My 996 to 997 conversion on my C4S

I've owned my 04 C4S since 2010 when my father and I took a trip to long island to buy the car. Prior to buying the car I looker at an 05 Carrera and a Ferrari F355. The Ferrari was gorgeous butte owner wanted 20 grand over book value and I wasn't willing to pay more than the car was worth. The 05 911 was a sweet ride as well, I just want crazy about the rear end like I was the 996 model. I found the C4S online and took the trip with my father. The second I test drove the car I knew I wanted it. My only issue with the car was i didn't care for the front end like I did the 997. So, I bought the car with plans to build MY ultimate Porsche. I almost bought the conversion 10 times already but couodnt find the nerve to spend 5 grand. The time has come when I hit the "pay now" button and my excitement can't be explained lol. I got the kit in from Extreme Motorcars the other day and have to say i am very impressed. The thickness of the fiberglass is so thick you can stand on it before it will break. A metal fender will dent before this fiberglass cracked. The alignment of the kit is great but, it obviously needs body filler work. The amount of filler work is very very minimum. The only issue i have come across so far is the front bumper not aligning correctly. Jeff from extreme had me send pics to help with this issue. Ill keep everyone updated on his response. So far I have installed the fenders, hood, headlight trays and headlights. There is ALOT of pieces to this kit and takes a lot of time to put together. I still have to wire the headlights, bumper lights and side markers, align gas neck, install gas door (a bunch of little pieces), install front bumper and then do bodywork. Here is my car before the kit and where I currently stand with the install. For the people who thinks its ridicious to change the front end please save the comments. I understand not everyone cares for the kit and frankly i don't care. This is my car and what I want for it. I don't care who can tell its still a 996. Good for you, give yourself a pat on the back. I don't care that non porsche owners wont realize the difference, I build my car for me and what I want. I don't want to save my money and buy a 997. I could have already but passed on it. I wanted a 996 with a 997 front end. In my eyes that's the porsche that should have been built to begin with. Now that I've cleared that up.

Is this an exact copy of the 997 dimensions? My thoughts are, if I was going to do this much work, I'd want something totally different, wider fender, extra scoops, just to stand out in the crowd. Then maybe a 500hp LS3 corvette motor, LOL. I'll be watching this one for some ideas. 2003 C4S LS3 My build, http://ls1tech.com/forums/conversion...version-7.html

It's coming along nicely. I forgot, does that kit use OEM bumper and hood?

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Yeah the kit is the exact replica of the GT3RS front end. Only difference is I got the GTO hood with it. Today I spoke with Nick, who is Jeff's installer at extreme motorcars. What a great guy. He spent a good 30 minutes on the phone with me going over the entire kit. The alignment on the kit is second to none. That LS build is crazy!! I looked through your thread. I gotta say that's impressive. Extreme Motorcars sells different variations of the kit. If your interested I can get you their contact info?

Alpine, yes the hood and bumper are exact replicas. If you look at the parts you can actually see the stampings from the original parts that they used for a mold. The thickness of the fiberglass is THICK.

Front bumper is bolted on. Just picked up some Dura-Glass today so I can't start doing the little body work that's needed. The gas door is going to be the hardest part. The inner shell comes separate from the fender and has to be aligned and molded together. I'll try and get as detailed picks as I can. I won't do much work on the car this week. I gotta finish my boat so I can start doing some fishing.

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Quote: Where does that nomenclature originate from? I had always thought that was the 993TT style hood which then Gemballa did a ver. for the 996TT.

That's the name I got from the maker of the kit.

Will you be doing the rear as well? This is looking pretty good so far! I definitely prefer the front end of the 997 much more as well. -Luccia

I just talked with my painter and tomorrow he is ordering my paint. I hope to have the parts back off the car within the next two weeks and at my painters. He is a friend of mine so my quote was near nothing than most shops would probably charge to prime, block sand, paint and then wet sand and buff. While the parts are being painted I plan to have the hood wrapped in 3m carbon fiber along with the gas door. My friend actually owns a vinyl shop in my town and will come to my house and do the vinyl work for me. Pelican, I'm not touching the rear end. I love the C4S rear end over the 997 rear. The 996 C4S rear in my opinion is the nicest rear end of all the prior 911's. Thanks, it takes some time but like I keep saying, this kit lines up extremely well. It needs some attention obviously cause nothing is perfect until you make it that way. I'd say anyone who is an intermediate with body work can easily do this kit in their garage as well.

Nice! Well make sure to post up pictures of the car, front and rear, when you're finished. Would love to share a picture of your car in its finished state. -Luccia

Absolutely will do. I plan on taking pictures the rest of the way through the build and documenting where I see it needs the most attention. This way if anyone else in the future wants to take this task on they will know what they are getting themselves into.

Newbie here, What a great write up . I've been looking at this kit. It's exactly what I want to do to my 01. Thanks for sharing........Nice Job !

hey guys new member here. As a 27 year old and owner of over 24 german sports cars (7 being Porsches) would like to say nice work so far. That kit looks like its coming along great wanted to congratulate you on the Xtreme change lol very high quality parts and fit perfectly. Im sure he sent diagrams and directions and list of parts. its going to look like a 200,000$ car again and still remain looking like a high end porsche. The update will take years off the car facelifting it 9 years awesome man. I actually have known Jeff, owner of extreme motorcars for over a year now. he and his company and his workers are incredible group of guys. Very honest and so helpful and do not cheap out on materials and know some of the higher up people like owners of gemballa and techart etc. I actually have the extreme motor cars GT3RS rear bumper for the 986 rear conversion. Hoping to get the zeintop kit as well. Also in the works in buying Xtrememotorcars EVO techart front bumper and 997 front end cpnversion as well with aurora 991 mk1 style black bi-xenon headlights on ebay for 1500$. Jeff will supply you with the OEM headlight brackets and all hardware as well as the hood hinges and can source OEM headlights DRLS and side markers as well. The the EVO bumper is the exact replica of techarts and the GT3Rs is also exact rep. very high quality none of the DURAFLEX or cheaper materials. I have car at numerous shows and also gave him liberty to distribute pics of my car and it has made many buy the rear kit . Exhaust is being done now also custom except no one in worls will have it. Feel free to contact Jeff at Xtreme motorcars and mention my name aaron to him, he may work something out with you. Best and nicest guy to talk to about modding exterior of your Lamborghini or Porsche.

Ck911, thanks! I will continue to detail the build the best I can as I move forward with it. I'll try and get some pics in the next few nights of the gas door assembly. I actually enjoy doing the work myself so this has been a really fun project so far.

Eurotuner, that is all very true. I couldn't agree more about Jeff and his products. Like I said earlier, I even spoke with his installer nick and he was a huge help. Go buy a crapy kit from extreme dimensions and then try and call them for advice, they won't even answer your phone call. The kits they provide are top of the line and I think Jeff can comfortably stand behind them. Please feel free to post up a pic of your 986 rear end.

Today I was able to get the bumper fully lined up and ready for some body work. I took close up pics of the bumper to the fender. I also took pics of the bumper lights as I've started to get them installed. Lastly I took pics of the gas door assembly and the gas neck insert.

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Quote: Can we see the boxster?

I started the body work last night. I didn't get to do much but I started with the front bumper. The bumper needed work where it meets the fender and also where it meets the headlights. I used Duraglass which dries as hard as a rock. In the last pictures you can see where I tested the headlights to make sure all the gaps are gone.

I haven't been able to really do much work on the car lately. I was able to put a lot of hours into the car these past two days though. Everything is complete and ready for the paint shop. All I have left to do is sand our some spot putty and filler prime and block sand. Its raining here now so i unfortunately couldnt finish with the primkng. Body work on the bumper was easy to complete. The door line was the hard part. The fenders come with the 997 door line which is different than the 996. The fenders also had a larger door gap than the 996. So, to recreate the 996 door line and gap I taped the door off and put tape on the inner part of the fender. I took my Dura-Glass and laid it on the fender and tape. After 15-20 minutes I removed the tape under the filler. I then sanded with 80 grit, opening and closing the door to check my door line and gap. Once I got my lines right I then did a skim coat of body filler and feathered it out. I took a few pictures of the process. I unfortunately didn't get any of the finished with the tape off the door and fully feathered out. Here's what I got for pics.

Looking good! Can't wait to see your 9967 finished and painted! I have been thinking about selling mine as I have "inherited" permanent custody of my 4 grandchildren!! But I like how this is looking and it might be a long time before I can spend the money on a round headlight Turbo! I have a paint and body shop "in house" so this looks promising! Keep the pics coming!

Vantardoc, thank you! It's been a really fun project and I'm still not finished. I have to wire up the headlights and bumper lights. If you're able to do body work then it's definitely a feasible project. It's also an excuse to get out of the house with 4 kids running around screaming lol

There was a lot more work involved on the front bumper than I show in these pictures. I thought I took pics before I started priming the front bumper but I guess I didn't.

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Quote: Keep up the good work. I guess you and I have a different opinion on what "very very minimum" is. Lol. At least you were able to do the hard stuff yourself and save a bit of cash. Looking forward to the finished product.

Alpine, thanks!! Hahaha it really isn't that bad. The door line was the hardest part cause it takes some time but it's not hard if you have done body work before. Compared to kits I worked with back in my Honda days this quality is far superior. There is no cutting and really fitting parts. Everything lines up and bolts right on. There is only a few spots that need body filler. A novice could complete this project as long as they have patience.

I think it will look awesome when done, especially on the C4S with the widebody. I've always thought about doing a facelift on my 996TT also, but have never come across a kit that was plug and play. Everything with fiberglass looks to need alot of body work which i'm not willing to do... Can't wait to see the final results, it will definately update the appearance. GL

YJosephTT, I suggest this kit to anyone as the quality is great and the fitment is awesome. I say awesome because anyone that has dealt with fiberglass knows the head ache that usually comes along with it. This kit needs minimum work compares to most kits on the market. I would suggest this kit because there is no cutting on the body of your car (you do have to cut the bumper support though) or on any of the fiberglass. If you know how to work with body filler then you can do this kit all on your own. I'm not saying it is a walk in the park and won't be frustrating at times but it can be done very well with some patience and time (two things I have almost none of lol) I am happy that I am doing this on a c4s cause it is wide body and will look more authentic but, I've seen it done in narrow body models as well and it does look really good. The 996 is an amazing piece of machines, the 997 front end is the front end that belonged on the car though. To me that makes the 996 the ultimate 911 (in my eyes). Your best bet is to buy the steel fenders. They bolt right on with no work at all needed.

You are sure that the factory steel fenders will bolt right up? How do the factory fenders line with the doors? Have you seen a 996 with factory 997 parts on it?

The factory stuff won't line up. Wicked motor works sells a steel fender kit. They cut a 997 stock fender and a 996 stock fender and mesh them together to work on the 996 body. That's exactly what my kit is, it's a fiberglass mold of a 996/997 fender meshed together. Wicked motor works kit is double the price at 10,000.

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Quote: Premodified oem steel fenders can run as high as $3k for only the fenders. I can post pics of oem steel fender modification when I get back from vacation.

Alpine, like I was saying that steel modified kit from wicked motor works is like 10k for the kit. I wasn't about to spend that kind of money on a kit. The fiberglass kit I got was 4,8xx.xx shipped. Even that was hard to justify but I wanted the kit that bad.

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Quote: The wicked kit is 8k on their site and think it includes the lights. To me the difference in cost for not having to do fiberglass work with filler etc might be worth it. Especially if it's more plug and play with near perfect fit.

It is 8k and that's if you send your headlights in. If not then you need to buy the headlights and headlight trays from them. I personally would not give up my absolute mint 4s headlights. So that would be a 10 grand kit for me. I got everything I needed in this kit for less than half the cost. I can do body work so the cost difference to me is large. The fiberglass kit is just as strong if not stronger than the steel fenders. You can sit on these parts and they literally won't break (unless you're heavily over weight lol). So for someone like myself the fiberglass kit is the better option. For someone who doesn't want to mess with filler and alignment I absolutely agree with you alpine that the steel kit is the way to go. That extra money you pay is subtracting out man hours. I don't think the quality of one kit is better than the other. I think it's more about what you're personally willing to do. I also wouldn't be surprised if the steel kit also needs a little filler action on it. I can't say that for sure because I've never dealt with them.

Everything I've done on my car is 100% reversible. I purposely this for resale value and precaution to anything ever happening to the kit. If you give up your headlights and need/want to change your front end back you're now in the market for another pair of at least 1,000 dollar 996 headlights.

For me that wouldn't be a problem as I have a spare set of headlights. The biggest problem I see is Wicked's reliability! I have read far more bad things about them than good. I would love to bolt on a steel kit, but I would be afraid to send them money before I received the parts due to all the bad things I have been reading.

Really? I don't know much about wicked. I only dealt with them once. They make the 997.2 GT3 RS spoiler for the 996 turbo. I assumed that would fit my C4S and called to order it for 4k. They told me it wouldn't fit but could make me one for 8k. No way am I going to pay that much for that decklid. If it fit my car (I still wonder if it would) I would buy it for the 4k.

All the parts are off the car and getting primed. Once I'm finished priming I will sand out once more and then hit it with one last coat of some good high build primer. While I am waiting for the primer to dry I decided to wrap the gas door in carbon fiber. This is the same stuff I will be using on the hood and soon after this build my roof as well. Hard to tell in the pictures but the carbon is a matte finish. Next week I will put the tires back on the car and roll it out for a bath and a good cleaning of my garage. Then I have to wrap the hood and wire the headlights and bumper lights. I hope to have the parts back by next Friday and to have them on by Sunday.

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you planning on 997 type mirrors too? as just my opinion but with having real carbon on the mirrors (current)and then matt carbon on your fuel filler cover wont tie in (if that makes sense?)

996lee, I do plan to eventually change the mirrors. The mirrors on the car now have a carbon shell on them that I plan to take off and wrap in the matte carbon wrap. I agree that the two would clash and have all intentions of changing that.

All the body work is completed and ready to be sent off to the painter. I put the wheels back on this morning, pulled her out and gave her a bath. I also painted the bottom of the hood flat black and cleaned my garage.

I check this thread daily, as what you are doing is impressive. Looking forward to seeing it complete. Keep up the good work. Are you planning on repainting the rest of the car?

Thanks Atrox! I'm trying to document this process the best I can. I've seen a lot of threads in regards to these kits but non that has been completed out of someone's garage. All the ones I've seen are people who've taken their car's in to their local body shop. I want create a thread for people like myself who want to take this task on personally. It's not easy and very time consuming but, with some patience and time it all starts to come together. I do not plan on having the whole car repainted. The reason is because the paint on my car is immaculate. I always keep the car with a fresh coat of wax and do a full detail twice a driving season. People always think I have just purchased the car brand new from the show room. Last year I had my front bumper repainted but the same painter and you would have never known the bumper had newer paint than the rest of the car. My painter even told me it is a waste of money to spray the whole car that it won't look any better than it already does. The car never sits in the sun for a prolonged time, is garaged year round and has never seen rain or snow. I sent the parts to my painter yesterday and he said I would have them back by Sunday morning. The lady who is doing the hood will have it finished by next friday. I have to drop the hood off sometime this week. As soon as I get the parts back I will post more pictures and any other details I may have.

After looking at it without the fenders, I'm thinking someone needs to design a slant nose mod for the 996.