996 to 997, should I?

This might be my first thread here. I bought a new to me 01 C2 Cab in the summertime and I had tons of fun with it. Mechanically the car is in great shape but cosmetically the car has seen better days, there is clear coat failure on the hood and a ton of small surface scratches around the vehicle. I have decided to get it vinyl wrapped by a local shop that is absolutely amazing with vinyl. The main point of this thread is to seek out the people that have gone through the conversion, how big of a heachace was it to fit? Polyurethane or fiberglass? Where did you purchase your kit and how did it all turn out? The original plan was to simply get the led headlights and taillights and some aero and wrap but if I am going through all the trouble it makes sense to just spend more and do the conversion. Any help is appreciated.

Why don't you just sell the 996 buy a 997? That's what I thought your thread was going to be about...

^^^Same here.

Don't do it, you will have a Frankenstein car. To me it just shows insecurity of owning a 996. Embrace the headlights...don't be ashamed of them

Agree with raging bull..it's like people that try and put a wide body on an older porsche to get that turbo look...doesn't do car any justice...

Have a little 996 pride. 996's outsold 993's 2.5 to 1. There is a reason for that, the 996 is a superior car. From a collectors viewpoint ya you want a 993. But if you want a driver... 996 all the way.

don't.

This sounds like "wing or not to wing" thread.

You will end up feeling like Hank Baskett did when he found out he was partying with a tranny. It's looks good on the outside, but under further investigation...it's just not right.

I think that if you are even thinking about doing that conversion for the reasons of the body being in need of work, why don't you take the car to a good body shop (recommended by your dealer or Indy, someone who knows their way around a P-car) and spend that cash on making your car right? And I don't know how much a good vinyl job is in your area but where I am it's getting close to paint job territory anyway. So getting the body fixed and then painted properly is probably going to be less expensive! Just my 2 cents.

You will cut your resale value in half if not make the car unsellable. Paint it, or just drive it the way it is and enjoy it until you or the next owner want to do what needs to be done...and is willing to do it the right way.

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+1. When I was looking to buy, I was only considering 996's (price). It just happened it was at the bottom of the market, end of Feb, and the dealer had an '05 they dropped ten grand off to clear it out,and it was exactly the color and options I wanted. The 996 is a beautiful car, every inch a Porsche. I would have been quite happy with one, and at least for my driving usage, I don't really notice a difference (my 997 is a 2wd 3.6L). The bodies are very close in appearance, the headlights of the 996 never bothered me. I like the dash of the 997 better but really, it's no bfd. I honestly don't see why the lack of love for the 996. I like it better than the 991 in fact. There is a top-notch wrap shop near me (they did a great job replacing my stone chip fender guards) but I really don't "get" it. Personally I would put the money toward a high-quality respray.

I agree that the value of you car will be considerably decreased by doing a conversion, but if it's what you want and you plan to keep it for a long time, then do what you want. Bottom line, it's your car and it should be the way you want it to be. Good luck either way.

Quotes source post: 11753568

LOL OP, I've done some extensive research on this which you can read if you search. First think about if you wanna spend $10k just to get round headlights up front. You can spend a little less than that but it will be a headache and won't look 100%. The ideal situation for this is if you own a body shop and have access to a 997 front clip from an auction or dismantled for cheap.

From what I heard the conversion kits are never 100% perfect fit (in particular the FRP ones). And for $10k, as others have mentioned, you could sell your car and get an actual 997.

Have heard horror stories form people who have done the conversion - could not sell it, didn't look right etc etc. Get a good paint job and be done with it. Probably cheaper in the long run. or just drive the hell out of it. Ferry would have wanted it that way.

Your problem is you are calling it clear coat peeling and scratches. That decreases the value. Call it patina and it will increase the value. Trust me I watch a lot of the velocity channel.