Spec Boxster Build - Page 65 - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Quadcammer · 08-27-2019, 05:25 AM

**************** tom, sorry to hear that. not hooking it back onto the track is Day 1 DE stuff. A club racer should 100% know better.

Hopefully the bulk of the drivetrain is fine and you just have some body work to attend to.

thstone · 09-03-2019, 09:40 PM

Well, its been a long week since the accident.

You know how they say that you don't really feel an accident until a day or two later? Well, its amazing how true that is. By Monday, my shoulder and chest were hurting pretty bad from being restrained by the harnesses. It felt like I'd been beat up. My left shoulder is still sore. Man, stuff like this sure was less painful when I was 30!

The car is at Pro Motorsports in Burbank, CA. Tyson Schmidt is the head mechanic there and he built my Spec Boxster when he was at Hegesheimer Motorsports so he knows it inside and out. The list of parts needing replacement is growing daily so I'll wait until they get a good handle on things and then post the list.

Here are a few pictures ...

Let's start with a Facebook photo on Friday after practice. I had an excellent day and was looking forward to Saturday's racing... (if I only knew!) And yes, its late August and I have a running pullover on to keep warm from the cool Monterrey ocean breeze...

I was hit in the right rear wheel and the quarter panel just behind the engine compartment vent. With the toe link snapped in two, the right rear wheel was kind of flopping in the breeze...

The front was damaged when I was spun around and hit the inside wall. It was more of a glancing blow than head on so the front wasn't too heavily damaged but the front bumper cover was almost scrapped through from sliding along the wall...

This is why it made a really loud grinding noise when I tried to drive it into the paddock - right rear axle broken in two!

maytag · 09-04-2019, 06:47 AM

Well, worse than i'd hoped for ya, but not as bad as I'd feared, I guess.

I tell people all the time that the stuff I thought had healed at 30, started hurting again at 45. The days of "walk it off" are definitely over. Haha

Keep us posted. Some of us live vicariously through your exploits!

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

hcallaway · 09-05-2019, 01:24 PM

Thanks to HURRICANE DORIAN, I was able to read this post from beginning to end. Great details and I am looking forward to seeing what happens next. Racing is not cheap and I cannot imagine what it takes to run a complete season.

thstone · 09-05-2019, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hcallaway

Thanks to HURRICANE DORIAN, I was able to read this post from beginning to end. Great details and I am looking forward to seeing what happens next. Racing is not cheap and I cannot imagine what it takes to run a complete season.

Thanks for the kind words. You deserve a medal if you read thru this entire thread!

The whole point of this thread is that ANYONE can do this if you put forth the required time, effort, and money.

I'm just a regular guy (person?) like all of you: I work. I have a family. I wasn't born wealthy so I've earned every dollar that I spend. There is nothing particularly special about me in terms of driving or racing. Sure, I'm motivated and capable of learning but so are you. I had to start from knowing nothing about performance driving and racing and learned as I went. I have decent eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills but I'm definitely not a natural born racing driver. It's been a long and arduous journey but one that I wouldn't want to have missed. Persistence, commitment, and hard work are my primary skill set.

There is no doubt, if I can do this, you can too. Anyone can.

P.S. Stay safe, hope that you and your family were out of harms way.

thstone · 09-05-2019, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maytag

The days of "walk it off" are definitely over. Haha

LOL! Yep, youth really is wasted on the young!

thstone · 09-05-2019, 04:22 PM

The GOOD NEWS is that those somewhat expensive aftermarket 718-style taillights made it through the accident without any damage!!

PaulE · 09-05-2019, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thstone

The GOOD NEWS is that those somewhat expensive aftermarket 718-style taillights made it through the accident without any damage!!

That's great news, but you're going to need another one of those pesky headlight corner pieces!

thstone · 09-05-2019, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulE

That's great news, but you're going to need another one of those pesky headlight corner pieces!

I am cursed by those damn things!

Boxster Headlight Corner $54.25

thstone · 09-09-2019, 07:53 PM

I stopped by Pro Motorsports to see how the repairs are coming along and all of the mechanical work is complete. The car will be heading to the body shop tomorrow.

Parts replaced:
- Right rear axle (broken in two)
- Left rear axle (bent)
- Right rear adj toe arm (broken in two)
- Right rear adj sway bar drop link (broken in two)
- Right rear lower control arm (bent)
- Right rear control arm (bent)
- Right rear track arm (bent)

As for me, I have recovered and am back to training (running & lifting weights). I am hoping that the car is ready in time to make it to Sonoma Raceway (aka Sears Point) at the end of the month for a weekend of practice in prep for racing with the PCA there in October. I've never been to Sonoma so this will be a new track for me but I've always wanted to race there and am really looking forward to it.

thstone · 09-09-2019, 08:24 PM

Corkscrew video!

husker boxster · 09-10-2019, 06:08 AM

In one of my sessions 5 yrs ago, I early apex-ed 8A and was WAY out of position for 8B. Rather than over-correct and possibly spin, I decided to ride over the gators and straighten out 8B. There was a tremendous metal sound and I thought I'd torn something off my car. Took it easy for the remainder of the lap and everything was OK so I sped back up. Looking for any parts next time thru 8B, I see there was a metal drainage grate that I'd run over. Kind of made me feel better, but not really. NEVER early apex 8A.

Of course, the track photographer saw my miscue and caught several frames of it.

maytag · 09-10-2019, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by husker boxster

Yeah.... kinda jelly right now.....

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

thstone · 09-10-2019, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by husker boxster

In one of my sessions 5 yrs ago, I early apex-ed 8A and was WAY out of position for 8B. Rather than over-correct and possibly spin, I decided to ride over the gators and straighten out 8B. There was a tremendous metal sound and I thought I'd torn something off my car. Took it easy for the remainder of the lap and everything was OK so I sped back up. Looking for any parts next time thru 8B, I see there was a metal drainage grate that I'd run over. Kind of made me feel better, but not really. NEVER early apex 8A.

Of course, the track photographer saw my miscue and caught several frames of it.

Oh my! That is not where you want to be!

This is what makes Laguna Seca so epic - it takes practice/skill to line up the car properly starting way back on the blind run up the hill. Get any of it wrong and its a mess.

Glad that everything worked out ok for you.

maytag · 09-10-2019, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thstone

Oh my! That is not where you want to be!

that depends on who you are! haha

Here's Vale pulling the move on Stoner:

And then a couple of years later, Marquez out-Rossi-ing Rossi in the same place.

That is ALSO what makes Laguna so epic: the heroic moments that stand-out when someone does something .... er.... differnt. haha

thstone · 09-10-2019, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maytag

that depends on who you are! haha

That is ALSO what makes Laguna so epic: the heroic moments that stand-out when someone does something .... er.... differnt. haha

Oh crap! Those guys are insane (and insanely talented!).

bkovac · 09-23-2019, 06:51 AM

I went to the PCA race in Sonoma for the first time 2 years ago, it WILL be your favorite track to drive. Make sure you take your physical POC racing license, they want to see it in order to be allowed on track for the Open Test days.

thstone · 09-23-2019, 09:43 PM

Well, the repairs are coming along pretty well. Here are some photos from the body shop. There wasn't any frame damage so only repairs to the front and rear fenders along with the rear quarter panel - ready for paint!

thstone · 09-23-2019, 10:02 PM

Since the Boxster is still in the body shop, that means that it won't be available to make the trip to Sonoma this weekend to learn the track and practice in prep for the October PCA race.

So I could cancel going to Sonoma this weekend or ... I have another Porsche sitting in the driveway... and it happens to have new tires and new brakes ... and this weekend is only a DE so I don't really need a race car...

I have never had the SC on the track so this will be a great experience! I use this car as my daily driver. It's my only car these days so I drive it everywhere. It has 205,000 miles and it runs and drives perfectly. I drive all over California for business so its nothing to drive it 800 miles over a couple of days. Its a blast to drive on the I-5 autobahn between SoCal and NorCal and will cruise at 90mph all day long. Not bad for a 40 year old car with only 185 hp.

Here is a recent pic when I was on a business trip visiting farms in the California Central Valley...

thstone · 10-05-2019, 05:10 PM

The #254 House Automotive Spec Boxster is back!

Beyond the suspension components, there was no chassis or sub-frame damage, so it was just simple body work to get it back to looking brand new.

There are a couple of small things left that I will do myself - install a new right radiator screen, replace the short shifter bushing clip, swap the alternator, and have new House Automotive graphics installed on the passenger door. Other than those items, the car is ready to race.

Thanks to Brad Keegan and Tyson Schmidt of Pro Motorsports in Burbank, CA for the top level professional repairs.

The plan is to do a shake down test at Willow Springs next Friday (10/11) and then do two back-to-back PCA races; Oct 25-27 at Sonoma Raceway (Sears Point) in NorCal and then the following weekend, Nov 1-3 at Buttonwillow Raceway in Central California.

Sonoma will be a new track for me so I've been studying video and getting generally familiar with the track via Forza. I've practiced learning a new track extensively through karting so I am hoping to get up to speed quickly. With that being said, I'm just hoping for a good solid weekend at Sonoma. Expectations will be higher at Buttonwillow where I've raced quite a bit.