996 to 997 body conversion

Hello, I am new to this forum but there seems to be a lot of great information available in your threads. I own a 2000 911 Carrera 996 that was in a small accident a few years ago. The driver side front and rear fenders and bumpers were slightly damaged but everything else is in great shape. Instead of just fixing the damaged parts I have been reading about a possible conversion to the 997 body style. I have seen some threads on this but nothing complete. I would like to use OEM parts rather than a fiberglass kit but at this point I am still researching the best options. I am hoping that a few readers can help with more information and their own experiences so the car looks great in the end. I am looking forward to reading your responses, Thanks.

As update to earlier threads, a 996 hardtop will fit on the 997 cars, including the wide body cars. Sum total of the parts cost needed for the retrofit was $ 250 , not counting the cost of the top of course. Install time on the parts was 30 minutes tops and I'd rate the job a 1 on a 10 point scale of difficulty. Attached pics of the top on my '07 997 C4S.

Interesting first post. I wouldn't waste my time or money

looks good. any more pictures?

Somebody documented that very build (996 to 997 front end swap with OEM parts) and although it came out, the summed it up as a giant PITA and only worth it if you enjoy that type of involved project, otherwise as has been already stated, probably not worth it. The fiberglass kits, professionally installed would probably be the way to go, or leave it 996. Your time, your money, your choice. Anecdotal evidence would say it won’t be easy to go the OEM route though.

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Is it really the identical part? Thanks, Verde Quote:

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Quote: If you are asking if it's identical to the 997 top in every detail I haven't a clue. I have never seen the interior of a 997 top but suspect it may be different in some way than the 996 version. I do know for a fact that the mounting hardware affixed to the 997 top itself is different as are the corresponding mounting pieces for the body of the car. However, as the mounting hardware is not included with a new 997 it's more cost effective to use a 996 top and buy the mounting hardware for that version of the top. Besides, the object of the project was to determine whether or not a 996 top will fit a 997 the same way it fits onto the 996. The answer is yes and buy the looks of the way the top sits on the car I would suggest that if the parts are not identical one would be hard pressed to notice the difference.

very nice looking. i'm not a big fan of hard top looks but i think it looks better on a 997 than a 996 for some reason.

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Quote: Camera battery on the charger. Will post a few that give a better look at the whole car when the battery is juiced up. These were just to confirm the fit of the 996 version top on the new car.

Thanks for the info. I always debate whether I should get the add-on top or not...

Thank you for clearing up this mystery for me, as I had found a wide assortment of answers to this question. Can you advise what model year your 996 hardtop came from, as I understand there were some minor mounting hardware changes made between 99 and 04. Also, do you have the part numbers required for installation on the car? I assume they include everything necessary to have a functioning rear window defrost. Thanks again.

Thanks a lot. I have had that same question now for a while. As another poster suggests, the parts numbers for the 997 hardware would be much appreciated. Have tried a water test yet?

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Quote: Best guess for model year is '03 based on the info inside one of the interior side panels that needed to be reattached. Part numbers for the mounts that attached to the car are 996-561-653 -03 and 996-561-654-03. They run $ 122.11 a piece from Suncoast. They are marked left and right and the left mount contains the electrical connection for the rear defroster. The corresponding connection is already included from the factory on the 997's behind the roll bar on the right side. That part is plug and play. In Feb of 2005 the mounts and locks were changed to a screw type connection, the part numbers are the same as prior years only they in end in -04 instead of -03.

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Quote: The parts are not really car specific as the mounting parts I listed will fit on a 996 as readily as a 997. They correspond to the locking pins on the top. As for the water test, washed the car with the top on the other day and there were no leaks. Am also impressed with how much quieter the car is at speed with the top on.

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Quote: Here are a couple of better pics of the top on the car.

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Quote: What about the anchor points above the windshield? Does the hardtop use the same setup as the soft top? I had been advised last year that there was some kind of modification required to the 997 if it wasn't ordered with a factory hard top.

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Quote: thanks for the extra pictures. car looks great!

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Quote: All that is required is the installation of the rear mounts that receive the locking pins already mounted on the top. The windshield already has the female receiving points for the tabs on the front of the top. The top latch connects in the same location as the soft top latch.

Fantastic job!

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Quote: Thanks again for such a comprehensive review of this issue. If you had done this a year ago, I'd likely still have my cab, as one of the things I didn't like was the higher noise level on long freeway drives. All you need now is a nice electric hoist to deal with removing and installing the top on the car. If you go to Rennlist forum, Edgy01 has a great one he could tell you about. I think it may run around $700 or $800, but is very slick.

Guys, thanks for all the help as I lurked about for a while and have now, almost successfully completed this project. I have a couple of questions to see if anyone has encountered. I put a bayonnet style 2003 996 top on my 2008 997.1 after installing the parts with your help. Two things I've noticed is that the drivers' side goes in hard and is very sticky coming back out. IN fact, I've had trouble getting hte top off. Has anyone encountered this? Do ineed to grease it or something? It also does not seem to sit all the way down so that I can see part of the bayonnets and there seems to be an exposed lip around the entire back of the hardtop. Is this correct? My other question is whether the softtop knows that the hardtop is on when I operate the defroster or will my folded softop come out looking like a piecee of toast in the spring? Thanks for your help.

I'm about to perform this same mod myself so I do not speak from experience but from what I have read on multiple threads on this topic. As far as the bayonet sticking and/or seating hard-other forums recommend that you loosen the 3 bolts that hold the bracket that holds the bayonet to the top. Set the top in to place and turn the bayonet connectors to tighten them down. Then slowly tighten the 3 bolts on each bayonet bracket to tighten them up equally. This way you are essentially aligning the bayonet pins with the brackets on the car, then tightening them into place. I'm interested too about the response on the rear window defroster. I suspect this will not be an issue and that when the bayonet pin makes contact with the heater curcuit it probably interrupts the voltage to the soft top window. There may also be a position switch on the soft top that turns off the window heat when the top is lowered since it's possible to accidentally turn on the rear window heat when the top is lowered. Porsche would be paying a lot of warranty claims for damaged tops if they didn't address this in their design.

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Quote: The top is designed to sit above the body of the car to eliminate damage painted surfaces below it. Only the rubber seals are supposed to touch the body of the car. There is a TSB on RennTech that states the distance the top is designed to sit above all areas of the body of the car that the top covers. There is even special measuring tool for this that the dealer uses to make the adjustment. I used a wooden shim measured to be as close as possible to the spec, or just above it, and it worked fine. Adjustments are made to the pins themselves to raise and lower the top. Can be a tedious process but not difficult and the point is to make sure the top doesn't rub or contact the surface of the body of the car. As for the defoster, not sure what controls this but I have not had any issues with both of them coming on at the same time after three seasons of use. The process of installing and locking down the hard top disables the defroster on the soft top when the connection built into the driver side pin lock is activated.

looks great ! i thought about this as well.. but was unsure about how the interior will look since i have cocoa interior. what color is ur interior and what is the color of the hardtop interior ? pics from inside ? thx !

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Quote: My cars interiors is black. The interior of the top is a light to medium grey. Doesn't clash with the black and actually kind of lightens up the interior a little when it's on so I'm ok with how it looks. As for pics, top's in the basement. Will try and get some decent pics of it to show you but not sure how it will show up. As for changing the color, the interior pieces are prohibitively expensive so your best bet would be to A) live with whatever color the top came with (which if black would work fine) or B) use a good quality vinyl paint to change it to a more agreeable color. Only issue would be changing the head liner color which matches the rest of the interior of the top, I think ( will check that out and let you know for sure ) Not sure if they make a spray on fabric paint/stain but I bet if you Google it they do.

Dadio, or anyone else, I just picked up my 996 hardtop I bought used for $400. It's black/black and looks like new inside & out. One question: It only has one of those small round rubber cushions on the bottom of it. I saw where some of the guys had issues with paint damage from over tightening the tops down. But I thought I also read the round rubber cushions are what provide that separation and I thought I read there were 3 of them. Can someone confirm how many of those round cushions there are supposed to be? And if possible describe where they are located? I've also looked through the PET pages and I can't find a part number for these cushions if anyone can help on that one. TIA

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Quote: There are 2 on my top , located on either side near the locking pins. I looked for one in the center of the top near the back window, ( to confirm if there were 3 or not ) but there isn't one there nor does there appear that there ever was. While I believe the seals on the underside of the top are the only thing that comes in contact with the body of the car when the top is mounted, you're going to want to source another rubber cushion before mounting the top and driving the car just to be on the safe side as I don't suppose Porsche would have put them on the top if they didn't serve a purpose.

[quote=Dadio;3323489]There are 2 on my top , located on either side near the locking pins.quote] Thanks. Thats where mine is, must have fallen off on the other side though. Can anyone help with the part number for this? I've looked through the PET pages and can't find anything like this.