Is it hard to make a non turbo look 911 into a turbo look?

[Fatandre]

Is it hard to make a non turbo look 911 into a turbo look?
I would want to buy one none wide on the rear and just make it into one.
What are your thoughts?

[Buckterrier]

I suppose hard is a relative term. Four new flairs steel or fiberglass. New wheels and or spacers, new bumpers, front & rear.
Do you weld? Do bodywork? In other words are you doing the work or paying? Around here it is about a $12,000.00 conversion on a Carrera, (I looked into it).
I'm sure you'll get better feedback.

[Fatandre]

What I am more thinking is would I be destroying the 911 with doing so?

[Buckterrier]

Originally Posted by Fatandre

What I am more thinking is would I be destroying the 911 with doing so?

Sorry not sure what you mean. There are purists that don't want any 911 molested. Others like me enjoy the customization of their cars. IMHO you wouldn't be destroying the car, especially if it's the look YOU want. Hell Porsche themselves made an M491 version, a turbo look car sans the engine.
My car isn't a turbo look but heavily customized. Some like it some don't. What matters is I like it

Did I answer your question? And welcome to the board.

[tdw28210]

For me personally, I believe it would be hard. I don't weld or paint. But if you have those skills, making an "turbolook-look" car might be fairly straight forward. I say "turbolook-look", because it will essentially be a wide-bodied 911 (which look great IMHO). To make it a true factory turbolook would require some pretty extensive suspension and brake reworking. At that point, you had might as well find a real M491 or 930.

+1 on the "do what you like advice". As an m491 owner, I feel I am pretty limited to how far I can take the personalization of the car as I am somewhat aware of resale value. I am a bit envious of my narrow-bodied 911 friends that get to tweak things as they like.

[Fatandre]

What I mean by destroying it is should I rather search for wide from the factory rather than making it my self?
I love customising my cars and owna e31 850 that is running now a CSI engine and a manual gear box and is modified a lot.

[mreid]

I'm in the process of doing that right now. I'm converting my 1984 carrera into a 1974 IROC RSR. The steel flairs are available from our host. I butt welded the rear, but it does require a fair amount of skill to measure, cut, position, weld, and finish. I'm using fiberglass front and rear bumpers and it will still take a fair amount of bodywork for proper fit and finish prior to paint. That's the difficult/cost issue. As far as the purists go, that is totally your decision and properly executed will get many more admirers and a better sale price to the right buyer. Good luck!

[Buckterrier]

Awesome 850 Fat. I think you have all the answers right here. As tdw said buy an m491 if you want factory but be careful what customizing you do to it. That model will lose it's resale value as those are getting rare. Wanna have fun making one, have at it and as mreid said done properly you'll raise the value of a standard Carrera or SC.

[jackb911]

My brother and I did this widebody conversion in my garage in 2010. The only thing we outsourced was having the rear steel flares professionally welded on.

With that said, some skills are necessary for a do-it-yourselfer; this is not a project for a first-timer. I was an aircraft mechanic back in my Army days and I had painted a few cars before this one, everything from '67 VW Beetle to a 1940 Ford street rod. I was fortunate to have a good friend who is a custom painter and I learned a lot from him. My brother is a mechanical/electrical techician. So this project wasn't our first rodeo.

The car was built on a very tight budget but we didn't cut any corners. All the glass was removed, top quality refinishing materials were utilized and we replaced every rubber weatherstrip and molding with new OM Porsche parts. The biggest single expense was the custom offset 17" wheels and tires as we didn't want to use wheel spacers.

The project took several months, working almost every day and the total cash outlay for the conversion exceeded $10,000. Doing it right isn't cheap. And understand that you most likely will not recover your investment when you decide to sell the car as the market for a pristine, unmodified car is much larger.

Here's the before, during and after.

[Noah930]

The turbolook wasn't just the bodywork. There were also suspension differences. To just mimic the turbolook, you could add spacers/adapters under the front and rear wheels. Or, you could replace the suspension pieces (and CV joints) to achieve the wider track. Brakes were also upgraded in the turbolook, too. Certainly do-able, but if you have to farm out the work to shops it might be cheaper just to buy a turbo to begin with, as they're fairly plentiful. Turbolook cars cost about the same as turbos, but are less common so finding one may take longer. A conversion isn't hard as other than the bodywork it's all bolt-on stuff. The pieces are all out there. It just takes money.

[Fatandre]

I am thinking about gettin a 1991 964 and make it how I want it.
Keep it untill forever.
I am no BMW fan and actually wanted only the e31. I could also accept a 2002 and a e24, but thats it.
Next on the list is a 911 and this is where I am heading.
I have always made the cars the way I wanted.
FX the e31 is no collectors car, but it is mine and is done like I wanted. I am still working on it and dont know if I will ever finish it.

[tdw28210]

Jack,

Put me on the short list when you are thinking of selling her. I'm not too far away, so you could always come and visit her. ; )

[quattrorunner]

Try this one already wide. It's light weight model too. Cheaper and easier than doing yourself. No choices on color or anything though.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1977-Porsche-911S-Sunroof-Coupe-Clean-California-Car-/130840563542?ru=http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=130840563542&_rdc=1&forcev4exp=true#ht_26832wt_948

[Justin@Athens]

Originally Posted by quattrorunner

Try this one already wide. It's light weight model too. Cheaper and easier than doing yourself. No choices on color or anything though.


Porsche : 911 S in Porsche | eBay Motors

There is something horribly wrong with the stance on this car...odd.

[jackb911]

Originally Posted by tdw28210

Jack,

Put me on the short list when you are thinking of selling her. I'm not too far away, so you could always come and visit her. ; )

Will do. Thanks!

[quattrorunner]

Originally Posted by Justin@Athens

There is something horribly wrong with the stance on this car...odd.

Problem is the wheels need wider or a spacer to fill the flares out. And lower the front some

[88911coupe]

Sort of forgot how cool 850i's were. I have ALWAYS loved that car. Used to be a HUGE BMW guy...but could never afford to own both marques. The other BMW I really want is an old CS or CS, or a E30 M3...yes, I know what they go for but I can always dream about them.

[Fatandre]

Well.
Its not that expensive to run both I think.
You drive one and the other stands. If it doesnt work you dont drive it :P

[Buckterrier]

Are you in new england Fat?

[Fatandre]

I am in Iceland and Poland