Debut

[widebody911]

$500 worth of paint materials
$250 worth of sanding and polishing materials
One week of disassembly and sanding
One weekend of shooting paint
One week of color sanding and polishing
One weekend of assembly

Result:




A special thanks to ///Mink, Dustin (13 y/o kid down the street) and my next door neighbor (whose name I don't even know and doesn't speak a word of English) for all the help.

I still have minor spots to finish polishing (hood, lower rockers), and some final assembly (door trim, torsion covers, wipers) and engineering like front turn signals.

[davis911s]

Thom you always AMAZE me. What we need now is a tech article of painting. PLEASE.

Shawn

[Rot 911]

I'm gettin a woody just looking at the pics Nice Job!

[pbs911]

Excellent job Thom! Looks great.

I think you have the DIY'er of the year award wrapped up.
How about a before pic? I have actually forgot what the car looked like, what was six months ago when the valve bent at the autocross.

But now what are your going to do?

[JonT]

I'm at work and I just creamed my shorts looking at these pics. That is unbelievable. What kind of rear/front bumpers are those? Is it time to spank 5 point slows?

[Jack Olsen]

All right, I'm a little bit scared. That thing looks downright intimidating, now. Did you mow the lawn with that splitter?

Here's an enhanced view:



And back in the day:

[JeffW]

How about a top down picture?

[widebody911]

• Top down pix - it's chock full of stuff right now - picking up a friend @ the airport this eve then we're heading to T-Hill
• Tech article - working on it - http://www.vintagebus.com/howto/paint
• What am I going to do next? - find gainful employment
• Splitter - I plan to pimp myself out as a high-speed lawn service.
• Jack: I don't know how you do that effect, but it makes me dizzy!

[RarlyL8]

Man you sure made a turnaround on the appearance of that ride. Amazing what different bumpers and wings will do.

You need to look up the broad that shunned your beauty on the first date - and see what she thinks NOW.
HA!

[rstoll]

I LIKE it!

[Jack Olsen]

Do you have a bra for the track? Some of Elephant Racing's magnetic sheeting? Some of that clear 3M stuff? That beautiful new paint will sandblast away pretty quickly at 130 mph (ask me how I know )

Outstanding job Thom. The pace and quality of the job are an inspiration to DIY guys.

Mark

[claptrap]

Truely outstanding work!

Scott.

[RoninLB]

..I respect a man who has a vision and creates reality from it... ........the man who creates is an artist...Ron

[Sarah]

Thom,

What kind of dual exhaust do you have?? (oh...and very nice pics...the 3D one Jack enhanced looks cool but hurts my eyes).

Thx

[Doug E]

Looks great Thom. Amazing what time, elbow grease and little money will do.

That picture from Jack is giving me a headache but I can't stop looking at it.

[cary]

Thom............. I'm installing my GT- Racing RSR front bumper this weekend. Looks like yours is close to mine. Does yours have an easy install for the front turn signals. Once I cut the pockets out of mine ( to get them recessed ). Not much to work with.

Car looks great.

Picking up mine the am. Did everything but the paint myself. Looks pretty good.

[jabb]

Looks great .... Very Nice job
What was your experience level with body work and painting prior to attempting this project

[makaio]

Bravo Thom!

All you need now are some Kinesis, Fiske, or custom 17" Fuch wheels to finish the look.

[silverc4s]

Thom,
My hat is off to you, man. You have done a truly fantastic job with that "former" targa. I agree with Jack, hate to see you take it out on the track now, too damn pretty.
And thanks for sharing the journey with all of us here.