jester911

Well we need to establish right now that I am not a decent man. That should be obvious just by the company I keep.
Besides that if I push the envelope much more I might as well sign the divorce papers now.

To give you an idea of the situation after I got done with these last upgrades she asked me if the car was done.

Done?!? Done!?! I never knew was such a thing!

dbryant61

They are in, ride height is close, and car is at RaceWerks for alignment and corner-balance (and to replace the ball joint swedge pin I broke). Larry wrote "You need your shocks revalved." Absolutely, feels like a different car. Jester, I had a rear-tire lock-up problem on heavy braking and was told by several that it was due to tired, under-valved shocks. You should listen to the advice "you would do it ALL at once" just to save your wife from the pain.

jester911

The shocks are only a couple years old so although not stiff enough for the new suspension they are at least not "tired". I plan to do it guys. You gotta give me a little time here.

Of course at any time you guys could contribute to my non-existent racing fund. I am the best non-profit organization I know of.

Larry Herman

What kind are they? If they are Bilsteins, you can get them re-valved to match your suspension and the difference is incredible. That's what I did on my Carrera. At the time it was only $75 per shock, but I'm sure that it is up somewhat from then.

jester911

They are Bilstein sports. I actually was thinking of buying some used and send them off so the car doesn't just sit waiting for the shocks. I hear the wait time is several weeks.

I can't stand not driving it.

paradisenb

You could buy a set from or send yours to Dan Jacobs for custom valving. His setup is proprietary but proven. Chech into it. May not be significantly more $ to go with a known quantity.

Good luck

911S3.6

Steve Weiner @ Rennsport systems set my car up, and specified the compression and rebound settings for the existing Bilstein shocks. Not only does he have all the figures from 30 years of building and racing 911 race cars, he also takes into account the car's characteristics: i.e. h.p., brake set up, weight, wheel / tires used, torsional stiffness etc... as all these are integral to a smooth functioning suspension.
I believe it was $ 90.00/ea on the re-valves.
Caveat: the car was sublime, but, IMHO, what you should do is skip the re-valve of the Bilsteins and go straight to JRZ's or Motons.

hope this helps,

Nick

jester911

Yeah great idea. Now if I can just figure out how to explain to the wife that those tuition payments for my daughter's college are not being payed.

dbryant61

Jerry,

We are in a similar boat regarding tuition. I just made the last payment for my daughter's junior year. I was hoping to have a racing budget after next year, but the prodigal son got his act together and went back to school last year. Two-three more years for his tuition, then I can go racing...maybe?..please???

Shocks and strut inserts - I removed mine about 4 weeks ago, sent them to Bilstein and had them back in two weeks. $65 per corner plus $10 per corner for new rods (they said mine were scratched) and maybe $8 for a few more internal parts. They wanted my corner-weights, torsion bar sizes and car use. I do not have any factual data on how they compare to Steve Weiner's or Dan Jacobs' re-valving, but I would think that Bilstein would have access to data on 40+ years of Porshe racing shocks.

jester911

Don, that is good info on the shocks. I will do as I can get it together.
As for the college thing my son is a sophomore in high school and my daughter is the same in college. So I guess at best I am 6 years out on the racing budget.

dbryant61

I realize this may be sacrelige (sp?), but I'm thinking Spec E30.

jester911

My first real track experience was in a Spec Miata. I say however you can get to the track is the way to go.

paradisenb

I thought about a Spec E30. Podium cars were going in the high teens. For that much $$ I'm driving a Pcar. Same for MX5s.

dbryant61

Randy,

That's high teens for a built E30 with all the goodies. D-class (former G-class) cars of that caliber sell for the $30k ballpark. I paid $14.8 for mine in stock condition in '03 and have been building it toward D-class since. I need the front half of a cage, kill switch, fire system, and lsd to complete the package - and then SRP ARBs and monoballs everywhere when I can afford it, then Fox or JRZ remote reservoir 3-ways in order to become really competitive. See where I'm going?

I spent $5k on parts and machine work for a stock top-end rebuild with me doing all the work last winter due to a money-shift, and $3k on a stock transmission rebuild. If I had an E30, I could have gone to a junkyard, paid $200 for an engine, brought it home, resealed it and plopped it in the car. I can buy a donor for around $2k, and build a car for another $8k. The real savings will be in maintenance and replacement parts, and the inevitable body work.

The kicker is the best laptime I have seen from a D-class at VIR full is 2:18, while the best is 2:19 from a Spec E30. I do not think one second is worth the cost delta. Plus the Mid-Atlantic Spec E30 field is often over 30 cars. I do not think you will ever see that in PCA D-class.

Astroman

Because I'm still so surprised and pleased, I can't resist passing this on...

I recently "discovered" a small racing shop here in Lexington. I'd been searching around for somebody with scales for a corner balance (not easy here in Lex)... this shop said they could do it so I gave 'em a shot.

Guess what a corner balance and alignment set me back??? $220 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Granted, my ride heights were pretty well set and I do have adjustable spring plates but still!! Obviously they provided me with the corner and cross weights and everything looks pretty good...

Also, Smart Racing revalved my Bilsteins and it cost $120 per shock. $75 sounds like a GREAT deal from Bilstein. Turnaround was about 3-4 weeks.