Afraid of Body Kits

I'm interested in purchasing a body kit for 2003 996 Cabriolet. I do not have any particular type in mind as I'm still researching. The prices range from that's a good price to super damn!!! A recurring theme that I'm experiencing in the Northern VA area, body shops do not, I say again, do not like installing after market body kits. They say they are a friggin nightmare in regards to proper fitment. When they do agree to take on the installation, they give a precautionary price of super damn just in case they run into fitment issues. My question to the enlightened forum; is there a vendor and/or kits that require minimal fitment work? This will get me in the ball park to help me decide which direction I want to go. Thanks 911STYL

If you like the Aerokit look, it might be worth buying the bumper and sideskirts from Porsche. Mine came with the Aerokit front bumber. Complete sideskirt kits (with installation hardware) are available from Porsche for as low as $662. https://www.google.com/search?q=000-...e=UTF-8I'm not sure how much a bumper is. Let me look for the part number and see.

It's like $5900 for an aerokit II set - https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/00004480202.html - plus paint. MSRP $8302.

Front bumper is 996-505-980-02 I can't find it for a cheap price.

If it were me, and you want something GT3-like, I would mix and match. I kinda did/am doing that with mine. I have an actual Porsche Aerokit II bumper(Came with the car) and plan on getting actual Porsche Aerokit II sideskirts too. My "Taco" rear spoiler/deck is actually a used (and repainted) MSShaw Aerokit I Spoiler that I picked up from the classifieds here on Rennlist recently. Since I bought it used, a lot of work was already done to make it fit right. I just had to have it painted to match, which cost me a little over $500. The sideskirts would be worth buying from Porsche, the rest you would save money going with Duraflex or MAShaw. I don't know what Duraflex quality is like. I don't know how much work the MAShaw would take either. http://mashaw.biz/wingsandtailbases996.asp http://mashaw.biz/996GT3FrontBumper00.asp

PO of my car added a mix of Porsche and Techcart pieces...looks "right" on the car and zero fitment issues.

I just went through some of this regarding body kits. One thing you want to keep in mind is the material used to fabricate the part. Fiberglass is very rigid and most often these parts need a fair amount of prep work. Duraflex is a little more flexible but from what I have investigated typically don't fit as well. Last option is polyurethane. These are typically very flexible. I purchased a front bumper from NR Auto. These are polyurethane and have a pretty good fitment with minimal prep work needed. My body shop was resistant on installation. They did an excellent job painting the bumper and I did the installation. It took me about 5 hours to mount the mesh grills, install the bumper and install the side marker lights. Overall the fit is quite good. I was able to maintain an even gap at the frunk and the sides.

I also traveled down this road, back in 2005 with my Targa - I picked up a new bumper and wing from Vivid Racing, the car came with Side Shirts, local shop installed and it looked great, but over time the quality began to show, that is one of the many reasons I bought my C4S - the me, it's the best looking 996 model. Just be mindful, if you pay cheap, how good can it truly be, although 8K for a body kit from Porsche is insane.

RDL, that's beautiful! I'd love to see more pictures!! Is that Midnight Blue?

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I definitely like your front bumper. Will research it today. I think I will piece meal the rest. It seems kits are very expensive.

Some look great but don't expect to get any money back come resale time!

I have bought kits in the past and have never been 100% happy with them so I started making my own. this is my third car now that I've done it for and I am much happier. poly kits will cost a ton cuz it takes so much to make the molds for a part like that. duraflex is ok but like stated... they don't fit well at all. easy to get very frustrated making there stuff work. A body shop is not going to be happy with one of theirs as well and will most like take out there frustration on your install plus they charge so much for the work. the bmw in the pic is my brothers and he paid $10k for that kit to be installed on top of the $17k price of the kit it self... its not that great of a job and the kit ... plenty of flaws to where he's had to have it painted twice. I still have the molds from making my kit for the Porsche.. if its not to flashy for ya. https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...wide-body.html

TexSquirrel, I'll get more pics as soon as I have a chance. Ever since I completed the install it's been raining. I think the color is Zenith Blue Metallic. 911STYL, Kits are expensive. Be careful if you buy a polyurethane kit. Look for a company that ships full dimension. It will cost more, but other companies roll the parts up and stuff them in a small box. They unroll in the sun, but add to the fitment difficulty. ttt123, I love what you have done and have followed the threads on your build. I'm a total novice with body kits. This one seemed to be rather easy of an install. It was also 1/2 the cost of a factory Aero kit from Suncoast.

ttt123, I love what you have done and have followed the threads on your build. I'm a total novice with body kits. This one seemed to be rather easy of an install. It was also 1/2 the cost of a factory Aero kit from Suncoast.[/QUOTE] Thanks, love the color on your car. I'm painting a car for my wife and purchased a blue very close to that.

As requested here are a few more pics.

I intend on contacting NA Auto on Monday. I�ve made my selection but I have several questions based on the guidance you guys provided. Hopefully they will give me the right answers. 911STYL

911STYL, Good luck, I hope they can answer your questions. They weren't great at answering mine. Most of the answers were left to the body shop. NR seems to fabricate and leave it to the installer. I ended up installing mine and am very pleased with the end result. If you get a bumper from them I may be able to help with questions.

911STYL, How did it go with NR? Were they able to answer your questions?

Yes they answered everything the way I needed. I intend ordering two pieces from them tomorrow. One thing that did surprise me, they make to order. I thought there was a shelf of equipment somewhere but once it�s ordered then they make it. I�m told they can make everything I want in a week which isn�t bad. 10% discount as well!!!

Crap, how did you get a discount?

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Beautiful car. I love your kit. I have been eyeing this kit for the past year, and I think I am ready to pull the trigger on it. Do you have any other pictures? Do you have any problems with scraping the lip? My car is lowered and I am worried about the lip being too low for me.

Professorman, Thanks for the complement. The lip is rather low and if i'm not careful it does scrape. So far it has not been an issue for me. The good thing is the lip is a VERY flexible polyurethane or rubber material. It detaches from the bumper cover with a series of screws. It seems to be easily replaceable, however it may need to be obtained from NR. You can find this kit on ebay for much cheaper, but these are re-sellers that roll the bumper cover up and ship it in a small box. Beware this distorts the bumper and makes install more difficult. Good luck. Rick

I had this bumper installed by a local body shop that specializes in Porsche, they told me it took a bit of adjustment but nothing drastic.