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This intro and build thread is a bit overdue. I'm a long-time Porschephile and have owned 4 aircooled 911s (1977, 1980, 1994, and 1995). All beloved in their own right...and bastardized in my own way. Much to the chagrin of my aircooled friends, I recently decided to go younger and picked up a 2005 Carrera S that was loaded to the hilt: Speed Yellow w/Cocoa interior, PCCBs, PSE, Sport Chrono, Sport Shifter, plus some other Exclusive parts. Original MSRP tipped the scales at over $105K! Yowza. This thread will document everything I'm doing to the new sled for the purposes of sharing my experience along the way and perhaps everyone can learn a thing or three. At a minimum, I hope you will be entertained. Jim
Here are my previous 911s:
1977 911S
1980 SC
1994 C4
1995 C2 (mine was white with BBS LMs)
The 997 (how it basically looked when I picked it up)
Spec sheet
The car had 70K miles and was already lowered on H&R springs with B&B mufflers. Sounds nice but not obnoxious. IMS bearing was replaced 2 years ago, along with coils, clutch, brakes, and some other maintenance items. One of the first things I did was replace the seats with adaptive sport seats. I was lucky enough to find a pair on Ebay for $2200 and located in BC just north of the border. Totally makes a difference in feel and looks.
And then serendipity hit like...well, like a 200 lb deer. Less than 2 weeks into ownership, I was on a 3-day road trip with friends driving along Highway 3 in BC when a deer ran across the freeway and clipped my front end. Luckily, it hit as it was leaping and instead of going into my windshield, it flew over my car. The low end and wedge shape of the car probably helped a lot. But my front bumper, hood, passenger fender, and headlight were toast. I was physically fine, but the deer not so much. First time hitting a deer and hopefully the last! All things considered, damaged was relatively minor and I was able to drive the car and continue my road trip. Here is what the damage looked like:
My friends have a sense of humor and made a custom t-shirt for me to commemorate the deer incident. Thus, the 997 is now known as The Missile.
I bring all of this up for context because today was a momentous day. After almost 4 months in the shop, I finally picked up my car. My insurance company busted my ***** around the total cost of repairs and then there was a global shortage of 997 fenders (for realz), which added to the delays. While my car was in the shop, I decided to add some cosmetic changes:
powder-coated wheels black
painted mirrors gloss black
GT3 front bumper grille
OEM 3rd radiator kit
painted front bumper slats gloss black
Maxton Design front lip
GT3 Tek side skirts
GT3 Tek rear decklid spoiler
painted rear bumperettes black
painted center rear lower bumper trim black (between the exhaust tip cutouts)
I bought some Zun Sport front bumper grilles but I am not sure I will install them. Overall, I am very pleased with how it came out. Next items I plan on installing this weekend:
LN spin-on oil filter adapter
Function First Shift Right kit and cable ends
Function First transmission mount inserts
LAPower Bluetooth kit
I have some additional cosmetic mods up my sleeves that I will reveal later. I will post updates and DIYs as I go along. I'm having a blast owning, driving, and working on the car. The 997 is an incredible machine with the right balance of old-school driving dynamics and modern comfort and features. It is the hidden gem of the Porsche world, IMO and has amazing bang for your buck! Thanks for looking and enjoy the ride. I also have a couple Instagram feeds: @bustarib and @3pedalposse
You had me at Ducktails !!! I like your style already! Was hoping to see a Getty Ducktail on your new 997 ride Welcome to the water cooled club too. All the painted mods look great!! Looking forward to seeing what's next!
Sorry to hear about the Deer. He earned his reindeer wings in an amazing way. I am sure he is bragging to all his Deer buddies about that last thing he remembers seeing was a yellow missile called 911.
Love it. Really liking that painted center slat on bumper. I saw another post on this but it looked hard to get a clean line on the inside slat (since its rounded).
Also like the painted strip between the exhaust pipe a'la GTS...but dont love the black bumperettes. Reminds me too much of a 996.
The more you drop the more the fronts look tucked in, so would recommend slightly larger spacers in front.
Killer style. I’ll be following this closely. I have a white 997 and have also done the center slats in black, side mirror tops in black and did the headlight surrounds in black as well. We seem to have similar tastes.
I have a duckbill back from the painter and will add that soon (back to similar tastes from your air cooled cars).
Anyhow, really excited to see how this comes along and would love more up close shots of the gt3tek rear spoiler lip and painted rear bumper.
You're doing a phenomenal job and love your taste in mods (except for the rear bumperettes - I'd delete them instead), and your air cooled cars were just gorgeous. Subscribed.
Oooo I like the rims in black. I love instagram, gonna follow.
The sport design wheels look better in black. Thanks.
Originally Posted by qikqbn
You had me at Ducktails !!! I like your style already! Was hoping to see a Getty Ducktail on your new 997 ride Welcome to the water cooled club too. All the painted mods look great!! Looking forward to seeing what's next!
Sorry to hear about the Deer. He earned his reindeer wings in an amazing way. I am sure he is bragging to all his Deer buddies about that last thing he remembers seeing was a yellow missile called 911.
I considered a duck tail for the 997 but decided against. Seeing pics of GT3 tourings inspired me to go wingless and do something different this time around. Thanks for the well wishes.
Originally Posted by nathan1
Looking good, will have to join you for a drive although I will drive behind you so you can hit the deer for me...
Thanks, Nathan. Hopefully we'll run into each other soon. I'll take one for the team and lead but I would just be slowing you down!
Originally Posted by TheBruce
Love it. Really liking that painted center slat on bumper. I saw another post on this but it looked hard to get a clean line on the inside slat (since its rounded).
Also like the painted strip between the exhaust pipe a'la GTS...but dont love the black bumperettes. Reminds me too much of a 996.
The more you drop the more the fronts look tucked in, so would recommend slightly larger spacers in front.
Excited to see how this car evolves!
I had a professional shop paint the parts and they did an excellent job with masking. The lines are perfect and clean. If you're going to paint the bumper slats similar to mine, I recommend using a pro. I thought about removing the bumperettes but I live in the city and occasionally park on the street. People are terrible about parallel parking and have no qualms parking by "feel." I also like contrast and the black bumperettes have an old-school vibe. They remind me of the rear bumper on my 77 widebody.
Originally Posted by groovzilla
Nice cars and nose application on 997S!
Thanks. I like my new nose job. 😃
Originally Posted by Slc801
Killer style. I’ll be following this closely. I have a white 997 and have also done the center slats in black, side mirror tops in black and did the headlight surrounds in black as well. We seem to have similar tastes.
I have a duckbill back from the painter and will add that soon (back to similar tastes from your air cooled cars).
Anyhow, really excited to see how this comes along and would love more up close shots of the gt3tek rear spoiler lip and painted rear bumper.
Sounds like or taste is similar. I am a big fan of white 911s. This is my first yellow car. Not my first color choice, or second, or third. But it has grown on me. Please post pics of your car. Would love to see it, especially with the duck tail installed. I'll take some closeups of the rear lip and bumper and post this weekend.
Originally Posted by code7rpd
Where did you get the Gt3 Tek sideskirts? They look great,
I got them on eBay. I don't think GT3 Tek is around anymore. Mine are fiber glass but I believe the seller I bought from still might have a pair of carbon fiber skirts. The CF ones are pretty spendy, IMO. If I had to do it all over again, I would have bought a set of skirts from Moshammer. I think they are really nice and high quality. They are also pricey (800 euros) and only available from Germany, however. I didn't find out about them until after I had already bought the GT3 Tek skirts.
I like Moshhammer, too, but they have their name plate imbedded into every part! You can’t simply peel it off because it will leave a rectangular molded spot on the part.
I got them on eBay. I don't think GT3 Tek is around anymore. Mine are fiber glass but I believe the seller I bought from still might have a pair of carbon fiber skirts. The CF ones are pretty spendy, IMO. If I had to do it all over again, I would have bought a set of skirts from Moshammer. I think they are really nice and high quality. They are also pricey (800 euros) and only available from Germany, however. I didn't find out about them until after I had already bought the GT3 Tek skirts.
I just bought a pair of these Moshammer side skirts for my silver car. They're the first ones I can remember seeing that I like the look of. I'm going to have them wrapped in CF vinyl to go with the other non painted trim on the exterior of my car (stone guards, mirrors)
01-24-2019, 08:26 PM
Busta Rib's 997 Build Thread
Welcome to the water cooled club too. All the painted mods look great!! Looking forward to seeing what's next! 
