986 Porsche Boxster to 981 body update conversion
Discussion
Hi Ph'ers,
I am a big fan of the 986 as an affordable, good all round mid-mount sports car. However, probably like many of you, I think its looks have become quite outdated and could do with a refresh to give this great platform a new lease of life, so I have decided to start a project to create a 2015 981 Boxster body conversion update for my 986 Boxster S. I thought it would make for an interesting build diary so I will be chronicling my build journey here.
I am starting with all OEM factory body panels and will be striving to minimise the modification of these panels as much as possible to fit the 986 to maintain as close as possible to the 981 OEM dimensions. As you can see from the pics below, even 15 years on, dimensionally they are still very similar but do have some differences in panel heights, bonnet scuttle panel areas and roof covers etc. that will need to be addressed.
986
981
Rather than butcher my Boxster S while I work through the conversion, I have bought a bare shell to fabricate the conversion onto and then will be creating composite panels off this to fit to my Boxster S.
The donor
I have also collected most of the OEM body panels now, including a complete 981 rear end which will be very useful for keeping the rear of the conversion true as this will be done in sections. I also picked up some 981 Cayman roof/rear end panels with a view to creating a hardtop for the Boxster at a later date.
You might have noticed an Audi S8 in the background with the front end removed ready for the 340HP V8 engine to be taken out...that gives you a hint as to what the next phase of this project will be tackling! ;-)
I have started mocking up some of the panels and am getting a good sense of where the new 981 panels will be re-located on the 986 shell and there will be quite a bit of fabrication work to keep all the original 986 panel mounts, but it will be seamless in the new composite panels created from these.
This should be an interesting project (probably for all the wrong reasons!), so I would be interested in any comments or ideas as the build progresses.. I will keep the diary posted with my progress. I hope you find it interesting too.
I am a big fan of the 986 as an affordable, good all round mid-mount sports car. However, probably like many of you, I think its looks have become quite outdated and could do with a refresh to give this great platform a new lease of life, so I have decided to start a project to create a 2015 981 Boxster body conversion update for my 986 Boxster S. I thought it would make for an interesting build diary so I will be chronicling my build journey here.
I am starting with all OEM factory body panels and will be striving to minimise the modification of these panels as much as possible to fit the 986 to maintain as close as possible to the 981 OEM dimensions. As you can see from the pics below, even 15 years on, dimensionally they are still very similar but do have some differences in panel heights, bonnet scuttle panel areas and roof covers etc. that will need to be addressed.
986
981
Rather than butcher my Boxster S while I work through the conversion, I have bought a bare shell to fabricate the conversion onto and then will be creating composite panels off this to fit to my Boxster S.
The donor
I have also collected most of the OEM body panels now, including a complete 981 rear end which will be very useful for keeping the rear of the conversion true as this will be done in sections. I also picked up some 981 Cayman roof/rear end panels with a view to creating a hardtop for the Boxster at a later date.
You might have noticed an Audi S8 in the background with the front end removed ready for the 340HP V8 engine to be taken out...that gives you a hint as to what the next phase of this project will be tackling! ;-)
I have started mocking up some of the panels and am getting a good sense of where the new 981 panels will be re-located on the 986 shell and there will be quite a bit of fabrication work to keep all the original 986 panel mounts, but it will be seamless in the new composite panels created from these.
This should be an interesting project (probably for all the wrong reasons!), so I would be interested in any comments or ideas as the build progresses.. I will keep the diary posted with my progress. I hope you find it interesting too.
Edited by Beaker77 on Monday 11th January 19:23
Edited by Beaker77 on Monday 11th January 19:43
At first I thought "oh no, some deluded optimist is going to ask where he can buy the 'bodykit' and then get torn to shreds". Cost would exceed that of new 981, 'updating'-all-the-rage-in-the-80s-on-911-horror-stories, it'll never be worth what you paid for it etc. And the lone sympathiser agreeing that the 986 drives better and the 981 looks better, so why don't porsche offer a drive in, drive out service etc.
But your proposal, your progress and the background in your photos convinces me you are crazy, in a good way!
Good luck. Spyder conversion next? 986 coupe?...
But your proposal, your progress and the background in your photos convinces me you are crazy, in a good way!
Good luck. Spyder conversion next? 986 coupe?...
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