Back in Black -- Again

[Jack Olsen]

Some of you on the board may remember that back in November I drove my car into a tire wall at Sears Point. Although the car initially looked like this -



- with Tyson Schmidt's help we got everything bent back and I was out on the track within the hour. Brake cleaner and paint caps even substituted for R-style tail lights -



But the paint was damaged on about two thirds of the car:



So, I bit the bullet and decided to have KevinP73 from this board paint the whole car again. After I stopped driving it in its, uh, cosmetically challenged condition, he got it looking like this:



Kevin did a great job. It's hard to imagine letting anyone else do my car's paint.

This week I finally got the time to clean up the interior a little and take care of some other details on the car. It got new tailpipes on Friday, and it looks like it's going to be ready for its next track day this Wednesday at Willow Springs, another track day on Friday at Thunderhill, and then the R Gruppe meet in Santa Rosa this coming weekend.

The paint looks great right now, which is something I may not be able to say with as much conviction after two track days and a thousand miles of highway driving. I've put a layer of pickup bed liner on the inside of the front fenders to prevent star-shaped cracks in the fiberglass, and I've added front mudflaps to protect the rear flares, but...

[Jack Olsen]

...it's always a matter of time with a car that's tracked as frequently as mine is. Sooner or later, that pretty paint is going to get sandblasted.

But until then, it looks great -- so when I got a late lunch today, I also snapped some pictures. Here's a gratuitous batch of eight:


Here's the parking lot near my house.


In honor of the new paint, I even got new windshield wipers. I'm going to have the windshield replaced on Monday.


The passenger side wasn't damaged by the tire wall, but had plenty of track rash before. Kevin's made it look like new.


The crash bent both rear tail pipes, so they've been replaced. We also replaced the rear Lexan window.


This was the side that got the damage.


Now it looks like a regular 911 again.


I replaced the silver side decal, and cleaned the wheels a little with a Scotchbrite pad followed by Mothers billet polish. My arms hurt, now -- but the wheels look better.


You can see the mudflaps in this shot. I'll do what I can to protect the new paint, but it won't be this pretty forever.

[Dantilla]

"Looks like a regular 911" he says.....

Funny guy, that Jack O.

Thanks for the new pix, Jack.

[ischmitz]

Seems it's the June glume all over the place.... The car looks great. Keep it like that for a while

[fryardds]

Very nice Jack.

Will we will see you both up in Sonoma later in the week? Hope so.

[RarlyL8]

Now it looks like a regular 911 again.

That car will never look like a regular 911.
Your car doesn't realize how lucky it is.

Love the pipes.

[Shuie]

Awesome!

[ZOA NOM]

Very nice, Jack. Now remember, "slow in, fast out".

[Hendog]

That is one beautiful car. Something to aspire to.

[Kevin Stewart]

Jack car looks great, i went through the same thing on the rear quaters, the mud flaps work great, Kevin

[island911]

Wow! . .. better than before.

maybe now you won't be so shy about taking, and posting pictures.

[Hugh R]

Hmmm....I think I can take him. NOT! Never before had I seen a 911 leave 20 feet of rubber from both fatass tires and go sideways like Jack did on a Mulholland run once.

[Vipergrün]

Jack, I have this product on my car and it has done wonders to save the paint on the lower hood and fenders. It's an easy install and it's affordable. They even offer a free installation kit. I went with the Aerogard and it's pretty amazing stuff.

http://www.clearmask.com/aerogard.htm

Your car is looking sexy as ever.....

[DonDavis]

ah.... birds are singing, butterflies swooshing. All is right in the Pelican BBS world.

I bet its kinda like getting a great pair of boots re-soled.

Nice! Very nice.

[lateapex911]

Well, Jack, thats great to see, but it's better to know it's going right back out there! It's an awesome ride, done with (IMO, LOL) great taste.

I take it you were lucky in that the tires were soft, and the suspension and pickup points were totally unharmed? Did the Isaac do it's thing? If you have inside video, Gregg Baker would love to see it.

Have fun at the R Gruppe gathering...I wish I was there.

[Vonzipper]

I never get tired of looking at that car, very nice Jack!

[Zeke]

Originally posted by Shuie
Awesome!

Sherman beat me to it. That's the best word for the car. Wish I could see it before it goes to the track. Jack uses his car, as you know, and in pictures it has always looked great. But, it was always a 10 foot or more great. Right at this moment, that's the best I've ever seen it. And, as I said, I'd like to see it in person.

Just a beautiful car in a beautiful rendition. But, again, that's not gonna keep Jack off anyone's bumper.

[Don Plumley]

Still, I miss the tire print pattern. Maybe some stickers?

The camera loves your car Jack. Enjoy the track days and the RGruppe meet.

[Emission]

Looks great! Stunning paint job.

[JohnJL]

Now it looks like a regular 911 again.

yeah, right....

Just so everyone remembers, could someone please re-post that just-before-impact pic where Jack is casually glancing at the wall while clearly pondering the complexities of up- and down-quarks?