I don't post here all that often, tho my first post was back in ~2013?
Know a handful of guys here already. Was really active with the MFBA, had a 2001 Z06 way back in 2001-2002 and got connected with those guys as my roommate had a WS6 and the Corvette guys back then were all these douchey grey haired old dudes (which I guess now *I* am one of them lol).
Also on FB in the "Sunday Morning Cars and Coffee" group - of which I guess there's a bit of crossover here with TCG.
Anyways... name's Jim. Been in Chicago most of my life save for a 3 year hiatus to Seattle. Out in Huntley area now, commute to the Loop every day. Essentially do software engineering for a large online digital marketing company.
Was a motorcycle guy for a long time, started racing when I was ~12-13, did some pro racing for a few years there, moved to Seattle for a job, got married, inherited a (very young at the time) stepson (who I am now going through the process to adopt), had to hang up some of the more dangerous stuff. Do a lot of driver coaching now, run a driver's clinic with the Chicago Region Porsche club every spring, run their "novice" classrooms for their Blackhawk Farms events. Was always a "car guy" first anyways - bikes were just a lot more accessible. Also into racing simulators so if anybody has any questions about building them, hit me up. Was about to start a company last winter building them but ran into some legal issues with the wife's ex-husband and had to put it on pause for a bit. (There is a special place in hell for deadbeat dads...)
Been a Porsche nerd since I was about 4 years old, tho I've owned a variety of stuff... couple hotrod turbocharged Dodge Omni's, Z06 Corvette, Eagle Talon TSi, couple Audis, couple VW GTI's. Owned a 944 Turbo for 8 years... big turbo, short gears, coilovers... fun car, put over 80k on it, mostly track and autocross use. Traditionally always did the work myself, enabled me to afford what I had. Have a POS Cayman now that's dismantled in the garage to unfuck it from the shop I paid to build it as a splurge to myself. Was at one point a M97-based 3.6L (that blew up before the shop delivered it to me), then a M97-based 4.0L (that blew up a few hundred miles later), now it's a stock 9A1-based 3.4L (only about 1000 miles on it but so far so good lol). Tarett Engineering monoball suspension parts (camber plates, caster correction, control arm ends, etc), Tarett sway bars and end links, GT3 control arms, JRZ's (on order), rollbar, seats, harnesses, etc. Doing a complete chassis overhaul this winter, finding and fixing all kinds of F'ed up stuff on the car and essentially just don't trust it until I go through it now. It'll be a little rough on the street but once I get it sorted should be a riot for track and AX use. Stock 9A1 3.4L is about as quick as the old M97 4.0L (go figure!) over 4000rpm (based on log data) just not quite as much torque (the 4.0 felt like an LS1! In fact if anybody here happens to know of a guy with a ~2013-era CTS-V, who also happened to be rolling up Randall Rd. one night over the summer of 2016.... he may remember a silver Cayman that sat door-to-door with him... he caught me during that heavenly 1-week period where I'd finally gotten the car back with a proper tune put in it, before it let go at Autobahn the following Monday...)
So I used to work on my shit myself because I couldn't afford to pay somebody to do it. Land a promotion and decide to pay somebody to do something for me for once and it blows up in my face. Now I work on my shit myself because I don't trust anyone else to actually do it right. Go figure. Grateful I was blessed with mechanical ability and a salary large enough to afford to buy tools to support it.
Anyways... that good enough?
Know a handful of guys here already. Was really active with the MFBA, had a 2001 Z06 way back in 2001-2002 and got connected with those guys as my roommate had a WS6 and the Corvette guys back then were all these douchey grey haired old dudes (which I guess now *I* am one of them lol).
Also on FB in the "Sunday Morning Cars and Coffee" group - of which I guess there's a bit of crossover here with TCG.
Anyways... name's Jim. Been in Chicago most of my life save for a 3 year hiatus to Seattle. Out in Huntley area now, commute to the Loop every day. Essentially do software engineering for a large online digital marketing company.
Was a motorcycle guy for a long time, started racing when I was ~12-13, did some pro racing for a few years there, moved to Seattle for a job, got married, inherited a (very young at the time) stepson (who I am now going through the process to adopt), had to hang up some of the more dangerous stuff. Do a lot of driver coaching now, run a driver's clinic with the Chicago Region Porsche club every spring, run their "novice" classrooms for their Blackhawk Farms events. Was always a "car guy" first anyways - bikes were just a lot more accessible. Also into racing simulators so if anybody has any questions about building them, hit me up. Was about to start a company last winter building them but ran into some legal issues with the wife's ex-husband and had to put it on pause for a bit. (There is a special place in hell for deadbeat dads...)
Been a Porsche nerd since I was about 4 years old, tho I've owned a variety of stuff... couple hotrod turbocharged Dodge Omni's, Z06 Corvette, Eagle Talon TSi, couple Audis, couple VW GTI's. Owned a 944 Turbo for 8 years... big turbo, short gears, coilovers... fun car, put over 80k on it, mostly track and autocross use. Traditionally always did the work myself, enabled me to afford what I had. Have a POS Cayman now that's dismantled in the garage to unfuck it from the shop I paid to build it as a splurge to myself. Was at one point a M97-based 3.6L (that blew up before the shop delivered it to me), then a M97-based 4.0L (that blew up a few hundred miles later), now it's a stock 9A1-based 3.4L (only about 1000 miles on it but so far so good lol). Tarett Engineering monoball suspension parts (camber plates, caster correction, control arm ends, etc), Tarett sway bars and end links, GT3 control arms, JRZ's (on order), rollbar, seats, harnesses, etc. Doing a complete chassis overhaul this winter, finding and fixing all kinds of F'ed up stuff on the car and essentially just don't trust it until I go through it now. It'll be a little rough on the street but once I get it sorted should be a riot for track and AX use. Stock 9A1 3.4L is about as quick as the old M97 4.0L (go figure!) over 4000rpm (based on log data) just not quite as much torque (the 4.0 felt like an LS1! In fact if anybody here happens to know of a guy with a ~2013-era CTS-V, who also happened to be rolling up Randall Rd. one night over the summer of 2016.... he may remember a silver Cayman that sat door-to-door with him... he caught me during that heavenly 1-week period where I'd finally gotten the car back with a proper tune put in it, before it let go at Autobahn the following Monday...)
So I used to work on my shit myself because I couldn't afford to pay somebody to do it. Land a promotion and decide to pay somebody to do something for me for once and it blows up in my face. Now I work on my shit myself because I don't trust anyone else to actually do it right. Go figure. Grateful I was blessed with mechanical ability and a salary large enough to afford to buy tools to support it.
Anyways... that good enough?