Note sure if this has been suggested before.

To extend an idea started in this post: https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...onversion.html



borrowing some pics from other 6speed postings.

thoughts on the following:

Make a one piece fender that covers the headlight leaving only ovals, leaving a portion of the headlight exposed. Fog light could be re-wired if required to LED strip or equivelant. Delete the headlight washer.



stick on ring trim to fuse the gaps.




May be a bracket could be made to mount the light to the car first and fenders go ontop. If possible, bracket allows headlamp rest slightly lower on trunk edge side allowing room for modified fender align to trunk lid. swapping bulbs will be a hassle but perhaps the fenders could be designed to come off easily


while at it, why not make wide fenders +15mm that provide mounting points for OEM fender liners to reattach.

 

I'm interested. Yellow car looks like it has it already(?)

 

just photochopped. yellow car is a recent member post. it has the headlight covers.

Any aero vendor comments on feasibility? Pretty sure there'll be enough interest to do a group buy.

 

I like the idea of the yellow car. I prefer our head lights, but having the option of changing our head lights to the classic look occationally is pretty cool too.

 

Honestly, I think the 996TT headlights look great! They changed because they got so many complaints, but most of those complaints came from the fried egg headlights from the early 996's that were shared with the Boxster because 1. they weren't the most aesthetically pleasing and 2. 911 owners DO NOT want to have the face of the car look exactly the same as a lower end car. They paid a premium and they want everyone who's in front of them to know it. If the 996's had come with the 996TT's headlights to begin with (they eventually changed to them in '02) I'm sure the complaints would have been to a minimum.

 

All of this is a great idea and completely do-able. I looked into this and the only thing holding me back are the fenders. If I could get someone to do some custom sheet metal work so there was a proper round/oval head light opening, then I'd be home free. I even found a way to modify the headlights and update them to HID at the same time while using the old hardware for connection. Just now trying to find someone to do the fenders.

 

mad ness,

love the thought put into your post.

only thing is for vendors and prospective upgraders, it would probably be cheaper to acutally do the 997 front end rather than fab up custom fenders and the additional parts.

to do a 997, you have to have...

lights, hood, front bumper, fenders

to do this 996 custom job, you have to have...

lights, fenders, custom fabbed mounts, and whatever else it would entail...

im guessing that most vendor/shops would either jack the price up to recoup the cost of the r&d that it would probably be cheaper to do the authentic 997 front end. not to mention that you could still salvage parts from the conversion to offset cost. (not that you couldnt on the 996 assuming you werent going to add pieces to the 996 front)

 

A headlight cover like the yellow one isnt hard to do..

 

photo of the yellow car originally had the headlamp garnish widely avaialable. i photoshopped it try to show another angle on a full fender conversion. but yea that could be an alternative.

dont get me wrong, i like the 996 look. dont think it looks bad. just think oval looks nicer.

Yes agree it's completely doable. Doing custom sheet metal work might be the first step for the aero maker, then use this to make a mould.From that high quality composit or CF, batched production runs.

If every thing worked out. The minimum to do this conversion, is a custom composite or carbon fender, and a custom bracket for the light. Those that want replacements for the fogs, it would be ontop.

From the manufacturing stand point, cost of materials is low. R&D for the 997 full OEM conversion was probably equal in difficulty/time, if not more. However, I think this kit would churn out much higher volume sales. From the profit margin angle, gross margin on a kit like this would probably be higher than the 997 oem kit, since most of the stuff is done inhouse, material costs are low.

From the customer's side, I recall a full oem 997 conversion is like 15k isnt it? Don't see a fender/bracket kit like this needing to cost anything over 3-5k (in high quality carbon/kevlar)

Side thought on the fender, if the addition fender portion had fixtures on trunk and frong bumper side, this would hold the shape in place long term.

for the "cover" IMO would look better than the ones that have provisions for fog and washer but the line between the headlight and the fender dont work for me at all. Dont think i'd do it. But for those who do the film tape color change, this may work.

under the head light cover method, would look something like this:

 

I like the shape of the 996 turbo headlight, it's all the chrome inside that I dont like...

 

just peel them apart and spray the chrome then

 

Did you find anybody to do the fenders?

 

I did this back in the day when I had my Slate Grey 996 Turbo. I really liked the look. I feel that this is how the car should have come from the factory.

 

and i caught a sh.. storm for puting an s on the back of my car????? really like the old stlye headlites

 

What about fog lights?

I'm doing a 997 ish nose conversion and will use the 996 foglights housing/turn signal. Will show u guys in a cpl weeks...