Trying to freshen up my 997 after years of daily driver/track use.

[TripleInboard]

I have owned my C2 for 3.5 years and it has been a fantastic ownership experience. Twice it has been back and forth from Texas to Canada, and it has spent countless hours on the track in both countries. Being that it was my daily driver it carries with it a lot of stories and some peculiar maintenance/service records. Engine replacement, radio replacement, air conditioning control replacement, and radiator fan malfunction are some of the more significant services it has had performed; but looking at what the car has gone through day in and day out it is remarkable that it isn't the above items x 2. This has been such a great car that has seen so much, and thus I can't bare the thought of selling it. I have decided to freshen it up and make it a sunny day weekend cruiser. I started the project by putting it in the body shop (Stuart's Paint and Body in Dallas), with the request that they go over the car and take out all of the dings/imperfections, and to make it look new again. In addition they installed the aero bumper, powder coated the wheels gloss black, and painted the mirrors, gt3 vent, and lip on the front bumper gloss black as well. It was the first time I had seen a 997 with the front lip and gt3 vent painted gloss black and I am really pleased with the result. Finally, 7mm and 17mm spacers were added to make the wheels a bit more flush with the fenders. The next area I would like to address is the brakes. The rotors on the car need to be replaced, and the calipers have faded from black to gray, so I would like to change out the brakes on all four corners to something a bit more aggressive and visually appealing. There are some great brake systems out there from Brembo, but their cost and my desired use of the car makes me want to explore other options first. For years I have seen the VW/Audi guys using Porsche brakes on their cars at a cost that is much cheaper than the Brembo kits. For instance, this company has a kit that allows Audi owners to put 6 piston Cayenne calipers on their cars: http://www.jhmotorsports.com/shop/ca...roducts_id=459 Yet I can't seem to come across anything that is similar for our cars despite the fact that these are Porsche brakes to begin with. For those that are in the know about the brake systems on the various 997 models, is it possible to bolt up rotors and calipers from a GT3 or a C2S onto a C2? If it isn't, what is the factor preventing this? If it is possible for the brake systems on these 2WD models to be interchangeable it seems that this would be a much more cost effective means to obtain my desired results. Attached are a few pictures of the car in its current condition. I can't take credit for taking the second picture as it was found on the internet after a cars and coffee meet in Dallas. Thanks in advance for your help with the brakes and have a great week!

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[lakercarrera]

beautiful car, I like the look of the bumper with out the wing

[NorthVan]

The black air vent looks great. Good for you bringing it back to new, most would strip it and make it a track toy.

[J.Seven]

Glad to know you´re happy with your ownership experience, but I find it strange after so many problems being an engine replacement the major, you´re so happy with it. I dumped my 996 for much less, being the engine replacement reason enought for it, but I had to pay for the replacement myself, round here the warranty is only two years, so it makes a difference.
For the last 11 years I´ve been hearing about this M96 engine replacements, I reeally can´t understand how the hell Porsche couldn´t solve this issue along the years.

It´s great you have the spirit to keep on improving your car, it looks great, but I couldn´t do the same after Porsche let me down , although I had have made all the efforts to have an open mind, I just couldn´t trust anymore this M96 equipped cars, so I became Porscheless for the last years.
Now the 997.2 DFI is out, I gave Porsche another chance and bought one, just hope this time I wont be let down again.

Congrats on your car, and your ownership experience feelings.

[evolveC4]

Great to see you keep a car that you have made so many memories with,
in our throw away society it is rare occurance.

[Kaz]

Originally Posted by TripleInboard

For those that are in the know about the brake systems on the various 997 models, is it possible to bolt up rotors and calipers from a GT3 or a C2S onto a C2? If it isn't, what is the factor preventing this? If it is possible for the brake systems on these 2WD models to be interchangeable it seems that this would be a much more cost effective means to obtain my desired results.

Car looks great.
To answer your brake upgrade question yes you can bolt up C2s and turbo rotors to your C2 as long as you also upgrade the front end knuckle to the C2S knuckle. I actually bought a used gt3 brake setup with your exact idea in mind... to have a less expensive than brembo brake upgrade to my C2. It turned out that everything worked except the gt3 rotors which had to be interchanged with the turbo rotors. PM me if you have any questions.

[Kevganzon]

Wow, i love the color/wheel combo.

[Nexus-6]

Stuarts does FANTASTIC work - can't beat them. I've used them for a number of smaller things over the years (hood resprayed on my M3, a few motorcycle parts after a, ahem, unfortunate experiment with gravity).

Car looks wonderful - I love that shade. Reminds me of my ol' Estoril Blue Z3 M Coupe. Sniff.

[CanuckC4S]

The car looks great! Nice colour combo, the black highlights set it off. Just like having a brand new car!

[buckwheat986]

Great car and story.

Have you considered repainting the calipers.

[nota_troll]

Nice looking car. Where in Texas are you? I'm a cobalt blue owner in Houston. Maybe I'll see you at TWS sometime.

[Rennsport-1]

In regards to the brakes you can powder coat your Calipers ( Red, Glossy Black or Color Match ) and then upgrade your rotors with a set of GiroDiscs/RSS. We have had excellent feedback from our customers on these two piece beauties. Please pm me for more details. I think this will be a great substitute for your Brembo idea.

[TripleInboard]

Thanks everyone for the kind words. Its great having a group to share our passion with.

NorthVan997C2S, I will admit the thought did cross my mind. However, the cost to add all of the safety and performance systems I would like, and the desire to continue to enjoy it on the street were the primary deterrents. I do love being on the track though. I just created a youtube account and uploaded a video of a lap around Motorsport Ranch in North Texas. I will post it up in a new thread.

Rennsport-1 and Buckwheat986, that is definitely a great alternative, but I would like to pair the rotor replacement with a caliper upgrade too. I think I am going to try the GT3 brake upgrade with the C2S hubs per Kaz's suggestion.

Originally Posted by nota_troll

Nice looking car. Where in Texas are you? I'm a cobalt blue owner in Houston. Maybe I'll see you at TWS sometime.

I am currently and for a lot of the year off and on in Canada, but when in Texas I divide time between Dallas and Houston. I grew up in Houston and am very fond of that city. It has been a few years since I was last at TWS, but that is a fantastic track. Lots of fun!

[CHAOS236]

Paint the calipers red with new decals after a rebuild and put on a new hood badge,you will notice the difference !

[///MJFDDS]

Car looks really nice!! I really like the black / blue combo!!