Coffee, Cars & Conversation

by Bill Kruder, Region President photos provided by Bob DiRienzo

Talk about a small world - and it took the Porsche Club to bring us together. As most of you know, I take great pride in my nearly 40-year career with the Penney Company. That being said, I might be the last of the generations that spend a lifetime with one company. Well, since retiring I have had a chance to meet a lot of people. Several years ago at a Mavs & Mochas, I ran into this guy who looked really familiar to me. Well, sure enough, we knew one another through JCPenney. Fast forward to the last 4-5 months, I have seen Bob out a lot with us. We struck up some fun conversations over coffee discussing the people we both know through JCPenney and the ones we both worked with or for. At any rate, having criss-crossed the Penney building amongst some 4,500 other associates, it took a car to bring us together.

So here is the next in my series of “conversations” I would like to share with you . . .

Bob DiRienzo, member since 2012 Owner, 2022 718 GTS 4.0

Bill Kruder: So, where are you from?

Bob DiRienzo: I grew up in Totowa, New Jersey, just west of Paterson, which is about 30-45 minutes north of Newark. I lived there over 20 years, attending grade school in Totowa, and then Passaic Valley Regional High School in neighboring Little Falls. My parents lived there over 38 years, moving to Florida after my dad retired in 1988.

BK: How about college?

BD: I went to Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. It’s a small Liberal Arts school about an hour north of Harrisburg, PA.

BK: What did you study?

BD: I initially enrolled in the Chemical Engineering program. I think that had to do with family background and influence. And it allowed me to get a great summer job working for Public Service Electric and Gas. After that first year, I switched majors and received my degree in Business Administration, graduating in 1974.

BK: How did that work out for you (smiling)?

BD: (laughing) I think it worked out ok as I was with them for the next nearly 40 years, retiring in May of 2012.

BK: Full disclosure to the reader: as you may know, I know a thing or two about JCPenney having spent nearly 40 years myself retiring in 2012.

BK: So, what all did you do in your career there?

BD: That’s the nice thing. Back then you could stay with one company and work in a variety of positions. These days, no one seems to stay with one company very long. They move out to move up.

BK: Let’s stop there for a second. Why do you think that was or is?

BD: Well, like you, our generation grew up with role models that stayed for life with their jobs, and in return, companies rewarded employees with pension plans. That being said, today only about a quarter of companies offer them, and it’s a Catch-22 on why they don’t and why people don’t stay.

BK: What did you do after college then?

BD: Well, I thought I might work for Kodak located in Rochester. I really enjoyed photography and thought that would be a great fit. Then a woman at school said she was just hired at JCPenney in New York City. I liked the idea of working in New York, interviewed with the Penney Company and was hired as a “Control Buyer” in the Catalog Division.

BK: So back to your “jobs”.

BD: As I progressed, I became a Media Manager in Catalog, went on to Catalog Circulation, then moved into Corporate Marketing, managing what we called “customer file marketing.” That involved analyzing which customers would receive our catalogs, store promotions, and emails.

BK: So, how did you and Joyce meet?

BD: (smiling) That too had a Penney connection. Joyce and I worked together in the kids area. We shared a large office area (which we named the “bullpen”) with four other associates. Well, we started talking more and more and finally went out. We dated for over a year and got married in 1979.

BK: And family?

BD: We have two daughters: Nicole lives in Virginia, and Amanda lives in Colorado. We also have four grandkids now.

BK: So, when did you move to Texas?

BD: As many know, the Penney Company decided to move its headquarters to Plano in 1987. We moved here in 1988. We are in our third house now in West Plano.

BK: Ok, let’s talk cars. First car?

BD: That was a ‘59 6-volt VW Beetle that we bought from a neighbor. I drove it through high school.

BK: Was that the start of German cars for you?

BD: No, not really. I was really more into American muscle cars. My senior year in high school I had a ‘69 Dodge Charger (383 4-bbl.) Honestly, I had more of an affliction for motorcycles, acquiring my first as a senior in high school, a BSA 250. I would go on to ride for the next 50 years. Matter of fact, I taught a motorcycle safety course for 25 years, graduating over 3,200 riders.

BK: So, then how did you get into Porsches?

BD: We had a 2002 Miata and really enjoyed the “speedster” experience. When it came time to replace it, we checked out BMW and Audi first. Then we decided to check out the Boxster and we were hooked. We ordered a 2012 base Boxster and loved it. We drove that car for nearly 10 years before ordering our current GTS.

BK: I hear you are a musician? Maybe even a rock star! (smiling) RD: (laughing) Both may be an exaggeration but yes, I do play guitar and yes, we do have a band.

BK: How did that get started?

BD: Well, I started in garage bands in my teens and we had some success. Matter of fact, when it came to going to college it was decision time; go full time into the band or go to school. I chose school (smiling).

BK: But you do play today in a band?

BD: Yes I do. We’re called “REPLICA.” We are a classic rock cover band, but throw in some other genres for a bit of variety. We play in DFW area bars and restaurants a couple of times a month.

Talk about taking the long road to Driving Friendships!

Motorsport Mike: Meet the Driver - Lou Marchant

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Competitive, innovative, intelligent, and humorous are just a few adjectives I can use to describe our March “Meet The Driver,” Lou Marchant.

The backdrop on Lou’s childhood helped set the stage for her racing skills and innovative spirit. She grew up on a ranch in rural to watch The Prewar Races. Across the pond she went, taking a job with Rand and moving close to Silverstone so that she could attend their driving school. During her first lesson, Lou told the group how she was black flagged for going in the wrong direction on the track –yep, the British way.

Lou entertained an enthusiastic crowd of close to 50 Maverick Region members with her own PowerPoint presentation highlighting her life story and racing career. There is no way possible for me to come close to capturing all of Lou’s exciting adventures – you just had to be there!

Montana almost 60 miles away from the nearest town. Educated at home through the 8th grade, she was taught (out of necessity) to ride motorcycles and drive cars and pickup trucks by the young age of 10! To obtain her driver’s license, all that was required was to look into a viewfinder and identify a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge – BINGO –license awarded! No written or road test needed for this young lady!

Lou had an early fascination with motorcycles and British sports cars. Attracted solely by the color and mystique, her first car, a red MG roadster, didn’t even run! To pay for her education (Masters of Engineering from SMU), Lou started her own car company and joined the Texas MG Register in 1980. The bait that hooked Lou into her passion for racing vintage British roadsters was a trip to Silverstone

Lou’s greatest racing accomplishment to date was her victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (see photo). To this day, Lou continues her passion for vintage racing at some of the most famous tracks across the country, like Indy, Watkins Glen, VIR, Road America, Road Atlanta, Laguna Seca, and many more. If you are fortunate, you might see Lou pulling her race car trailer in a renovated ambulance (see photo) she uses for her sleeping quarters and entertaining fans with margaritas crafted from her own machine that travels shotgun with her to all the tracks.

As I previously noted, there are so many other exciting chapters to Lou’s story that it’s impossible for me to cover everything she has accomplished. Lou was quick to thank all of her supporters for helping her live her passion – I’m willing to bet that with her drive and hunger for living life to its fullest that she’s probably helped more people achieve their passions!

DIY: Clear Bra Removal

by Tom Martin photos provided by author

When PPF (paint protection film) entered the mainstream of the sport/exotic car realm in the ‘90s, it was a viable consideration for someone who owned a Porsche. After all, it provided a suitable barrier between the car’s paint and the harsh elements that a Porsche driven daily would encounter. It shined up nice, and simple scratches could be eliminated with just an application of heat from a common hair dryer. Good Stuff.

Fast forward a decade or three, and protective films applied back in the old days now show their age in ways that detract from the overall aesthetics of your favorite ride. And no hair dryer is going to solve this problem. The old girl may be aging well, but that scratched and cracked mini-bra just isn’t cutting it anymore. Some things get better with age: fine wine and spirits, one’s IRA (hopefully), and Nicholas Cage movies. Unfortunately, PPF is not one of them.

Our first-gen Caymans suffered from discolored, deeply scratched and cracked stone guards on my wife’s car, and the half-bra on mine also showed cracks and scratches. There was a very visible demarcation line on the front clip as well. thinking of trying it on my wheel wells next.

The goal was to get the films removed without damaging the underlying paint. In the case of the half-bra, if the film could not be removed safely, I was willing to spring for a respray of the front clip, as it already had a few stone chips on it anyway. Some local shops were less than enthused to take on this project, mostly because of the age of the film: 14 years. One shop wanted $400 just to remove the stone guards. It was then that I considered DIYing the job.

After scouring the Internet, I discovered a few techniques on removing PPF - some questionable, some novel, some a bit ridiculous (subjectively speaking). I elected to use the steamer method, as it seemed the safest and least abusive to the paint surface. The common denominator in all these techniques was the application of heat, presumably to make the PPF more pliable, and the adhesive’s grip on the film less effective. Then the film is simply scraped off.

Initial prep consisted of testing to see if the film would lift from the surface of each panel safely by pushing a plastic razor blade under a corner of the film. If it lifts without any damage to the paint, you should be good to go. A good tip is to preheat the surfaces by utilizing the services of our megacandlepower friend: the sun. I wheeled the car out of the garage into the sunlight on a 100-degree day. About an hour later, the temperature of the bodywork was over 140 degrees.

My weapon of choice for this project was the McCulloch MC1275 heavy duty steamer. This little unit has a myriad of uses besides film removal. You can steam your headliner, windows, even the brake calipers.

Once you crank up the steamer and attach the steam jet nozzle, you can then liberally steam the entire surface of a body panel. After several passes, start removing the film with a plastic chisel scraper, a few inches at a time. The process is pretty arduous; it’s definitely slow going removing the film inches at a time. Plastic chisel scrapers are made specifically for removing stickers and decals without scratching the bodywork. Harbor Freight sells an acceptable set of four of these chisel scrapers at their stores, right next to the WD-40. Pick up a can of the stuff while you’re there; you’ll need it later. I also used a small plastic razor blade scraper for smaller areas like the mirrors and stone guards.

After the plastic film is removed, the next step is to remove the adhesive used to bond the film to the bodywork. There will be a LOT of adhesive residue, and it most likely will take as much time to remove it as the film did. I decided not to use a glue removal chemical, as I reckoned it would be rather harsh on the freshly exposed surface. Instead, I used the product in the blue spray can right next to the duct tape in every man’s toolbox: WD-40. Nothing sticks to WD-40. Nothing. Spray it liberally over the residue.

Now the long, arduous scraping process begins again, and it may need to be repeated several times to remove all the residue. You should use the plastic razor blade scraper for this job. Small residue “shadows” can be removed with some fine polish applied by hand. Make sure the surface is absolutely free of any residue before the next final step.

I used denatured alcohol applied to a microfiber towel to quickly remove the WD-40. Then a detail spray was used to clean the entire surface before polishing. I used Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound applied on an orange pad with a random orbital polisher, then finished it off with my “sealant du jour,” Meguiar’s Hybrid Ceramic Wax.

The end result was great! The finish looked like I imagined it did when the PPF was initially installed. And there was no visible demarcation line where the half-bra was installed. Success!

So yes, PPF removal is very DIY-able. If you tackle this project, you’ll discover that by far, the most important item on the bill of materials is elbow grease and patience - lots of it. And you’ll feel that sense of accomplishment that you “did it yourself.”