We recently installed a GT2 bumper on our Camo 996tt Project. This conversion appears to be fairly straight forward, however as others have experienced there are a few hiccups here and there that may give you headaches. I spent many hours trying to find the best solution for these particular headaches and decided it was time to do a proper write-up on a functional GT2 Nose conversion. I skipped the details on how to remove and re-install the bumper cover itself as these have been covered previously and is pretty much straight forward.
It is always a good idea to test fit everything prior to painting the cover itself. Once you have the bumper painted use the 25 Speed clips to secure the black trim pieces on the center, right and left side. This is pretty straight forward, just mount the trim panels to the inside of the bumper and slide the speed clips on the plastic tabs to tightly hold these in place. These interior trim panels will line up with the newly added radiator shrouds on all 3 radiators when you go to install the bumper cover onto the car. The center grille attaches using 6 Allen screws and bolts which I ordered from Porsche. The lower lip clips into place and is secured on each side by a screw and clip. Once you’ve completed these steps the bumper itself should be ready to be re-installed onto the car, you just need to prepare the car for the bumper.
The biggest problem with this conversion lies with the center radiator. The GT2 features a tilted center radiator allowing the airflow to enter in the center and evacuate up through the grille which is added in front of the hood. It sounds straight forward, however do to the difference in cooling systems between the GT2 and 996 there is some custom modifications require. Be prepared to spill coolant all over the floor and yourself, but it’s all part of the gain (it’s a good idea to drain the coolant system as much as possible prior but you’re still going to spill quite a bit with the removal of the radiator).
Start off by removing the 996tt lower radiator brackets and replacing them with the GT2 counterparts. You will want to loosen then up, pop the clips off the radiators and press hard against one side to get the radiator out of the original bracket. It’s a bit tricky and will take you a bit of time, but it’s just the start of what’s to come. Holding the brackets up side by side you will notice that the GT2 units are nearly identical except for the angle on the lower mount, this gives you the pitch you need to make the radiator functional). While you have the brackets out, it’s a good idea to move the horns as well, we removed the front horn and bent the bracket to allow enough room for our re-routed hoses to fit nicely in their place).
The new shroud for the GT2 requires the radiator to be flipped. Flip the radiator over and install both the new interior ducting and front air duct as well (this is pretty straight forward as just 2 metal strips hold the front duct on, and 2 clips and 3 plastic tabs hold the air duct in place).
There will be 2 metal spacers needed behind the shroud to properly space the mounting brackets out, this will space the 996tt upper and lower surround brackets out enough to make them work with a bit of tweaking). Using M8x16x80mm bolts (check Ace hardware for these cheap) attach the upper radiator bracket through the frame, through the spacer (which is inserted inside the interior shroud) and into the mounting point on the car). This should line up the radiator just as you need but will leave quite a gap between your hoses and the radiator
As a result of the different cooling systems, we needed to make modified coolant hoses to make this work. The factory hoses where pretty cheap (under $15 each I believe) so we ordered 2 new ones from Porsche. Our plan was to cut the factory ends off the original hoses, use a 1.0″ hose connector and some worm clamps to attach the new hose pieces we bought to the exposed hoses on the car. This takes a bit of patience and mocking up on the car, but after a few tries and cuts to each hose you will end up with a path that works. Clamp the new hose onto the extensions, the extensions to the existing hose coming from the car, and the connectors should bridge the cap to the now flipped radiator.
Once you have the center radiators fabricated up and the hoses connect, it should be pretty straight forward from here as far installing the GT2 bumper just as the original one came off. Using OEM parts it should make for a very easy conversion, I’d expect 7-8 hours for the install if you have all the parts lined up and ready to go (which we didn’t as a complete parts list wasn’t something readily available previously). I also want to thank Stevem Russell @ Suncoast Porsche for helping me throughout the process with multiple parts shipments. They’ve got the best prices on OEM parts if you’re looking to do this conversion I’d suggest giving Steven and the gang at Suncoast a call.
Parts Needed
—– AESTHETIC ——
Front Bumper Cover 996 505 311 30
Air Inlet Trim for Bumper (left) 996 505 563 30
Air Inlet Trim for Bumper (right) 996 505 564 30
Air Inlet Trim for Bumper (center) 996 505 561 30
(25) Speed Nuts (secures trim) 999 507 258 02
Headlight Trim Bracket (left) 996 505 539 03
Headlight Trim Bracket (right) 996 505 540 03
Headlight Trim Gasket (left) 996 505 741 30
Headlight Trim Gasket (right) 996 505 742 30
Center Top Grille 996 575 326 31
(6) Allen Screw (secures grille) 900 623 012 07
(6) Hexagon Nut (secures grille) 999 084 120 02
Lower Bumper Lip 996 505 555 30
(2) Tapping Screw 900 144 101 02
(2) Speed Nut 999 507 072 02
Front Wheel Well Liner (left) 996 504 123 90
Front Wheel Well Liner (right) 996 504 124 90
——- FUNCTIONAL ——-
Left Air Duct 996 575 321 30
Right Air Duct 996 575 322 30
Center Air Duct 996 575 325 30
Center Air Duct to Grille 996 575 141 30
(2) Spacer Sleeve 996 504 679 31
Lower Radiator Bracket (left) 996 106 131 72
Lower Radiator Bracket (right) 996 106 132 70
Coolant Hose 996 106 638 75
Coolant Hose 996 106 639 75
(2) 1.0″ ID Hose Joiners
(4) Worm style hoses clamps
(2) M8x16 x 80mm headbolts
