Each day of Power Tour has an organized car show at some huge venue. Somewhere between 3000-5000 cars. The Late Haulers carve out a small area of the show and set up tents and coolers, the rest of the afternoon is spent drinking beer and checking out cars.
Click to view attachmentAfter the event everybody heads to the hotel and relaxes before dinner.
Click to view attachmentAfter dinner and maybe a bar, back to the parking deck for more beer and...
Click to view attachmentIt took a while to get the PorSTI dialed in for burnouts. The first night I made a load of smoke but it was a one wheel peal. The rubber pattern was pretty cool because the exhaust was pushing it out to the side...
Click to view attachment Over the next day or so I figured out that if I started the burnout in second while rolling both wheels would spin. We were getting ready to leave on the second morning and I decided to try a second gear burnout stationary from my parking spot to inspire the group to get on the road. Gave it a little throttle, let the clutch out and kerplowee...the car lunged, made some horrible noises and stalled. Went to put it in neural and found the shifter cocked way over to the side. Got out and surveyed the damage. Turned out both of the front engine mounts pulled out the rubber and then engine was held up in the front by the shift rod. Moments after the failure jacks, and tools started showing up.
Click to view attachmentIn 10 minutes the first mount was removed and the guys were trying to squeeze it back together. It took a trip to a local shop where they let me in back to press the parts back together and 1.5 hours later the car was back together with some big washers installed above the mounts to keep the failure from occurring again. Had to do a quick test burnout to make sure that it would hold together for the long trip to the next venue. It is too bad that this picture was not zoomed out a bit further because my Father was standing there with a look of disgust on his face that I was abusing the car again
Click to view attachmentEach day the trip from the hotel to the next venue was filled with rolling races on the open road, traffic jams through small towns and the inevitable breakdown. After the motor mount incident the PorSTI had zero problems and proved it to be the second fastest car of the group, only the 600+rwhp turbocharged Vette was faster. The PoSTI flat out hauls. 5th gear pulls feel as strong as 3rd, until better judgement steps in and shuts it down.
Anyways, this goes on day after day and besides the seat needing some additional padding the car is great to drive. The cruise control is a real plus on the long open sections.
Finally after much practice I was able to put down a really pro burnout. The picture only shows the end after I had been slow rolling for about 50 feet and could no longer see where I was going so I did a beautifully slow doughnut. Random strangers were coming over the rest of the night and even the next morning to say how great a burnout it was and to talk about the car. Apparently there is video of it that my buddy took but I don't have it yet. Looks like a "9"
Click to view attachmentOn the drive to the last venue one of the guys overextended is aftermarket clutch slave cylinder. The shop we rolled to a stop at did not have the correct type of lift to pull the trans so he took us to another local shop that just happened to be the Ring Brothers. They gave us full access to the entire shop and when they departed for the event, left two of the builders back to help us get the car fixed. They even had the exact slave cylinder we needed that they installed but never used on some other project and gave it to us. Buddies car going up on the lift with their Pantera 'ADRNLN' and this years SEMA car in the background.
Click to view attachmentWhile we were working on the car a few Hot Rod magazine people showed up to interview the Ring Brothers and take pictures of the shop. They noticed what we were doing and said that if we got it together and to the show in time, they would set up a photo shoot. It is amazing what can be accomplished with a dozen gear heads working together. We made it to the show and got our photo shoot.
Click to view attachmentThe picture did not make the magazine but we did get invited to the Hot Rod hospitality bus for an afternoon of free booze and got to hang out with the Hot Rod magazine people. (that is David Freiburger on the left).
Click to view attachmentThey even had me bring the PorSTI over and park it in the hospitality area!
Click to view attachment What a great ending to a great trip.
Cheers,
Scott