Tech Event: Air Cooled Induction and Cooling

Jim Earlbeck & Randy Richter

At Ralph’s Auto Service

The first post-pandemic tech event was a great opportunity to reinvigorate the PCACHS tech heads. It was a pure joy to see members reconnecting and enjoying the comradery of PCA. It is not the cars, it is the people. We gathered at Ralph’s Auto Service fabulous new facility in Hampstead MD on a Saturday morning to learn about air cooled cars induction systems and engine cooling. Although the new facility is not yet completed, you could easily see that it will be amongst the best in the industry. It could be described as “dealer quality”, but that may be doing it an injustice. You should stop in the visit the place even if you do not have your car serviced there. It is that good.

Once we stopped drooling over the facilities, the day started as Tech Sessions always do when we meet at a vendor’s facility- introductions of Chesapeake Chairs, what the next Tech Session will be and our famous, gift certificate give away. This time the $250 gift certificate was won by Thomas Nash. Finally, our hosts Ralph Simmers, Chuck Goldsborough and their tech team were introduced.

Air Cooled (cont’d)

Ralph and Russ, one of their senior techs, took us through the evolution air cooled 911 induction from carburetors to mechanical fuel injection (described as very similar to that on a diesel engine) to electronic fuel injection. Russ informed the group about the stoichiometric mixture for a gasoline engine. That is the ideal ratio of air to fuel that burns all fuel with no excess air. For gasoline fuel, the stoichiometric air–fuel mixture is about 14.7:1 i.e. for every one gram of fuel, 14.7 grams of air are required. Ralph’s can measure this ratio and fine tune the cars accordingly for best performance.

Air Cooled (cont’d)

Ralph’s has been in business since 1971 and is believed to be the oldest independent Porsche repair facility in the US. They are one of the most respected independent Porsche repair facilities anywhere in the world. This is evidenced by the fact that owners ship their cars to Ralph’s not only from all over the United States to be serviced but from around the world. In fact, there was a car shipped in from the Philippines that was awaiting service. While Ralph’s 50 brings years of Porsche repair knowledge is impressive on its own, the fact that Chuck brings 58 years of expertise is mind blowing. Chuck’s first Porsche learning experience was riding home from the hospital where he was born, in the back seat of a 356 that as his parents owned. Toss in Chuck’s 20+ years of professional racing, add in several of the most experienced Porsche mechanics in the area and you have a winning formula. They also have a fully equipped machine shop to fabricate or repair parts that are not available. For expert service on your vehicle, they may be contacted at https:// www.ralphsautoservice.net 1900 B Hanover Pike Hampstead, Maryland, 21074

Air Cooled (cont’d)