Joey,
We're so close to dead stock right now. People in other classes have a hard time believing our 944's can lay down lap times like we do. And then they look at, under, around our cars and see how stock they are... and walk off muttering to themselves, "Because it's a Porsche, that's why." The double whammy for them is finding out how little they cost to build and operate. 944 Spec Pride.

Some free advice from someone who moved from American Iron to 944 Spec this year. I am also the Mid South regional director, where 944 Spec had 8 cars participating at our November event.

I was always envious of the brotherhood and willingness to help each other in 944 Spec. This is totally opposite of the arms race & deception that is American Iron (and most other series). Jeremy Pohlman dominated our region until recently, but has done everything he can to help our region's racers improve. I have experienced the same with Jason Stanley in the Southeast region when I borrowed a 944 for a weekend in 2014. At our Barber event this year, the only better party was the Spec E30 party.

So, in May of this year, I raced an '86 (LC engine) at NOLA in 944 Spec in a car that had been sitting for most of the last 3 years. I believe it last dyno'd at around 132 whp. It runs rough until real warm. The tires were from 2013. Pretty much zero prep work. I had a blast because of the 5 friends I was racing against.

I raced it again at Barber and the NASA Championships at COTA.

I also raced it again at Memphis last weekend with 7 other friends. I was the lowest HP car on track and the starts proved it because everyone drug my ass down Memphis' long front straight. No LSD but I did have a short 5th. The racing was close and we put on a great show. I had an absolute blast. I won 2 of 3 races. Not sure how, but I did. The only things I did to the car all weekend was to check fluids, tire pressures, & add fuel.

We have a great, growing series. The series is great because it is the least expensive series in NASA with decent car counts. The driver still makes the biggest difference. Like someone said earlier, you can buy a front-running car for close to $10K...try that in Spec Miata where Drago will sell you a car for $35K.

Manny has proven in our region that if you replace the bearings like you are supposed to & do the required maintenance, your engine is damn near bullet-proof for a couple of years. I started my first engine rebuild today under his tutelage. I do not have '88 pistons (but will gladly use them if I can find some for a 0 block). I hope my engine will make 135/142 like his first rebuilt engine.

I do want the HC pistons because I am still not the best driver & it is an advantage if your engine is built properly. I do not have proof but at our dyno day each year, which cars out of the 8 that dyno do you think have the highest hp? So, if we could find a source with a decent price on exact replicas of the '88 pistons, I would be in favor of that for 2020. Otherwise, I will just have to continue to improve my driving.

Other than the front valence and the caster/camber plates, leave things as they are for 2019 and lets go racing.

See you at Mid Ohio in September.

Shawn,
Wow! So glad the culture of 944 Spec rubbed off on you! It's SO rewarding for me to see when people "get it" and embrace what 944 Spec stands for. They come to understand this class is different - from it's inception. Welcome aboard and help us keep it pure and growing.

p.s. - LC pistons doesn't mean the engine compression ratio is any lower than engines with 88 pistons. We just shave the cyl. head down to match the comp ratio created by the 88 pistons.

Cheers!

Dan we also had a discussion earlier in the year about replacing fuel lines from the pump/ filter to the rail with braided hose. If it’s the same ID, would they be legal in ‘19?

It looks like the suggestions that 7s Only customers seem to want are simply discarded, not voted on or anything. I’ve been asking for the battery to be moved to allow for a Group 24 battery that will last for more than a year for several years now. Again, the suggestion is thrown aside. Now our camber/caster plates are being outlawed. Our camber/caster plates are available off-the-shelf to anyone who wants them. So how are you going to differentiate between ours and anyone else’s? I don’t know if you think we’re new at this, but I started the Pro7 series in Southern California and took three SCCA cars and grew the field to 54 cars. I have never experienced anything like this. In Pro7, when we made rule changes, everyone voted, not just a few people making descisions. I would have thought a national class like this would have some guidelines for rules changes.

Just one additional comment. We have been involved with 944Spec for about four years now. We have five cars running our camber/caster plates. Tim Comeau has looked at our cars up on a rack and has never said anything about any illegal parts. I think the fair thing to do at this point is to give us a maximum caster number and we will adhere to that rather than force our customers to pay for new camber/caster plates. We have thousands of dollars in laser cut parts and machined parts to build our camber/caster plates and sell to the 944Spec community. Again, if you want to set a maximum caster specification, we will make that happen.