in the name of all things rotary

[Ender]

I present to you: myself. I have always loved going fast, ultimately it's really that simple. I think my environment just tipped the preferred means toward cars. I picked up a 1988 323 hatch before I even had my driver's permit. I got it for a steal and basically brought it back to good running condition and fixed all sorts of fun things along the way. That car taught me pretty much all the basics of mechanical automotive repair and maintenance in the 8 years I owned it. Additionally, I love working with my hands. Building, destroying, modifying, you name it. I am often limited merely because I can't currently afford all the tools I want.

Around the same time I picked up that 323, I fell in love with FC's (so this was somewhere right around 9th grade). I saw a TII parked at a long lost relative's house and thought "I HAVE to have one of those, it looks simply incredible." Since then, while learning about the amazing Wankel rotary engine and FC's, I have searched far and wide for one, waiting for the right time. I found a 1987 TII just 40 minutes away the summer of 2007 and jumped on it (I mean, hey, a decent running TII with 86k miles for $1300, why the heck not?!). It has somewhat low compression and the clutch now slips when pushed in fourth and fifth, but I am working on a nice streetported rebuild and a slew of upgrades/updates will be implemented when I swap motors. At the very worst it should be done before the heat of summer, as I will begin porting very soon and all parts are present.

Right now my '7 is my daily driver, it is a blast, and unfortunately I have only been able to put it on the track (autocross) once so far. There is an event at the end of this month I plan on attending. I will take it to road courses asap, but I will want to do that properly (race brakes, sticky tires or slicks, remove some more weight, tune, the rebuild I'm working on, and possibly suspension; all just to start out), so it will probably have to wait at least another year. In the meantime I can do more prep work and get some more basic seat time.

So hi, Rotary Club, how are you?