TRINITONY

Did a search but didn't come up with anything?

What's involed in converting a regular 88 911 to a turbo look? And also how costly would it be?


TIA

rentadate

That's a long process. I used to look into it when I was younger. But it is time consuming and very costly. In high school, I went to some vocational school they offered, because I needed art credits. They were doing a widebody on a 89 911. we weren't allowed to touch it obviously, but we were allowed to look at it.

The teacher was so involved into this thing that he never really taught the class.

1.) You have to remove the fenders and replace with the new ones. If they are fiberglass and cheap quality, you might find yourself modifing them to fit. Not too hard, but a major headache.

2.) the hardest part so far is the quarter pannels. This involves special tools and a lot of patience. You have to trace the widebody pannels on the car, and then you have to cut along these lines. Then you have to bolt the thing to the quarter pannel, then bondo the **** out of it to make it smooth....NOw you have to make this exactly the same on each side, so they aren't uneven.

3.) I recommend that you find a reputable shop to do it. I have no idea what my teacher charged this guy for the work. But it was insane, on how much work he had to do to make it.


I found one place that people get things. At least my friend's dad has been happy with them. He needed to replace the front bumper, and he's been happy with the service.

http://www.betterbodiesmotorsport.com

TRINITONY

Thanks for the link, great prices.

cbad911

Is that the only difference (the body) between a SC and a TL?

madmmac

Factory turbo looks include the turbo suspension, torsion/sway bars, different trailng arms and the larger turbo brakes.

rentadate

Those come later in the process. He was asking about the body itsself. I only did the body part.

Suspension doesn't count yet

madmmac

It's always best to do the dirty bits first, then the bodywork and paint. You don't bung it up then.

wholberg

You would probably save money by selling your car and just buying a factory TL, IMO. The concours' cars with 20K miles on them are pretty pricey, but ones that are approaching 100K miles end up selling for only a few grand over a standard Carrera the same year. Of course, it takes a bit of time to find one of these.

JCP911S

Bodywork with steel flares will easily run $5K to do it right. Brakes another $2-3K. "Proper" suspension $4K+++. The turbo has different trailing arms, T-bars, sway bars, etc, etc.

A true TL 3.2 will cost maybe $2-4K more than a regular Carrara. They are not common but not rare either if you are patient and keep looking. Then you will have a car that will maintan its value.

A TL conversion on a standard carrara will probably not be worth much more than the standard car, so it really does not make economic sense.

TRINITONY

My friend is considering selling me his 88 mint 50k garage queen for 18k. I prefer the look and that's why I was inquiring. It doesn't have to be a true TL, just love the look.

JBO

..the other thing you can do is buy a quality TL conversion that someone else poured a bunch of $ in, which is what I did. A factory TL would be most desireable, but you are limited in the avail cars and year models. Mine is an '81, and they didn't make factory TL's until later, I think maybe '87.

Luus

Anyone know how many factory TL Targas were made in '87-89 ? I would be very tempted to get one.

wholberg

Now, official PCNA numbers are not accurate, so you can figure the correct number to be 100-150% of what they state, but "official" PCNA numbers for TL targas imported into the US are:

1984-zero
1985-65
1986-2
1987-4
1988-18
1989-13

This does not count the Euro versions, which were called the "Supersport", and no one knows how many of those made it into the US.

You just have to keep an eye out. I bought my 87 TL Targa on EBay for under $20K in 2004.

ventoGT

I would caution against doing an aftermarket job on one of these cars unless you never plan to sell it...as mentioned above, it can get very costly, and I think many many people would rather buy a factory specced car than a mock up, unless it was an extremely reputable shop...my $.02.

JCP911S

Frankly, this car is worth more left like it is.

If you really want to do a TL conversion, find a solid car with a good motor, crummy paint, scuzzy wheels, worn out suspension and brakes for about $7K. You'll have to redo all that stuff anyway, so then you'll end up with a pretty correct car for about $20K and salvage a car that would otherwise just get abused and neglected.