I got my kit from Jeffrey at Xtreme Motorcars. I used to make FRP car and truck parts for a living about 10 years back. I'm happy with the quality of his 996 -> 997 kit. It's made of mat, and not cloth. It's nice and thick and there aren't any air bubbles in the gel coat . The top grill on the front bumper is an OEM porsche piece, and the lower lip came in polyurethane. The gas lid is also OEM porsche. Most of it came pre-drilled. Front bumper requires some work to get the lip to fit properly, and the turn signals to fit 100% flush. I also had to fill in part of the top of the bumper where it meets the hood. All and all though, the conversion was quite high quality. You can't expect OEM fitment with an entire fiberglass front end.

I remember back when Xtreme Dimensions first opened. They used to buy parts from me before they got their overseas operation setup. The stuff they made at first was horrible. Thin, brittle, full of air bubbles under the gel coat. Then they sent someone from California to their overseas factory to show them how to properly make the parts and the quality improved slightly. At the time they were making parts both in CA and overseas. Their CA stuff was much better. As one of the few body kit makers from that era to have survived bankruptcy, I can only assume that they have markedly improved their quality.

 

Misha wants entirely too much for their kit. To me it seems as if they are charging an arm and a leg just cause it is for Porsche.

 

Reborn I know what u mean about poly parts. I've had lowered cars since my very first car. With some work though it can look as good as new. Just takes some time. I'll Def look into getting a seperate lip. I am actually buying my kit in pieces so, maybe ill just buy the bumper from a different company.

 

Thankswww do u mind me asking how much the kit cost you. That's actually really great fitment for it being fiberglass. I pray that the only issues I have with mine. I used to do a lot of body work and custom kits when I was back in my Honda days so, I an going to pre fit and do all the body work myself and then send it to my buddy Barney who owns a body shop right next to my shop that I keep the Porsche in. If anything seems a bit off then I will have him do it while he has the car. I wish I could find someone who has done the full extreme dimensions kits so I know what I can expect (although I do know every kit is different due to the fiberglass)

 

This is exactly what i want to do over the winter!
How hard was it to remove the entire dash?
Looks very sickkkk, gives the car a more updated look.

 

Thank you!! The dash isn't that hard to get out. I took my time so I didn't break anything. Going back in was much easier. I love the look so far. I have wanted to do this since I bought the car. This weekend I am going to start on the door panels. I hope the car is done within the next month. I only have time on the weekends to work on it cause of work all week. Once I finish it I will post finished pics.

 

Good stuff! Can't wait to see the completed interior!
How long did it take you to remove the dash?
I'm tempted to tear it apart now haha, or buy a used dash to wrap then install

 

It took me a couple hours to find all the bolts and get it out. I would say wait for a week when u see it is going to rain for a couple days straight and then get to it. You don't wan't to rush it cause then you won't get the quality your looking for. lol a used dash is actually a good idea also. If you have any questions while taking the dash out or while your wrapping it feel free to ask. I can even give you my cell, much easier way to get ahold of me

 

Awesome!! My quest for a used dash begins, if not im tearing it part at the end of summer to do the wrap!
Thanks for the offer! I will shoot you a PM for info once im all set and ready to operate on the dash! Untill then im subscribed!

 

@PoRsChE_ShIfTiN : You'd have to email him for pricing, he has a bunch of different bumper options available and the price varies. It all depends on what you get with the kit. In my case, I got every single part from him, including the headlights, turn signals and all OEM parts etc. It cost several thousand dollars, however on the up side, he gave me a discount for buying everything together, plus the box that arrived contained literally everything I needed. The kit was very complete and included even the OEM bolts, hood hinges, bump stops, gas cap, gap cap OEM hardware and latch etc.

With the E.D. and other kits, I think you pretty much get a bunch of fiberglass parts, and then you have to track down all the parts you will later on need. Again, I got the kit with the 997 hood, so that required 997 hinges (included) and it uses your OEM 996 latch. Adds to the install time, but looks much better than the kits that use the 996 hood in my opinion. Round front hood very much updates the front and matches the new bumper etc.

If you get the kit with OEM 997 hood, you will have to drill new holes for the 997 hinges. Luckily since the car uses the same frame as the 997, it's very obvious where the hinges need to go, and they fit into place nicely once you drill the holes.

Having a lot of body shop experience myself, I figured I'd also prefit it and just drop it off at the paint shop. Once I saw the amount of work involved, I decided to just let the body shop handle it.

Also, my kit is uses 997 fenders that have been modified to fit a 996, while most kits are using 996 fenders that are modified to accomodate 997 headlights. The difference is that my fenders have the original 997 slight flare all around, which the other kits don't have. Of course you'll have to add a little flare to the rocker panels to match the slight flare of the fenders, but my kit came with the rocker flare pieces too, so it's all pretty much there and just requires man hours to install. In my opinion, a lot of the kits like E.D. etc look kind of cheap and amateurish because the fenders are missing the slight 997 flare, and the square bottomed 996 hood doesn't really mesh well with the more rounded and updated 997 parts.

 

Made I just saw a used dash on eBay for 300. For that price I'd just wait lol.

 

Thankswww I am trying to get around having to cut or drill anything due to the fact I want to always be able to go back to stock if need be. I really do like the sound of the kit you have gotten though. It is tempting me to just purchase that. If I go that route then I will sell off my front end to make some of my money back. Arnt you worried about your resale value? Maybe I will call the guy at extreme and see what he says. Everyday I change my mind how I am going to go about this build. I'm going to end up in a psych home if I don't chill out lol.

 

See my thought is that with the ED kit you don't have to worry about gas doors and all that cause the kit utilizes all your stock parts. And is it really so different that the world will notice. Yes, you or I would be able to look at the car and said wait a minute thats a 996 hood with a 997 front end. But, the rest of the world would have no idea. Even still, if someone did know the difference then what about the rear end? My C4s is 3mm smaller in the rear and uses different tail lights and bumper. So, when I think about it I say to myself "how authentic is the car REALLY going to look?" To me I don't know if and extra 2 grand is worth the hood and hinges. I absolutely see your point of view and your point of view at times makes me want to dump the money into have the 997 hood also. Would be sweet if they took the 996 hood and made it round off at the bottom so you can use all your stock hardware and not have to modify anything.

 

Arnt you worried about your resale value?

Nope, I don't care about the resale value. There are so few Porsches in this country, I can ask whatever I want for the car. Most of the buyers are incredibly stupid, and spending their parents' money, so essentially the resale value as it exists in Western countries doesn't really apply here. My car's value isn't going to go up, but won't take a hit either, due to extreme lack of supply (the 996 wasn't ever officially imported here so they are all grey market imports from Japan).

To me I don't know if and extra 2 grand is worth the hood and hinges. I absolutely see your point of view and your point of view at times makes me want to dump the money into have the 997 hood also. Would be sweet if they took the 996 hood and made it round off at the bottom so you can use all your stock hardware and not have to modify anything.

I think it depends on your own personal taste. I'm not trying to transform my car into a 997, I just wanted to update the front end with a more rounded, modern look. To the layman, sure they probably can't tell that you have a 996 hood. Only Porsche people would be able to tell. Furthermore, your OEM 996 hood will always fit better than any fiberglass hood will.

 

Yeah here in the United States our cars are taking a hit on the market. Which ever build is used the cars will look great. Whether it's a 996 or 997 hood they are still Pcars and gorgeous. Def post pics when your car is done, I can't wait to see how it comes out.