986 and 987 Frankenstein idea

[MikeMcMo]

For those not cool with the fried egg headlights, has anybody ever Frankensteined the front end of a 987 onto a 986? My fried eggs are irretrievably cloudy and I'm wondering what to do next. (Every time I use headlight cleaner, it makes less and less of a difference.)

If you wanted to replace your front quarter panels with those from a 987, you'd have to replace everything from the front of the doors forward, frunk and bumper and everything. But it looks like the 987 fenders would match up with the leading edge of the 986 doors.

And while I'm at it, what would you think if you saw the front end of a 911 from 1989 on a 986? Would be an unholy abomination, or the best Porsche front end combined with the best Porsche rear end? Or would it be both unholy and awesome?

[Outkasted]

From what i have read the 987 fenders are not a bolt on affair. I think the 911 front end would be great but it would also be extremely custom and costly.

[paulofto]

The 987 swap might be doable but the 964 or 993 would be a ton of work. Nothing appears compatible from the door line to the wheel wells to the fuel filler set up. It would look cool though. Also, there are not a lot of those front ends out there compared to 987s.

[Burg Boxster]

As many things...with enough time and $ anything is possible.

In this instance though, the juice is DEFINITELY not worth the squeeze. There's a lot more different b/w front clips of a 986 & 987 before you even get to panel fitment/match. A few on here did 986 to 996 front end conversions but even those w mostly identical underpinnings mind you took A LOT of work (and $).

As for headlight clouding... skip DIY shelf kits.

Instead, do a fine wet sanding of lens surfaces to get all the haze & yellow out. Then polish surface back to high gloss (use a good no/low filler polishes - multi-step - and w a buffer not a DA). When glossy take to a quality paint/bodyshop and get them to clear coat (they can easily do whilst finishing up another vehicle so cost is minimal). For good measure, after clear is cured for 30 days, add UV stable PPF film like XPel.

Good luck

[78F350]

Here's the details and parts list for you:
Official 986 to 996 Front-end Conversion Thread

But if it's just the headlights that bother you, there are covers for the fried eggs.

[MikeMcMo]

Originally Posted by 78F350

Here's the details and parts list for you:
Official 986 to 996 Front-end Conversion Thread

But if it's just the headlights that bother you, there are covers for the fried eggs.

Thanks for that. Incredible thread from Jeph there. Funny that the headlights themselves are the biggest expense.
Never loved the headlights but how badly they're clouding over is the main issue. I will try the remedy Burg Boxster proposed and then reassess.

[MikeMcMo]

Originally Posted by Burg Boxster

As for headlight clouding... skip DIY shelf kits.

Instead, do a fine wet sanding of lens surfaces to get all the haze & yellow out. Then polish surface back to high gloss (use a good no/low filler polishes - multi-step - and w a buffer not a DA). When glossy take to a quality paint/bodyshop and get them to clear coat (they can easily do whilst finishing up another vehicle so cost is minimal). For good measure, after clear is cured for 30 days, add UV stable PPF film like XPel.

Good luck

Thanks very much for that! I will do that and hope that gets me out of the woods.

[Radman]

I thought there was a shop in Europe somewhere that made custom 986 to 987 fenders that would bolt on. Big $ though.

Wasn't as much as I thought:

https://9lf.de/gb/body/159-986-987-996-front-fender-for-update-to-porsche-997-look.html

[MikeMcMo]

Originally Posted by Radman

I thought there was a shop in Europe somewhere that made custom 986 to 987 fenders that would bolt on. Big $ though.

Wasn't as much as I thought:

https://9lf.de/gb/body/159-986-987-996-front-fender-for-update-to-porsche-997-look.html

Yeah, but that's before shipping, and it looks like you'd still have to do the whole rest of the front end. Thanks for the link though.

[ike84]

Voila! Avery Dennison wrap and modified mini headlight bezels held in place with the super thin 3m molding tape.

You could get fancy with this and putty in the gaps between headlights and bumper (maybe an upgraded gt style would be in line with the 987 look) and then wrap it all as one "piece".

Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk

[MikeMcMo]

Originally Posted by ike84

Voila! Avery Dennison wrap and modified mini headlight bezels held in place with the super thin 3m molding tape.

Thanks for sharing. Looks great!