996 to 997 conversion

I was wondering if anyone has done the 996 to 997 conversion of the front end ? I saw that there is a german company that offers it, but I was unable to find a price for the kit nor any idea how feasable the project is. Thanks, Mike

It is feasable. I have seen pics of a couple of conversions. But why would you want to? For the $$$ invilved, sell the 996 and get a 997.

IMHO, if you want a 997 buy one, don't muss up your 996. If you must.....Total 911 magazine has info on the conversion.

A company sells this type of kit on ebay. The price is given! Cant recall!

I was considering the 997 conversion but decided to keep it to 996. Ray S, you are right, I'll buy a 997 when I can afford, in the mean time, I'll keep the 996 as it is. Below are some link you can look at: http://www.design911.co.uk/index.htm?Region=UK http://www.betterbodiesmotorsport.com/996face.htm

better just to upgrade to the 997. otherwise upgrade/facelift your 996 with an aerokit.

for the money...... save up for a 997........

Agree a 996 is a nice looking auto on its own, the 997 is really just a nicer looking 996 with some modest updates to the interior, exterior and a bump in engine. If I had the choice yes I would rather have a 997 but I bet 90 out of 100 people could not tell the difference unless the cars were sitting side by side. I will just continue to enjoy my 996.

I don't really understand why people do these hybrid body upgrades, like an 02' facelift on an early 996 or a 997 conversion to a 996. Normally people do this because they can't afford the newer car, but in reality this is the poorest thing they can do financially. The resale is lower, not higher, with an out of series body swap. No Porsche dealer wants one as a trade. So you are paying a significant amount of money to lower the value of your car when you could just instead invest that money in the later car. It costs less than 10K these days to move up from a 99-01' to a 02' and an 04' to an 05' 997, plus you get all the chassis and drivetrain improvements that go with it.

Rountreed...except for the Porsche enthusiasts who will be buying the car, or more likely not buying the car from you after you mess it up.

The 996 '02 and up don't look dated compared to the 997. It is "dated" in the performance dept however. Save your $. That's a lot of money you're going to be spending for pure aesthetics that's not necessarily an upgrade. If you love it enough, like others have said, just buy the new one.

I would consider the 02'-04' dated in styling, not performance compared to the 997. The 997 is a modified 996 chassis built with a wider track. It uses the same engine with minor intake and exhaust plumbing changes which give it 5 hp more power, but no more torque. Performance figures from Porsche are identical in acceleration (0-60 mph, 0-100 kph, 0-200 kph and top speed). The 997S has the exact same acceleration figures from Porsche as the previous 996 X51. It does have an updated exterior and interior styling as well as some extra chassis stiffness and the additional weight that goes with it. Evolutionary, not revolutionary. The next generation 998 will be an all new car: new chassis, body, engine, suspension and brakes.

Key word "LOOK" And performance is most definitely dated And I am much more excited about the 998 than the 997 which gives me more time to enjoy my 996

997 is ugly, notice its always photographed from the back?. Particularly the 997 GT3. Looks like if a Mazda RX8 and VW Beetle had a kid. Not a fan of the Cayenne interior in the 997 either. 996 02-04 is modern and will never be mistaken for VW. Best 911 design ever in my lowly opinion.

NavyC4S either you did not read what I wrote or I did a bad job! I would never chnage the looks of my 996 outside of a 996 GT3 front and skirts. I do not have a 997 and do not wish for my 996 to look like a 997 but if I could swap cars for the same money I would. I just like the looks of the 997 better but again I do not think the average person knows. Cheers

I saw a black 997 GT3 roll by me the other day... it's incredibly awesome looking. I love it. ANd let me clarify... i don't like VWs of any variety.

Considering that this is a hybrid thread, here are my comments: 1. I like the 997 front end better than the early and late 996. It is very well integrated and the new headlights give a much clearer look to thr fornt end. 2. I like the 996 back end better than the 997. The problem with the 997 back end is it looks awkward because none of the lines line up. The tails lights, decklid, bumper and spoiler all have different lines. Everything on the back of a 996 lines up evenly. The 996 split white/red tail lights are a huge step up from the white in red tail lights of the 997. I also don't like the look of the 997 rear spoiler when it is open as it looks like it is only partically open. 3. I like the curve shapes of the 996 dash better than the 997, which looks very flat. The 996 dash actually looks more modern. 4. The 997 instruments are far better than the 996. Not only do you get more information at any time, the whitish-blue tint is a huge improvement over the 996 safety orange. 5. I like the 996 door panels a lot better than the 997. With the 997, they narrowed the center of the body which made the doors thinner. As a result, they had to remove the side airbags and relocate them to the seat. Since the airbags are in the seats, you lose them if you go to GT3 seats. The door pockets are much smaller and they have those cheap old-style 911 armrest lids. They also use those cheaper (almost Ford cheap) speaker grills. I love the look of the 996 door panels. The storage compartments are great and the entire shape of the door is very well integrated. 6. The 997 has much nicer seats. The base 997 seats are bolstered more than the 996 sport seats. The materials are also better. Bottom line is I am 50/50. I would not rush out an buy a 997 as an upgrade, but if anything happened to my 996 it would most likely get replaced with a 997 because they are newer. So far I am not happy with the changes to the fornt end styling of the 08' refresh, but the back end appears to fix many of the issues with the current styleing.

i saw the rear of a 997 GT3RS in Venice Beach, Ca... it was sweeeet!!! even w/ the orange accents on it. (the car was black)

I agree with 02Carrera in most of the points: I prefer the front of the 997 and the back of the 996 too. If you can buy a 996 for about 25 to 30 thousand Euros nowadays, and the cheapest 997 costs at least twice as much, I do not think it is just a "sell and buy" thing. As I understood the 997 bumper and fenders are simply a bolt-on update. Then why not? You can always put the originals back on and the spare parts keep their value. When you sell the car one day, you can simply sell the update kit on ebay.