So much work to get it back to stock. I cant wait to see the end result and then see how you progress to something else.

 

Now that the bumper is on. Its time to get the suspension finished and finish this never ending project.

Really the final touches to the suspension involved replacing the GMG sway bars with the OE Porsche bars.

The rear bar is super easy to install and not really worth going over.

The front sway bar on the other hand is probably the hardest thing I have done thus far. Getting the front sway bar off involves dropping the subframe, never a small matter. I found a good resource on 6speed. Here is the link and the pics.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...r-install.html

I followed these instructions and they worked great. Not fun regardless....

While the brake ducts were off I cleaned them up a bit... again I have an OCD



In these pics you can see the front coolant lines. These were the biggest concern during this whole process. They get will get strained when dropping the subframe but the subframe should not fall far enough to damage them.




I did some research and white lithium grease is apparently one of the best. Picked this stuff at a Kragens and lubed up the stock bushings prior to install. Not that important on a normal rubber bushing but I figured safer than sorry.



With the say bars in it was time to focus on getting the car rolling again. This meant getting the interior back in. This is really easy and again, I used Mikymu's helpful thread that I posted earlier on. Here are some pics of the process.

The front and rear seat belts were removed to facilitate the roll bar install. I bought all brand new hardware for the re-install. Very straight forward and both the front and rear install process is the same.





The rear tray goes in pretty easy but to ensure the process was smooth, I used all brand new hardware.



Hardest part about getting the seats in is lifting them... The OE sport adaptive seats are heavy! My seat backs are painted and I protected them using a pretty simple method during the install.



Forgot to mention, its always a great idea to get everything clean while the interior is out.



Time for more cleaning.

Wheel wells were very dirty even though the car has only seen 15K miles!





Good as new!



Jason

 

Well the car is pretty much all back together now. Now time for the good stuff.

Next the wheels. They were nearly perfect and great buy at $800 used. But like I said, they were only nearly perfect. Time for a little touch up.

In the pic you can see the Griots Garage touch up sticks and Porsche touch up paint from Suncoast. The small amount of chips did not show up in the photos.



Next came these boxes. Like I said, not everything on this car is going back to stock. For spacers, I chose 14mm for the rear and 5mm for the fronts. These, as you can see, about perfect.







Finally the wheels go on!



And now the car is finally rolling and running again!

Wow fender gap! Actually the car is sitting on an incline here.



Jason

 

Bump for an awesome thread. Cool to see build up and build down. Makes me think twice about modding my car!

 

No kidding! I was so all over wanting a GT3 rear, but this has put some good light on the subject.

 

the stage 2 car was incredibly beautiful. All i would do is to paint red the front lip and thats all!! I wonder if you ever think of that

 

Please don't let this thread keep you from modding....

I have felt similar thoughts after mods and now to will grab a gt3rs (07) most likely next year but plan on keeping my base 997 that I modded. That said.....

Hope this comes across OK as postings can sometimes be hard.....but here goes... Money spent in mods, mods addiction and what you could have done if you waited is not the right way to look at the past few years and money spent.... you spent money, a decent chunk of change for mods you ended up removing and will loose money on, this is true... Yet how much fun/enjoyment did you have researching what mods would go next, experiences you had as an owner with the car through the changes, searching the forums for ideas and input on mods you were considering? The conversations you had about your car, what you did to it, what you liked and maybe what you would have done different. Feeling the driving changes, sounds varying from stock to modded and looks altering to your liking? Knowing you had a truly original 997 that no one else had.... It's a disease, but one that comes with a fun/enjoyment factor and some healthy feelings-experiences and more.... not a all bad illness.

Best of luck in your new car purchase (have the fun is hunting for that next car!) but never look back and regret modding....

many of us here share your same need to mod...and look it created a 4 page run of comments and some enjoyment for others, so thanks for modding...

My addiction below...

 

I agree with Mick....every car i had ever owned or currently in the garage went through somewhat a bit of modification. The fun part was researching on what things to do, comparing against various brands etc. Albeit that came with a bit of headache as well. In short, enjoy the car be it stock or modified.

Mick: I had a fun time reading and researching about your Turbo spoiler installation. Good stuff.

 

that's some phenomenal attention to detail

 

My wife just walked into the room NAKED!!!! I didn't even notice. F*#K that car is HOT!!!!!!! And so is my wife....excuse me....I'll be back.

 

Buy the car--for your wife. Two birds.. ;o)