This true story is about the breakdown and subsequent repair of my PORSCHE.

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. -- John Lennon

Hey, I set out for a holiday, a vacation, and something else happened. That's the way life is, it can be an adventure and take interesting tangents at every twist and turn. This story is about the technical aspects of repairing a Porsche engine, but more, it's the diary of an adventure -- one that's still unfolding. If you happen to read between the lines of this diary you might find a bit more than a documentary.

Instead of a disastrous trip, this trek turned into a wonderful experience. I've met many new and interesting people, I've learned a lot and I've went places and done things I never would've done otherwise.

I suppose you've got to make the most of whatever situation you find yourself in. Whatever careful plans you make, one single event can change everything. I had set out for a destination, but found the journey much more meaningful -- the journey's life, the destination's just a milestone. And guess what -- when the journey's over, you just may find that the destination's not where you wanted to be anyway.

This particular journey took over two years to complete, and I'm pleased to say that, after several twists, turns and misfortunes; it has been successfully completed.

Now for the story....

It's better to burn out than it is to rust. -- Neil Young

My Porsche is a 911SC targa. Late summer of '98 had me motoring west on I-40, destination: Livermore California. I was headed for a friend, Cap'n Jake and his boat, the Have a Go. (Side note: I did eventually make it to the Have a Go!!) As I set out early that fateful morning from Albuquerque, New Mexico, little did I know that my trip would be in peril as the car wouldn't make it to the California border. Of course, I continued my vacation. I rented a Chevy while the Porsche waited patiently in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Thanks to the help and assistance of some friendly people in Lake Havasu, my car had a safe haven while I continued on.

I would like to thank Jeff at Busy Bee Towing, Sara at Paradise Auto Rental, and Al at Lake Havasu Foreign Car Service. If any of you are reading this, thanks for all of your help. I'll be back.....

These first two shots show the Porsche shortly after it quit. The location is I-40, about 12 miles east of the California border. My phone wasn't getting any signal in the middle of the desert, so I had to wait until some policemen stopped. Good thing I had water in the 95 degree heat.

I still remember the song that was playing on the cassette player as the car rolled to a stop. It was Dylan's Just Like a Woman. I'll let the reader decide what that means.

When the car quit, it was as if someone just reached over and turned off the key. There was no warning or anything. I had been driving for about 10 hours or so through the desert. My speed varied between 75 mph and 100 mph most of the day. The oil temperature was running about 220 or so. Looking at the engine afterwards provided no information. At first I thought it was an ignition problem.

Once the police came by and called a flat bed tow truck for me, I was back in business. The truck driver called around for me and found a mechanic who "works on these foreign things."

Luckily, Lake Havasu City really had an auto mechanic who was familiar with Porsche. As he started to diagnose the problem he got an increasingly puzzled look about him. "Hmmm, has fuel, has spark -- what could be wrong," he pondered. He decides to do a compression test and tries to remove the #4 sparkplug -- it won't budge. He finally gets the plug out with a 36" breaker bar!!! The plug was completely mangled on the business end! It looked like something was amiss within cylinder number four.

After that gruesome discovery, I decided to leave the car there and continue my vacation so I could think. Think about nothing in particular......

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