marinesniper0318

My brother is going to buy a non wide-body 911 and he is looking for a good kit to make it a wide-body and change the front and rear bumbers...can anyone recommend a specific kit manufacturer or kit that worked out well for them please...?

Also are there are DIY or is it only able to be done by a shop...

thank you...very much...!

jackb911

The only way to do a widebody conversion correctly is to use steel flares, NOT fiberglass...IMO.

The fronts are easy and bolt right on...find a good pair of used 930 fenders. On the rear, 930 flares welded onto the stock quarters panels after removing the stock flares are the way to go. They can be also from a donor 930, or new ones are available from Porsche or Dansk. Here is a pic of the rears on mine as they were being butt-welded at a local shop that has done several Porsche widebodies.

The "small" parts like the front fender/rear quarter extensions and rocker panel covers can be harder to find and can be very pricey. That's why you see so many widebody conversions using 'glass RSR bumpers (which are fine...the OEM ones were fiberglass). Plus, that saves a LOT of weight.

I would caution your brother that an all-fiberglass conversion will likely diminish the value of the car as compared to stock and even done in steel, it is unlikely that it would add enough value to offset the cost unless your brother has the skills to do the body/paint work himself.

However, if the car is a rough one to start with and for cost considerations a 'glass conversion is the only option and resale value is not a consideration, I'd recommend TRE and/or MA Shaw for these parts. There are a couple others out there that are good as well but I've had good experiences with these two in particular on this and other projects.

The cost of wider/bigger wheels & tires and a quality repaint are other considerations as well. My brother and I did all the work on my car except for welding and metal finishing the rear flares and the conversion cost with all the ancillaries involved was nearly $10K.

Makmov

Yeah, Porsche!

I don't recall the bumpers being different. The side skirts and chin spoiler and lower valence was.

And it was more than sheet metal to do it correctly.

brakes
suspension componets
wheels and tires


The M491 option was like a $17,000 option.

CAHRERA

IMO I wouldn't waste your time. Just get the real thing. I was going to do that with my 1980SC but the cost to do it right was not worth it. There's nothing better than the factory M491. You not only get the flares but you get the 930 Suspension and Brakes. No dealing with 1" and 2" spacers. Doing a wide-body conversion can be very costly when you can sell your car and use that money towards a M491.

gwapo996tt

Definitely go with steel flares front and rear. I originally purchased fiberglass 9" front fenders but did not like them. Make sure if you get the RSR bumpers, they come with mounting provisions.

Cost is pretty significant if you have a shop do all the stripping, fitting, welding, and paint.

Also, you'll end up wanting to redo the front and rear suspension, oil lines, engine, interior, etc.

Here is my build still in progress.

Also a video (kind of War of the Worldish when I seen it come home from the body shop )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD4b5Rx91YU

Amber Gramps

How many ways can you say Pr0n?

1stgear

That video is awesome. Love the sound effects. Makes me want to see the movie again. Nice vintage skateboards too.

Joe6pack

Why do you want to spend all that money to make your car slower?

jackb911

Three reasons come to mind...

1..Some prefer the aggressive, racy look of a widebody...different strokes and all that.

2.) The slight increase in aerodynamic drag is a moot point on the street. It's been awhile since I exceeded the century mark with the overzealous revenue-based traffic enforcement that is the norm nowadays. The handling improvement with the wider stance and tires is a positive tradeoff, IMO.

3.) Personalization! If we all liked the same things, it would be a boring world, wouldn't it?

race911

Handling improvement in a widebody? Uh, no. It's all about the look. Which is fine. God knows, I've done enough of them............... We've got the fastest of the Spec 911 racers running ~2:01 at Thunderhill on an 245 RA1 mounted to an 8" rim. Compare that to basically what a friend's '07 GT3RS runs with the same tire in a 305.

Joe6pack

Heh, heh. I was just kidding of course. I understand and I would love to have a widebody. For me personally, I think the M491 option would be better. If nothing else it would be easier. Just mho.

g-50cab

Ummm apply that same suspension to a wider track and hence lower center of gravity and you turn it into a physics lesson. All things being equal - the road holding will be increased. From a per lap standpoint - the wider body will create more drag and could limit top speed which may increase lap times.

Really, it's all relative. Shorter, tighter track - cornering G's become more important = faster track - top speed because more important.

and Ken - I respect very much what you guys can do with TB car. Not taking away from any of that...