996-997 Conversion. Not a Facelift. A Full Conversion

To keep the backstory short, where I live import duties are in excess of 500+%. I have a 996 Cab which has been in my family for 20 years and hasn�t been driven for the last 13 or so. The car is in dire straits. I was wondering, ambitious I know, whether it would be possible to buy a 997.2 Turbo S Cabriolet abroad, strip it, and swap all of those parts on to my 996 cabriolet. And when I say everything, I mean everything from the front to the rear bumper and every removable part in between. Has anything of this sort been attempted before? What limitations would I run into in terms of chassis differences between the 2 generations. I�ve read that the chassis on both cars is largely similar with a few key differences being the mounting points and the uprights. Any and all information on these platforms would be greatly appreciated!

That sounds insane haha. and quite interesting/intensive. Why not just service the 996 with all new shiny and fresh parts? Either way, im sure its possible, pretty much anything is possible with enough elbow grease. a guy recently in the uk had done somewhat the same thing, but with 991 parts. If you do end up tackling this project, im sure i'll hear about it somewhere lol. good luck!

To be honest I�m not really keen on owning a 996 C4 Cab. I am instead more keen on a 500+ hp PDK AWD car with more modern accoutrements. I�d be willing to purchase the �donor� car as soon as tomorrow if I just get enough information on the restrictions I will face due to chassis differences. Do you have a link on the 996-991 conversion by chance?

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See DeJeepers build. He's an artisan of fabrication and that was just to get a a naturally aspirated Metzger engine in, then there will be electrical issues to die for. Drive and fully restore your convertible. Have a nice drink and a lie down.

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-1-s-3-8l.html Heres the link to the forum, the youtube video is also somewhere in that thread. Its pretty interesting what he did there.

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Theoretically there should be no electrical challenges Since I will be buying a 997 Turbo S and stripping it to bare metal. I will be taking the ECU,TCU, all looms and control modules with me.

So, you are just using/saving the tub/chassis and serial number from the 996............scrapping all the rest and rebuilding with with new or used 997 parts/996 where necessary .. Totally doable and labor intensive as F**K !! You really should be talking to the guy doing the "work" !!!, Because if he has all the parts he can piece it together the way you want.... Personally I would advice against the attempt because I don't think it will ever get "finished", either your "guy" will run out of time or you will run out of $$$$ . ( unless you hire Dejeeper to do it with an OPEN CHECK BOOK ) Good Luck !!

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Yes, I will use the chassis from the 996, buy a donor 997.2 and transplant everything from the 997 to the 996. All I need to know is whether or not everything will mount correctly and fit with little to no mods. Effectively what the fundamental chassis differences are. I am currently doing the same thing with a Porsche Cayenne, I had a 2012 Cayenne S Hybrid, bought a 2015 Cayenne Turbo in Japan and stripped it. Parts are in transit, but a much easier project since the 2012 and 2015 Cayennes are the same generation. They share the exact same chassis. Money is tight enough to prevent me from importing a 992 Turbo S @ close to a million dollars, but a couple hundred grand is something I will be happy to dish out for a project like this. Just need to know how different the two chassises are.

Here is my two cents... I would just restore the car as it is and be done with it. 1. Conversion will cost so much more than you expect in cash and the same goes for time. 2. The car will be worth less than a comparable 996 in good condition. There simply is not much of a market for a Frankin-car, so when the bug passes Usually at about 60% of the project), you may end up with an unserviceable car that takes up space. 3. There is no assurance such a project can succeed and it could be a financial rabbit-hole if it does and certainly if it doesn't. 4. 500+ HP is not everything it is cracked up to be. 5. How would you insure the car? You might get insurance, but if anything happens to it, you lose. In the US any damage that exceeds about 75% the going value of the car will be considered a total loss. Unless you get a policy for "agreed value" (good luck with that), the insurance company will simply look at it as a 20+ year old Porsche. That 75% threshold is probably somewhere between $15K to $20K in the US. 6. Handling performance will not be much better than a 996. You can easily upgrade the suspension on the 996. 7. You risk issues with importing and need to be very careful about any import duties for parts. Essentially, you are trying to import a disassembled car and your duty officers might force something unexpected, tying up your investment either temporarily or permanently. You may have to prove its authenticity that it is not a stolen vehicle. I believe the original car's VIN will be stamped somewhere on those parts. Again, you need to due diligence here. Of course, none of the above really matters as much (with the exception of point # 7) if you are doing this for the love of the project. You just need to weigh what matters most to you, driving a car or building a car. Just some thoughts.

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I appreciate your time and feedback, however most of these concerns do not apply in my home country. We do not insure any of our cars, we have converted over 45 regular Mercedes Benz cars to AMG�s through and through so getting parts in and out is no problem. The worth of the car is irrelevant, however due to the current account deficit and lack of foreign reserves in my country, importing new cars is difficult and pricey. I can almost certainly guarantee I will fetch double what I pay to create this franken-car. The demand will most certainly be there. 500+ HP absolutely is everything it�s made out to be, I drive a 992 GT3 (MT) in the UAE along with a few Ferraris. I need horsepower 🤣. The one fair point you make given the unique situation I find myself in is number 3; can such a project succeed?

It doesn't matter what the differences are, there will be numerous because it is NOT a direct swap. Any differences can be overcome by swapping over the metal/welding and you will not know what they are until you are committed to the project and DEEP in it... It would be better to ship the 996 over here to DeJeeper with a few hundred K$$$$$ and have him ship back what you want.... It will really fall on the guy doing the "work"...Good luck !!

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Fair enough, as the swap isn�t direct I think I�ll stick with my original idea of swapping a 996 Turbo S Cab onto this chassis. Appreciate your input and feedback!!

Ill add my 2 cents. It is very, very, very difficult to fit a turbo 996/997 motor into a narrow body car. Unless i misread u have a c4 not a c4s. If its a c4s its easier but not easy. A na gt3 motor is much easier..... the following is from my experience swapping a gt3 from from a 6-mk2 c4 (gt3) chassis into a 6-mk1 c2 chassis. On the chassis there is a firewall bump panel and the motor mounts r different but it can be swapped over from the donor. Other then that if u stay na all the parts will swap over with very little issue. Starting from the front of the car....if u go turbo and 997 all the rad/fan/condensor mounts r different. The fuel pump system is different and im not sure if the 997 tank will fit into a 996. I have yet to see someone try but u may just be able to use a 996t set up. Even if the fenders do fit the liners will have to modded. The entire abs system has to be swapped in. Moving to the interior, u will need to use everything that the canbus touches and that includes the cluster, the 997 dash does not fit into the 996 without a bunch of mods. U may also need to swap the srs (airbag) system as a whole? Again its integrated into the dash, seats and doors. It may fit but.a lot of the mounting points changed. Under the car all the pipes and hoses should fit but a bunch the mounting studs changed. The 997 also has more plastic panels and studs need to be added. Moving to the back.....the motor will fit with the firewall and motor mount mods but there is no way the intercoolers/tutbos will fit without a ton of fab. The underside of the rear decklid is different. The turbo declids r unique and wont fit your chassis. U may be able to get aftermarket. I would guess u will have to source gt3 or 996t small parts to get a good fit. im sure there is still a lot more but i dont really get into a lot of 997 cars so my knowdege is limited. Swapping a full 6-gt3 chassis over to 6-c2 took me about 100hrs of work and it was the same generation car. I would guess at least 2-300hrs into a turbo + different gen swap. Bottom line is if u want a project just do it and we will encourage and help u all the way through the journey.

Interesting thread. Makes the LS swap conversation seem like cake compared to this.

It's going to be bear of a project, but would be unique as much as a fascinating journey.

Send the engine to FSI or Hartech -- opt for the "full monty" Get a body kit or custom bodywork Wow out the suspension and interior Presto

Am I the only one wanting to know what this country is? Also, if we're going to be dodging the rules and getting into dark-grey legal territory, you might as well go all in and swap your VIN onto a 997.2 of your choosing..

Yeah, or taking it apart and putting it back together after shipping it into country.

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This reminds me of places like Singapore and Uruguay and Im sure many more. Hard to pinpoint

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Profile says LK = Sri Lanka.

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For those following, the YTuber is Mat Armstrong. Really good content. Here is the playlist for that build: You Tube

@ZM1984, I've seen crazier stuff on the internet. These kinds of swaps are soooo much easier when the donor and recipient cars are right next to each other in the shop. I have a few questions: 1: Don't you have to pay duty/taxes on the parts that in import as well? 2: Why not buy a "totaled" 997 Turbo and have the entire thing shipped over as a parts car? I imagine that this would be cheaper than paying for disassembly, packing, shipping, etc...of the disassembled car. Just ship one broken car over. And since you are taking everything off in your home country, you'll have an opportunity to replace or repair the thing that totaled the car in the first place. 3: Why not buy a 997 that's fine and damage it beyond repair yourself and ship over the "totaled parts car"? 4: Why not ship your car to the 997 country and pay someone there to do the swap for you then ship your upgraded car (with original VIN) back home.

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I was going to guess Albania, because gangster

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It would be easier to ... swap the VIN plates. I kid, I kid.

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lol I'm sure OP has had that thought. But, if the country is charging that much for imports, I would imagine that the jail time, if caught, is also equally prohibitive.