Re: Chocolate and Wine tour and the CURVEN8R meets ELIMIN8R

We just had a great weekend here in Southern Ontario. It was almost as chilly as in Florida at 50 F on Saturday and hit 62F on Sunday.

We had a get-together of a 996, 997 cab (Burg Boxster from PA) and ourselves in the CURVEN8R, in Niagara-On-The-Lake.

We all met Saturday morning, drove into NOTL for a bit of browsing around and then had lunch at a great oven fired pizza place. Then we headed out for a scenic drive with a few Boxster roads thrown in and made our first stop at a little family run chocolate factory where we bought (and of course enjoyed) a few of their products.

Parked near the chocolate store.

Some reds just look better than others.



Then we continued on for a few more fun roads and ended up at a winery right on Lake Ontario.



Lake Ontario visible in the background. Why were these people smiling?



After sampling some of the local wines, we headed back to the hotel for a great dinner and catching up on news with old friends. One of the couples had to head back home, but the other two were good to go for another day. ......almost.

Saturday morning, when I started the CURVEN8R. Pedro's Technovolt showed red. ..oh,oh. Car started fine, but it didn't quite sound the same as usual, but was fine for the rest of the day's driving.

Sunday morning, again that red light. Inserted the key and twisted .R..R..R..VROOM. OK got it started, but big Oh, Oh! So we went to breakfast and I parked the CURVEN8R at the top of a little hill in the parking lot - just in case. Came out after breakfast. Got in, twisted the key. R....lights and nother else. Tried once more R.. .

Thank goodness for hills and manual transmissions. Let it roll down the hill, popped the clutch in 2nd and VROOOM. So we checked around and found a Canadian Tire store which had a replacement battery in stock. We drove over and with Burg Boxster's help, we switch out the old battery with a new ELIMIN8R battery. Fired it up, reset the windows and PSM and we were happy campers again.

That gave us a chance to head back into NOTL where we saw a couple of old goldies.

Ford.



1954 Corvette





Then one, last look out at the mouth of the Niagara River at Lake Ontario with Fort Niagara showing on the US side.





Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2011 03:00PM by Guenter in Ontario. (view changes)

OK, I see a red 911, a red barn and Scott's red head.

I'm guessing Scott's lovely bride would choose #3, Scott would choose #1, and the poor old barn is left out in the cold.

Looks as though you have a perfect day. Thanks for sharing.

It's 58 and sunny here on the right coast today - I'm headed over to Halifax in the Pcar, almost entirely on twisty roads along the Northumberland Strait. Life is good.

Incidentally, the PORSCHE sticker on your old battery can be peeled off and applied to the CTC battery. Ask me how I know.

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Roger987
OK, I see a red 911, a red barn and Scott's red head.

I'm guessing Scott's lovely bride would choose #3, Scott would choose #1, and the poor old barn is left out in the cold.

Looks as though you have a perfect day. Thanks for sharing.

It's 58 and sunny here on the right coast today - I'm headed over to Halifax in the Pcar, almost entirely on twisty roads along the Northumberland Strait. Life is good.

Incidentally, the PORSCHE sticker on your old battery can be peeled off and applied to the CTC battery. Ask me how I know.

Well, that barn will be out in the cold soon enough. It actually "houses" an antique "store". Bet you'd never have guessed that.

Enjoy the day, Roger. At 58, it's great to drop the top and conduct the Symphony in Flat Six around those curves.

Thanks for the tip on the sticker. I hadn't thought of that. The battery is in St. Catharines and I'm at home. If I had the time and weather today, it would be a good reason for the 90 mile drive to pick up the sticker.

First off, thanks G for organizing a fun weekend. We had a fantastic time catching up w/ you, Michelle, Dom & Mary while viewing scenic NOTL and sampling some local fruit... in fermented form, of course. Wish more of the CAN-AM caravan could have made it out but we toasted you all repeatedly. That said, you didn't have to disguise your maintenance needs w/ a fun run, chocolate factory tour, shopping and obligatory wine tasting... we would have been more than obliging to assist regardless

Anyhow, as Guenter mentioned, after a quick breakfast "we" discovered Spongebob-G-man's battery was no longer up to task. A quick pop of the clutch outside of "Timmy's"


after quick competitive price shop at Wally world, G-man limped CURVEN8R to Canadian Tire lot in St. Catherine's.
Disabled parking spot seems apropos, no? (Truly, it was not HP on the opposite side.)
With folded arms, a certain co-pilot doesn't seem so amused by current circumstances


Grab one of the group 48s they had in stock, load it in the cart...


make some small talk w/ the check out girl...


and w/in a few minutes, G-man was back in the lot trying to hit the apex... with his loaner...


Now, a quick tip for those who don't know (as neither G-man or I did)... the box wrench in frunk tool kit for 9x7s (and I presume 9x6s) is a combination 10mm / 13mm. Exact sizes needed for an on the fly battery swap. So, if you are stranded at a store who won't lend you tools, there's no need to buy any. Incidentally, 13mm is also the same size for the 4 nuts on the battery tray underneath too (don't ask, right G? )

Anyhow, undo the battery clamp bolt (13mm)


next the neg terminal (10mm), then positive (10mm also)


and remove the deceased.

Time for some highly charged introductions... ELIMIN8R


meet ...


Dropped in place... first attach positive terminal...


then negative...


"See Michelle, even Pedro would be proud of me..."


... trusty co-pilot coyly reminds "don't forget about re-securing battery clamp/bolt too"


A quick reset of the windows and a short trip around an aisle to reset PSM warning...


Then back inside to return core.


and we were back on the road...


All told, from original battery's ToD to being back on road was a mere 50 minutes (including 10 minute drive/price comparison shop at Wally-World and then Canadian Tire).

For $130, the ELIMIN8R is a great deal - 48 month full replacement/10year prorated. Next time I need a battery, I'll try to time it w/ a trip north of the border!

Thanks again for a great weekend, Guenter. We'll have to get a BALE [ Boxsters (and Carreras) Around Lake Erie] Out on the books for early spring so we can do more arm curls than wrenching






Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2011 03:08PM by Burg Boxster. (view changes)

Thanks again for all your help Scott.

You do make it appear that I'm giving Pedro a run for his money in wrenching skills.

I agree that we have to get another BALE or BACALE (Boxster And Carreras Around Lake Erie) on the books.

... at least the TechnoVolt alerted you before complaete failure so that you could park on top of the hill and saved you (or Michelle) having to push
BTW, nice hat!
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

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Pedro (Weston, FL)
... at least the TechnoVolt alerted you before complaete failure so that you could park on top of the hill and saved you (or Michelle) having to push
BTW, nice hat!
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

That's the exact reason that I wanted the TechnoVolt. I knew my battery was 6 years old and wanted to be able to keep an eye on it. Glad that I got it.

The hat? Without it, Burg might have been able to keep up with me. That extra 5HP makes a real difference. Not only that, but wearing that hat makes you see all the mechanical things you have to do, clear as day.

We didn't talk to Canada's Chas Bono

Great pics of a great weekend, thanks for sharing. So nice to see that all the things we learn here can be put in to practice. Dead batteries don't slow your roll (literally)

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BoxsterBob - San Carlos
Great pics of a great weekend, thanks for sharing. So nice to see that all the things we learn here can be put in to practice. Dead batteries don't slow your roll (literally)

You've summed it up so nicely. It's the cars that bring us here, but it's the roads, experiences, the things we learn and share and of course, the people that we meet, that make this place what it is. I know that in another month or so, I'll be checking in here just to see and hear about our Boxsters in the "wild" while mine is hibernating. There are just so many reasons that make this place so special.

Thanks for posting Guenter et al. Nice pictures and great mini-story to boot (let alone some strange guy doing who knows what in the boot...) Glad all turned out so fine