Accolades are due to Loren at Systems Consulting, Manhattan Beach, CA

[yazhound]

Dear Fellow Pelicans,

A sense of community is provided by Wayne and this site that many of us spend far too many hours on. So, he must be thanked for what he has created. And all jokes about Porsche owners aside, the spirit of willingness to lend a hand remains strong within this community, as proven by my recent experiences when my 911 died. All who have helped - and there have been more than a few, deserve much thanks!

This brings me to single out two gentlemen in particular who have gone above and beyond in their desire to lend a hand. And I must say - successfully lend a hand! Without the assistance of both Doyle Sheppard (here in Macon, GA), and Loren owner of Systems Consulting, I would have had to have my 911 towed to a repair shop in order to get her back on the road. I can only guess how much time and money would have been involved, not to mention potential towing damages.

Doyle is rare fellow indeed, he is most generous in lending his knowledge, his time, and his resources with more enthusiasm and energy than you can imagine. And I can assure you his generous spirit extends to all his friends and really restores ones faith that "community" has not been lost in the 21st century. While this may sound over the top, it comes with much reflection. Thanks Doyle Sheppard! I owe you my friend!

And Loren too went above and beyond. While it is true, he is a business man, his approach exceeds the expectations one normally has about the customer relationship.
He not only worked very quickly to repair and return my DME, he also answered and returned calls and emails thoughout the weekend hours. How many businessman do that in this day and age?! And as if that was not enough, Loren sourced a part for me that I needed, and he did this quickly and of his own accord. He did not ask for renumeration, and instead only asked to be updated on our progress. I am compelled to expressed my great appreciation for his fine work, and his desire to help. While I eventually could have sourced the needed connector, it would have taken longer as I was compelled to order via the Porsched dealers and I can say the one I initially contacted seemed at a loss. Loren was not at a loss and while he did not have the part he knew exactly what was needed - a barrel connector, found it, and sent it to me. His help was given voluntarily and most generously; he just wanted to assist in getting my car up and running again. And I have to say his willingness to help was refreshing. Loren if you read this I am indebted to you. Thank you.

(I know there are those folks here that maintain an on-going animousity to Loren. I ask that negative comments be held in abeyance for some other time. This thread is not the place for that. In fact I ponder how many with negative opinions have actually had real life dealing with Loren? Mine have only be superb!)

For those in our area - Middle Georgia, Mr. James Roberts must also be given a thanks and a shout out! James owns and runs Roberts Automotive in Bolingbroke GA. He invited me over to scoure his used parts bin to find what I needed. While the elusive part was not to be found, he too was generous with his resources and must be thanked. Again, James volunteered and was not asked.

I would also like to thank Dennis, here on Pelican, and Bill Verberg for lending assistance.

I apoligize for being at bit windy here, but thanks were owed. And more than that I felt it necessary to shed light on the very real community that exists out there and in many ways given the spark by this forum. While much is done on line and from afar, for me it has become very real, and hands on. I suspect it is much the same for many here.

Cheers to all! yazhound





Systems Consulting...Automotive Electronics

[dshepp806]

Yaz,..thanks for your kind words. Of course, after Saturday's work session, I can hardly move as soreness has greatly set in. Still, a great work session, especially the music discussion parts! What should have been 1- 1 1/2 hour job ends up being 5-6 hours. I should tell everyone here where this work session took us (and thankfully so). After soldering the new receptacle pin and reassembling the DME relay socket,..then ensuring the repaired DME was installed, we hit the ignition and she immediately fired up,...idle was very stable...we both swapped sheeit-eating grins,..then I asked him to open up the "business end" of the car, as I wanted to have a look. 10-15 seconds after he opened the engine hood, I smelled gas, and in a bad way. Asked him to shut her off quickly and what I found shocked me. Apparently, the previous owner had repaired the fuel lines (T-hoses) by using a crimp style hose clamp. EGAD! Didn't take long to see here pissing gas where it tied into the left side fuel rail,..right on to the intake manifold. The connection there had loosened. I looked through the rest of the fuel connections and found no more leaks but DID find more of these hose clamp/crimps on the fuel lines. I rummaged through my connections and found a fuel injector clamp. I recrimped all existing connectors (especially the bad one) and added this one to the one that was leaking. All dry now,..HOWEVER: I told YAZ he had a very dangerous situation in there and it needs fixing right away or he stands a chance of one of those style connectors letting go and quickly starting a fire. My advice was to not drive her until this is fixed PROPERLY. Man-o-man,..he was sitting on a time bomb, without question.

We looked at many other things and mentally began a short list of things to get done. Being that my car is in for repaint and interior restoration (+3 months of 911 abstinence), it was so nice to get to work on one again. I know that I'll drive his arse bonkers about getting every little thing fixed, but it comes with the turf.

I replaced my ('89) fuel lines while I had my engine out,..and I kept my original lines. I've contacted Len and am considering sending my old ones off for Len's magic and handing them over to YAZ (I assume they fit) for installation into his '88. In fact, I'll probably ship them out tomorrow.

You are SO right about this PP community,..there's just nothing else like it out there. I've been so thankful to have crossed paths with so many great people here who have helped me out. There's always a few dicks out there (you know who you are) and as long as those "types" keep their top buttons buttoned, their foreskin won't show. There's an extremely short list of these types who I would love to meet face to face...aside, most everyone (else) is so gracious with their time and expertise,..and for that, I'm grateful.

I'm not even gonna' get into any pissing contest regarding Loren, and can only speak to my first hand experiences as a client. I'm with you, Yaz, in avoiding any character attacks when it comes to getting the work done. He's been nothing but supportive to me (as we've experienced),..to each his own.

Not windy, at all.

Kudos to those out there who are pure in heart when it comes to looking out for your fellow P-car owners. Great minds dwell here.

YAZ: we've (still) much work to do,..and so we shall.

BEST to everyone,

Doyle

[dshepp806]

I'll be sure to post some pics of those lines when I get off from today...scary sheet, for sure.

BEST!

Doyle

[dshepp806]

Wanna' see something scary? Just look at this:

We added a second one (clamp) so that we could ensure no leaks while testing the car for proper cranking and running. I just can't believe someone would make this kind of repair. Very dangerous.

We shall soon remedy this "trap",.....we've some great tickets to go see Joe Bonamassa in November (maybe even meet him). I sure would rather see Joe "on fire" than YAZ's car on fire!

BEST!

Doyle

[steely]

yazhound - glad it all worked out - and am very glad you got some expert advice regarding the fuel lines - my number one major concern among others.