Want a Drop-Top Porsche 959 for $5600?

Alex Kierstein

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porsche 959 karmann ghia replica

When is a Porsche 959 not a Porsche 959? When it’s really a Karmann Ghia, that’s when! Before clicking through, we recommend protecting your keyboard from any materials that may spontaneously be ejected from your gullet upon viewing this abomination. Ordinary kitchen plastic wrap works great.

porsche 959 turbo engine karmann ghia
Totally a 444 HP 2.85 liter twin-turbo six, right?

Holy moley! Xenon lights and 18” custom wheels? Red paint that would make an exotic dancer’s lipstick blush? An open top so the air can waft through your scalp plugs? IT’S EXACTLY LIKE A PORSCHE 959!!! In fact, it’s better – no troublesome all-wheel drive, and a simplified non-turbo flat four for added fuel economy. Indeed, it does look like “a Million Bucks,” as per the ad.
959 porsche karmann ghia replica convertible
Yup, coulda fooled me!

Likewise, the seller points out that “These kits take many hours to build and you need lots of money to invest. Why do all the work when you can buy this one all done.” We know that despite the lack of a “?” that last sentence was a pointed question – why would you do all the work yourself, indeed?
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Alex Kierstein

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  1. Kvhnik Avatar
    Kvhnik

    Far better to put a Porsche in a Karmann Ghia. http://www.bader-racing.de/en/home/home_news.htm

    Reply
  2. RacinG73 Avatar
    RacinG73

    Well… it is 'cheap'…

    Reply
    1. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      4801 -4850
      Good morning! This is a change of pace for us. Let's the games begin!
      I wonder if Racin will get email notification that we are here.
      4801

      Reply
      1. RacinG73 Avatar
        RacinG73

        Not from Hooniverse, but I did get email notification from mzs. 😉
        I forgot the url that gets you to the old-school Jalopnik where you can still send private messages. So, here I am to give you an update!

        Reply
      2. RacinG73 Avatar
        RacinG73

        Mzs has probably given you the basics. We got the motor, but it took a long time. The new engine builder had a back problem and was flat on his back for a while. Tuesday night (7/12) my crew chief and I dropped in the motor and bolted on many of the accessories. Wednesday, mzs and I put on the headers, bellhousing, starter, trans, driveshaft and radiator. I don't remember what we did Thursday… but I don't think we were able to fire up the motor because it got too late. So Friday we fired it up. We had some trouble setting the timing. Turned out our timing light was more sophisticated than we realized. So after reading the directions on Saturday we got that sorted out. Also on Friday we had a moment where the fuel pressure dropped down to 1 lb. We messed with the fuel pressure regulator, added five gallons of fuel and the problem went away. We changed the oil and tried to refire the motor but were still having timing problems so we gave up on getting to the track that Friday. (7/15).

        Reply
      3. RacinG73 Avatar
        RacinG73

        We took Saturday off and went back to it on Sunday. I read those directions I mentioned on Saturday, so on Sunday we had no problem setting the timing. We finished warming up the motor and then set the valve lash. We fired it up one more time to make sure it was operating correctly, then called it a night. I pressure washed some tires during the week and charged the battery, but that was about it. Friday night we bled the clutch and loaded up the car.

        Reply
      4. RacinG73 Avatar
        RacinG73

        We headed over to Sycamore and warmed up the engine. We had lots of people stopping by to check out the car. We figured with our 5 gallons of fuel we could probably turn about 8 hot laps. But unfortunately when we went to go out and run laps (all dressed in my fire suit, strapped into the seat, helmet on) the car wouldn't run properly and had 1 lb. of fuel pressure. We checked the fuel pressure regulator again and the fuel pump, but neither seemed to be the problem. That's when we realized that our fuel tank doesn't get all the fuel out of the bottom. (When we broke the motor on 4/30, we had 5 gallons of fuel but didn't buy any additional since we didn't know when we were going to get back to the track.) The track we were at for hot laps doesn't run cars like ours, so nobody there had methanol fuel – just racing gasoline. So… we were done.

        Reply
      5. RacinG73 Avatar
        RacinG73

        We loaded up and took the car home. If there was one good thing, it meant we didn't have to wash the car on Saturday morning. 🙂 Instead we just loaded up the coolers and headed down to the speed shop in Pontiac. We dumped 10 gallons of fuel into the car and it fired right up with no problems. So we headed over to the track. 🙂

        Reply
      6. RacinG73 Avatar
        RacinG73

        Hot laps the car ran really well. We didn't change a thing for qualifying. But we probably should have done some tire prep. Because when I went out for qualifying, I spun out on my warm up lap. I straightened it out and went ahead and did my qualifying lap, though I ran at about 80% so I would at least record a time. I think the tires had just 'glazed' over after hot laps. I know that now in retrospect, but at the time I was thinking the track must have been drying out and getting slick. So between qualifying and the heat race, Erik and I switched over the suspension from our 'wet' setup to our 'dry' setup.

        Reply
      7. RacinG73 Avatar
        RacinG73

        When I went out for the heat race, the car was no longer trying to spin out. But it wasn't very fast. I couldn't make it turn. And there were no cautions, so the rest of the cars ran away from me during the 8 lap race. I couldn't even see the 9th place car at the finish of the race. But I didn't get lapped, either, so that was good… For the semi-feature, I started 14th out of 15. We had a few cautions, and the track had dried out a little bit more. So I was able to 'race' a bit more with the other cars. I ran all the laps without any incidents. (Had to avoid a few spins ahead of me and things like that, though.) I finished 10th, though there were only 11 cars left at the end of the race. The 11th car had a problem in turn 1 of the last lap and was slow on the backstretch when I went by. Not sure if he even finished the race.

        Reply
      8. RacinG73 Avatar
        RacinG73

        I won't brag about my results, but all in all it went pretty well. 🙂 I came home with the car only showing damage from the dirt clods up in the cushion. I was in one piece, my engine appears to be in good shape and the suspension handles reasonably well.
        Gonna wash the car and reset the suspension, straighten out some sheet metal and should be good to go for some car shows yet this late summer/early fall. 🙂
        Pay off my bills and get ready for 2012.
        Here are Saturday's results: http://fairburyspeedway.com/forum/index.php?topic…
        And eventually the track photographer should have some pictures up here: http://photosbylu.smugmug.com/FairburySpeedway201…

        Reply
      9. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
        mr. mzs zsm msz esq

        Hi Skaycog,
        Right it would be totally unfair to all the other singers out there if my voice was out there 😉 Also there was Foreigner and Night Ranger that night (well some band members have changed, but the name was the same):
        Feels Like The First Time
        [youtube 4FToaN-JGsw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FToaN-JGsw youtube]
        I'll write more about the concert if a I get a chance, but big news is that Aga and I had an argument. Just some random crap that was simmering for a few days, then boiled over. Too embarrassed of it all really, I mean both of us were like children thinking back. Anyway we are being adults again today, phew. Here's the thing that got me. I came into work and there was a comment on a concert photo. Above that was this:
        me#
        See that guy smiling in the background, he cracks me up.
        aga#
        you mean the guy in the light blue shirt? He cracks me up too 😉
        She meant me, I was not that silly happy guy yesterday for her, it really took me back to earth to read that this morning. She even told me last night how it was bugging her to see my face so sad. Stupid life crap and my letting it get to me 🙁
        Have a good one,
        4838

        Reply
    2. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skaycog,
      If he did not from the right honorable H. Nibbles, he did just now from me. I found a new place too, but I deleted it. I say you do the honors from now on, cause I like being lazy.
      Have a good one,
      4802

      Reply
    3. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Surprise Racin!
      We like them cheap don't we!
      Have a good one,
      4803

      Reply
      1. pj134 Avatar
        pj134

        So you guys have a racing team together?

        Reply
    4. pj134 Avatar
      pj134

      Well, we're nuking him from space now… 4803

      Reply
    5. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      Racin……Well, here you are! Yes, mzs, has kept me abreast of your racing venture somewhat, but thanks for coming in person! It's really nice to see you again. We can private message at Jalopnik now, and we even have message notifications. You've really had quite a season with your race car, but it sounds like the problems have been solved. I hope all goes smoothly from now on. I hope the family is doing well. I suppose Hatcher is in the toddler stage now.
      Again, it's so good to see you!
      4806

      Reply
    6. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, zsm, joe……….It's funny that we were finding new place at the same time. This is the first time it was an easy place to find, and usually it takes me forever. Racin' had the first comment, which is perfect. No, it's not my job……you have to do it too. 🙂 I just had a chef salad and bing cherries for lunch……yum!
      Have a good rest of the day!
      4807

      Reply
    7. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      pj134……Nuking Racin from space worked. He has brought me up-to-date with his dirt track race car. He has had quite a season with it so far. Life treating you okay?
      4808

      Reply
    8. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi PJ,
      No I simply had a 'no-way, way' moment in one of the numbers games where I found out that Racin lives in the same town as my uncle and he has a racecar. I come over sometimes and drink his beer, help-out, and drink his beer some more basically. Actually I don't help out so much as learn from them and do what they tell me and drop stuff pretty often too. I have fun though 🙂
      Have a good one,
      4809
      PS: We try and reply in this strange way so it's more shameful when we screw-up the numbering anyway.

      Reply
    9. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skaycog,
      I'll be leaving soon, going to take my kids swimming but really I'll be relaxing with Aga. Alright who am I kidding? I'll be riding waterslides and gawking at my wife in a bikini when not, great happiness! I had apples and burritos for lunch, so almost a Taco Tuesday this time, just thisssss close. Yesterday I had an 13 hour day at work, but I am in a good mood now, can you tell?
      Have a good one,
      4810

      Reply
    10. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Racin,
      Thanks for the details on Saturday especially. I'm so excited for you for next year, it seems that this guy was really good with the engine, that's great cause the other guy sucked! I forgot to tel you, we are doing something like a mini amazing race in the town next to us first weekend next month. I forgot to tell you cause, well I completely forgot about it too, ha! Anyway I am trying to convince the teammates (not Aga she agrees) that we should dress-up like the teletubbies (there are 2 guys and 2 gals on the team). It was one of the best lemons costumes I remember from online. Anyway, any other good suggestions?
      Have a good one,
      4811
      PS: Pick 'Subscribe to All new comments' when you comment and you get emails in this game.

      Reply
    11. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, msz, brb…….How was the swimming and Aga-ogling yesterday? I'm sure you had way more fun than the kiddies. 😉
      I went out to dinner last night to my favorite Italian restaurant and had my favorite food in the world…….yep…..steak, baked potato and salad. It was wonderful! You mentioned riding your bike……isn't it awfully hot and humid to do that? Have a good Hump Day!
      4812

      Reply
    12. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skaycog,
      Oh the kids had fun too, it was great though it got cold. This morning I saw a line of heavy clouds, I wish Tower was here to explain. I think come cold air must have moved in just over us. Riding in is not so bad, we have showers here at work (there are people doing shift work, some of the post docs seem to just live here) so I just come early and shower, but today it was cold enough to shower at home.
      Here's a funny thing, our neighbor called Aga about checking her headlights. So Aga said I should do it, but our neighbor was confused and said she would rather Aga do it, that Aga had once told her she had checked her sister for headlights. Huh, her sister doesn't have a car? My wife said not too long ago I had changed the headlights for our other neighbors, that I would be able to do it no problem. More confusion, our neighbor said it's headlights not headlights. That her grand daughter was over not too long ago and has them (what!?), could Aga check our neighbor's hair. Oh….. She meant head lice not headlights, hee hee hee. Anyway our naighbor lucked-out, no nits.
      Have a good one,
      4813

      Reply
    13. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      zms, szm, rtd………That's a hilarious story about your neighbor's headlights. I first couldn't imagine what it was all about. Toooo funny! My monitor went kaput this morning, and I just got a different one about an hour ago. I was in the next room when I heard a pop (or snap), and I thought it came from outside and that the digital clocks would start blinking, but they didn't. I came back to my desk, and the monitor was dead. All is well now. It thundered and rained 20 drops this afternoon…..whoopie! I hope your day went well.
      4814

      Reply
    14. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      mzs…
      I'm back! Sorry for the unannounced leave. We got extremely busy here trying to consolidate our federal return. It sure is a pain in the !!! trying to consolidate over 200 companies onto one return!
      But anyways, I think the clouds you saw yesterday were indeed related to a cold pool of air that formed on the backside of a thunderstorm line that went through my area yesterday morning. And interestingly, the edge of that cold pool was the focus for storms starting yesterday evening and counting this morning. This has not been good for my girlfriend's mom in Dubuque as they have gotten over 12 inches of rain overnight and the Dubuque area is have major flash flooding problems with washed out bridges and a closed downtown area. Her basement at home and her work are both flooded. The Mississippi has risen three to four feet there just overnight!
      I sure wish we could ship some of that rain $kaycog's way.
      4815

      Reply
    15. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      $kaycog…
      Goodmorning! That's a bummer about your monitor. Was it the old CRT kind? I had one of those start on fire while I was using it. Nasty burning plastic smell with thick white smoke coming out of the top. I was studying for the CPA exam and I think the monitor actually decided it would rather burn itself to death than display more accounting drivel.
      I was telling mzs that our area has gotten a ton of rain overnight. 12 inches in my girlfriends town in Dubuque, IA! That's about 4 months of rain in 10 hours. We should work on building an aqueduct to get you some of our excess water!
      4816

      Reply
    16. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skaycog,
      Neat! I too want to know what kind of monitor it was. Also I had no idea what rtd was. It's funny I thought of the head lice thing because yesterday I was eating hot muscleman. It's not really that, but it's how I pronounce it and the lady in the Thai place has no trouble guessing what I mean. It's a brown curry a lot like that Japanese one I like. Today I will be eating Tom's car leftovers, again not my brother's car, just a white Thai soup. Yesterday we had friends over and our kids played while we ate Polish food and played cards, Tag 6. It was great.
      Have a good one,
      4817

      Reply
    17. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Tower!
      I hope your GF's mom and her place do okay. We had phenomenal thunderstorms last night here too. Lots of lightning strikes, it was awful here at work. First the UPS for the safety system (like interlocks, beam permit, anything dangerous shutdown immediately safety system) basically melted, so that was a safety issue and the lab shutdown. It was replaced with backup pretty quickly but then the storms really hit their stride. There were many lightning strikes, things were glitching, beam was lost, eventually the north feed from ComEd tripped and shortly after the south one glitched, so the whole lab shut down and the store was lost. Anyway it took a lot to get things back, but we will have another shutdown to get the power feed from the north (our main one) back after ComEd addresses the issue (likely a downed power line).
      Man there has been a lot going on here at the lab recently though, I'll try and get to that soon, but with things borken this morning I am working on pushing some POs through now. Your monitor commiting seppuku because of accounting cracked me up 😉
      Have a good one,
      4818

      Reply
    18. pj134 Avatar
      pj134

      Ms. Cog, can't complain really. It was a CRT and you heard a pop the vacuum tube probably cracked. Would have been fun to watch it happen. Although the phosphors and mercury released (along with other fun ingredients) may not have been as enjoyable.

      Reply
    19. pj134 Avatar
      pj134

      mzs, what kind of Polish food?

      Reply
    20. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      pj134…..I wish I had been sitting in front of the monitor when it popped. That would have been something to see, but it would have scared me to death, I'm sure.
      4821

      Reply
    21. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      TowerofPower…..Good idea on an aqueduct from there to here! It's really something that surrounding areas are getting much rain and even some minor flooding. My town has had .22" in several months. I guess my monitor was a CRT from what pj134 said. I know very little about the computer stuff. Good to hear from you! I figured you were extra busy.
      4822

      Reply
    22. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, mzs, clu……..RTD is Regional Transportation District, the bus and light rail service in the Denver area. http://www.rtd-denver.com/
      My monitor was a Dell, and so is the re-built replacement. As I told TofP, I know very little about this computer stuff…..just enough to be dangerous, probably.
      Like pj134 asked…..what kind of Polish food?
      4823

      Reply
      1. pj134 Avatar
        pj134

        $$ I missed an If at the beginning of my second sentence. Is it a flat screen or is it big?

        Reply
    23. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi PJ,
      We had kielbasa (sausage), kabanosy (little sausages), pierogi (dumplings), paczki (jelly donut), and bread. Oh and Polish beer, I had three, maybe too much for a Wednesday, yikes! It was Tyskie, Zywiec (which I had with grape syrup, it's a Polish thing, when it's hot out), and Hevelius Kaper. That last one is my favorite Polish beer, like no other. The story goes that it's the last of the old style Swedish beers from when Sweden invaded Poland. Though I say it has started to taste different in recent years than in the past, after a Swedish brewery bought them of all things. Wait so it it even a Polish beer anyway, whatever, I like it. Tonight I eat pickled herring!
      Have a good one,
      4824

      Reply
    24. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skaycog,
      Was the old one more of a fish tank or more of a picture frame? When a CRT goes it makes more a thump, thwang, crunch sound, unless it really explodes, and man I would not want to be around for that. I think it was a juicy cap that blew, spilling it's guts. Those are loud! Even a resistor popping is pretty noisy, but a good thumb sized capacitor is loud and messy. There are pics of Fairbury up now, here's a good one:
      <img src="http://photosbylu.smugmug.com/FairburySpeedway2011/7-23-11-Summer-Nationals-make/Modified/i-thRQZmH/0/M/080-M.jpg&quot; width="500">
      Have a good one,
      4825

      Reply
    25. pj134 Avatar
      pj134

      You know, I'm always kind of disappointed that my grandmother already had arthritis when I was born. She was an incredible cook from what I got to try, and apparently it wasn't her best. I don't know if different regions in Poland prefer different things, or if her cooking was inspired more by the Austrian in her then the Polish in her but it seems like everything she had beets, cabbage or potatoes in it. She would make some damn good pastries though. Italian food too, but I think she learned that to appease my grandfather.
      Speaking of which… I never got to try the rouladen she made.

      Reply
    26. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, szm, dmz……….My monitor was/is a picture frame. I was pleased my repairman guy could come over as soon as he did. Luckily, at least I was able to tell him to bring another monitor with him. One of these days, he's going to build me a new computer. It's so great to have someone you can trust like him. Good picture of Racin's car! That mud on the wall is hilarious.
      Have a good evening!
      4827

      Reply
    27. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      pj134……..Monitor was/is flat screen. Like I told mzs, it has a picture frame around it.
      Enjoy your evening!
      4828

      Reply
    28. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi PJ,
      No your grandma was making Polish food alright! What people meant about the taste though was consistency I bet. I've noticed that about my own grandma and mom, they never try anything new anymore, just have a way they have always done it, and I see that as worse since it's always the same, if that makes any sense. It's still good though. So yeah we were having guests so Aga wanted to make some food that was not the typical bland stuff Polish people eat all the time, hence the difference. Basically Poles eat kotlety and kotlety mielone for meat all the time. The first is like a breaded fried cutlet like German schnitzel and the other is ground meat with bread or grain fried and baked. Sides are like you said beets, potatoes, or cabbage. Sometimes the kotlety mielone are not fried but then wrapped in cabbage. Everything like that though is mushy and pretty bland though. My dad is the pastry maker in our family, he's like a scientist when baking, measuring/timing everything so precisely, ha! What's rouladen?
      Have a good one,
      4829

      Reply
    29. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skaycog,
      The place where all the mud is, that's where Michelle likes to watch from the best. It was incredibly muddy, glad she wore a baseball cap! I've had a busy day today here at work, still is, sorry. We had some monster lighting last night again.
      Everybody have a great weekend!
      Have a good one,
      4830

      Reply
    30. pj134 Avatar
      pj134

      Senor mzs, Rouladen probably came from the Austrian/German side. Its thinly sliced steak with mustard on the inside and stuffed with bacon, onions and pickles. She would make spatzle with it. I always thought her stuffed cabbage was really good (I'm guessing thats what she called kotlety mielone wrapped in cabbage when she came over here).

      Reply
    31. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      szm, smz, xxx…………….TGIF! We even had some lightning and thunder last night, and the winds were extremely high. It even rained sideways, but I'll take it any way we can get it. A friend of mine has a flagpole in front of his business, and he said that lightning bent the pole somewhat. That's scary!
      Have a fun weekend!
      4832

      Reply
    32. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi PJ,
      The cabbage thing was likely golabki, I like them too, except I am getting more trouble digesting tomatoes as I get older 🙁
      Hi Skaycog,
      Poor guy, the bent Pole, the business owner should get him a cane.
      Everybody,
      Sorry been busy. Anyway I had a FANTSTIC weekend. On Friday Aga went out for a film with her aunt. I took Michelle and her friend ot a birthday party and I mowed. I also played a lot of video games with Jake. The next day, Aga found out that her friend had two extra tickets for a Journey concert! You all know how much I liked Journey as a kid! So Aga left, I investigated the drive shaft in the Volvo (just going back and forth uniformly at the front, middle, and back so not a u-joint I think) with Jake, then played baseball with him, then I showed that old buddy of mine and his new girlfriend and a bunch more people the lab. Then I went to get Kevin from my parents. We all met at a minigolf, water rides, bumper cars, arcade place. We did some of that. I got back, my cousin came over and I fixed my uncle's computer. Then was the concert, here I am 'singing' [youtube WLmytD0VLkE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLmytD0VLkE youtube]
      The next morning we went with our friends and their kids to Michigan for a beach
      <img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/263220_696398060570_2912893_35289923_1631331_n.jpg&quot; width="399">
      Did you all have a good weekend too? I hope so!
      Phew,
      4833

      Reply
    33. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      szm, smz, dds…….I thought this was an interesting picture.
      You really had a full weekend! No wonder you were asleep at the beach. How cool that you got to see Journey. That's great! I don't think you should follow a singing career though. 😉
      My weekend was very quiet and peaceful. I did go out to dinner Saturday night……Chili's for shrimp tacos. I went shopping, cleaned house, went to church and visited friends.
      4834
      <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5096/5412108189_aa2dbbc76f.jpg"width="500"/&gt;

      Reply
    34. pj134 Avatar
      pj134

      Well, my weekends have been the same since mid-April and that is not very much going on. I had a pretty minor surgery to remove a rather large pilonidal cyst and its been taking its sweet time to heal so I'm not trying to impede it by being a dumbass.

      Reply
    35. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      pj134……I guess it is taking its sweet time to heal. Ouch! You're wise to not do anything that might undo any healing thus far. I hope you get back to 100% soon so you can enjoy the rest of the summer.
      4836

      Reply
    36. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Tower,

      I hope you see these (click for more):
      <img src="      http://www.fnal.gov/pub/today/images11/11-07-22Storm/IMG_5147MikeTartaglia3-sm.jpg&quot; width="230">

      Those are some photos from those wicked storms we had. A couple days before that I rode in and saw clouds like that in the distance too.
      Also there has been some recent neat stuff here at the lab. Some more Higgs exclusion as well as the USB (ha) baryon was observed: http://www.fnal.gov/pub/presspass/press_releases/…
      Have a good one,
      4837

      Reply
    37. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi PJ,
      Yeah i shouldn't have googled that… Now I remember you writing about that, wow seems a long time ago. Good luck on the recovery. I have some cysts too. They are near my spine though, so I have only had one removed when it caused me a lot of trouble. There is some chance to damage nerves when they are there during removal. But that one they took out, man it hurt when it popped. That's why I went. Then I had this plum sized hole in my back, you can still see an indentation. After the (minor) operation to get it out they stuffed a long rope of gauze in there. It was really phenomenally long. Also when they pulled it out later, the view was a bit like something out of Alien, weird feeling too 😉
      Have a good one,
      4839

      Reply
    38. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Ah crap I replied to the wrong comment Skaycog, I'm ashamed of myself. Anyway baryon is a funny word, ha! One time there was an article in the local paper about bozons with headline: "Local Scientists in Search of Bozos"

      Reply
    39. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, msz, pbs……..Married couples are going to have their tiffs, and it usually is over something silly. You both have a lot of responsibilities to take care of, and, as you put it, "life crap" does shorten fuses on occasion. You have tiffed before, and had a great time making up. That's always the glory of marital arguments. Don't be so hard on yourself. You two have a deep love for each other that can't be shaken. Ms. Dr. Phil.
      Happy Taco Tuesday! (I had Chinese buffet today)! Woo! Woo!
      4840

      Reply
    40. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      mzs…
      Still trying to crank stuff out here at work.
      It sounds like you partook in the storm action. I hope everything got back to normal and you got your main power restored. Those pictures are great too. A very impressive shelf cloud. I bet there was some pretty vigorous wind following that!
      It sounds like you had quite the weekend. And getting to see Journey…very cool! I went to the EAA Airshow in Oshkosh. It was a lot of fun although part of the acrobatic portion of the show was canceled due to high winds (40+ knots) outflowing from some strong storms to the north. Not something you want when flying upsidedown 15 feet off the ground. Being a weather geek though, the wind event was cool despite the cancellation. Plus, due to the show cancellation we meandered off for brats and met some neat guys who were visiting from Australia for the airshow!
      Have a good Wednesday!
      4841

      Reply
    41. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      $kaycog…
      Happy Wednesday! It's nice to hear that you have a good computer repair guy and that your new monitor is up and running. That stuff can be pretty daunting.
      I've got another busy week coming up (shoot it's half over already!), at work and at home. I'm having a BBQ party and need to get the house in order as well as the car as I might be running an autocross this weekend. I had a bit of an overheating problem (radiator fans not running) waiting in line at the airshow and I need to take a look at that before any possible racing!
      I hope that sideways rain gave you some relief to your drought!
      4842

      Reply
    42. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      TowerofPower….It really is great to have a computer guy that you can trust. When I was having other problems a year ago is when I found this guy (Yellow Pages), and I have recommended him to others. Computers aren't my thing.
      We do have relief from the drought, but they say we still have a drought. I guess it even rained in the middle of the night Tuesday, but I slept through it.
      Yay! A BBQ party! Now, of course, the big question is: What's the food?? 😉
      4843

      Reply
    43. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Stormy-buddies,
      My dad had another heart attack or two, but he is doing very well again! Two more stents. Anyway last evening he ate two steaks, then did not feel well, after a few hours my mom insisted and called an ambulance. They took him to the ER but decided that he was not having a heart attack so they took him to the 3rd floor for observation. They do some blood test to look for stress markers and they were negative other factors were inconclusive. So somewhere between 11 and midnight we were all thinking he had just ate too much. This morning same, still under observation, but about 9AM he was still complaining about worse pain, this time the blood screen was positive, and they did an angiogram. Saw that 99% blood flow was blocked to a part of the front of his heart! The same doc as the last time put in a wire, was hard to get it in due to the blockage, and then did the ballooning and two stents. Prognosis is great, said that the heart went crazy after opening-up the blood vessel, which is what you want, means that the heart muscle had not been damaged much. It was like it was getting just enough blood to stay alive, but not work right anymore at that point. So anyway, sucks they called it wrong when it was not so bad yet, but great he was under observation and right there when it got bad again. I spent most of the day there, then my brother, now my wife. I just walked Max, made dinner (Aga did groceries earlier), fed the kids, and now I go to mow the lawn. Again we were all so very lucky, and Dr. Towne, you are a life saver once more, thanks!
      Skaycog,
      This is Pati: http://tvlistings.zap2it.com/tv/patis-mexican-tab…
      Tower,
      Good luck at XC, BBQ, and work! It was crazy storms here last night again, got some footage even, but not great. I was too scared to go out when it was worst. We went to Oshkosh when I was a kid, but you needed to pay a lot for FAA membership to go close to the planes, it was too much for us, so it was about the same as the Chicago Air and Water Show for me, which was good too. My wife called those shelf clouds pancake clouds, they too kind of look like a short stack!
      Have a good one,
      4844

      Reply
    44. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      szm, zsm, m&m………I'm so sorry to hear about your dad's heart attacks. Thankfully he was under observation when the second one occurred. I hope he continues to improve, so that he can go home. It's a hopeless feeling for you, as there is nothing you can do but be there for him and your mom. I hope your mom is handling this okay……it's so stressful. Keep us informed.
      4845

      Reply
    45. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skaycog,
      Yup it is a hopeless feeling. Lat night I had a lot of trouble sleeping. See he always had at least three lines of ECG or whatever thy call it is on him. One had little white peaks a lot on it, up to two per heart beat. I asked a nurse what that was, it's his pacemaker. My dad would have been long gone had it not been for modern medicine, his time is coming though, it's really a terrible feeling, no way to get it out of your head. So a happy thought:
      My dad was getting weak there before noon. But they had another woman they were tending to first (I think they had 4 emergencies at about the same time). So before they got taken to the angiogram he was talking with me. It was hard to hear him (again he was weak), he had made a joke about three wishes but I only understood the last one, so his joke modified:
      A man was walking along and he saw a golden fish with a human face. It asked him to save him. He picked it up and put it in some water. To show it's gratitude the fish says, "I will grant you one wish, but please understand that my magic makes it such that whatever you get, your mother in law with get ten times greater." So the man replies, "Could I have a heart attack please, but only a little one."
      And then the nurses came and rolled him away! Holy crap. Anyway my mom is doing pretty well all things considered, though I think she has slept like two hours during this time. He will be in the hospital for a few days. I think the main reason they keep patients so long is because they go through big blood vessels in the groin and those need to heal well before they will let you back home so that you don't bleed to death doing something stupid like using the stairs.
      Thanks for the well wishes,
      4846

      Reply
    46. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, mzs, ent……your dad has quite a sense of humor, which is probably where you got yours from. Do your kids know exactly what's going on with their grandfather? I wish him well, and I wish your mom the strength to deal with this also. On a lighter note…..tomorrow is Friday! Hooray! We just now had a brief rain shower. It didn't last long, but I'll take whatever Mother Nature gives us. (Actually, I don't have any choice, do I?) I hope you sleep better tonight……take care of yourself too.
      4847

      Reply
    47. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      $kaycog…
      Rain again! Glad to hear you are getting it! So food for the barbeque will consist of hamburgers and brats mostley. My friend says he had this great idea to put one of those Ms. Grass's onion dry soup mixes in the hamburger meat and then grill it. I'm anxious to try it. We also have some good sharp cheddar cheese and pretzel buns for the hamburgers so they should be excellent! The brats are Johnsonville, which are pretty much perfect as is so no dressing up there. Plus your usual chips, soda and beer (Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy and Guiness for this party).
      What are your weekend plans?
      4848

      Reply
    48. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      mzs…
      I'm sorry to hear your dad isn't doing well. Hopefully he can get back to health. It's good to hear that he's making jokes though and keeping things light.
      I wonder if they changed the rules at the Oshkosh Air Show. We don't have to be members of the FAA to get close to planes (although you do get a discount into the airfield). And once you are in you can look at all the parked planes you want just short of modern military jets like the F-22 and F-35. Then when the airshow time comes you just head over along the runway and watch, no separate pass for that. It is an expensive day though as admission is $37 per person but we bring a cooler of food and drinks to minimize food costs.
      I hope your weekend goes well and that your dad recovers quickly!
      4849
      P.S. I'm going to try my hand at finding a new place…bear with me for a moment!

      Reply
    49. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      New Place Everyone! I hope it works!
      https://hooniverse.com/2010/11/09/fso-ogar-under-b…
      4850

      Reply
  3. smalleyxb122 Avatar
    smalleyxb122

    The only problem is the poseur-ness of the car. It's just that it's trying to be something that it's not. It's not a bad looking car, and if the 959 had never existed, it would just be a nice looking body kit on a VW.
    The wheels are a little too big, but they almost work, and I'd consider $5600 a fair price for an un-kitted Ghia in similar condition.
    But at $5600, I would much rather have a real Ghia than a fake Porsche.
    My hypocrisy shows when we talk about the 550. I would love to have a fake 550.

    Reply
    1. Maymar Avatar
      Maymar

      It's not really being a poseur though, when there are enough VW performance parts to make a VW perform like a 550, and you're not going to cause a ripple of heart attacks through PCA members if you decide to cane it a little. Likewise, this'd be less bad if they'd started with a stock '80's 911 and built from there.
      Then again, I sort of like this, the same way I sort of like Fiero kit cars. It's a cool looking toy to play around with, and won't cost you much money. Nothing to be really proud of, but I can appreciate the idea.

      Reply
      1. TheWaterCooler Avatar
        TheWaterCooler

        You could probably make a pretty good 959 replica from a 993 Carrera 4. Throw a turbo or a supercharger on there, and it'd have the performance to match.

        Reply
    2. scroggzilla Avatar
      scroggzilla

      If you're going to Porschify a Karmann Ghia, then I suggest you follow the Equipe Dacon recipe. Take one Karmann Ghia, add fibreglass panels for lightness, uprate the brakes and steering to corner and stop better, add one 4-cam engine from a Porsche 904 to increase it hoon worthness, then hand the keys to the Fittipaldi brothers and stand back.
      <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3375/3597517099_1caec2c5d3_o.jpg"&gt;

      Reply
      1. TheWaterCooler Avatar
        TheWaterCooler

        Hott sexx. I love it!

        Reply
      2. Han_Solex Avatar
        Han_Solex

        Whoa, that's amazing! Thanks for sharing.

        Reply
  4. TheWaterCooler Avatar
    TheWaterCooler

    What a waste of a perfectly good Karmann Ghia. You'd have to pay me to take this thing.

    Reply
    1. CptSevere Avatar
      CptSevere

      I agree with you. Ghias are nice little cars, and this one's ruined. Somebody should be ashamed of himself. Fail.

      Reply
      1. TheWaterCooler Avatar
        TheWaterCooler

        Worse still, the other day, I found a 959 replica on eBay that was made from a 1971 911E. There should be a law against cutting up early 911s. And what's the point of a 959 replica, anyways? No-one in the US knows what a 959 is. If you had the most authentic-looking replica in the world, it wouldn't matter because it would still "look like every other Porsche on the road". Also, the air-cooled clatter would give you away.

        Reply
      2. JeepyJayhawk Avatar
        JeepyJayhawk

        Way to beat me to the punch.

        Reply
  5. CptSevere Avatar
    CptSevere

    I couldn't agree more. Somebody should be ashamed of himself, doing this to an innocent Ghia. It's like seeing a nice girl forced to get tarted up like a stripper. This is just terrible.

    Reply
  6. Tomsk Avatar
    Tomsk

    <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2224/1800234736_7861106fbe.jpg?v=0&quot; width="500" height="400" />

    Reply
    1. Han_Solex Avatar
      Han_Solex

      If only I had an orbital nuke …

      Reply
  7. Joe Dunlap Avatar
    Joe Dunlap

    Geesh, they could have at least put dual-port heads on the thing. I mean, I expect it to be bog slow, but at least give it enough beans to get out of its OWN way! This doesnt even qualify as crack pipe.

    Reply
  8. Manic_King Avatar
    Manic_King

    What a mess, looks like pile of bondo…..look at those door gaps. Retro windscreen, RUF logos, ricer steering wheel, "hidden" gauges behind dash pleather, boxy scoop, those wheels……
    Poor car, and poor stupid soul who will purchase this POS (currently 9 offers, @5900 still below reserve).
    I'm with Tomsk, Nuke it!

    Reply
  9. bill Avatar
    bill

    as a replicar its not that bad. Sure it has problems, but still. i think this guy faces the problem of 'it works for me', it doesn't seem to work for anyone else. Especially at 5900.

    Reply
  10. JeepyJayhawk Avatar
    JeepyJayhawk

    Kill it with napalm. Then salt the earth it sat on just to make sure it doesn't come back.

    Reply
  11. Corvette Poncho Avatar
    Corvette Poncho

    LOL! I dig the intercooler in the front that has no plumbing attached to it. Very nice feature to top off this gem!

    Reply
  12. Tripl3fast Avatar
    Tripl3fast

    Kit car. $500 and take to LeMons and add a bigger intercooler…..

    Reply
  13. AteUpWithMotor Avatar
    AteUpWithMotor

    If you believe anything worth doing is worth doing to excess, I should note that a while back, Bader Racing discovered that the powertrain of a Porsche 993 would fit in a Karmann Ghia with fairly minor modifications…

    Reply
  14. CEMan Avatar
    CEMan

    I am trying to imagine the effect on performance of putting 18" wheels on it.
    It is certainly different than every other Speedster replicrap that is around.

    Reply
  15. vendita casa Avatar
    vendita casa

    I’ve been reading a few posts and i’m adding your blog to my rss reader , thanks !

    Reply
  16. website visitors Avatar
    website visitors

    impressive blog! Getting a bit harder uncovering quality blogs in the sea out there now! In 24 hours or less you can have a guaranteed unwavering rate of new prospects landing on your site. If they can assure 10,000, 35,000, 100,000 or even 150,000 visitors to your site, can you fetch the sales?

    Reply
  17. Jack Macker Avatar
    Jack Macker

    Hello dude How are You ? I like your post and i want to stumble it for my friend but i cant see your social bookmark widget in this blog. Please help me dude Thanks

    Reply
  18. Rich Avatar
    Rich

    I built this car. I sold it for $9,000 to a dealer in NY 3 years ago. The car was not finished. It needed the interior done along with an engine swap. I still have the complete Keneddy Engineering adapter kit with stage 2 clutch to install a Mazda Rotary Engine. I had a Twin Turbo 13b RE for it from a Cosmo but decided it was too much power after installing the best fully adjustable coilovers and big brake kit and still the car felt like it would be a death trap with all that power. I put the old suspension back on with a normal front disc upgrade and used the car for a weekend cruiser. I got more looks and attention in this car than any of my other toys which were all attention grabbers (Turbo C6 vette, Heads & cam Viper Gts, 1000+ hp Supra, Road Race Evo 8 RS. None of them got the looks thos car got. Does it still have the linear actuator on the engine cover? You must admit of all the kit cars the biggest mistake is always the wheel and tire selection and the suspension height. I got the wheel width and offsets perfect on this car with the help of a custom spacer kit. negative offset wheels with a big adapter avoids that ugly 6 inch dish that makes the car look narrow. I also have the ride height set perfect so there is no 3" wheel well gap like every other 959 kit has.At night with the led tail lights and blinkers and hid headlights this car fools a lot of people including car guys.

    Reply