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I know you're not trying to fool anyone as it is what it is. I was just messing with the poster. Had he looked closer, he would've noticed the 996 taillights instead of the 997.1 or 997.2 ones which would've been a tell tale sign that you had the original rear quarters.
Cadamson, I recommend stopping by Porsche body shops and have them save any damaged 997,996 front fenders as you'll only be using a portion from each set. This could save you quite a bit if you get lucky.
Thanks, that's a good idea! I'll definitely be making some calls. Not that it matters, but I did notice the 996 tail lights, I thought he may have used the same technique as he did with the front fenders to graft in the part with the 997 air intakes. But, cutting and fitting only the intakes does seem like a simpler way to get the same result.
Thanks, that's a good idea! I'll definitely be making some calls. Not that it matters, but I did notice the 996 tail lights, I thought he may have used the same technique as he did with the front fenders to graft in the part with the 997 air intakes. But, cutting and fitting only the intakes does seem like a simpler way to get the same result.
It's all good but yeah replacing the rear quarter just to do the scoops and not do the rear taillights for all that effort, is kinda like driving all the way out to the bunny ranch and only wanting a strip tease.
Can anyone please forward me a Porsche Boxster 986 to Porsche 996 Turbo MK2 headlamp conversion wiring diagram and/or wire-to-wire remapping directions?
The Boxster has two wiring connector heads while the 996T MK2 has one 12 cavity male connector (11 being used). Additionally, the left and right wire connectors all have different color wires and are not synchronized. We are about to cut the two OEM wire connectors on the Boxster 986 and figure out what wire powers which light so that we can remap the Boxster's harness so that it properly works with the 996T MK2 headlamps.
It would be nice if someone custom made a "plug & play" female to male wire adapter connector so that the 986 and 996 OEM wires connectors could be bridged without having to be cut and reconfigure all the various colored wires.
Otherwise, an easy to read wire to wire conversion chart would be awesome to have for us all to use when dealing with this type of project.
A comparison amongst the Boxster 986 (left) and 996 Turbo (right) master wire connecting male-heads.
Trying to figure out which wire should be connected to which wire is stressful when reviewing the factory wiring diagram. Why does the Boxster have so many more wires than the 996 MK2? Has anyone created a simplified wire color to wire color wiring diagram and/or instructions for converting the Boxster 986 headlamps to the 996T MK2 headlamps?
Have you peeked inside both headlight units? The rear cover allows you to see and trace where each wire is going.
Other way is to take a multimeter and locate ground wires first by touching inner metal headlight frame to each of the pins on the headlight housing connector and see which ones conduct. Then take alligator clips, connect one to negative battery terminal while the other connects to the negative pin that you located. Then it's just a matter of touching each pin with positive probe to see which light goes on.
If you do that to both lights, you should be able to map it out.
The reason the mk1 has more wires could be due to the earlier Litronics system which used motors to move up and down the inner housing for high beam mode.
@ alpine003. I highly appreciate your recommendations and have not looked inside the rear of the headlamps, but that makes total sense. With so many similar conversions out there, I was wondering if anyone had previously made a wire mapping diagram for such projects. If not, I'll make one and share it with the forum.
By the way, there is someone from Canada selling the OEM headlamp plugs that are supposedly remapped with instructions on eBay; however, I personally think it's a ripoff. While they're advertising the premapped wiring connectors for $150, which is reasonable price, they claim that expedited shipping is $200USD. I called them out of the shipping being to high and they admitted to adding a $150 into the shipping as a hidden profit. I respectfully informed this person that I already had the plugs and would appreciate if "they" could email me the directions so that I can utilize the wiring pigtails I already have. They always avoided my inquiry and pushed the $300 price on me. When looking at their uTube video tells me a lot about them personality traits, etc. I won't say anything derogatory about them; however, their business practices teach me that they are unethical and do not have the love, compassion and the zeal for collaboration we find in forums such as this one. My family and I have been in the auto enthusiasts and business owners for 20+ years now and always support fellow businesses as well as collaborate whenever possible. I thought I would give others a heads up. Cheers, MoMo
Here is the response I received after asking the seller of used 986 to 996 MK2 headlamp wires why the shipping cost for such small and light parts cost more than shipping similar-sized products from across the globe, this was their response...
@mightyb28 I am going to make a long story short here. My brother crash my dads beautiful 2004 GT3 at barbers motors sport park. There was a lot of front end damage and we decided to do the conversion. The body work is done but now the devil is in the details so this are my questions.
1. Yes the lights?- Did you try replacing the wire harness or is it better just to solder the 4 hires missing from the 996 light connector to the 997 (4 less wires on the head light connector)
2. Did you use 996 or 997 radiators ducts? Did they fit ok? I got some concerns since the 996 center radiator exits below the car but the 997 exits on top.
3.The aluminum impact bar from the 996 is to wide and the tow hook does not line up did you use a 997 bar?
4. Did the windshield fluid reservoir and the gas tank stuff under the fender fit dine under the new 997 fenders?
5. Did you use 996 or 997 mud guards (plastic liner under the fender).
Sorry for so many questions, I just don't want dad to waste money trying parts if you already tried something. Pictures below for the curious.
I really appreciate the help
Thanks
I sincerely apologize for the delay in responding, I've been offline for some time now as I've been extremely busy with work and life. Please feel free to contact me directly; however, I'm not sure if we get a messaging inbox on this platform?
The front end conversion from a 986 chassis to any GT2/GT3 parts fit like a glove. Reason being is that from the door handle forward on a Boxster 986 chassis utilizes 996/986 interchangeable parts. Its from the door handle back that differs and need coachwork/fabrication/Design work.
Question 1: Yes the lights?- Did you try replacing the wire harness or is it better just to solder the 4 hires missing from the 996 light connector to the 997 (4 less wires on the head light connector)
Answer 1: I went from an 2000-2004 Boxster 986 Chassis to a 996GT2/Turbo Front End and have been designing a manufacturable steel wider rear end quarter panels, which will be done soon, very soon. Going from a 2000 Boxster 986 Xenon HID Headlamp System to a 2002 996 GT2/Turbo Xenon HID Headlamp System worked out even better than I thought! In fact, the wires and ballast match up perfectly, and they functionally work better than expected; however, some of the wires differ in color and need to be reconfigured by using electrical engineering methodology (which I taught myself).
With that said, to properly (decently) custom fabricate such projects takes patience and time. One little project becomes another, and another, and another, and so forth. At the end of the little project, you'll look back and tell yourself that it was no small project yet a larger one than excepted. I basically had to draft out all the wires on paper before actually attempting to solder them together. In one sense it wasn't too difficult to actually do the entire front end conversion, including the headlights, etc. It just took research, drafting, configuring, hand drawing a diagram of the old and new wiring configuration (titling them by color and voltage), and then of course testing out skill, knowledge, and confidence levels through application.
The process after drafting out the headlight harness wires was carefully soldiering about 10 wires from the car's trunk harness to the new headlight harness/molex head. From there, I covered each wire's solder points with 3M brand heat-shrink wrapping tubes, which helps physically protect and secure the wires at a high quality repair level. Being that I probably have OCD (lol), I went a step further and grouped all of the wires, and then hand covered them with carbon fiber to achieve ultimate yet lightweight overall protection. Humbly speaking, I believe I perfected the process. I almost forgot to mention that I replaced all the headlight halogen bulbs to high quality led bulbs. Of course the primary headlight bulb is Xenon HID. Like on the Lamborghini Huracan, I might attempt to add led tubing and custom make a DDL halo inside the headlight case. I also plan on painting the inner headlight arts black for a stealth look like on the Ferrari and Corvette.
Question 2: Did you use 996 or 997 radiators ducts? Did they fit ok? I got some concerns since the 996 center radiator exits below the car but the 997 exits on top?
Answer 2: I already had two OEM side radiators, so what I did was add a 3rd/Center radiator for extra cooling. When you started adding sports exhaust, etc, you'll quickly experience the car running hotter. The 3rd/Center radiator is imperative here in California, especially during hot summer days. I went with a 996 GT2/Turbo center radiator with the matching parts that you listed (e.g. ducts, etc.)/ EXCEPT for a few other parts, such as the hoses. The Boxster 986 manual transmission chassis has the placement area for the center radiator because the front of the car is basically a real 996 (as I previously mentioned herein above answer 1). Its the hoses that need to be reconfigured, which is the tricky part but 100% achievable. Most of the hoses should match your actual OEM parts, its the connecting hoses that need to come from a GT2/Turbo chassis. Historically, the center radiator was used on the Boxster Automatic transmission cars as well a the 996 Turbos. I assume that the transmissions on the Boxster 986s run hotter. It costs about $1,500+ dealer cost to change out all of the older hoses with new ones (including the necessary turbo water hoses), adding a billet aluminum center radiator along with the appropriate coolant (add distilled water as needed).
Question 3: The aluminum impact bar from the 996 is to wide and the tow hook does not line up did you use a 997 bar?
Answer 3: The front impact bar belongs to the car. I believe most 986/996 front end parts are interchangeable, except for the GT2/Turbo. I haven't finished the radiator project yet but I haven't run into any issues yet. I'm hoping that I don't have to replace the front end impact bar but I will if I have to. Its TBD during install.
Question 4: Did the windshield fluid reservoir and the gas tank stuff under the fender fit dine under the new 997 fenders?
Answer 4: Yes for the 986 to 996 GT2/Turbo front fenders, not sure about the 997 OEM parts but the after market ones have been said to fit well with a little more modifying and prepping; however, I plan on keeping my car and increasing its value by using the highest quality parts available, which is also why they fit well (they're all OEM).
Question 5: Did you use 996 or 997 mud guards (plastic liner under the fender).
Answer 5: The 996 GT2 fenders worked with the 986 front-end fender well-lining, it just needs to be adjusted.
Additional Notes:
Respectfully, I shy away from adding any fiberglass body parts (besides maybe the bumpers and spoiler wing). It would be the other way around if I turned my project into a track only car; however, I'm building a GT/Roadster with the goal to have comfort, advanced function, and street performance.
By the way, while I was working on the front end of the car, I went ahead and added Hella triple-tone trumpet horns and hand made new custom battery cables and battery terminals. Works great and looks amazing (heavy-duty show quality). The configuration for the horn and new battery wire setup took a while but came out to be exactly like I wanted, GT1 level performance, quality, and look.
Again, I sincerely apologize for the delay in responding. I hope all is well! Any other questions? :-)
Last edited by NuVision; 05-04-2017 at 09:08 PM.
Reason: Added my conversion process and end result
09-24-2015, 09:19 PM
