GT2 Front Conversion

[mjstallion]

I had Litronics before, so I'd like to keep them. Anyway here's a pic of my car:





Jephs, why was your out of pocket expense 2K, was your wreck not that bad? My bumper and both of my headlights are definitely gone, and my hood might be.

The way I see it, I'll likely have to spring for the fenders myself, but the rest should be covered. I had an AeroKit bumper anyway, so it's not like a GT2 bumper would be more expensive than the one I already had.

[nola911]

What about something like this....


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-986-Boxster-996-to-997-GT3-conversion-New_W0QQitemZ180195607392QQihZ008QQcategoryZ36475Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[rick3000]

From the looks of that picture, they might have to replace the passenger side fender. If it took the headlight clear off like that, there is obviously some bent metal, and you are probably going to have trouble getting the new headlight to fit with it having been yanked out. I am not sure, but that is what I think, based on that picture.

[Jeph]

Wow, that looks worse than my accident. I bet your insurance company will try to repair your fenders instead of replace them.

Your parts list may differ from mine slightly because your Boxster is an S.

Originally Posted by maxferran

What about something like this....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-986-Boxster-996-to-997-GT3-conversion-New_W0QQitemZ180195607392QQihZ008QQcategoryZ36475Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I love auctions that try to sell about 9 different products.

A couple of those looked interesting. (Nothing good for the 986 though.)

If Dracula drove a Porsche...

[djomlas]

post some pics when done

[Jeph]

Originally Posted by mjstallion

I had Litronics before, so I'd like to keep them. Anyway here's a pic of my car:

Jephs, why was your out of pocket expense 2K, was your wreck not that bad? My bumper and both of my headlights are definitely gone, and my hood might be.

I guess, now that I think about it, my wreck was WORSE than yours in order to cost less.

Almost every part of what I needed for this conversion was damaged in the accident. So my insurance covered the cost of what it would replace all those parts, Boxster style, and I only had to pay the difference. For example, insurance would cover something like $800 for the bumper, and the Carrera bumper cost $900. My cost, $100. Fenders were identical in price, so no charge for me there. The Litronics were the greatest price difference (maybe $400 each?). Then there were parts that the Boxster didn't have that the Carrera did, and a few parts that were different, but not damaged. Those added up, but weren't over the top or anything (fender lining, headlight brackets, headlight wiring harness).

Too bad about your fenders not being damaged. That could have really helped you out, cuz those are kinda expensive. The hoods are the same on the 2 cars, so that's not a factor in your price difference.

Find a good body shop that will work with you. I interviewed a couple before deciding (interviewed, visited, whatever). One shop seemed good, but their quote immediately was too close to my price point threshold. So if some unexpected costs showed up, I'd be over budget. The next shop I found was really interested in helping me out by getting the car how I wanted it, as well as finding good deals on parts and thus saving me money.

Now that I think about it, my out of pocket may have included my deductible too. Hmm. Not sure, this was about a year ago that I did my car.

[mjstallion]

Originally Posted by Jeph

Find a good body shop that will work with you. I interviewed a couple before deciding (interviewed, visited, whatever).

I think if I do this I would have to go with LA Dismantlers. I know they're overpriced but at least if I go with them I'm ensured they've done this conversion before. Bolt-on body kits often have fitment problems on their own, so I could imagine all the problems a shop would be running into if they were doing the entire conversion on their own for the first time.

I'm just hoping I can talk them down from their $4000 in labor costs.

[Jeph]

Originally Posted by mjstallion

I think if I do this I would have to go with LA Dismantlers. I know they're overpriced but at least if I go with them I'm ensured they've done this conversion before. Bolt-on body kits often have fitment problems on their own, so I could imagine all the problems a shop would be running into if they were doing the entire conversion on their own for the first time.

I'm just hoping I can talk them down from their $4000 in labor costs.

This isn't a bolt on body kit. These are Porsche parts for Porsche cars.

There's no cutting or fabrication that needs to be done with the exception of the headlight wiring harness. In fact, I think LA Dismantlers can make/sell you one. I have no idea how they are as a body shop, but any good body shop will line up parts properly and get the fitments right. This was the first time that the body shop I used did this particular conversion. It took a couple tries to get one of the headlights lined up, but other then that the process wasn't all that tricky.

My theory: I believe Porsche changed up the front end of the '02-'04 to look less like the Boxster due to complaints from Carrera owners, whose cars cost almost twice as much as the Boxster but were visually indiscernible from the front. Instead of doing an (expensive) entire front end redesign, a thorough freshening would be the ideal solution. So they changed lights and fenders. The change was relatively dramatic enough to distinguish the two cars now. Carrera owners are happy because it looks different now, Porsche is happy because the fix wasn't overly costly.

pg7170, welcome to the board. Post some pix of your car! We'd love to see it. But you have got to use complete words here. There are too many of us old school folks, like myself, that don't know or want to take the time to figure out the abbreviations. Also, mjstallion has a 550 Edition Boxster which means his rims came from the factory that color. Sweet, huh? I don't have any answers to your USA vs. Taiwan body kits. Try starting a new thread with that to see if you'll get more replies...

[yellowboxster01]

My conversion with labor was $5K. I bought the headlights used for $650 pair but, they're halogens, the fenders were bought new and I believe they were $350 each, the bumper was free and already speed yellow so that saved me a couple thousand. You may have a hard time justifying it when the bill arrives but, I absolutely love the look of my car now and it sets it apart. There's not a single one in town with the conversion and the closest person to me that I know of would be Jeph and he's a state away.

[Jeph]

Originally Posted by yellowboxster01

I absolutely love the look of my car now and it sets it apart. There's not a single one in town with the conversion and the closest person to me that I know of would be Jeph and he's a state away.

Even so, yellowboxster01 has the Turbo bumper, I have the Carrera bumper, and mjstallion could complete the tri-fecta* with th GT2 bumper.

What do you say mjstallion, what are your plans?
[commence peer pressure]

*I really don't know what a tri-fecta is.

[mjstallion]

I think I'm gonna go for that 997 GT3 look, that was posted earlier in this thread. So I'd like it to look something like this, although the headlights would be different:



My insurance adjustor is gonna come look at my car on Monday, so we'll see what he offers me. The bumper I had previously was the one that came with limited edition Spyders, so I'd imagine that the value of that would be comparable to the value of the new bumper I'd like.

Either way, I'm planning on completing that trifecta. I'll keep you guys posted with the progress.