Porscher 2017 04

Volume 20 Issue 3 April 2017 The Voice of the Vancouver Island Region - Porsche Club of America

Geneva World Premiere A 911 for the road and track—the new 911 GT3

In this issue:Fun in the Garage, VIH Event, Floor Mat Cleaning, 911 GT3, Detailing

Contents VIR PCA Executive

Page 3

Executive Comment

Page 4

Black Rock 2017

Page 6

Having Fun In The Garage

Page 7

New 911 GT3

Page 12

VIR PCA Discounts / Competition Corner

Page 13

Review—WeatherTech Floor Mat Cleaner & Protector

Page 14

Off The Island

Page 18

Vancouver Island Helicopter Event

Page 20

Detailing—Introduction

Page 23

Around The Bend

Page 27

Classifieds / VIR Goodie Store

Page 28

Commercial advertisement space is available .

The following current rates are applicable:$210 Outside back page $200 Inside front cover $190 Inside back cover $150 Full page $ 90 Half page $ 50 Quarter page $ 30 Business card

Porscher is the official publication of the Porsche Club of America, Vancouver Island Region and is published monthly.

EDITORIAL: Statements appearing in PORSCHER are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Porsche Club of America, the Vancouver Island Region, its Executives or the Editor. All articles and photographs are copyright the author or contributor (unless otherwise noted). Permission for reprints or reproduction of the contents must be granted by the Editor and the author or contributor.

Copyright © 2017 by Porsche Club of America, Vancouver Island Region.

All rights reserved. www.virpca.org

Please contact the Editor for more information.

COVER : New 911 GT3 Courtesy Porsche.com

Find us on Facebook :www.facebook.com/VIRPCA

Or at our website :www.virpca.org

SUBMISSIONS: Members are invited and encouraged to submit articles and photos that would be of interest to the club. Photos in JPG or PNG formats. Please send submissions via email to the Newsletter Director at: Newsletter@virpca.org NEWSLETTER DEADLINE: The deadline for the next issue is the 23rd of the month.

PHOTOS used this month by :- Steve Fairbrother, Martin Mansfield, Leo Vanderven, Al Sherwood, Brad Blaney, Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit.

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Your Vancouver Island Region PCA Executive Martin Mansfield President president@virpca.org

Dave Nickel Director—Website webms@virpca.org

James Renfrew Vice President vicepresident@virpca.org

Wendy Woodley Director—North Island upisland@virpca.org

Michael Holan Secretary secretary@virpca.org

Dean Aikenhead Director—Mid Island midisland@virpca.org

Tim Evans Treasurer treasurer@virpca.org

Didier Moinier Director—South Island southisland@virpca.org

John McGurran Director—Membership membership@virpca.org

Conrad Peden Director—Competition competition@virpca.org

Steve Fairbrother Director—Newsletter Newsletter@virpca.org PORSCHER — APRIL 2017

Brad Blaney Past President pastpresident@virpca.org

Conrad Peden Unofficial Driver Education Chair competition@virpca.org

Tim Hagner PCA Zone 6 Representative simtue@gmail.com Page 3

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Executive Comment am writing this message from the Presidents’ Meeting in Calgary. We finished our day long meeting and it was very informative. I can report to you that Dina McDonald will be zone 14's first Zone rep.

We will see more of our zone rep Tim Hagner now that our zone is split. This will lead to more multi-region events and cooperation.

I have included a map that will help illustrate our zone and zone 14.

If you would like to find out more about how the presidents meeting went please join us at our next monthly meeting.

Martin Mansfield President

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have just sent in our submission for the PCA’s Newsletter of 2016 Awards. This year there are 3 categories that we can enter :- Best Newsletter, Best Cover and Best Feature Article. Normally around 40-45 of the 143 regions participate, so we shall have plenty of competition.

The Executive left the choice to me, so I chose June and August 2016 issues for full newsletter entry (we are allowed to submit 2), August as the cover entry and Al Sherwood’s recent article from October as the feature entry.

I chose the Black Rock issue as it highlighted our fund-raising efforts and showed many members at the event. The August issue was centered around the VIMC tour event which had a record member turnout along with the Gold River Run and the Paint Protection Film install. The Best Cover picture submitted was of the some of the 80+ cars lined up in the VIMC lot! Al Sherwood’s article describing his 718 performance drive was worthy of submission too. I hope you agree with my choices!

The winners will be announced and awards presented at the PCA Spokane Parade in July. I cannot attend, but hopefully someone will carry 3 awards back to the Island for us!

Steve Fairbrother Newsletter Director PORSCHER — APRIL 2017

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Executive Comment (cont) Where’s my name tag?

We have just submitted an order for VIRPCA name tags. If you are a relatively new member, you should soon receive a package in the mail with a tag (or two if you have enrolled a family comember). There will be a car-window PCA decal I the envelope too.

Our New Members Welcome new members joining in the month of February, bringing our total to 458.

Roland Atkins (family co-member) Wendy Booyens (family co-member) David Bramley (primary member) Heine Coetze (primary member) Marilyn Copes (family co-member) Cora Grant (family co-member) Morgan Hughes (primary member) Blair Martin (primary member)

Victoria Auckland New Zealand Nanaimo - 2014 Cayman S Victoria - 2005 911 Carrera S Victoria Sooke Victoria - 1991 928 GT Tsawwassen,2016 911 Carrera GTS

March 2017 Anniversaries 25 years Wyman & Sandy Lee 1 year

Geir Oglend, James & Jackie Mathers, Lockie McKinnon, Johan & Wendy Booyens and Mike King

Below is Leo Vanderven’s photo from the March 12th South Island Cars & Coffee, featuring presentation of the 20th anniversary banner to Bridget Cassidy whose name was drawn at random from the membership at the Valentines lunch. Also, we toasted Wyman and Sandy Lee as 25 year members of the club. Wyman reminded me that he still has the 928 that he owned when he joined.

John McGurran Membership Director

PORSCHER — APRIL 2017

Do you know someone with Porsche ownership intentions or aspirations? Tell them about the PCA Test Drive program. For $40 they get 6 months access to PANORAMA and defined access to browse the online PCA Mart to find their Porsche. Contact membership@virpca.org for details Page 5

Black Rock May 25-28 2017

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ew to the schedule this year is the optional Whale Watching on Friday morning, 9am in a cruiser for 4hrs and 9.30am in a zodiac for 3hrs, It is run by SubTidal Adventures and there is limited capacity. Contact them at 250.726.7336 to book directly mentioning the Porsche Club, the cost is $99.

Black Rock Resort Accommodations Studio Trail 1 Bedroom Lodge 2 Bedroom Lodge Reservations

$145 per night $195 per night $349 per night 1-877-762-5011

Proposed schedule (at time of press) Thursday, May 25 3pm – 5pm 5:30pm – 6:30pm 7:30pm – 9:30pm

Friday, May 26 7am 8am – 3:30 pm 9am and 9.30am 10am – 3:30 pm 3pm – 5pm 4pm – 5pm 7pm After dusk

Registration – Ballroom Whisky Tasting – Wine Cellar Welcome Social – Resort Lobby Hotel Continental Breakfast $18 Autocross at Tofino Airport Whale Watching (3 or 4 hrs) Porsche Overland Event Registration – Lobby HPDE Class – Ballroom Salmon BBQ/Bonfire by UVFB (by donation) Fireworks

Saturday, May 27 7am – 9:30am

8am – 3:30pm 11am – 4pm 11am – 4pm 1:30pm – 3pm 3:30pm – 4:30pm 5:30pm 6:30pm 7pm 8pm

Sunday, May 28 8:30am

9am – Noon Noon

Pancake Breakfast, Car Park (by donation) HPDE at Tofino Airport Show & Shine – Village Green Walking Poker Rally Guided Nature Walk Turn in poker cards – Lobby Banquet, bar open – Lobby Banquet, ballroom door open Banquet dinner – Ballroom Banquet. social time, prizes, and Cops for Cancer Auction – Ballroom RCMP/Porsche Parade – Ucluelet Breakfast Buffet, UVFB Auction Ballroom Participants depart

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Having Fun In The Garage

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art of what follows is a brief review of the vehicle lift I purchased late last year, a Dannmar 6000XL Mid-Rise scissor lift. I have always wanted one and finally decided the time was right to get a shop tool that I knew would make certain things a whole lot easier, after that a little spring cleaning!

I have been working with a floor jack and stands for years, you know the drill, block the wheels roll the jack over there, get on your knees position the pad, pump it up for the first point, place stand, rinse and repeat! Everything took forever, simple checks on the brakes or wheels, changing from summer to winter tires etc, etc, but no more...

Once you acquaint yourself with safe/proper lift operation you will wonder why you struggled without Courtesy Suncoast Parts.com one, I can't believe how easy it is to safely lift the car to change wheels, work underneath to check things or change the oil.

Before purchase download and read the manual over, pay particular attention to power requirements, floor thickness/conditions and of course overhead clearance. My Boxster can easily be lifted full height in my shop, the Macan and certainly the pick-up would touch the ceiling so measure and be careful. If you proceed to purchase, unless you get it delivered, you will need a low trailer to bring it home and either a strong ramp or some method to get it out of the trailer on the garage floor, at about 850 lbs you won't be lifting it by hand.

I briefly considered a two post lift but did not want the posts in the way or the requirement to drill and bolt it to the floor, the scissor lift although very heavy is portable to an extent, you can move it if necessary to accommodate a different vehicle or simply to clear the space for something else. Having said this I will likely make a plywood cover for it, just to keep it from getting covered in sawdust as I use this shop for woodworking as well. For anyone with a really low car you will likely need to invest in a couple of 2x10's to roll up PORSCHER — APRIL 2017

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onto when you position the car over the lift, SUVs and Pick-ups will have no problem and the included adapter pads will come in handy for lifting these higher vehicles. There will be a limited number of things that a two post lift can allow you to do that a scissor lift cannot, such as lifting a motorcycle or complete access to the area between the jacking points on a vehicle but for most of us this midrise lift will cover just about everything. I mention midrise because at the highest safety lock you have about 45-50 inches of clearance beneath the vehicle (depends on the pads used), not as high as a full height lift but pretty much the same as the Dannmar MaxJax two post unit.

The build quality is very good and certainly heavy-duty, the lift should have no difficulty handling its rated capacity of 6000 lbs. The arms have plenty of adjustment and when the vehicle is centered over the lift and raised, it is very stable and secure. Lifting to full height takes about a minute, not long at all compared to those jack stands, lowering about the same. The steel wheels at the back end of the lift roll along the floor during operation so it may damage a painted or epoxy coated floor as it operates, and I doubt that it would be recommended on any type of floor garage floor system such as rollout vinyl mats or interlocking tiles. The power cord to the hydraulic pump motor should be connected to a dedicated 115v circuit, at a maximum draw of 14A there is no room for other devices operating at the same time on this circuit, additionally the cord is only about 6ft long so you need a wall outlet that allows you to position the power unit in a location safely away from the lift while you raise or lower it.

I can say that when used as prescribed in the user manual the Cadet 6000XL will be an excellent addition to your home shop not only saving time but providing a safe way to lift your vehicle, below are the first projects!

Finally it is spring! So now that (hopefully) snow and sub-zero temperatures are a thing of the past we can look forward to warmer weather and a chance to drive our favorite Porsches. Two things that I wanted to do in preparation for this is to remove the winter tires/wheels and put the summer set back on, the other was to clean out the front radiators found on the Boxster/Cayman, that vehicle lift would make both things a lot easier if you are the DIY kind of person.

First off the tires/wheels, since I am describing the process using a lift it will be little different then than those doing it with a floor jack, please only attempt this if you are fully acquainted with your vehicle and have the proper tools and exCourtesy Suncoast Parts.com perience to do it safely, otherwise take you vehicle to a qualified service facility.

Begin by breaking the torque on the wheel bolts, do not loosen the bolts, just enough that you can continue to remove them once the tires are off the ground. I highly recommend the purchase of two wheel mounting guide bolts (99957107430), you can do this with one but two keeps the wheel better aligned with the hub and prevents damage to the wheel or caliper when removing or reinPORSCHER — APRIL 2017

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stalling (See picture). Begin by lifting the vehicle to a working height, remove one or two bolts and thread in the guide bolts, proceed to remove the rest of the wheel bolts. Once you have the wheel off you can make a quick inspection of the hoses, caliper and wheel disc, if you notice anything out of the ordinary you should have it attended to immediately, as always safety is paramount! In my case I always take an opportunity like this to clean the wheel wells and all components within as there is no better time than the present. Did I mention that having this all at a decent working height makes it a whole lot easier, actually enjoyable! Once you are satisfied that all is normal in this area you can install your summer tires/ wheels and snug up the wheel bolts before proceeding to the other 3 corners. Eventually when you have all 4 tire/wheel assemblies installed, lower the vehicle so that the tires just touch the ground and proceed to torque the wheel bolts to the factory specified amount in a couple of stages, please refer to the owner’s manual for the correct torque value. You can now lower the vehicle the rest of the way onto its own weight in preparation to pull it out of the shop.

The radiators are up next, on water cooled cars like ours they are key to keeping the engine and indeed you cool in the hot weather, most may not be aware that on 981 Boxster/Cayman the AC condensers are also located in the front left and right corner and are in fact the units you see looking into the bumper openings, the engine radiators are mounted directly behind them. Again, if you are not completely comfortable with undertaking this activity take it to a professional.

Let’s start off with saying that these are very delicate aluminum structures that do not take kindly to a rough touch or corrosive cleaners, I recommend a soft paint brush a regular car soap, even something like Simple Green (a strong alkali) can do damage if allowed to remain on too long or not be properly rinsed off. Should you choose to use any cleaners, only do so if you are completely sure they will not harm the aluminum, these are expensive units to replace, also be careful of splashing any cleaner onto painted surfaces, if you do, clean these immediately to prevent damage to the paint. To make access easier, I removed the entire front bumper assembly, this process differs for each model slightly and you should consult a shop manual if unsure. In my case a few dozen Torx screws, two electrical conPORSCHER — APRIL 2017

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nectors, the headlight washer hose and front inner fender liners had to be removed to remove the bumper cover, as much as this seems like a lot of work, the clear access to the front of the condensers and radiators it affords ensures a better and more thorough job overall.

I brushed the cores with soapy water and allowed to soak, carefully using a bamboo skewer to pick out the stubborn bugs and plant matter, even after barely a year on the road it was amazing how much stuff was in there! Another soap application and complete rinse and I was ready to carry on to the other two assemblies. While talking to the service folks at the dealership I was surprised to learn that one of the greatest threats to these systems was caused by material collected in the lower corners of each radiator/condenser, this allowed corrosion to take hold eventually causing a leak in the system. After a couple of hours I was happy to see that not only were those corners free of build -up but in fact the entire assembly was free of foreign material, now open to air flow and better able to do their job of condensing refrigerant or exchanging heat for the engine, I will be ready for that summer heat and indeed the run to Parade in Spokane!

I beckoned to my lovely assistant (Jacquie) to come out to the shop once again and help me carefully position and installed the front bumper cover, a couple of screws and I could carry on myself to button things back up. Of course just before lowering the car, a bit of detailer on the bumper to remove the inevitable finger prints (mostly mine) and once again the Boxster was ready to be lowered and rolled out into the sunshine.

See you out there!

Al Sherwood Member Thanks again to Al for his contribution and sharing his fun! - Steve

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H

New 911 GT3 ere are some pictures and facts about the new 911 GT3, recently launched at the Geneva Motor Show. Go to the Porsche web site to view the details www.porsche.com/canada/en/models/911/911-gt3

Engine

6 cylinders, 4.0 litres, Power 500 hp, Torque 339 lb ft.

Performance

PDK :Top speed 318 km/h, 0-100 km/h 3.4s, 0-160 km/h 7.3s Manual :- Top speed 320 km/h, 0-100 km/h 3.9s, 0-160 km/h 7.6s

Transmission

7 speed PDK or 6 speed manual, rear wheel drive

Body

Length 4.56m, width 1.85m, height 1.27m, wheelbase 2.45m, gross weight 1,777kg

Price

CA $ 163,300

PORSCHER — APRIL 2017

Photos courtesy Porsche.com Page 12

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VIR PCA Discounts f you have received a discount from anywhere that you believe would be applicable to others in the club, please let me know via email to my address on page 3 and we shall get it added to this list.

Where

Discount

Lordco

Up to 30%

Porsche Center Victoria Scoot City Tours

15%

Description Car parts etc. Mention Porsche Club of America. www.lordco.com Parts & labour www.porschevictoria.com

20% off 2017 Quote “VIRPCA” for 20% off 3 wheel scooter-car tours tours and the Hoover Dam Fat Tire Electric Bike tour during 2017. www.scootcitytours.com

Competition Corner Caption Contest !

Send us a caption that fits the photo below from the recent Porsche Customer Appreciation event taken at VIMC (Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit) with Tyson Johnson (Porsche Victoria) saying something to driver Brad Blaney (our Past President) with Michael Holan (our Secretary) in the passenger seat.

Send it to newsletter@virpca.org for a chance to win a Steve Anderson signed poster of great Porsche models from 1948 to 2016 (or maybe a new poster we have received!)

Also, keep those Porsche photos coming in please.

Steve Fairbrother, Newsletter Director

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WeatherTech Floor Mat Cleaner

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eatherTech Canada have been very generous supporting the newsletter with their adverts and recently providing great packages as part of our Black Rock prizes and auction items.

One of the items is their FloorLiner & FloorMat Cleaner & Protector. I have had trouble with my Porsche winter mats looking stained even after washing so I thought I would give this product a try and ordered it (not a freebie, so nothing owed to them here).

Tony Page, my WeatherTech Canada contact said:- “For many years, consumers called us and

asked how to clean the FloorLiners, we did not have an answer…. Frustrating.

We approached a company in the USA, and asked them to develop a cleaner for our material, after 6 months of testing they came up with a two-step product, we asked them to go back and come up with a 1 step product….

Six months later they convinced us that a two-step product in the only way to go, step one, cleans the product and step 2 puts the original finish back on the material…. It works very well and was designed specifically for our material specs.

It would probably work on any factory winter mat, it will not work on a carpet mat .”

My order arrived within a few days, S&H included. As shown in the picture above, there are 2 x 18oz bottles of cleaner and protector. The instructions are:Cleaner: Remove mat from vehicle and rinse with fresh water. Spray the Cleaner over entire area and for best results, scrub using a medium bristle brush. Rinse with fresh water and allow to dry.

Follow up with the Protector.

Protector: Before applying product, mat should be clean and dry. Spray lightly over entire mat and with a damp sponge spread product over entire mat. Allow to dry.

I put down a tarp in my garage for the work (as it was raining heavily outside), as you can see from the photo, but needn’t have worried as using the product was pretty painless. Note that the bucket and car wash mix was not needed.

I just brushed off the loose dirt, then hosed the mat with water and then sprayed on the cleaner and scrubbed using my wheel brush. It was quite foamy so maybe I had sprayed on too much cleaner. I then left it to dry after another hosing off with water.

Next, I sprayed on the Protector and worked it into the mat’s grooves with a sponge as directed. I left it again to dry. The results and a comparison of the before and after can be seen in the photos on the next page.

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I think you will agree that the end result is extremely good and it looks even better ‘in the flesh’.

There is no sticky feeling to the mat and there is also no squeaky noise from shoes sliding on them.

I have no problem recommending the WeatherTech FloorLiner & FloorMat Cleaner & Protector to members who want to clean and get back the original look of their floormats.

You can order it the from WeatherTech Canada website at www.weathertech.ca under the Car Care section.

Steve Fairbrother Newsletter Director

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Off The Island elow is an email from our neighbouring Pacific Northwest Region advising us of a couple of their events that may be of interest to our members.

Hello Fellow Zone 6 team members!

My name is Shay Hoelscher and I am the Driver ED chair for the Pacific Northwest Region.

I am writing to get your engagement for two very special events that we are holding this year in hopes that you and your fellow club members will join us!

I am thrilled to announce that we will be holding these two unique events for our club:1. Our very first annual women’s only DE- June 9th Pacific Raceways in Kent WA See the link below, which is the article that I wrote and published in our club magazine, feel free to share and get some of your members to come and join us! http://bit.ly/2mJDNdB 2. Zone 6 Oregon Raceway Park Weekend June 24th - 25th I have had the good fortune to drive many tracks, this is one of my favorites and am so excited to host our event at this track!

I have a special negotiated hotel price for a hotel in The Dalles, Oregon - Hotel Name: Cousins Country Inn-special rate of US $99 per night. You have to call to get this rate: 1 800 848 9378 Special rate code is “PCA-PNWR”. Go here to sign up for this event…. https://www.motorsportreg.com/index.cfm/event/event.dashboard/uidEvent/DC7160B2-E5FA76BA-36A94657DA3A05EC/uidMember/2659CB29-9190-DA7D-4E494CEAD76894AC Please feel free to reach out, email or call me at the number below. I hope to meet each and every one of you!

Shay Hoelscher Driver Education Chair Porsche Club of America Pacific Northwest Region Direct: 1 206 518 3874 drivered@PNWR.org

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Vancouver Island Helicopter Event

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ust before this issue ‘went to press’, Vancouver Island Helicopters Execujet (VIH) hosted VIRPCA members on Sunday March 26th at their FBO facility close to Victoria International Airport.

VIH Aviation Group encompasses VIH Helicopters, Aerospace, Cougar Helicopters, and YYJ FBO Services. The FBO facility provides the VIP entrance for the airport, so all the celebrities use it (just

like the PCA members! ). In fact, we had to wait for a Canadian military official to land and depart by car before we could use the FBO apron for our group photo.

The VIH premises are what one would expect for a company providing executive travel in both fixed wing aircraft and helicopters. If you ever want to splash out and fly privately to say… Hawaii, using VIH would be the best way as they have some awesome aircraft :- Challenger 604, Cessna Citation Ultra and the Cessna Caravan Amphibian. Contact Didier Moinier for further information!

Didier had offered rides in a helicopter and a floatplane, but the floatplane was under service so rides were only possible in the Bell Jet Ranger III. The ride took members in a PORSCHER — APRIL 2017

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wide circle from the airport down the east coast of the Peninsula and then west over to the Butchart Gardens and back to the airport again, a 10 minute ride. I found it was amazing to lean out into the concave window from the rear seat which provided the opportunity to look down and all around as if you were sitting just outside of the window (see picture).

For helicopter fans, the next event will be the RotoMaxx tour in October. Didier hopes that there will be an engine on the testbed this time to see and hear!

Thank you to VIH— Didier Moiner and Tom Vandall for hosting VIRPCA again.

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Detailing—Introduction At the recent PCA Presidents’ Meeting in Calgary, our President, Martin Mansfield, met with Bill Elwell who is President of the Olympic Peninsula Region in Washington. Bill said he was happy to share his popular Technical and Detailing articles with us, so here is the first on detailing.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Bill Elwell. I run the detailing shop at MAXRPM Motorsports in Bremerton, WA. MAXRPM does tuning and repairs on European cars. The shop recently added detailing services to their offering and that’s where I come in.

I started writing a series of detailing articles for my local Porsche Club newsletter. Now, your club newsletter had decided to use my content as well.

Let’s get started. Let me explain what detailing is and outline how I think about the process of keeping my cars clean. We’ll dig deeper in future articles from there.

If you want a textbook definition, detailing is the process of cleaning and finishing the interior, engine compartment, exterior, and in some cases the trunk of an automobile. But I can hear you boat owners crying foul already. OK, ok, motorcycles, boats, airplanes, and RV’s get detailed too. The process and products used for each of those types of vehicles are subtly different from those used for cars. I’ve worked on a boat and an airplane before. I even own a Harley. But my expertise is with cars and that’s where I’ll focus my attention.

If you only take one thing away from my detailing articles, I hope that you adopt a new way of thinking about the paint on your car. Whenever you think about how clean your car is, or isn’t, I want you to think about how you can protect that beautiful layer of paint on your car.

The paint on your car is a very thin layer of material. For these articles I’m going to talk about paint thickness in mils. A mil is a thousandth of an inch (0.001”). Yes, I’m from the US and publications outside the US will report paint thickness in metric using microns (a millionth of a meter). But I’m going to stick with mils and I hope you’ll excuse me for not using metric measurements. To put a mil in perspective, a human hair is typically between 1.0 and 1.5 mils thick. A piece of regular printer/ copier paper is about 3 mils thick. Paint on a new car can be between 3 and 8 mils thick. Older cars have thicker paint. A car that has been repainted can have as much as 14 mils of paint or more. My point is really simple. We are all trying to care for a layer of paint that is about as thick as 2 or 3 sheets of paper stacked together. The story gets scarier when I tell you that the layer we care most about is the top or clear coat layer which is only about 1 sheet of paper thick. I’ll save all that for another article when I break down the layers of paint.

I realize that most of you won’t keep your cars as clean and defect free as I try to keep my Porsches.

But I want to do everything in my power to teach you how to protect that layer of clear coat so that a detailer like me doesn’t have to unnecessarily buff off some portion of that clear coat to remove a stain or scratch.

So here’s your homework. I want you to start thinking about the following items as they apply to your car: How clean do you want to keep your car? Is gross ok? At the other extreme, maybe you want to maintain a nearly defect free finish all the time. Maybe you just want to keep your car respectably clean most of the time.

Where do you store your car? This is a big deal. Cars stored outdoors will take a beating from pine/fir needles, tree sap, bird poop, and worst of all, spring tree pollen just to name a few PORSCHER — APRIL 2017

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threats. All of this stuff will damage the clear coat if it isn’t promptly removed. For example, there’s a spot on the top of my Prius (which is kept outdoors) where some bird poop sat for a few days and it ate through both the clear coat and the paint layer. What did that bird have for breakfast? The plastic rear spoiler on the Prius has been damaged beyond repair by pollen eating into the finish.

How often do you drive your car? In the process of driving your car, you’ll get road debris splashed up on the lower part of your car. You’ll collect stone chips on the forward facing surfaces. The rear end of every Porsche I know is a magnet for fine dirt kicked up in the wake of the car which sticks to its butt end.

How are you going to clean your car and how often? Will you be washing your own car? Will you be taking the car to a car wash? Yes, I said it, “car wash”. I’m going to present an idea about car washes that will make most car buffs cry. Or will you bring your car to someone like me to care for it?

Let me walk you through this thought process with my vehicles. The goal of all this is to create a care plan for the car much like a maintenance schedule.

My wife and I own a Prius, a Ford pickup, and 3 Porsches. When I think about keeping all these vehicles clean, I start by dividing the list in two groups.

Group 1 is the daily driver group. The Prius and the pickup are driven regularly and kept outdoors uncovered. My goal is to keep these cars clean enough that the accumulation of dirt doesn’t damage the paint. I also don’t want my wife, Maryann, to get her clothes dirty when she drives the Prius.

You can see from my earlier description of the Prius damage that I’ve been unsuccessful to date. I like to wash my own cars, but for these two cars, in a pinch, I’ll take them to a car wash. They may go a few months between washes with touch-ups here and there to remove the crap nature drops on them.

My plan to protect the paint is to use a coat of synthetic wax (lasts longer than a natural wax) roughly once a year with spray wax refreshes as often as practical. A spray coating or one of the new paint coatings could even be justified. I’m about to try a paint coating on our Prius. We’ll cover this in more detail later. The bottom line is that even though these cars will be a bit dirty most of the time, the primary goal is to prevent damage to the paint by keeping a protective coating between the paint and the dirt.

Group 2 is the garage queen group. The 3 Porsches I own might see a couple thousand miles a year. I do my best to keep them in covered storage year round. My wife and I are embarrassed to take one of our Porsches to an event even a tiny bit dirty.

For this group I plan to wash each car after every time we use it or at worst every other use. Washing a car that is already fairly clean is MUCH easier than cleaning a dirty car, so the frequent washings aren’t tragically difficult for these cars. Even if the wax is long gone, a clean car with welldressed tires and trim looks really good. Because these cars are stored inside, I’ll wax them once or twice a year with whatever wax is handy. Every other month, when I wash the car, I use a spray wax when I’m drying the car to refresh the wax. The result is a surprisingly small amount of effort to keep 3 cars constantly in near show condition.

I recently tried CarPro HydrO2 on my 911. WOW!!! HydrO2 is a spray-on rinse-off coating similar to ceramic coatings that have been on the market for a while. I’ll cover all this stuff in more detail in a later issue but I wanted to point out that spray coatings are a really easy way to protect your paint, ease the washing process, and keep your car looking really nice. Spray coatings will now be part of the car of all 3 of my Porsches.

All that talk about waxes and coatings will be covered in depth a few issues from now. Next time you hear from me, we’ll be talking about cleaning our wheels.

Thanks for reading and I welcome questions and suggestions for future articles. You can contact me at billelwell@hotmail.com.

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“Around the Bend” April 9 8am-Noon Info here

Breakfast ‘n’ Drive Enjoy the $5 breakfast special at Quality Foods restaurant.

Then drive to East Sooke and back.

Meet at Quality Foods Eagle Creek, 27 Helmcken Rd, Victoria

Contact: Brad Blaney

April 11 5.30 / 6pm Info here

Executive Monthly Meeting—April Nanaimo, location—see website, 5.30pm dinner, 6.30pm meeting.

Members are welcome, please advise Michael for numbers

Contact: Michael Holan

April 13 5.30pm Info here

European Speciality Automotive, 1702 Northfield Rd, Nanaimo.

Ready your Porsche for spring. For the beginner, intermediate and the advanced Porsche enthusiast. Food and beverage will be supplied. Some spots still available

Tech Night

Contact: Dean Aikenhead

May 6—7 Info here

Quadra Island Jaunt + Wine Tasting Saturday: Campbell River to Quadra Island, Heriot Bay Inn lunch, Provincial Park, Rebecca Spit Provincial Park, Southend Farm Winery and dinner at Tsa Kwa Luten. Optional Sunday: Choose Whale/ Wildlife tour, golf etc. Accommodation limit is 20 people.

See website for more details (click link on left)

Contact: Wendy Woodley

May 10 5.30 / 6pm

Executive Monthly Meeting—May Quality Foods Boardroom, Eagle Creek Village, Victoria 5.30pm dinner, 6.30pm meeting.

Members are welcome, please advise Michael for numbers

Contact: Michael Holan

May 25-28 Info here

Black Rock—Charity Event Black Rock Oceanfront Resort , 596 Marine Dr, Ucluelet, V0R 3A0 $175 per person. This event raises money for two charities: Cops For Cancer “Tour de Rock” & Ucluelet Volunteer Fire Brigade.

Contact: BR Committee

June 10 10am-3pm Info here

Porsches For Pets A towel drive & fund raiser for the Comox Valley S.P.C.A. Last year we raised $760, goal this year $911. Members and the public are invited to bring clean & gently used towels and donation boxes are available for cash donations. Around 11:30 we will enjoy a drive in the local area, followed by lunch.

Contact: Wendy Woodley

July 9-15 Info here

PCA Parade — Spokane Get registered & book ASAP, see the advert in this issue.

Contact: Didier Moinier

Aug 5/6

Gold River Run

Martin

September 10

Membership Lunch

John

September 17

Port Renfrew Loop

Michael

October 7/8

Wine Drive

Dean

October 15

Autocross / Chili Challenge

Conrad / Brad

October 29

RotorMaxx Tour

Didier

November 4/5

Year End Gathering

Martin

Nov 18/19

Annual General Meeting

Brad

Check our website for latest event details www.virpca.org/virevents PORSCHER — APRIL 2017

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Classifieds Looking for something for your Porsche?

Have something Porsche related to sell?

1971 911T Dave Whiteway in Errington is restoring his 1971 911T and would love to talk to anyone who has a similar car and maybe done some work on it.

Contact Dave 250 248 9439

Contact Steve at newsletter@virpca.org

VIR Goodie Store New Goodies!

Jackets Here are some pics of the new jackets being worked on!

Should be available here soon

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