996 to 997 Facelift

[ivanuf]

I have been looking to do the 996 to 997 facelift on my 996 C2. There are kits available that use factory Headlamps, bumper, signals, ect.

The only problem I see so far is that the fenders are reproduction fiberglass. All the pictures look great and is a nice alternative when you have

a Paid for 996 and will like a 997. Any comments or anyone that has done the facelift that can share the experience.

[Porsche_911]

I have been looking to do the 996 to 997 facelift on my 996 C2. There are kits available that use factory Headlamps, bumper, signals, ect.

The only problem I see so far is that the fenders are reproduction fiberglass. All the pictures look great and is a nice alternative when you have

a Paid for 996 and will like a 997. Any comments or anyone that has done the facelift that can share the experience.

I had a friend who did that and he ended up spending a fortune that he ended up saying, "I should have sold my 996 and bought a 997 for the money I got from my 996 and the money I spent on the facelift.". The best recommendation is to save the money and sell your 996. The combined amount is like buying a 997.

Edited November 5, 2008 by Porsche_911

[porschedr]

Porsche_911 good advice :) ,

Most fibreglass mouldings are poor quality and the labour charge to fit and finish to a decent standard will be thousands. You can get a 997 Carrera 2 for under £30,000.

I have a 997 GT3 style front bumper cover in fibreglass designed to fit the 996 bonnet/lights/wings. It took a lot of time (20 hours+) and effort to look perfect and now gets a positive response from all.

I can see the point, the 997 round lights are an aesthetic improvement but unless you or someone you know have the skills and time to do the work for free I would avoid.

One thought; you could get a 996 with light front damage and then convert as part of a repair?

Cheers

[violaGT3]

Hmm, sounds like an interesting enough project. Wonder if I could find a 997 fascia to mold?

If only I had the time. . . . . I made some parts for my old X19 racer, it was a lot of fun, messy but fun.

[Porsche_911]

Porsche_911 good advice :) ,

Most fibreglass mouldings are poor quality and the labour charge to fit and finish to a decent standard will be thousands. You can get a 997 Carrera 2 for under £30,000.

I have a 997 GT3 style front bumper cover in fibreglass designed to fit the 996 bonnet/lights/wings. It took a lot of time (20 hours+) and effort to look perfect and now gets a positive response from all.

I can see the point, the 997 round lights are an aesthetic improvement but unless you or someone you know have the skills and time to do the work for free I would avoid.

One thought; you could get a 996 with light front damage and then convert as part of a repair?

Cheers

Thats a very good idea porschedr as well. They sell those salvaged 996 real cheap. You will have a lot of wiggle room for the make-over project. Possible cheaper than to buy a 997.

[ivanuf]

If the labor for the fitting is not an issue for me (part of the fun of the project). You guys

do not see any mayor issues for having fiberglass fenders? The car is not a daily driver

so I can spend all the time I need fitting the pieces in my garage on weekends. I will

also like to note that the cost of the parts needed for the front facelift (fenders, hood,lights, ect.) is

about $4,000 US.

[deckman]

If you want a 997 look you should buy a 997. IMHO the exterior of the car is an improvement only in the eyes of the beholder. I love the 996 styling personally. The interior is where the big improvements exist.

[jgriffin56]

I agree, I personally like the 996 over the 997. I have an 04 C4S Cab in Speed Yellow and I think the looks are cool. One thing I do not like about the 997 is the back engine lid "hump" which the 996 does not have. However the 997 has some real good improvements such as horsepower increase, better RMS and adjustable shocks, and wide body in the "S" model. If I liked the 997 over the 996, then I would buy one and sell my 996. ANy of the "improvements" that you suggested would cost you bucks and decrease the resale value of the car.

[bolobar]

Arguably, the 997 interiors are superior to the 996; especially earlier models.

[Porsche_911]

Arguably, the 997 interiors are superior to the 996; especially earlier models.

+1

[Porsche_911]

I agree, I personally like the 996 over the 997. I have an 04 C4S Cab in Speed Yellow and I think the looks are cool. One thing I do not like about the 997 is the back engine lid "hump" which the 996 does not have. However the 997 has some real good improvements such as horsepower increase, better RMS and adjustable shocks, and wide body in the "S" model. If I liked the 997 over the 996, then I would buy one and sell my 996. ANy of the "improvements" that you suggested would cost you bucks and decrease the resale value of the car.

+1. Sell your 996 and buy the 997 instead of a facelift.

[ivanuf]

I guess you guys are right. I will get some Techart formula wheels instead.

(ps. I like the simplicity of the 996 interior vs. The interior of the 997)

[iornman86]

i have been thinking about taking the headlight apart and painting everything black except the round headlight to get something similar to that 997 look without the expense...i have a black car so it should blend in well

[phillipj]

Make sure you understand what you are getting with the Tech Art Wheels. They are very heavy and very expensive. Remeber that is "un-sprung" weight..

Depending how you drive your car it can make a big difference in handling.

Although the Tech Art wheels look awesome you may want to do some research for other lightweight brands, Possibly HRE. Compare the weight with the "look".

Just my 2 cents

Phillipj

[Fon de Portago]

Hi ivanuf.

Click this link and you can see a 996 to 997 facelift made in Spain, the owner had used original Porsche parts only.

He say that the quality is better than the jaquemon´s and desing911´s transform kits.

[ivanuf]

I invited the owner of XtremeMotorcars ( the seller of the kit on Ebay US) to join the discussion and post his experience. Let's see

what he has to say based on his experience.

[ivanuf]

I got the following comment from Jeffrey at XtremeMotorcars:

We set these up to go right onto your Porsche

maybe the comments at the discussion are aimed towards what we had to do taking the factory

997 fenders and parts and having to modify the parts to fit the Boxster and 996

that was a lot of work but once we were done we took molds and now the parts

will go right on,

Let me talk to my installer and see if they can give me a rough time to install

I will let you know asap,

[NN3388]

I have been looking to do the 996 to 997 facelift on my 996 C2. There are kits available that use factory Headlamps, bumper, signals, ect.

The only problem I see so far is that the fenders are reproduction fiberglass. All the pictures look great and is a nice alternative when you have

a Paid for 996 and will like a 997. Any comments or anyone that has done the facelift that can share the experience.

TO do a proper conversion, i realy dont think its worth it, especially if you are in North America where cars are relatively more affordable. I did my 996 C2 CAB conversion around 6 months ago and it was quite painful. Fitting of the fibreglass wasn't that good and I re-sprayed the whole car too. I was quite happy with the conversion as I had spend around HKD 80000 (around 10K USD, of which more than half was for the paint job). just for your information, before the financial crisis hit, a 2000 C2 CAB (3.4 not 3.6) costs around 90K USD here, and 2006 C2 CAB (997) still costs around (150k).

The Conversion I did consist of 1) Custom Local fibreglass front bumber 2) Custom fibreglass front wheelarch panels 3) factory lights totally 6 and custom bracket. its cheaper but proper porsche enthusiasts can spot the difference right away with the different bonnet lines.

If you want to do it properly - i konw a guy who blew 20K US with these pieces instead 1) Custom front bumper 2) Metal bonnet 3) modified factory steel wheelarch panels 4) factory lights etc

Sorry i still dont know how to upload pics but there is a photo of my car here

http://www.28car.com/sell_dsp.php?h_id=283756

(in black with the 997 conversion) and here is what the car looked like before i bought it (ewww... brown on blue....!!)

http://www.28car.com/sell_dsp.php?h_id=246104

i decided get this car, coz its only 1 out of 3 manual-shift 996 cabs to ever reach Hong Kong and i cant afford a 997....

Here is another link to another 996 -997 conversion car, when u have bad fibreglass and poor paintjob, this is what you get

http://www.28car.com/sell_dsp.php?h_id=286624

[juankimalo]

Here you can see another conversion in Soloporsche Forum

996 Cab MK1 to 997:

http://www.soloporsche.com/showthread.php?...ghlight=996+997

[996C4SC]

How about the wire harness conversion for the headlights? Did you purchase the harness or DIY?

[NN3388]

How about the wire harness conversion for the headlights? Did you purchase the harness or DIY?

wires adn conncetions all came with the 997 lights, but a custom bracket had to be made for the housing

[996C4SC]

Just wondering where did you get the lights with harness? website? Thanks.

[NN3388]

Just wondering where did you get the lights with harness? website? Thanks.

its a local garage in hon gkong. if you like i can email you the details, pls send me your email address

theres some better pics of the conversion here...

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?&...tem&CID=941

[maci911]

Just wondering where did you get the lights with harness? website? Thanks.

its a local garage in hon gkong. if you like i can email you the details, pls send me your email address

theres some better pics of the conversion here...

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?&...tem&CID=941

like ur car....what suspension ur u running

[NN3388]

Just wondering where did you get the lights with harness? website? Thanks.

its a local garage in hon gkong. if you like i can email you the details, pls send me your email address

theres some better pics of the conversion here...

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?&...tem&CID=941

like ur car....what suspension ur u running

thanks, just running affordable H&R coilovers (height adjust, no stiffness adjust).

handling improves but dont expect it to correct the huge bodyroll from a fat C2 cab