wkohler wrote:... I've been helping my dad recover stuff from the house that exploded.
Holy cow Chris, I need to make good on getting down there so I can get caught up on things!
The car looks fantastic, and I'm very happy to hear that Kent is the real deal for fabrication, when the time comes for the header and exhaust he was the first one on my list. I'm afraid to know how much it will be but things are getting better all the time.
Kent is the real deal. He's got a customer with one of the original PTG E46 M3 GTRs. He has reverse-engineered every change PTG made to it and the owner had molds made of the body panels, so he currently has four cars in the shop undergoing the surgery and some of the stuff is just shocking. He's only a couple years older than I am, too. Wish I had some marketable skill like that.
Here's some photos with the deko-set installed. I guess it's done on the outside except for the tow-hook extension and the stainless wheel bolts. I have the latter.
Thanks. Yeah, underneath is next. Plenty of work left to do. A shame since the car feels so fresh, but it just looks kinda ugly. It just worked out that the opportunity was there to do the body first. I wish I had a lift.
I paid a visit to Mr. Kohler yesterday after I got the x3's AC fixored.
WELL worth the visit. It's always nice to visit Chris to catch up and stuff, but when he shared that he was working on the Deko kit and it should be finished...
It looks SO sweet. I'm about to blaspheme right now, but the car looked a little plain to a "civilian" eye. Clean, glassy paint, and sun winking off the perfect chrome, but just a grey car.
The Deko kit solves that. Matter of fact, when we were out driving, I noticed people looking at the car... they may not know what 'ALPINA' is, but it's there at least.
The car MOVES. It's quiet inside, and despite the beauty and girth of that exhaust, it's not loud or droning AT ALL. Very streetable setup. Dang that little boost knob is cool.
Overall, the car is AWESOME. When I visited last fall and saw just a collection of parts, it was a bit underwhelming... but this car...
I tried to imagine what it would have been like to see this car on the street in the 80s... A wolf in sheep's clothing... It wasn't very hard to imagine with such a PERFECT example staring back at me.
Bravo, Chris.
I am so sorry that I won't be able to see your car and Ray's beautiful shark going to Sandy Eggo. I would have had the best seat in the house for 3 hours.