4 Jeff: Track Rocket Update? ...loooooong reply
05-08-2003, 05:32 PM
#1
Driver Carries No Cash
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4 Jeff: Track Rocket Update? ...loooooong reply
Jeff,
What's the latest with the track rocket? Your posts over the last month or so seem to indicate that you're nearing some level of completion. Nosey little b*stards like myself want to know!
I remember when "the incident" occurred and have been gleaming bits & pieces of your rebuild efforts through your posts. ....Mostly the ones where you're looking for odd used bits of 964! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />
What's the latest with the track rocket? Your posts over the last month or so seem to indicate that you're nearing some level of completion. Nosey little b*stards like myself want to know!
I remember when "the incident" occurred and have been gleaming bits & pieces of your rebuild efforts through your posts. ....Mostly the ones where you're looking for odd used bits of 964! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />
05-09-2003, 02:37 AM
#2
Race Car
Thanks for asking!
Where do I start??
WELL...I know I haven't exactly posted a dedicated subject on the "renewal/reconditioning/rebuild/upgrade" of the Track Rocket, but I have "leaked" little tidbits here and there in other people's posts.
I have a reason for this, and you may have noticed that I "strayed" from Rennlist for a couple of months...for that, I apologize.
As a matter of fact, I have SEVERAL reasons...
First of all, I was downright ASHAMED to be involved in such a situation, but it was just me, no one else involved, a one-vehicle incident.
While I'm sure the deer didn't fair off too well (you're saying, "Riiiiight"), I believe that I wasn't seriously injured...my Chiropractor (and "Shrink") continue to tell a different story.
I was stressed BEYOND belief for a few months, and didn't want to release my frustration on the boards. Besides MAJOR issues with the car, I had issues at home, the job and with the ___ (organization's name ommitted to protect the innocent).
There were several things I just needed to "wait and see" how they turned out before opening my somewhat BIG mouth. Some turned out, others remain a thorn in my side.
I spent a whole month stripping the car, that is, removing engine/trans., the ENTIRE interior including dashboard and electrics, shifter/console, ABS units and associated plumbing, ALL trim, glass and rockers/bumpers/lights, took off the hood, doors and front fenders. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />
I did this in preparation for replacing most of said items.
Both fenders, windshield, front bumper cover, hood, pass. door/quarter, front splitter, rear bumper cover corner were DESTROYED in the incident. <img border="0" alt="[crying]" title="" src="graemlins/crying.gif" />
...not to mention all the "little stuff" like plastic pieces, moulding, etc.
The Track Rocket was bent, but NOT broken.
This was VERY time-consuming, and I, for the most part kept my good nature during that phase of the project.
Once I turned the "tub" into the bodyshop, that's where I began to get a bit "edgy" and unsociable.
Several MONTHS into the project, I had been spending 3-4hrs a day in the shop, while working 8hrs during the night and getting maybe 5-6hrs of sleep only to wakeup, put on a set of old clothing and make my daily trek to the body shop.
It seemed that the body shop was doing NOTHING to expedite the process.
I did ALL the dismantling and installation of components...it was A LOT of work...but all seemed okay, minus a few setbacks...like getting ahold of a less than desirable specimen of a used hood, only to purchase another yet fine example...this was getting to me. <img border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" title="" src="graemlins/cussing.gif" />
I was grinding the fender flanges on the tub, prepping them for primer and terrostat ribbon, gutting the passenger door, de-gluing parts of the doorsills/floorboards, prepping for the rollcage install...you name it.
THEN the deadlines, promises of a timeframe and whatnot became a real issue...it seemed my car was on the "backburner" and needed to become a priority, this, it did NOT.
At one point I actually took the car from the body shop, the P.O.S. that it was at that point and decided to weld my rollcage in over a weekend and take care of some issues that the bodyshop was not tasked to address.
I did NOT return the car until I had a meeting regarding expenses, what they were going to take care of and a priority placed on the vehicle.
Overall, we came out of that meeting "appeased", but not all issues were thoroughly addressed.
I had A LOT of legwork into the scenario as well, staying up for hours once I got home from work using a PET CD to get part#s for broken plastic pieces galore, nuts/bolts/brackets, you name it...to include a drive down to Tampa, Florida to pickup two PERFECT front fenders and rocker panels from a GREAT guy who was undergoing a Gemballa conversion on his GP White Cabriolet.
I got his headlights too, but you may have seen how that worked out.
When I had "free" time (yeah right) I was dealing with machine shops and engine parts suppliers (who all did a STELLAR JOB!!) in getting my heads updated/reconditioned and obtaining the best darned engine seals/bearings/rings/bushings that I could, at a good price.
Read between the lines, when I was home, I was disassembling and rebuilding my engine...something I don't take lightly, after all, I have that ****-retentive thing going on.
Okay, so almost ALL of my time was taken up, the house wasn't getting cleaned, my dog was feeling neglected, I was spending less and less time on Rennlist, and while the bills were getting paid...I rarely stopped to check where all the $$$$$ were going!!
I basically ran out of $$$$$$$$ in April and have been a bum ever since. LOL!
I had missed two events that I really wanted to make and we were four months into working on the car!!
Honestly, it wasn't THAT destroyed...just a little "tweaked"...probably could've been turned out in a couple of months.
Thank GOD in the midst of it all I picked up a "ride", co-driving a 962D in an endurance series on the East Coast...so my "track addiction" was MORE than satisfied...and at one point a friend of mine who runs the events for a major DE organization (larger than PCA)loaned me his racecar for a weekend, that was fun.
I eventually got the car back in April, only to decide within an hour of having it in my garage that it would have to go back to the body shop...this made me furious.
There was overspray in areas that I didn't understand and places where the paint was so thin you could see through it!!
Okay, these were fairly minor issues, but after all the time and $$$$$$$$ invested...I was just OVER it! At one point I told my dog that he was the only thing keeping me smiling...he knew that...but was quick to point out the other person in my life, my girlfriend. <img border="0" alt="[thumbsup]" title="" src="graemlins/bigok.gif" />
She was a good sport during the whole ordeal, and still remains one, enduring all the bitching/moaning/whining, bouts of depression and uncontrollable sobbing...okay, maybe that's a bit of a stretch.
Anyway, I got the car home, decided it needed to go back...but also decided I was going to get some things done first - so I installed the engine/trans. and got it running, ran it in (1/2hr. multiple RPM changes) but not before installing all the ABS gear/associated plumbing and bleeding out the system before cranking the motor up.
SO, all was well in that department, I load the "disfunctional" Track Rocket back onto the trailer and make my way back to the body shop.
At this point, the owner was VERY apologetic and apathetic towards my claims of depression, anger and thoughts of climbing up the local watertower with an AK-47 and...okay, another stretch.
I was putting unbelievable miles on my prized "P-
Car Hauler" (Silverado) going back and forth to the body shop and meeting Rennlisters/eBayers in various sections of the Eastern Seaboard for parts...at one point, I really wanted a semi-truck to just fall out of the thin air and DIRECTLY onto the Track Rocket...thinking that insurance would just pay out a TOTAL claim.
Then I checked the KBB value of our beloved 964s and reconsidered asking the "almighty" to bring such a "miracle" to fruition.
Okay, it's late and I'm rambling, not to mention making up some stuff.
Anyway...the body shop took care of the better part of the issues and we decide to call the glass people.
Alright, this was supposed to be the easy part??
I had all new rubber, that went well, gouging the tint on my side windows and putting a good chip in the paint during installation wasn't in my "play book".
Neither were the scrapes down to the metal along the roofline where the back window goes.
Windshield "A-okay"...amen, and thank GOD!!
As I left the bodyshop that day, I looked up at the sky and asked a hearty "WHY ME!!!???"
No answer...just went out to find fresh bird doodoo on my prized Silverado.
<humor me here>
SO, was this time to become a born-again Christian?? ...confess all my sins in college and while overseas with the U.S. Navy in the hopes that the grace of God would now swing my way??
NOPE, I'm already a Christian, have been since I was a young boy...it was time to quit worrying about things and just wait...patiently.
God had more important things to worry about than a beaten-up 964.
I got the car back 9 days before an event I was not going to miss, hell or high-water...well, while hell was taking it's best shot (a whole nuther story) I made it!! Dash/interior, rockers, bumpers, wipers/squirters, door windows, new pads...etc. made it on the car, and in good order I might add, just in time to embark on my Southern adventure...an annual trip NEVER to be missed in the Curtis household.
I return home a week later to find a set of RS doorpanels that my girlyfriend bought for me, because the originals would NOT work with the cage. COOOOOL!
I had discovered on the trip that my horn and airbag sensors weren't functioning, and one of my headlights was "arrai".
Okay, I'm broke, worn out, but have somewhat of a tan and an event under the Track Rocket's "belt" since rebuild and got to see family, etc.
The parts to fix the horn/airbag were almost $200 and I find out the other headlight assembly is fractured, in need of replacement as well.
I tell ya, it's been six months, yup, SIX...I couldn't have done it without friends, family, sympathetic businesses in the trade...and of course - RENNLIST!!
Joey B. jumped in and offered his horn/airbag contact assembly that was no longer being used, Ruairidh sent me BOTH of his H-5 headlamp assemblies...with buckets!!
...and in what could be considered impeccable timing, Scupper offers up his factory bra to "a good home"...I gladly took him up on that, I like to use the hood part and often refer to it as a "sport bra".
Thanks to Horst and Myles for making "operation hoodgate" all possible, the hood was fine after a little "finessing".
It's been a long, long road...and I feel I owe MANY favors, almost too many, but time will allow for full repayment, I'm sure.
There are still issues that need addressed, but just like repayment of favors, time will allow for that as well.
The car looks good, quite shiney too! Overall, it was a good repair, and only the scrutinizing eye could tell that the car has been in an incident. My only concern is when I go to sell my beloved Track Rocket, which shouldn't be for awhile...but is inevitable, what can I say...I tend to get bored with a car after a few years.
I will certainly be honest with the interested party, and maybe share a story or two...but it sucks to think I might get "short-changed" on the sale due to my screw up...especially given all the hard work and $$$$$$$ into the fix and upgrades/maintenance, etc.
Oh well, so goes life.
The car aligned well and tracks as good as ever...can't ask for more than that.
My stress level seems to have tapered off a bit, and things are getting back to normal...whatever that is!!
ALRIGHTY THEN!
Before anyone complains about the bandwidth this reply took...remember one thing...YOU ASKED!! ...okay, so it was Terry that asked.
I hope that most find this reply interesting, and not too boring. Think of it as an inspirational thesis on the fact that a car, sometimes, can recover from a "good one". <img border="0" alt="[blabla]" title="" src="graemlins/a_smil17.gif" />
Where do I start??
WELL...I know I haven't exactly posted a dedicated subject on the "renewal/reconditioning/rebuild/upgrade" of the Track Rocket, but I have "leaked" little tidbits here and there in other people's posts.
I have a reason for this, and you may have noticed that I "strayed" from Rennlist for a couple of months...for that, I apologize.
As a matter of fact, I have SEVERAL reasons...
First of all, I was downright ASHAMED to be involved in such a situation, but it was just me, no one else involved, a one-vehicle incident.
While I'm sure the deer didn't fair off too well (you're saying, "Riiiiight"), I believe that I wasn't seriously injured...my Chiropractor (and "Shrink") continue to tell a different story.
I was stressed BEYOND belief for a few months, and didn't want to release my frustration on the boards. Besides MAJOR issues with the car, I had issues at home, the job and with the ___ (organization's name ommitted to protect the innocent).
There were several things I just needed to "wait and see" how they turned out before opening my somewhat BIG mouth. Some turned out, others remain a thorn in my side.
I spent a whole month stripping the car, that is, removing engine/trans., the ENTIRE interior including dashboard and electrics, shifter/console, ABS units and associated plumbing, ALL trim, glass and rockers/bumpers/lights, took off the hood, doors and front fenders. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />
I did this in preparation for replacing most of said items.
Both fenders, windshield, front bumper cover, hood, pass. door/quarter, front splitter, rear bumper cover corner were DESTROYED in the incident. <img border="0" alt="[crying]" title="" src="graemlins/crying.gif" />
...not to mention all the "little stuff" like plastic pieces, moulding, etc.
The Track Rocket was bent, but NOT broken.
This was VERY time-consuming, and I, for the most part kept my good nature during that phase of the project.
Once I turned the "tub" into the bodyshop, that's where I began to get a bit "edgy" and unsociable.
Several MONTHS into the project, I had been spending 3-4hrs a day in the shop, while working 8hrs during the night and getting maybe 5-6hrs of sleep only to wakeup, put on a set of old clothing and make my daily trek to the body shop.
It seemed that the body shop was doing NOTHING to expedite the process.
I did ALL the dismantling and installation of components...it was A LOT of work...but all seemed okay, minus a few setbacks...like getting ahold of a less than desirable specimen of a used hood, only to purchase another yet fine example...this was getting to me. <img border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" title="" src="graemlins/cussing.gif" />
I was grinding the fender flanges on the tub, prepping them for primer and terrostat ribbon, gutting the passenger door, de-gluing parts of the doorsills/floorboards, prepping for the rollcage install...you name it.
THEN the deadlines, promises of a timeframe and whatnot became a real issue...it seemed my car was on the "backburner" and needed to become a priority, this, it did NOT.
At one point I actually took the car from the body shop, the P.O.S. that it was at that point and decided to weld my rollcage in over a weekend and take care of some issues that the bodyshop was not tasked to address.
I did NOT return the car until I had a meeting regarding expenses, what they were going to take care of and a priority placed on the vehicle.
Overall, we came out of that meeting "appeased", but not all issues were thoroughly addressed.
I had A LOT of legwork into the scenario as well, staying up for hours once I got home from work using a PET CD to get part#s for broken plastic pieces galore, nuts/bolts/brackets, you name it...to include a drive down to Tampa, Florida to pickup two PERFECT front fenders and rocker panels from a GREAT guy who was undergoing a Gemballa conversion on his GP White Cabriolet.
I got his headlights too, but you may have seen how that worked out.
When I had "free" time (yeah right) I was dealing with machine shops and engine parts suppliers (who all did a STELLAR JOB!!) in getting my heads updated/reconditioned and obtaining the best darned engine seals/bearings/rings/bushings that I could, at a good price.
Read between the lines, when I was home, I was disassembling and rebuilding my engine...something I don't take lightly, after all, I have that ****-retentive thing going on.
Okay, so almost ALL of my time was taken up, the house wasn't getting cleaned, my dog was feeling neglected, I was spending less and less time on Rennlist, and while the bills were getting paid...I rarely stopped to check where all the $$$$$ were going!!
I basically ran out of $$$$$$$$ in April and have been a bum ever since. LOL!
I had missed two events that I really wanted to make and we were four months into working on the car!!
Honestly, it wasn't THAT destroyed...just a little "tweaked"...probably could've been turned out in a couple of months.
Thank GOD in the midst of it all I picked up a "ride", co-driving a 962D in an endurance series on the East Coast...so my "track addiction" was MORE than satisfied...and at one point a friend of mine who runs the events for a major DE organization (larger than PCA)loaned me his racecar for a weekend, that was fun.
I eventually got the car back in April, only to decide within an hour of having it in my garage that it would have to go back to the body shop...this made me furious.
There was overspray in areas that I didn't understand and places where the paint was so thin you could see through it!!
Okay, these were fairly minor issues, but after all the time and $$$$$$$$ invested...I was just OVER it! At one point I told my dog that he was the only thing keeping me smiling...he knew that...but was quick to point out the other person in my life, my girlfriend. <img border="0" alt="[thumbsup]" title="" src="graemlins/bigok.gif" />
She was a good sport during the whole ordeal, and still remains one, enduring all the bitching/moaning/whining, bouts of depression and uncontrollable sobbing...okay, maybe that's a bit of a stretch.
Anyway, I got the car home, decided it needed to go back...but also decided I was going to get some things done first - so I installed the engine/trans. and got it running, ran it in (1/2hr. multiple RPM changes) but not before installing all the ABS gear/associated plumbing and bleeding out the system before cranking the motor up.
SO, all was well in that department, I load the "disfunctional" Track Rocket back onto the trailer and make my way back to the body shop.
At this point, the owner was VERY apologetic and apathetic towards my claims of depression, anger and thoughts of climbing up the local watertower with an AK-47 and...okay, another stretch.
I was putting unbelievable miles on my prized "P-
Car Hauler" (Silverado) going back and forth to the body shop and meeting Rennlisters/eBayers in various sections of the Eastern Seaboard for parts...at one point, I really wanted a semi-truck to just fall out of the thin air and DIRECTLY onto the Track Rocket...thinking that insurance would just pay out a TOTAL claim.
Then I checked the KBB value of our beloved 964s and reconsidered asking the "almighty" to bring such a "miracle" to fruition.
Okay, it's late and I'm rambling, not to mention making up some stuff.
Anyway...the body shop took care of the better part of the issues and we decide to call the glass people.
Alright, this was supposed to be the easy part??
I had all new rubber, that went well, gouging the tint on my side windows and putting a good chip in the paint during installation wasn't in my "play book".
Neither were the scrapes down to the metal along the roofline where the back window goes.
Windshield "A-okay"...amen, and thank GOD!!
As I left the bodyshop that day, I looked up at the sky and asked a hearty "WHY ME!!!???"
No answer...just went out to find fresh bird doodoo on my prized Silverado.
<humor me here>
SO, was this time to become a born-again Christian?? ...confess all my sins in college and while overseas with the U.S. Navy in the hopes that the grace of God would now swing my way??
NOPE, I'm already a Christian, have been since I was a young boy...it was time to quit worrying about things and just wait...patiently.
God had more important things to worry about than a beaten-up 964.
I got the car back 9 days before an event I was not going to miss, hell or high-water...well, while hell was taking it's best shot (a whole nuther story) I made it!! Dash/interior, rockers, bumpers, wipers/squirters, door windows, new pads...etc. made it on the car, and in good order I might add, just in time to embark on my Southern adventure...an annual trip NEVER to be missed in the Curtis household.
I return home a week later to find a set of RS doorpanels that my girlyfriend bought for me, because the originals would NOT work with the cage. COOOOOL!
I had discovered on the trip that my horn and airbag sensors weren't functioning, and one of my headlights was "arrai".
Okay, I'm broke, worn out, but have somewhat of a tan and an event under the Track Rocket's "belt" since rebuild and got to see family, etc.
The parts to fix the horn/airbag were almost $200 and I find out the other headlight assembly is fractured, in need of replacement as well.
I tell ya, it's been six months, yup, SIX...I couldn't have done it without friends, family, sympathetic businesses in the trade...and of course - RENNLIST!!
Joey B. jumped in and offered his horn/airbag contact assembly that was no longer being used, Ruairidh sent me BOTH of his H-5 headlamp assemblies...with buckets!!
...and in what could be considered impeccable timing, Scupper offers up his factory bra to "a good home"...I gladly took him up on that, I like to use the hood part and often refer to it as a "sport bra".
Thanks to Horst and Myles for making "operation hoodgate" all possible, the hood was fine after a little "finessing".
It's been a long, long road...and I feel I owe MANY favors, almost too many, but time will allow for full repayment, I'm sure.
There are still issues that need addressed, but just like repayment of favors, time will allow for that as well.
The car looks good, quite shiney too! Overall, it was a good repair, and only the scrutinizing eye could tell that the car has been in an incident. My only concern is when I go to sell my beloved Track Rocket, which shouldn't be for awhile...but is inevitable, what can I say...I tend to get bored with a car after a few years.
I will certainly be honest with the interested party, and maybe share a story or two...but it sucks to think I might get "short-changed" on the sale due to my screw up...especially given all the hard work and $$$$$$$ into the fix and upgrades/maintenance, etc.
Oh well, so goes life.
The car aligned well and tracks as good as ever...can't ask for more than that.
My stress level seems to have tapered off a bit, and things are getting back to normal...whatever that is!!
ALRIGHTY THEN!
Before anyone complains about the bandwidth this reply took...remember one thing...YOU ASKED!! ...okay, so it was Terry that asked.
I hope that most find this reply interesting, and not too boring. Think of it as an inspirational thesis on the fact that a car, sometimes, can recover from a "good one". <img border="0" alt="[blabla]" title="" src="graemlins/a_smil17.gif" />
05-09-2003, 04:33 PM
#3
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Jeff:
Despite all that you went through, I am glad to hear that the Track Rocket is back on the road and that you are back in the saddle. <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />
Despite all that you went through, I am glad to hear that the Track Rocket is back on the road and that you are back in the saddle. <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />
05-09-2003, 05:02 PM
#4
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Rennlist Member
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</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by Carrera51:
<strong>Jeff:
Despite all that you went through, I am glad to hear that the Track Rocket is back on the road and that you are back in the saddle. <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" /> </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">I'll second that thought!
Best Wishes
<strong>Jeff:
Despite all that you went through, I am glad to hear that the Track Rocket is back on the road and that you are back in the saddle. <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" /> </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">I'll second that thought!
Best Wishes
