December 2007 - PCA - Orange Coast Region

Rice’s Ramblings
Some Unfi nished
Business
By Lee Rice
Reviewing some of my recent
articles, I have become aware of
too much unfi nished business. Often
when I write, I have so much to write it
doesn’t get printed. Not enough room
and too much to say! So, here are a few
random ramblings in order to help “fi nish
business” for the year...hope you have a
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Audio Receivers: In the last few years I
have bought and installed three “Porsche
(BECKER) CDR 210” AM-FM-CD units
from SW Stereo Specialists (1-800-270-
2378). Stephen of SW Stereo was most
helpful in fi nding exactly what I needed
for my 911. I had shopped and studied
and looked in a lot of catalogs trying to
fi nd a simple, plain, easy-to-use receiver.
I had purchased two units and returned
both of them. Bluntly, I told Stephen that I
was tired of trying out radios that required
pencil-point fi ngers to select their tiny
buttons, have dim display screens so
that I was unable to see what was shown
in daylight, and they were too darn small
to read at night without glasses on! I
needed a receiver like our older aircraft
radios: black facing, white lettering, with
large buttons and switches. Something
German! Something logical that you
can actually use while driving a swift
Porsche! Three years later, my Porsche
Becker SDR 210 is working perfectly and
so are the three other units I installed in
customer Porsches.
Fire Extinguishers: I have carried a
dry chemical Fire Extinguisher in all
my cars since I started driving. My
911 used to have the common dry
powder fi re extinguisher, but in the last
three years I was given a Haylon Fire
Extinguisher. I only had to use one of my
car extinguishers once. Thankfully, it was
for another car on fi re early one morning
on the way to work. One thing to check
for on your Porsche’s Fire Extinguisher,
(you DO have one don’t you?) is that the
pressure charge is fully charged. Check
them at least twice a year.
CIS Fuel Injection: From my last report
I can only add that some parts and
suppliers of some parts for CIS are
disappearing. Another thing to consider
as more “computerized” cars are on
the road—fewer of the specialists who
serviced the older systems are around. If
you have a nice 911, 944, 928 or 930, you
might be wise to keep in mind who has
these parts available. Be very cautious
of bargains found online.
I had to buy a used CIS (Control Pressure
Regulator) from Einmalig, in Huntington
Beach, (one of our advertisers) a while
ago as no one had a new one. Thankfully,
Einmalig lets you try the unit and return if
it doesn’t work. (Mine worked fi ne). New
prices are terrible, used prices not much
better, but trying to find a part anywhere
is getting more diffi cult all the time. The
911 is going to be around for many, many,
years to come and we old-timers know
what lack-of-parts is all about. Now there
are suppliers making new parts when
Porsche, in its strange wisdom, does not
make them anymore. I had a man tell
me he bought a well-used 911SC solely
for the parts in it! I hope this doesn’t
become commonplace as 911SCs are
still fantastic Porsches to drive!
Christmas Ideas!
Tire Pressure Gauge. There are plenty
of them on the market. Dial display with
nice analog scales, digital of all sorts.
There is one that you set to a desired
pressure and it beeps when you’ve
fi lled your tire to the preset pressure.
Whatever you prefer, checking your tires
is the simplest and safest things you can
do to maintain your Porsche.
“The Essential Companion” series
by Adrian Streather. One that I have
been using a lot this year is the Porsche
993 book. This is a soft-bound, 637-
page, fully photographed book with only
a few drawings. “The 993 Companion”
starts out with factory assembly line
photographs and goes into the history
of each model—even detailed technical
things found on the extremely rare 993
3.8RS and 993 GT-2. If you know what a
“DMF” is (Dual-Mass Flywheel), do you
know what “SMF” is? Or what a “ZMS”
is? It is trick and it is expensive! (So it
must be interesting). How about what the
OPTION CODES are on your 993? Or
what are the FAULT CODES for Tiptronic?
Or ABS? Or the infamous OBDII Codes?
It is all there. Even with all of my factory
Service Information Manuals and Werk
Shop Manuals, I’ve found information in
Streather’s books that I can’t fi nd in the
factory books! Available at most good
book stores or online for around $100. A
996 version is in works now!
…And for the “Detailer” in your
family!
Dusters. The most well known is “the
California Duster.” These or any number
of similar dusters are found at any auto
DECEMBER 2007 25