 sport suspension but is much flatter through the turns.
Yes we need to. My calendar opened up recently. Spent last weekend at NJMP with my son driving the **** box. His first ever drive in a 964 on track. Learned the hard way what the back end will do. First turn his first ever spin. Epic 360. Very cool to watch on the garmin. I could tell he was driving it like his cayman and he made the classic mistake but learned from there. He was actually knocking on my door with only a few seconds behind my times after the first day. Sadly he also learned that it is easy to pick the wrong gear and dropped it into 2nd instead of 4th going into turn 1. It was a nice overrev and is popping in the exhaust above 2k so it is either a bent exhaust valve or the distributor belt broke but I have no time for it now. Pulled the turbo out and finally getting ready for Parade which is coming up way to quickly. I need another 2 weeks to prep but so be it I never expect to trophy anyhow.
The car is running great and after a few pic swaps Pino does have my axles but they need to be swapped out of the car they are in. No way anyone could have foreseen this.
Clearly my stub axles and not 930.
930 on left and 964 far right. Did some driving and plan to do some more today. Wish the turbo shined like this. I need to get busy . I know the car and the driver just had no idea he lived around the corner from me. The turbo will get the full spa treatment this next week. I do love the slick top.
Fitment should't be an issue although they carry different part numbers due to variations in design for the rear vents. It is a very laborious job to do correctly.
04-13-2022, 03:46 PM
Not to mention 100+ extra HP and modern suspension.
This was Frank's first home completed in 1947 AFAIK he built two or three others over the years. I can only imagine what the later houses were like. He had good taste in many things. 
