I have subsequently encountered an issue with my steering wheel setup, however. When I set out for Seattle last summer, the steering column started to make a groaning/creaking noise when turned wheel. I assumed this to be the steering column bearing and made a note to fix this on my return. As the miles passed, the groaning noise got worse. By the time I was in Seattle, the groaning noise had turned into an alarming crunching/crackling sound coming from within the column.
Driving back downtown from a day spent walking around Discovery Park, I pulled into a gas station to fill up. I was momentarily distracted by the view through an open shop door across the street. Vintage dragsters and road racers could be seen, and Mrs. Erock mentioned that there had been numerous old Porsches parked at the curb down the side street. So we left the gas station and did a slow drive by. As we passed, I noted that one side of the shop housed an impressive museum and the other a working repair shop, with cars in the air being serviced. On the street, an impressive array of new and vintage 911s, including a gorgeous silver mid-year Targa. Hmm, worth checking out, I thought.
As I pulled a slow U-turn to head back, the horn connection in my column finally let loose with an astonishing CRUNCH, leaving my horn fully on and shrieking. I killed the ignition and coasted up to the front doors of Gerber Motorsport blasting my horn like a maniac – an embarrassing entrance, to say the least. I dove out of the 911 like a shot and disconnected the battery immediately and sheepishly walked in the shop doors to apologize. One of the techs, obviously amused, said “you sure got that disconnected fast – and here I was going to let you flail around helplessly! Would have made for a good laugh,” or something like that.
He was quite nice, lending me some tools to pull the column and hub apart to diagnose the issue, under his supervision. Needless to say, I was pretty sheepish (but appreciative). Sadly, the best solution I could come up with was to pull the horn relay and carry on. The chap at Gerber happened to have a replacement horn ring on his desk that he offered to sell me, but I declined. I figured the same issue would present itself. On discussion with good buddy, we’ve determined the best bet is to fabricate a more robust horn ring. And that might be the subject of a future post.
Anyway, I left Gerber with my tail between my legs and went on my way. It was only later, upon doing some research over a pint, that I learned that Gerber’s principal, Walter Gerber, was quite an accomplished race team manager, having campaigned a Porsche 962 in the IMSA series, among other things. I will have to stop in again sometime in my travels I suppose . . .
Throwback Thursday: Bruce Leven