I asked for, and received, 930 flares for Christmas, and was able to scrape up the money to have them butt-welded on by Barry Smith, a local body man who works out of his garage in his mother's back yard. The work was absolutely beautiful!
About that time I sold the factory Carrera tail to Chip Bown of Potomac region, and through a special buy-two-get-one-free deal with Kevin at teh Racer's Group, I managed to pick up a carbomn fibre RSR3.8 tail for a whole lot less that the $1899 retail price.
Next for wheels and tires, HRE gave me a scratch-and dent racer's discount, and after selling wheels to various netters (a total of 24) I was actually ahead of the game financially when I picked up the 9.5 + 11X 17" wheels with 275-40 and 315-35 BFG R1 tires. A trip to the Ski-Roundtop swap meet netted me an additional $1800 just in time to pay for some odds and ends….
Next for paint work - I got myself on the list for the DuPont Refinishes paint-test program with the help of a local club member Steve Bonine. Abbot 4 months later (two weeks before my wedding) I received a call, and after a brief chat on Friday arranged to have my car in the shop for paint the following Monday. I quickly called racer's group and talked to Kevin, who got me some carbon-fiber doors the very next (Saturday). they are installed by 4PM.
Next the car was disassembled except for suspension and drive train and all the parts were delivered to the paint shop Monday June 5, with the understanding it would be returned June 9, so I would have time for reassembly before my wedding June 17.
was informed on the 9th that the car would be ready at EXACTLY
11:30 Saturday, June 10. Steve Bonine's Wedding was at 12:30, and I
owed him big-time.
It was, and when I picked it up, with no lights, bumpers, or glass it
began to rain. No trailer. Boy is I-95 in an unmuffled 911 with no
windshield in the rain fun whe you’re dressed in a suit!. Made it
to Steve's wedding on time though!
For the next five days the car was reassembled as quickly as
possible. The carbon doors had to have frames hung for the glass,
mirrors needed to be installed, etc. The interior had to be reassembled
as much as possible, and the glass still needed installation. I even
managed to dye the vinyl interior pieces black!
I finished putting the sunroof the 11 AM morning of the wedding and by 12:30 PM I was headed for the shower. Just in time for me to jump into my morning suit and get to the church!
