964 conversion question

[GBODY_]

Converting my 911 carrera to 964 turbo body, and had a question: Are all 964 sharkfin sideskirt extensions the same size? or are the turbo ones different than the standard 964 ones?

[shahram]

Leave it original.

[Jeff Burger]

Originally Posted by GBODY_

Converting my 911 carrera to 964 turbo body, and had a question: Are all 964 sharkfin sideskirt extensions the same size? or are the turbo ones different than the standard 964 ones?

they are different - attachment of the fins and rockers are different and tricky if you want to make them removeable.

[Rodsrsr]

Converting to a 964? Why???

[GBODY_]

I like the poly bumper look

[RSTarga]

You will regret the decision

[targa72e]

Hi Gbody,

I did this many years ago with fiberglass replica parts on a SC body made to look like 964 turbo and now own a 964 so here are some of the differences I remember and what I know are differences on 964.

The 964 has indentations in the rocker panels and clips where the outer parts attach. The front and rear fenders also have these indentations for mounting. I don't think it would be easy to replicate these onto an earlier car. In fact it is apparently quite a bit of work even to do this on early 964 cars as the indentations are different from later and turbo bodied cars (this is discussed in Rennlist 964 forums). If you are converting the car to Turbo body work and want to use factory parts you will want full 964 Turbo rear quarter panels and front fenders.
I used fiberglass rockers that were made for doing this type of conversion and required drilling some holes in the fenders and rockers to mount.

Front bumper.
964 uses a undertray underneath the bumper on the front of the car that attaches to floor of trunk and bumper. This front of this is visible making up the bottom of the bumper. I don't think this would be easy to replicate the under car mounting on a early car as the front floor pans are quite different. I do not remember having to do anything special to mount the front bumper at the fender and I know 964 fenders will bolt up to earlier cars (gas filler is different). My parts were fiberglass and replicated the front part of the undertray as part of the bumper.

Rear bumper and lights.
You have to cut out the factory panel that the reflector attaches to and weld in an adaptor plate for the rear center 964 reflector to mount. You also have to weld in a adaptor plate between rear reflector plate and side lights for side lights to attach. Factory bumper will require some type of support to hold it in the correct place so it doesn't sag as it is partially supported by the rear bumper. Again I used fiberglass bumper that had more support so not a issue.

Hope that helps.

john

[Rodsrsr]

All that work just to lower the value of your car.

I bought my 76 as a roller with 964 steel wide body fenders and FG bumpers. It looked cool for a while but the more I got into Porsches the more I appreciated the lines of the earlier cars. I eventually brought it back to mid-year before backdating.

Updating was big in the late 80's early 90's when you could take a G-body car and make it look like a brand new 964, but now that the 964 is quite old, its easy to see that the older mid year and more specifically long hood cars objectively look better. The only reason for the big "poly" bumpers on the 964 was for safety standards.

Your car so have fun, but just know that if you ever decide to sell, you'll have a much harder time selling and will take a huge hit on price.

[PTRL HD]

I'm a big fan of doing what you like. IMO, cars are to be enjoyed, not be viewed as an investment (if value rises, that's a bonus!). So, if you like the 964 look - go for it! It's probably an easier conversion than going long-hood. And 25-30 years ago long hoods were the "bad investment". Who knows what the best choice will be 25-30 years from now.

I can't answer your question on the side skirts but, having done a forward-date to a Strosek style w/993 headlight, I can say there's a chance you won't regret it :-) Will there be days where you will appreciate a beautiful, stock, Carrera? Or a well executed back-date? Absolutely! I know I have. Then I start thinking about going back to stock and can't bring myself to do it because I still like this look damn near 30 years later!

[PTRL HD]

[GBODY_]

Originally Posted by targa72e

Hi Gbody,

I did this many years ago with fiberglass replica parts on a SC body made to look like 964 turbo and now own a 964 so here are some of the differences I remember and what I know are differences on 964.

The 964 has indentations in the rocker panels and clips where the outer parts attach. The front and rear fenders also have these indentations for mounting. I don't think it would be easy to replicate these onto an earlier car. In fact it is apparently quite a bit of work even to do this on early 964 cars as the indentations are different from later and turbo bodied cars (this is discussed in Rennlist 964 forums). If you are converting the car to Turbo body work and want to use factory parts you will want full 964 Turbo rear quarter panels and front fenders.
I used fiberglass rockers that were made for doing this type of conversion and required drilling some holes in the fenders and rockers to mount.

Front bumper.
964 uses a undertray underneath the bumper on the front of the car that attaches to floor of trunk and bumper. This front of this is visible making up the bottom of the bumper. I don't think this would be easy to replicate the under car mounting on a early car as the front floor pans are quite different. I do not remember having to do anything special to mount the front bumper at the fender and I know 964 fenders will bolt up to earlier cars (gas filler is different). My parts were fiberglass and replicated the front part of the undertray as part of the bumper.

Rear bumper and lights.
You have to cut out the factory panel that the reflector attaches to and weld in an adaptor plate for the rear center 964 reflector to mount. You also have to weld in a adaptor plate between rear reflector plate and side lights for side lights to attach. Factory bumper will require some type of support to hold it in the correct place so it doesn't sag as it is partially supported by the rear bumper. Again I used fiberglass bumper that had more support so not a issue.

Hope that helps.

john

Is utilizing 964 tail lights necessary? or just an additional mod i can do

[targa72e]

You have to use the 964 tail lights as they extend further back. The stock tail lights go straight down and would leave a gap between the light and the bumper. You might be able to modify the rear bumper to extend forward to use early tail lights. This would be easier to do with fiberglass bumper.

john

[Rodsrsr]

Originally Posted by targa72e

You have to use the 964 tail lights as they extend further back. The stock tail lights go straight down and would leave a gap between the light and the bumper. You might be able to modify the rear bumper to extend forward to use early tail lights. This would be easier to do with fiberglass bumper.

john

It can be done but it wouldn't look right. It would give the impression that you cut corners on the build.


@PTRL HD....That's a nice looking Strosek! I built a similar car once. I too prefer the look using the factory Porsche headlights in place of the small Strosek versions.

[PTRL HD]

@GBODY_ I have the 964 taillights on my pic above. You can see they are angled slightly giving a more modern look than the standard Carrera lights. I'd change them as the conversion would probably look a little off with the more upright Carrera lights.

Thanks @Rodsrsr It cleaned up nice for the photo but there is some bare metal at the front of the rear flares. I have access to a paint booth until next fall so I plan to get that taken care of - along with a list of other tweaks! BTW - I think I read somewhere that you had a supercharger in yours at one time? (I'm not stalking you, I've just done a lot of searches for superchargers and your "name" looks familiar) I have an almost complete supercharger kit on my shelf so I might need to pick your brain when I get the last parts and am ready to install that!

[Rodsrsr]

Ha! yup that's me. I ran a Paxton on the 3.2 for a while several years ago. It was actually a really nice setup and performed extremely well. Really woke up the 3.2 and the centrifugal style of the Paxton raised boost in a very linear fashion, essentially making the 3.2 feel like a 3.8. (no hard kick in boost like a turbo)

I ultimately opted for more power so switched to a turbo which has tons more torque, however with that extra torque comes a new set of problems if running a 915.

I think the supercharger is a great choice for simple bolt on power.

Btw, I used to get the same paint chips near the little vents on rear quarters with my old Strosek. lol