OK chaps, thanks for all the positive feedback. Yes I collected my car today. I am going to put together my next instalment as usual but I will post a couple of photos so you can see how it looks now. Needless to say I am very happy with the results. Tech9 and Road & Race did a fantastic job.




Thought I'd put in a photo with the badges on so people can see how they look and get the comments out of the way! New Kline Inconel tailpipes fitted also!

 

car came out sweet.

 

Oh yes! No intention of changing that. One of the reasons I bought the turbo over a GT2 was that AWD. When I bought my turbo there wasn't that much difference in price between turbo and GT2. Having said that had a bought a GT2 back then I probably would have sold it by now to cash in as they've gone up £100,000 in three years!

 

At the moment it has standard struts and TechArt lowering springs but KW anti roll bars. That is all about to change though. I've just had quotes for a new setup. One is the TechArt coilover kit with built in front axle lift. This system is based on B16 Damptronics for Bilstein but with their own valving. I'm told it's a step up from standard Damptronics system. The other system I can't recall the name right now but another GT2 owner who had his car in Tech9 has had this system fitted and they say it's 'far superior' to the Damptronics kit. It has no axle lift though. Both systems are around the same price.

 

I think that's the system I couldn't remember the name of. You can program it with a laptop I'm told.

 

There's a guy on PH owns a silver GT2, massively modified and he's just fitted it to his car. Tech9 are saying good things. They said it's very comfortable and yet compliant and excellent in the corners. Sounds right up my street. Kit is about £5,500 plus fitting and VAT.

 

Long time coming


The journey to convert my car is nearing its end. It’s really been quite the epic one as well. The front end required the most parts of the entire job and it took me quite a while to get everything together. The GT2 bumper was stored in my garage for over a year whilst I collected all the other parts. But of course as with every other part of this build, there were quite a few other parts, which I had no idea I would need that popped up during the installation at the garage. Some parts were tiny and at the same time strangely expensive for what they are.

The vast majority of parts were as usual OEM bought either from Porsche Wilmslow or Teile.com in Poland. One rather large part that is not OEM in the Bonnet, which was purchased from LWS Design. At a cost of £1000 it was five times less expensive than an OEM one. Built to order it took almost two months to be delivered but on inspection it looked excellent. It would however require a slight modification to fit but more of that later.

The job entails removal of the bonnet, front wings, front bumper, centre turbo radiator, inner wheel arches and the ducting around all three front radiators. The DRLs and headlight washers would be transferred to the new bumper but everything else would be replaced with new GT2RS parts. This included:
The carbon, flared front wings, Bumper, Lower bumper winglets, Inner arches, Centre radiator and ducting Carbon bonnet, Wider side repeaters.

Parts laid out pre installation


All parts to complete the job

Parts ordered from Teile.com
997.505.901.80 GT2 Bumper x1
997.575.327.80 GT2 Blade Grill x1
997.505.563.81 GT2 Grill Left x1
997.505.564.81 GT2 Grill Right x1
997.505.541.81 GT2 Grill Middle x1
997.505.557.81 GT2RS Spoiler lip x1



Parts ordered from Porsche:
996.106.802.15 Parts of engine cooling x3
900.378.035.01 Hexagon-Head BO x2
996.106.802.17 996T/997T Retaining spring x2
999.591.882.01 Speed Nut x2
997.106.635.80 Water Hose x1
997.106.632.80 Water Hose x1
997.575.141.80 Air Duct x1
997.504.489.81 Air Duct x1
997.504.123.80 Wheel Housing L x1
997.504.124.80 Wheel Housing L x1
997.504.487.80 Frame x1
997.504.485.81 Retaining Frame x1
997.504.204.93 Wheel Housing Liner x1
997.504.204.93 Wheel Housing Liner x1
997.044.850.04 Wing Set Carbon x1
930.113.430.00 Mounting x4
997.631.033.90 Direction Indicator x1
997.631.034.90 Direction Indicator x1
997.505.366.A2 Wheel Cover x1
997.505.365.A2 Wheel Cover x1


Parts I had to buy during the time the car was at Tech9 that initially didn’t know about: Ducting for left & right radiators, Support panel, Air distributor, left & right.

999.591.882.01 Speed Nut x2
997.575.231.91 Air Distributor x1
997.575.232.91 Air Distributor x1
997.505.585.81 Support Panel x1
999.073.252.09 Oval Head Screw x2
997.505.560.81 Support x1
997.505.559.81 Support x1
999.507.696.00 U Clamp x21
997.341.483.92 Spoiler x1
997.504.303.80 Spoiler x1
997.504.304.80 Air Duct OSF Arch Li x1
997.341.484.92 Spoiler x1
996.512.987.00 Adjusting Screw x2
999.703.019.40 Lid x4
997.512.611.01 Gasket x1



Carbon Bonnet – LWS Design x1



Break down of front bumper assembly


I'd also be fitting Michelin Cup Sport 2 tyres. At a cost of about £1100




Initially I was going to use the steel front wings and add the winglets as the carbon wings were so expensive (£3500 each), I just couldn’t justify the cost. Over the time I was collecting parts (approx. 12 months) I would change my mind repeatedly on this but eventually Alistair, head of parts at Wilmslow brought to my attention that Porsche now offered the carbon wings as a set at the amazing bargain price of £3,600 the pair! Whilst still wildly expensive at half of what I was originally thinking the cost would be it seemed like a good deal and would look much better on the car. When the GT2RS was sold, the carbon wings were a cost option, however for reasons that are unknown to me, all the cars sold in the UK had the carbon wings as standard. And on every replica I have seen online or in person people go with the cheaper option of winglets (some just fitting the winglets to the standard turbo wings).

Winglet Vs Carbon Wing




A bare carbon wing


Even though I was fitting the carbon wings I would still need the lower winglets that fit onto the bumper. These are one of the items that get me mad, as Porsche charge an incredible £240 +VAT (£570 the pair). Some of the parts like the carbon wings are expensive but at least you can see what goes into them and that they are made from expensive material and go through a time consuming process. But these winglets or ‘Wheel Covers’ as Porsche call them, are just small, plastic strips. I was told you could buy the motorsport winglets and cut off the indicator blanks. So I tried to go down this route but was unable to get a pair in the time frame. If you were considering doing this and can get them, that’s the way to go as they are £150 each.

One of the lower Winglets I begrudgingly purchased


The car went in to Tech9 and the job started. I went to Road & Race independently and arranged the painting. I felt I could get the best deal this way as Tech9 sub contract any painting to them anyway. The car was stripped and the body panels were dry fitted to make sure everything fitted properly. They were concerned about the bonnet and a bit of fiddling was needed to line everything up but nothing major. The last thing I wanted was to send everything in for paint and then find something didn’t fit. Once the dry fit was sorted the car was transported to Road & Race in Manchester. There was quite a long delay as they had people off work and an issue with one of the paint bays but eventually the car had a slot.

Car being dry fitted of parts and Richard from Tech9 (right) explaining things


Road & Race do work for Porsche OPCs Bolton and Wilmslow, so you know the paintwork is going to be a high standard. Also because they are Porsche approved, the paint is under warranty. This means you could take the car to any Porsche approved body shop afterwards and have any warranty work done if it was required. They are also approved for other marques such as BMW and Mercedes. And my visit to their shop saw all kinds of cars in there including a Porsche Cup racing car that had been in a bit of a smash the previous weekend. They are also in the middle of a restoration project of a Porsche 924 Le Mans car for the Porsche Museum in Germany. This I find to the best endorsement for Road & Race as Porsche don’t let just anyone carry out work for their museum.

Road & Race shop floor






I was lucky enough to be there whilst my parts were being painted. The bumper and wings were on stands, but the doors needed to be blended so the car was also in there. The car had three coats of black paint and the job was completed with lacquer. Afterwards all the parts would be polished before the car was returned to Tech9.

Parts getting paint




Once back at Tech9 the assembly began. During this phase we realised there were various small parts missing. I was expecting this as it’s happened at every point of the conversion. This caused a few delays each time they realised they needed to order something purely because the parts had to be ordered and delivered from Germany each time. It’s all in the build process and you need to allow for it. It was just frustrating for me because I was so desperate to see the car. Some of the parts that needed to be ordered were such as a strengthening bar under the bumper & the brackets for holding the headlight washers in place. More crazy prices, the bar being £140 and the little brackets for the washer jets £80 each!

Support bar (33 on above diagram). A snip at £140!



Brackets for Washer jets


One thing that didn’t go to plan was the rear spoiler blade. After waiting for over 6 weeks for delivery it came with a gloss finish rather than the satin the advert showed. So it just so happened the car was already at R&R when it arrived so I took it with me when I visited and asked them if they could finish it in satin. ‘No problem’ was the response. Unfortunately because my car was already in the paint booth I could test fit it prior to having it re-lacquered. Once the car was back at Tech9 they told me it didn’t fit. It was warped on each plane and actually too short. The day I collected the car they showed me how bad the fit was. It has since been returned to Knight Racer for a refund.

Difference between standard Turbo and GT2RS front





So five weeks after my car went in I get the call that my car is ready for collection. Unfortunately I couldn’t make it to the garage before they closed that evening so I would have to wait one more night before I could collect it. Phil from Tech9 sent me a photo to keep me going but I think that made it worse! Seeing the car looking so good I just wanted to see it for myself. Next morning I was up at the crack of dawn and got myself down there ASAP. The car didn’t disappoint, it looked fabulous sitting outside the workshop.

The majority of the conversion is now complete. Only one more job needs to be carried out which is removing the sunroof mechanism and replacing the roof skin. I’m also thinking about Lexan rear screen and side windows (but I’m not sure at the moment). That is the final phase of the cosmetic conversion. There is however a number of other changes coming. Suspension is on the list including an axle lift, a rear roll cage, RSS engine mounts, a clutch change (possibly LWFW) and eventually GT2 turbos.


Links
Road & Race http://www.road-and-race.com
Tech9 http://www.tech9.ms
Teile.com http://teile.com
Porsche Wilmslow http://www.porschewilmslow.co.uk/
Tyre Leader http://tyreleader.co.uk

Completed car

 

Beautiful job done without cutting corners. Enjoy it safely. The only thing I would have done is skip the "GT2RS" badging since.....it's not a GT2RS.

 

Yes I know it's not one, but thanks for letting me know! Building an identical car and puting a sticker on it is the same thing.

Ultimately it makes me happy. When I build one for you I'll be sure to leave the sticker off.

 

Didn't mean to ruffle your feathers. I was paying your car a complement. It's magnificent. I didn't go through the whole thread but did you swap out the engine, gearbox, suspension, and brakes with GT2RS components also? How did you get around the electrical issues of deleting the TT front drive system? Lot of guys have tried it without much success. Again, nice work!

 

Glad you like it. The process was a cosmetic one. I wouldn't see the point of swapping those components other than the suspension. The engine is almost identical and capable of the same power output, and mine is modified already and the brakes are the same PCCBs as on the GT2RS. I'm fitting a new suspension system next.

As for converting the AWD system, no I didn't do that because I wanted to keep it.

 

Forgot to add this photo of my Kline Inconel tailpipes. Love them!

 

VTGs are on my list!

 

I don't want to sacrifice the usability of the car to make gains high up over 150mph, i.e. loads of lag etc. I certainly am going to go for the turbos at some point, I just need to research that aspect of modifying them. Never actually ever seen a GT2RS on the road!

 

This is what I mean, it seems for what I do with the car I might already have the best setup. I like the point you made about being able to tune the hybrids to spool super fast up to 150mph.