Newbie from Holland: Black Betty is in da house...

[hot66]

love it Hardcore motoring

[Black Betty]

The only luggage space I have, is the space behind the front seats.

During my drive to the 1000Miglia I stowed 2 travel bags, a folding chair, a camera bag and some other things there.

When I had to brake pretty hard, I got some of my luggage in my neck and I realized it wasn't very smart (of me) to pack loose luggage this way behind the seats...

As you'll probably know Porsche knew that 'problem' too and you could buy leather luggage straps as an accessory.






Because I like to make things myself, I went to the local harness and saddle maker and I bought cognac coloured leather leads from harness leather, some SS buckles, et cetera and I started punching holes in them, fixing the buckles to them and within 2 hours I had a pair of great lookin' luggage straps that were the correct length for my car!

Furthermore I bougt some nice SS footman loops at the local boat shop and I put the luggage straps in:





Now I can fix the luggage in a safe way and I think they look great...

[Darren65]

Now I can fix the luggage in a safe way and I think they look great...

So do I

[Black Betty]

Last weekend I took part in a event organized for children with a chronical disease. 200 Porsches left from 4 different hospitals (all over the Netherlands) where each one of them picked up a child with a chronical disease and then drove to a race/test track of the ANWB (the Dutch AA).

It is an oval with 2 bends that are 60'...

When I drove on that oval with Jolijn (an 11 year old girl with an agressive muscle desease, but unbelievable positive and bubbly personality; she absolutely stole my heart) they made a nice pic and I thought I'd share it here:

[Mitch]

That's a great pic BB and a brilliant thing to do... bet the "smiles per hour" was high!

Lovely stuff

[Bootsy]

Great picture and a wonderful reason behind it

[mrk]

Gosh, that's a super photo and such a good idea, too!

Really nice.

[Darren65]

Now that's the sort of event to be proud of, well done to all concerned.

[Black Betty]

Jolijn - my passenger - had a great time.

In this picture she claims we are #1...

[Black Betty]

wORk iN PRoGreSS:

[Black Betty]

My car is a 'work in progress': I'm always looking for enhancements, cute little things that make it look better and/or drive better, make it more authentic, etcetera...

Years ago a former Fokker-employee had made some 'Carrera spacers' for me from aluminium that is also used in the wheels of a Fokker F27 Friendship. Recently I bought some studs at a local race store and now it was time to mount these specially made 27mm spacers!

[Black Betty]

Oh yes, and then there is this...

When I had the Special-badges made years ago, I had some GT-emblems designed and machined also. I always had in mind that my car would be a "Special GT", but when I placed the Special-badges I wasn't sure whether I should put the GT-badges on also...

Those badges were lying around in a drawer in my study for over 2 years now and last week - when I was cleaning up my study - I stumbled across these emblems again.

I tried them on the car (under the Special-badge, behind it, etc.) and when I placed them under the L of Special and took a look at it from a distance I concluded that it looked really nice...

So I put them on (and on the engine)...

So now I not only call my car a "Special GT", but it reads Special GT on it also!

[Darren65]

Neat

[sladey]

Looking cool

[Black Betty]

Lately driving away in first gear got more and more of a challenge : when I'd release the clutch the gear stick would rattle and shake vigorously and then I had to push the clutch again and 'play with it' a bit, releasing the power more gently to the rear wheels...

My first thoughts were that a spring of the clutch broke, which would mean I'd have to replace the clutch. I was preparing myself to a day of intensive work on my car (removing the engine, replacing the clutch, re mounting the engine) because I'll be driving to England next weekend (Cranleigh Classic Car Show) and it has to be perfect for the DDK Scottish Highland Tour of course...

Yesterday evening I found a bit of time to put my car on a car hoist at a nearby garage to check everything around the gearbox, because you'll never know...

Well... It became evident immediately what 'the problem' was!

I had lost one of the bolts (and nuts of that matter) which secures the nose of the gearbox and the other one was loose! What if that second nut would have broken off too? I guess that would have resulted in a big damage (to the gearbox)...

The missing bolt (and nut) and you can see here that the self-locking nut isn't locking anymore (it has become loose):


So I put in a new bolt and nut and I replaced the other nut and tightened them both (I even put on a bit of locktite just to be sure they won't come loose again):





Now my car shifts and drives sharp as a knive again and I can release all whopping 105 bhp without restraint to the wheels!