[Cairo94507]

I live in Auburn, CA and yesterday, Mels Diner held their annual American Graffiti Hot Rod show. We took my car and it was well received with a lot of people stopping to chat about it. I found a '69 L89 Camaro I was interested in but the owner was not interested in selling. The search goes on...

[Cairo94507]

OK, here is a peak at our project that has taken up a lot of my time. It is about 98% done and I got a chance to put my car up the other day. This is a 1600 sq. ft. home with a 1600 sq. ft. garage on our property for my twin brother. He has a '15 911 Turbo S coupe and it will now share the garage with my Six. The garage is 44' x 36 x 12'6". Has a complete HVAC of its own. All glass is triple-paned, garage doors are fully insulated as are the walls ceiling and rafters. Air compressor, solar, Generac, etc., are in an equipment room off the garage and is fully sheared and insulated. With the compressor running, when you close the equipment room door, no noise at all in the garage. We have 44 2' x 4' LED panels that are switched 11 per switch, plus an additional row directly over the work bench. The lighting is terrific. The garage is textured in imperfect smooth to match the home.

We have not selected counter tops yet; looking for good options. We still have to do something with the floor, (6"-7" 4300 PSI concrete, power hard-troweled with saw-cut relief-joints). We want to do something pretty much indestructible, looks nice and easy to clean. Never had luck with floor coatings; had a few homes with garages that came coated, and it always failed with fading, blistering, staining, pealing, etc. If we do a coating, I do not want to have to re-do it in 5 years.

Anyway, that is what has been drawing my focus away from my car for the past year or so. I am seriously considering a '69 Camaro SS L78 (396 engine). I had a perfect '69 Z/28, lemans blue with white stripes and loved that car. I have been looking for a hot rod project and that keeps coming up as a top contender. They made just shy of 5,000 L78 cars so they are out there. Cheers everyone. Michael

[N0tt0N]

So Jealous

[Cairo94507]

Thanks; but, not my intent. . I am hoping others planning garage remodels will see some things we did and incorporate them in a build.

Lighting makes such a difference in a garage; and the older one gets, the more appreciated good lighting is.

Not being on your knees, sitting on your butt, etc., is a game changer. Having a lift of any type, makes working on cars enjoyable as you are not uncomfortable. For us, the mid-rise scissor lift addresses our needs. We have full access under the car, on my 914-6, should we choose, we can drop the engine/transaxle with no interference. We spaced the ramps to accommodate that task. The BendPak scissor lift we installed is designed so there is no obstruction between the ramps. I can get on a creeper and have room to do whatever I need under the car, from front to the rear. (I considered installing a 2-post, we actually had a 10K 2-post that was only 3 months old; I gave it to a good friend who works on cars daily and will get great use out of it.) With the scissor-lift, I center the car, drive over the ramps, center the car front to rear and up she goes. Having the ramps flush to the floor when down is a safety feature - no tripping/falling. Also having the controls on the side of a cabinet, makes using the lift easy. The hydraulics in a bottom cabinet, keeps everything tidy, clean and out of sight.

If you enjoy working on your own cars, at any level, a lift is a game changer. Of course, once you get the wheels off the ground, always, always, always, grab the car and give it a push, pull, tug, to make sure it is well settled on the lift before going any further. I really like the heavy dense rubber mat we have on the lift ramps- the car is not going to move at all and no scratching.

[Cairo94507]

October 11th was the annual Porsches on the Lawn at my good friend Greg's home in Tracy, CA. The weather was perfect and we had over 30 Porsches attend from an original, beautiful 58 Speedster to a new GT3. The food was great as was the crowd. My car is parked next to my brother's beautiful '15 911 Turbo S coupe. We are going to take that to Palm Springs this coming weekend for a car show.

[Cairo94507]

Over the weekend my brother and I took the Turbo S to Palm Springs for 2 events. That's a long drive but fortunately, we have very light traffic in both directions and the Turbo S got a nice chance to stretch her legs...

Porsche of Palm Springs hosted a great evening of cars for a local car club. They had an open bar and hors d'oeuvres. I bought our Macan GTS from them when the dealership was brand new and was impressed with them then. But they took it to a great level for this event. No shortage of food or drinks and of course, beautiful Porsches on the floor. Outside, it was an eclectic mix of cars from Porsches to vintage iron of all makes and models. The weather was perfect and the crowd was great.

The next morning we went to a Casual Concours event hosted by Porsche Palm Springs at one of the local country clubs. It was extremely well organized and they had probably 200-250 cars on the lawn. A great mix of all types of cars from a brass car to Rolls Royces. Our family member entered her '62 Cadillac convertible and won her class. It has been in her family since her mother bought it new and it is fully restored. Another family member brought their '71 Triumph TR-6 and that car is stunningly beautiful- fully restored and runs like a top.

The weather was great, the music was great and just a really enjoyable time. I wish I would have driven my 6 down but that would be a brutal drive. I really think I want to take it down next year and enter it in the Casual Concours. Just have to figure how to get it there without driving it 8.5 hours.... no AC would make it a bit uncomfortable for sure. Cruise control would really be nice too. Yeah, getting old I guess.

[Cairo94507]

Here are some pics from the Casual Concours -

[Dr K]

LOVE the VW Bug with the split rear window! What's the very first car (light gray Porsche)?

[Cairo94507]

Dr K - That is a 2024 911 S/T - a 60th anniversary edition car. Had 500 miles on it, so it is "used". I would love that car; the color and the interior were beautiful. The $714K price, not so much.

[Cairo94507]

So, it looks like next year I may be able to take my car to this event in Palm Springs. I was talking to a good friend about this event and commented that if it was not such a hard drive, (8+ hours in a 914 with no AC, cruise control, or really comfortable seats) I would take my car. He offered up his enclosed car trailer and his Dodge diesel he uses to pull the trailer. I told him I would not be comfortable borrowing his truck/trailer for that long haul. He said, "No, I want to go with you guys and make it a road trip!" I said, "Hell yes!" So, if the planets align, next year will be a great trip and my car will be in this show. I am already looking forward to it. .

I really like the Palm Springs Porsche dealership; I bought our '17 Macan GTS from them and they were terrific to deal with.