Page 44 - KCRPCA July Aug 2020

So after Fabio’s save, we got down to the dirty work and cranked up the shop vac. To be honest, there wasn’t as much trash as I was expecting. There was quite a bit, but nowhere near as much as I thought would be there after 140,000 miles. We vacuumed the radiators and cleaned the cowlings. As there are two radiators on each, be sure to gently maneuver the front one to gain access to the area between them. I was surprised at the amount of debris that had made its way past the first radiator and was now stuck between them. For us, the most interesting find of the day was a mummified bird that had been sucked into the cowling, but was too large to go any further. I spoke with Dennis Butler about that and he relayed that he, too, had found the mummified corpse of a bird in his bumper as well. So, if you’ve got a 986 / 996 or other Porsche with a similar fascia, I strongly suggest that you consider clearing the flora and fauna from your radiators as well. As for me, I was anticipating that my water temperature would decline somewhat after the cleaning, but it remained around 180 degrees, just like always. While I can safely say that I will not routinely clean my bumper and radiators, I am definitely considering buying some grill screening to reduce the need to do so. 44 Der Sportwagen - Jim