1972 ST Clone

[jb]

You are very brave to venture out in that monster in the wet
I look forward to seeing you

[sladey]

Thanks Kirk - what a lovely write-up - feel like we were there with you and can relate to all the mixed emotions and constant swearing.

Thank you fir your kind words. Hopefully see you tomorrow at C&M?

I would have loved to have come but I’m in France with the family

[BILLY BEAN]

Thanks Kirk - what a lovely write-up - feel like we were there with you and can relate to all the mixed emotions and constant swearing.

Thank you fir your kind words. Hopefully see you tomorrow at C&M?

I would have loved to have come but I’m in France with the family

Enjoy your holiday.
Kirk.

[BILLY BEAN]

Long time no post.
Hardly use the car after August 2025. Indeed from I think September no use at all. Started the ST up a couple of weeks ago for a short trip around the potholes. The car has never like starting from cold. Hot starts are no problem at all. On the first journey out I found myself enjoying the power it has and questioned why I was contemplating selling it. Got back home and could not open the front lid to attach the CTek. At this point there was a bit of swearing. No actually a lot of swearing and now selling seemed a great idea. Several attempts to open up but on pulling the release the lid would only come up a little and no way was I going to get it open. Visions of cutting holes in the front lid
( can't get myself to call it a bonnet) to get at the release mechanism. These thoughts are now the old bloke's domain. Could things get worse ? Of course they can. Creeping pessimism? Actually more like galloping nihilism. Emergency call to Gary Cook of GDC and took the car to him the next day. Mr Magic Hands had the thing open in a trice. Relief. Which reminded me I had just driven for an hour and nature needed to be attended to. On the journey back home, despite the delays from cross rail and HS2 road works, I was a happy bunny. OK happy-ish. Must not get emotionally carried away.
To be continued. Must cook dinner.
Fully intended to complete my scribbling after dinner. However, drinking two large glasses of 13.5 alcoholic content wine hit the spot rendering any further thought, other than languishing on the sofa, out of the question. The following day being bright and sunny was ideal for a drive out .......
or gardening. Fatal mistake. Got bitten by a Blandford fly. A 2 to 3 mm long black fly that never sees flight above 500mm above the ground. This little insect is distributed through the UK but particularly prevelant in Oxfordshire where I live. Tiny bite on my calf. Lower leg ballooned up to twice it's usual skinny size. Red itchy, hot and painful. Still is despite lashings of Hydrocortisone. BEWARE BLANDFORD FLY.
Took the disassembled seat runners from the 911S to get clear zinc plated. Difficult to find anyone close by to do the job quickly. Ended up going to Hounslow some 58 miles away. The things we do for our cars. Bonkers.
The ST has a niggle always has had it. A "chuffing" sound on a neutral throttle between 2000 and 2500 RPM. Throttle off or throttle on and it disappears. Or on the neutral throttle and engine under load like up a small incline and it disappears. My OCD tells me to get things right even though the "issue" is a minor irritation rather than a full blow problem. Outright performance of the car is not impacted. Indeed I would suggest it is as least as quick as the 993 I used to own. Maybe even quicker.? The MFI does run rich particularly at lower RPM. This was previously corrected by leaning off the slow running rack at my insistence and against advice. Didn't impact performance or the "chuffing". Presented the " chuffing" issue to three well respected early 911 gurus. Three different analysis of what is the cause. Surprised I didn't get four or five "causes" from the three. Now what to do? Whoever is correct or maybe no one is correct this could cost. Let's say I take one and they spend hours on the job but still no resolution? Service is not free so a cost to not sort things. Dilemma. The engine was running rich above lower RPM and the concern is washing the bores with excess fuel. So starting point is the MFI pump. I see a Rabbit hole looming.
Rush of blood to the head. Washed the car. Most uncharacteristic of me. Two bucket method. One with soapy water infused with Ecover washing up liquid and a handy J cloth and the other bucket used to chuck clean water over the car to remove the suds. For the first time in my life I found car washing quite therapeutic. I might consider doing it again sometime. But not for a while. SWMBO asked why was I washing the car? I told her I was contemplating selling it and the 911S. Fully expected a round of applause as she hates both cars and has never been in either of them. A car for my wife is an 'appliance' like a washing machine or dishwasher. Hence her Audi something or other. Surprise when she said "Why don't you keep one". Bloody hell. I don't remember imbibing an illegal substance today. Most uncharacteristic of SWMBO. Then she reverted to type and admonished me for washing the car in "good" clothes. I reminder her that as she is a clothes snob I should not be seen at the front of the house wearing my Sainsburys TU clobber. What would the neighbours think?

[BILLY BEAN]

Although I have used the ST a fair bit this year I have refrained from writing as I have spent time on something else. Since moving to Woodstock and extending and refurbishing the ugliest house in our small cul de sac , I have rediscovered gardening. Sad. Yes it's an old person's thing I know but it is a proper designed from scratch garden venture. Proper hard landscaping, a long pond, pergola etc. Planting scheme rather than sticking plants in willy nilly. Finally planted out in February 2025 and this year flourishing. It could be garden love as SWMBO admonished me for spending time looking at the garden. Am I turning into Alan Tichmarsh? OK he is shorter than me but you get the idea? So somewhat pathetically 911s have to play second fiddle to plants and trees. I used to get concerned about small maladies with the cars and the bigger issues with the ST early after building it. Now I am constantly conerned with plant health, irrigation, weed suppressionl by natural means, wild life, f-ing Wood Pigeons and a myriad of other stuff. And Wood Pigeons. Especially those little sods and their pre disposition to crapping on everything. And Cars? What cars? The garden has I think helped promote the idea of selling both 911s. I can be out in the fresh air rather than in a metsl container doind 60mph and burning fuel. Bad for the environment. Gardening Good. On that particular subject of selling cars SWMBO has taken a keen interest even finding places I might advertise them for sale. This new found interest in 911s is a thing to behold as she has never stepped foot or bum in either cars. Usually, they are pronounced loud and smelly old cars and dismissed as my folly. The garage they are kept in is pretty well sealed so it does pong of oil, petrol and old car. Wonderful. Reminds me of my youth. SWMBO is convinced that the aroma can penetrate a 13" brick wall that seperates the garage from the house. I told hrr that if it does then it's the only 'penetration' that goes on in the house. She looked at me blankly. The double entendre and humour bypass was there in all of that totally blank demeanor. No surprise. I have lived with it since 1973 no wonder I sought solace in cars. Fortunately, both my daughters share my sense of the bizarre and anything remotely like toilet humour. Much to the dismay of SWMBO. Of course I choose my friends wisely to accord with my sense of the ridiculous childosh humour.
But I am digressing as I am prone to do as I have gotten older. Which is congruent with the need to visit the toilet for a leak more frequently these days. I wonder if the two are linked? E=Mc2 by any chance?
Anyway it was Sunday and I had a date with some hairy arsed blokes at Classics at the Clubhouse Air Cooled edition. It's on a golf course and as close as I ever get to holes. I think this is my fifth visit and it has grown in popularity but so far retains its laid back air with minimal commercialisation. Nice to see that someone has taken over the production of the Martin & Walker 904GTS. But the price for a turn key car starts at £295,000. Gulp. The car did look fabulous but I have always been smitten. This year vehicles were spread out on a fairway. An apt word as it was luurious green clipped grass, accompanied by ponds which apparently are called "water traps" and sandpits which are refered to as "bunkers". Apart from the aforementioned relaxed atmosphere being an air cooled event there are plenty of VWs, Porsches, Fiat 500s and sometimes some odd ball devices.
Decided to leave, to get to the venue about, 8.45am which is a distinctly reasonable time to wake up the neighbours. The ST usually takes three of four churns before it fires up as there is no fuel being squirted down the high butterfly trumpets like it would in my 911S. So no drama to start and this year I decided to navigate by "old school" ; a bit of paper with some scribble on it by way of directions. I live near Blenheim Palace off the A44. Surface wise it is not a bad road particularly after the potholes were mostly filled and the road surface refreshed. So first off some fuel which is less than two miles and away en route. £40 worth of E5 to add to what the lying fuel gauge tells me that I have 50 litres already. Thence onto the A34 which again has a good surface except for a few miles where weaving about is required to avoid pot holes. Recently buggered up a wheel and tyre on the daily driver so driving at a moderate speed and looking out for the grand canyons of Oxford. I really do not want to knacker a 15x9 Fuchs or indeed a small hole 7x15 and the tyres, TB 15s are worth a nice holiday in the med. Once past the tank traps it was foot down to a nice steady 70mph. Or maybe more. The venue is around 60 miles from home near Kingsclere ; think Downton Abbey TV venue.The ST is very noisy so the colour coordinated ear defenders were donned. The attenuated racket of engine and gearbox is lovely. Less so without the ear defenders. The car was going really well smooth, comfortable and despite the fact that the A34 is all dual carriageway, devoid of twisty bits, I was enjoying the drive. Did I just say that? There is no need to change gear to 4th to accelerate quite rapidly and the MFI does have instant throttle response. Leaving the A34 for the A339 and a road I am not familiar with. I think 16 roundabout bouts and several traffic lights which I thought would be a pain but it wasn't. I had a great feeling about driving the car. The 915 gearbox is smooth and changes can be made quite quickly if necessary. Light steering at slow speeds, despite the grippy tyres, as the front of the car is comprised of a lot of Grp panels. So got to the event in what felt like 20 minutes. A lovely effortless smooth drive. Of course it wasn't 20 minutes but this driving experience was some thing new in the ST. Quite why I felt differently about the car I don't know. Met up with the Cabbages ( this is not reference to their intellectual capabilities) and a few other DDKers who were new to me. Good guys and a fine afternoon of p155 taking and bollocks talk about 911s. Fabulous weather and a beautiful environment. Couldn't ask for more.
Parked up in a little assembly of DDK cars near a water trap. Going back a bit in time when I was less enamoured with the ST I might have been tempted to see how deep the water was. But not today.
The return journey was equally sublime apart from a dick in a white four wherl drive BMW that came barreling up behind me with lights flashing. It was 50 limit but giving the car it's head left the BM behind.
What a great day.

[rhd racer]

Great story as always, thanks Kirk.

Penetration - I’ll leave it hanging there


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lightweight_911]

.

Amusing as always Kirk - thanks !

Everything seemed to be going too well - so I was expecting you to say that the car had lulled you into a false sense of security & had got it's own back for daring to consider selling it ...

.

[BILLY BEAN]

.

Amusing as always Kirk - thanks !

Everything seemed to be going too well - so I was expecting you to say that the car had lulled you into a false sense of security & had got it's own back for daring to consider selling it ...

.

Well Andy, in the deep recesses of my mind I was was waiting for some issue to crop up but fortunately it didn't. Thought of you when we saw the 904.

[BILLY BEAN]

Great story as always, thanks Kirk.

Penetration - I’ll leave it hanging there


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you for taking the time to read. Not sure what you are implying with respect to what you are leaving "hanging".

[hot66]

Yep do enjoy your rambles

[Bootsy]

Yes, always a great read. I'm quite into gardening too

[jtparr]

Great story telling Kirk….

[BILLY BEAN]

Thank you James, Bootsy and JT. At least a few of you read my scribble.

[jb]

Kirk the write ups of your adventures are simply wonderful.
Please don’t stop writing them.

[BILLY BEAN]

Kirk the write ups of your adventures are simply wonderful.
Please don’t stop writing them.

Thank you for your kind words. It makes writing worthwhile when a few DDKers appreciate my efforts.