Summer wheels are back on. I'm happy to report that the color match on the bumper is actually pretty good under normal sunlight.

 

Looks amazing to me!

My personal experience with bodywork on my 997...
I took my 10+ year old project car Carrera White 997 to the body shop to get a GT3 front bumper and wide front fenders installed. I stopped by one day and asked how things were going. Not good, was the reply.

I had planned to save money by blending the new front bumper and fenders in with the rest of the Carrera White. Well, good luck with that. He showed me that the original paint had about 5 different shades/hues throughout the car. The 997.2 rear bumper, had been painted off the car at another shop, and was one shade. The roof and hood had been exposed to more UV, and were another shade. The sides had faded to another shade, except where we removed the original vinyl film protection.

Funny thing is, under normal circumstances, the car looked perfectly fine. If anyone with some knowledge had closely examined it, they would have been able to see the inconsistencies. But in the real world, we arent at a car show every day. We drive our cars!

Looks fine under normal light

Even the rear, which up close was clearly a different shade (not blended)

You can see the vinyl was yellowing, but the shock was once they were removed

Once the vinyl was removed, see how much the paint had darkened over time, compared to the original paint


On my car, I decided it didnt make sense to try and blend all the different panels to the original paint, as it wouldnt have looked the way I wanted it too look, and we were going to have to repaint most of the car anyway to blend it all in. When I decided on a full repaint, I also decided I would choose a colour that was not standard, and went with Porsche Lizard Green.

Bottom line is that these 997s are now 10-15 years old. Upon close inspection, the original paint is not going to be perfect upon close inspection, especially if they were driven regularly. But who cares! In most cases, all they need is a good polish and wax, and they can look stunning.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience @halo777 . That explains why you went with a full respray. I'd do the same if I were in your shoes.
I think me giving the painter the tow hook cover from the old bumper helped a lot.

 

Is that the BBI seat bracket/side mounts/slider combo you have?

edit: checked spreadsheet, it is.

 

Yes, it's BBi seat base. A friend of mine recommended it. There are lighter combo you can put together yourself. But having the ease of mind that this kit will just work with the seats in a 997 without fabrication work was nice.

 

excellent, good to know. I was wondering about the weight too. I'll be going with these as they seem to be getting rave reviews from everyone.

 

Augment Wheel Company is cooking up a set of wheels for me that are inspired by the BBS Motorsport Monoblock 5 lug wheels.
Here are a few renderings of the wheels. The best part is? These babies are made of forged magnesium.

 

That's very cool. Sure they were a bargain too

 

Gorgeous wheels!

 

If they are custom go wide as possible with the fronts (10” or wider) and concave would be nice too

 

Oh yes. Weight saved per dollar wise, these are a bargain.

Thanks!

They are completely custom. But I'm sticking to 8.5" wide wheels and 245 tires for the front.

 

That's what my next set of fronts on my 8.5s will be too, paired with 325s on my 12" rears. The 305s are too stretched for my liking and another 1" of rubber with 485 HP and RWD would be nice.

 

You beat me to this suggestion. Gets weight from the very top of the car, and possibly stiffen it somewhat. Major job though, and best left until a respray is desired - which looks to be a while from the condition of your paint. Up through the 993s you could backfit manual windows and loose two heavy motors and wiring.

Love the project.

 

What will be the estimated weights? I spoke with them earlier but have put it on the back burner for now. Thinking about buying a set sometime soon and these look great.


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The estimated weights are 16.5lbs for the front and 17.5lbs for the rear. Of course, I will measure their actual weight when they arrive.