Back in the Shop

June 1.  It has been exactly two months since there has been an article published here on 924S944.com.  We have been used to publishing one a week, so what happened?  Well, time flies when you’re having fun.

Like most of us, we’ve been busy with work and other fun stuff.  April was taken up with a lot of small jobs, on cars and on the shop.  Of course, we are running out of space in the shop, so we are building a “loft” that will give us an additional 220 sf of overhead storage for the stuff that we don’t use a lot but need to hold onto for future use like interior parts, little do-dads, etc.  We got Phase I done – 80 sf – and the rest of it is on the schedule.  (Have you priced wood lately?  Ughhhhhhh…)

We acquired a couple of new cars for parts and projects, so road trips were in line…before fuel got REALLY expensive.

We bought a car for a customer – a really nice 1984 944 with the sport package including Fuchs, LSD and sport seats.  All in great condition, but…there is always a “but”…someone had spent a lot of money on a stereo and alarm back in the day to get it all installed.  And it was no longer working.  So it took a while to strip all that out and put it back in reasonably stock appearance.  The Fuchs needed some help, too, and the normal service was required.

At the end of April was the Carlisle Porsche-Only Swap Meet in eastern Pennsylvania – one day only on Saturday, April 30.  Filled the Nissan Titan and a 5×10 U-Haul with wheels, hoods, fiberglass, and other such 944 and 924S stuff, sold some of it, and returned home in DeLand by Sunday night.  The meet was a little disappointing as the bulk of folks there were looking for early Porsche stuff, 356 and early 911, although we did sell some things.  I was surprised that neither of my 931 hoods with the vent in the right side drew any real attention.  I was hoping to NOT bring them home.  One is painted black, the other is in primer – no one gave them a second look.

The schedule home from Carlisle was pretty tight as Ms. 924S944.com and I were leaving from Orlando Airport on Tuesday for vacation – a Viking River Cruise from Antwerp, Belgium to Amsterdam, Netherlands with relatives from Oregon.  (By the way, it’s The Netherlands, not Holland.  Holland comes from North Holland and South Holland, two provinces of six in The Netherlands.  Amsterdam is in North Holland.  There will be a quiz.)  Lots of history, lots of windmills, lots of walking, lots of sight seeing, lots of relaxing.  What there WASN’T a lot of were PORSCHES!  In fifteen days of car-spotting I only saw nineteen Porsches, most of which were in Amsterdam.  No 944’s or 924’s, though.  Three late-model 911’s, one Boxster, one Taycan, one Panamera, and the rest were SUV’s.  (Just for reference, going on a dream European vacation and keeping count of Porsche car-spotting is a disease, and there is no cure!)

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The weekend after we returned from (North) Holland we went to Fort Lauderdale to TaTe Designs and Fabrication for a two-day class on how to use vinyl wrap to wrap a car.  Four of us attended including Ms. 924S944.com, and she did a great job!  Check the photos…an alternative to paint for some of our projects, and we have a little different German car project coming up soon that will be wrapped.  Shout out to Chuck and Mike who went along and learned the in’s and out’s of sticking vinyl to paint.

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Since returning in mid-May we have been playing catch-up with several projects.  So there has been little time to sit and bloviate about our Porsches.  But we do have some upcoming events locally and elsewhere.

  • Porsche Night at the ACE in downtown Orlando every third Monday of the month.
  • 944Fest is Labor Day Weekend in Ohio.  944Fest.com
  • More to come.

Hopefully we will be getting back to “normal” soon…whatever “normal” really is.

You’re now up to date!!

Author: Kevin Duffy, 924S944.com LLC, DeLand, FL

After retiring from a career in Law Enforcement, Kevin Duffy turned his attention to one of his passions, Porsche 944's and 924S's. He owns 924S944.com LLC in DeLand, FL, rescuing and restoring forgotten Porsches, bringing them back to a useful life. He is especially interested in the rare-but-beautiful 924S Special Edition. He can be found at Porsche Club events, including track days, tours and shows, as well as other car-focused events around the southeastern United States.

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