931 vented badge panel/nose on a 951..!

[Shark]

I really like the look of the 924 Turbo vented badge panel and always wanted to fit one to my 951. Done properly, it suits the 951 so well and looks like it could be stock.

Sure, I appreciate it's not for everybody and it is arguable that it improves or hinders performance.. I am not bothered about that, I m doing this purely for aesthetics. If I find there is any negative impact on performance then I can blank the vents off from the rear if need be.

Still work in progress (beginning of the project rather), but I have overcome the hardest part of this mod already - sourcing a 931 nose and the hardest part, a set of four vents! I found a 931 panel on ebay (Thanks Porsch-apart/9-apart!) and was lucky to find a set of vents on ebay.de (- my wife translated, searched for Lüftungsgitter). The easy part was a spare 951 badge panel there was no problem sourcing that.
Note, I will be preserving my original badge panel in case I sell the car at a later date, I can put it back to stock.

931 panel arrived today! (pictured beside my S2)

Still waiting on the 951 panel arriving and then vents coming from Germany, I have a local bodyshop lined up to do the fabrication work.
I'm already £303 in parts, I reckon the bodyshop will be £150-£200, then another £150 or thereabouts in paint and fitting. So this is turning out to be quite an expensive mod!

I hope it'll be worth it!


I will update with all progress accordingly!

Thanks for looking!

My car here..!

EDIT/UPDATE..

quick summary of months of research..

It is called a badge panel.
The vents are no longer available from Porsche.
They are no longer available from AutoAtlanta.com despite being listed on the website. Link here.. http://www.autoatlanta.com/Porsche-Grille-Insert-924-Turbo-Four-Req-Parts-PN-B477853381.html
A 931 badge panel is very hard item to find...
..and if you thought that was hard to find, vents are harder.
The 931 badge panel does not fit the 951, the shape is completely different.
The 931 badge panel is spot welded onto the car- which means if you find one, it'll have been drilled/cut/torn off the car.
The 951 badge panel is bolt on for easy on/off'age.
The 951 badge panel has a structure on the rear of where the vents will sit effectively blocking them off and rendering the vents useless - this renders the argument about any impact on performance as boll-ocks.
There are two ways of doing this mod..easy way and hard way:
Easy way- cut a section with the four vents out a 931 panel and graft them into a 951 panel.
Hard way- cut four holes out a 951 panel.
There is company in Germany do a fibreglass panel for a 951 with the four vents holes, it is on their website as out of stock. They actually can supply the panel but have removed it from sale because there are no vents available. If you can find vents, you can buy a panel as they will fit. Here is a link to the panel.. http://teilecar.com/?1341,frontblech-front-panel-gfk-grp-porsche-944-s2-turbo-951
I would not put a fibreglass panel on my car.
If you search ebay.de for "Porsche 924 turbo Lüftungsgitter" you may find some vents in Germany. This is how I got mine. I do not know the French, Italian, Spanish translations..but don't limit your search to the UK, ebay spans every country the 931 was sold in!!
My vents are costing me £95
My 931 badge panel was £125
I bought a 951 badge panel for £68
I suspect my bodyshop will charge £150 for labour..
..and another £150 for painting and fitting.
That's almost £600 for this mod.

 

[Shark]

Should look something like this when done..

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Are you using the existing panel and cutting the vents in to it? The 924 panel is a horrible fit, and I imagine it'd cost the same to fit the vents to a later panel than bodge it?

Personally, I think they don't suit the later front-end. My favourite is this one, with a single vent that mirrors the PU shape.

 

[Shark]

I have a spare 951 panel coming, the vents will be cut out the 931 panel and grafted into the 951 panel. Im keeping my original panel safe so it can go back to stock.

I get your point with the other nose panel option, it looks good, but the 931 mod looks more stock to the ignorant (90% of the population) where as everyone knows those new panels are not original and you have modified the car.

Job will go something like this..


931 nose and cut out the vents..

cut out same section from 951 nose..

fabricate in the vents to the 951 nose..

..and it should look like this when done!

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Now that is the way to do it. Should look great. []

 

[George Elliott]

Should look great.

Agree, but it will draw some wild comments on the science involved, which you are clearly not interested in, and rightly so []

Keep us posted

George
944t

 

[Shark]

Yeah.. lol.. not interested in benefits or drawbacks. If there is any noticeable negative impact, i'll box them off.

I will be finishing off with a set of those new (genuine) Fuchs, they do them in 17"..Fuchs

Should be a nod to the Carerra GT when im done..

 

[Craigybaby]

£303 for parts! Damn, I let a German lad from Barnsley have mine for £20 a few years ago.

 

[Shark]

Yikes! Bad move [].. These 931 bits are getting rare and are NLA.. Those vents used to be £4 odds each from your OPC I gather, Ive just paid £110 for a thirty year old set of four. Lol....!
Yeah it's going to cost much more than anticipated at inception.

 

[333pg333]

I had a couple of these nose panels with vents in them. Bent both in separate incidents. There's a Polish company that makes a fibreglass copy which isn't too bad.
A converted metal 951 panel is better but if you can't find the parts there is an alternative.

 

[os951]

It's just a cosmetic upgrade, also no negative impact if you keep original plastic "air tunnel" installed. Patrick in Germany sells high quality clone 924 turbo nose panel vents. I suppose oem new ones are not available any longer. Marek in Poland sells 951 glass fibre nose panels like Patrick wrote.

 

[Craigybaby]

I've also just given Newcastle porsche centre my rare 924 turbo sill trims for free for their restoration project, couldn't even get a tenner for them when I offered them for sale.

 

[pse_SC]

I've also just given Newcastle porsche centre my rare 924 turbo sill trims for free for their restoration project, couldn't even get a tenner for them when I offered them for sale.

Good... well at least they've gone to a good cause, helping keep another rare (underestimated) car on the road[][]

 

[Craigybaby]

My thoughts exactly

 

[944 man]

ORIGINAL: os951

It's just a cosmetic upgrade, also no negative impact if you keep original plastic "air tunnel" installed. Patrick in Germany sells high quality clone 924 turbo nose panel vents. I suppose oem new ones are not available any longer. Marek in Poland sells 951 glass fibre nose panels like Patrick wrote.

Are they made by the same company who makes the GRP wings that Marek sells, Olli?

 

[Shark]

The German company noted above list a fibre glass 951 panel with the four vent holes. It is listed as out of stock. I contacted them. They said the panel is available but the vents are not, so they removed the panel from sale.

Panel here.. http://teilecar.com/?1341,frontblech-front-panel-gfk-grp-porsche-944-s2-turbo-951

There is an American website that list the vents for $15each.. but there are none available (I ordered some, got a standard email saying not available/ being manufactured, 60 days- probably never)

vents here.. http://www.autoatlanta.com/Porsche-Grille-Insert-924-Turbo-Four-Req-Parts-PN-B477853381.html

All unavailable!

I could have bought the fibreglass nose panel and put the vents in that, but would likely work out same price and I don't like fibreglass panels, a metal panel will fit perfectly and will have a proper finish.

 

[944Scott]

Here's mine, work in progress.

Shark

If you have the front of your car still in bits could you give me some dimensions of the space where the intercooler sits, I want to see what bigger FMIC's will fit.

 

[Shark]

Scott that is great, you've done it! That is the 951 panel isn't it? Just I don't see the weld marks.. or you did it the other way without sacrificing a 931 panel?

Top stuff!

No, the front of my car is as pictured above..in the garage covered in dust. Its non running right now, though I do have it booked in for repair tomorrow, I need to tow it to the local garage. Just a minor breakdown, it was running like a Swiss watch then cut out and won't go now lol.. (no, I already checked the DME..).

I won't be getting my hands dirty with this job, I can't do any of that work..I would like to try sure, I've got a Dremel lol....but the parts are too rare and expensive for an amateur to be playing with. I'll be taking both nose panels to a professional to prepare, then i'll drop my car off once he has done the mod, so he can colour match and fit it. I need another little bit of paint doing anyway.. I will not have the opportunity to take that measurement for you, sorry.

Top job though, that looks great. What colour is your car?

 

[944Scott]

My car is Baltic Blue. It is a 951 panel but I can't take the credit for the work though, I did start out wanting to cut the vents out of a 931 panel I had but the fabricator I used said it seemed a shame to cut the panel up and that he thought he could fabricate it himself. I really pleased with the end result even if I did have to wait six months for it.

 

[Shark]

He made a good job.. 6months though..lol..