21st Century Outlaw 997 Project

[Darren C]

Thanks guy's

So the next step was to make a GRP mold of the wooden over rider...

overmold1.jpg

Then start making....

overmold2.jpg

With a couple of spares just in case

over riders1.jpg

[911hillclimber]

I saw this car and met Darren at the RR Club meeting he invited us to.
Parked next to this 997 and it looked out of this world as it was.
6 months on it will be interesting to see this 11/10ths scale come together.

Great thread!

[Tosh]

Spoiler alert!!!!!!

[Darren C]

Not quite, that was part of my 1000 mile engine run in and very well timed to match the point in the story that we're at

So, the next stage of bumper imagineering came last year when I saw the 991 & 1 millionth 911. I just fell in love with the rear valance (as one does.....or, er, is it just me? ) I just loved the swage line & two heat vents each side. Nicely discreet, stylish & not too brash.
Maybe I could incorporate that into my 21st Century Outlaw design I thought?
So off to OPC for a brand new 991 bumper quote
"You want what Mr Collins?"
"991 rear bumper"
"Er, the cars just been launched, dont even think we have a part number yet?"
"So give the nice chaps at Stuttgart a call"

After a week I got a phone call with a lottery win price tag & claim to fame as the 1st request for a rear 991 bumper. (Has he just crashed a launch car?)

So moving on a few months and my inside man called me & said he had a 991 damaged bumper, that was going for scrap.

Quick as a flash I went & collected it and promptly sawed it in two to get just the lower 1/4.

valance1.jpg

Being PU it cut & planed like butter.

Offering it up to a 997 Gen1 rear highlighted a lot of issues as the overhang on a 997 is longer than a 991 (Porsche development in tail nipping to improve overhanging weight)
So when it met the numberplate area, it was a good 4 inches short of the rear wheel arch line!
Hey ho, I'd have to get imaginative.
Moving on....the 991 valance & 997 bumper was chased, filed, grinded & planed until they met each other as best they could. Tiger bond & rivets held them together.

valance2.jpg

The steel frame now needed extra steel to pick up on the slightly lower (about 2" 991 skirt it wore)

The beauty in this choice is that the 991 rear bumper offers a selection of Porsche "insert panels" off the shelf to cope with multiple tail pipe options. Centre twin, centre split twin & spaced quad options.
With a 991 valance in the 21st Century Outlaw bumper it was possibly the best way to go if I ever wanted change or if I were to sell any.

[Darren C]

Valance bonded in I was next able to mark up & cut out the centre section of the 997 bumper while it was still in the frame without losing shape. This meant just really the side corners & a bit below the boot line remained for mounting.
I left a small bit of original bumper that has the tow eye cover intact so it kept it's reference point.

With the centre now partially out I could start to incorporate the new GRP over riders, carefully cut with markings from my contour gauge, for a gap-less fit

overrider4.jpg

overrider3.jpg

overrider 5.jpg

[Darren C]

At this early stage I had a bit of fun toying around with tailpipe ideas & settled for an Outlaw centre split.

exhausts1.jpg

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[Darren C]

Work continued with the numberplate area, starting with a wood template.

bumper5.jpg

Followed by cutting out the numberplate light section from the old 997 bumper and incorporating it into a sheet aluminium plate I'd folded up to make the numberplate panel.

numberplateplate.jpg

I did consider enlarging the circle & parallel line pressings into it, but with future options & numberplate size variants I thought it might not be being too clever in the end

bumper6.jpg

Finally all the parts got riveted, Tiger bonded, screwed and glass fibre pasted together into one big lump

[Darren C]

Once it was all dry I embarked upon weeks & weeks of sculpturing it all into one flowing and symetrical bumper plug with the aid of two buckets of filler

bumper8.jpg

I had to extend the 991 valance to meet a projected imaginary arch line of the 997 bumper by the missing 4" then make a return edge.

bumper9.jpg

Swage & crease lines had to be imagined, extended and shaped into the filler. (using cut & bent ali templates clamped on for the sandpaper & form tools wrapped in sandpaper that I made)

bumper11.jpg

The numberplate panel had to be block sculpted into a nice shape to follow the 997 engine lid shut line.

The work was tiresome and I had to walk away many times and revisit, time & time just to get it OCD right

[Darren C]

After about 3 months (yes really) I ended up after a light dusting of primer.....with a unique 997 rear bumper that I could just sit on a chair & look at all day

bumper13.jpg

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bumper12.jpg

[KS]

You're a clever bugger, aren't you?

[defianty]

Brilliant!

[Peter]

Loving this

[bjmullan]

Great work and I'm loving the thread

[AndrewSlater]

I think it is great that you have shared this thread here Darren.

Reminds me of when I bought my first 997 C2S gen 1 four years ago - it was the cheapest I could find but had a whole list of faults with it. Each time I visited the owner to mull it over there was another fault that had developed and the price kept getting lower.
Eventually I took the plunge and it took me (and my son) the best part of a year to fix all the faults, but wasn't too costly (other than time) and ended up with a really well sorted car.

I kept it another year and fitted all new Pagid brake discs just before selling it, and also spent ages painting them with high temp paint to help prevent future corrosion as you have done. When I checked the MOT status on the car a year after selling ( as you do ), I was amazed that after another 10K miles there was an MOT observation that there was significant corrosion on the inners of the disc brakes. Considering my preparation I was a little disappointed.

More recently at my OPC major service for my '09 Gen 2 997, I had the phone call of dread which included the extra £6K of other work to be done, of which £3K or so was to replace all the brake discs due to corrosion.

So once again I have undertaken this job. This time I bought Sebro discs and again painted the discs even more thoroughly to try to hold back the corrosion. Job done for around £600 so a big saving over OPC. Hopefully these will last a little longer.

Keep the updates coming - always a good read.
Andrew

[Darren C]

Thanks for the kind words, I've always been a patron of lost causes, jumping in feet first where other fear to tread

If you have patience and prepared to learn new skills, then you can achieve miracles on a shoestring

So back to the story....

With the bumper form made (that was the easy bit) It was obvious this sculpture couldn't be used on a car, being made of so many mixed materials, so the next stage was to prepare it for mold making.

To ensure a clean release & good finish to the mold, I took it down to my tame paint shop and got it firstly 2 pack primed.

bumper16.jpg

bumper17.jpg

Then I flatted it, with a final inspection and they gave it a topcoat

bumper18.jpg

Now it was ready to build a mold from