Heads up that I planning a front/back OEM-ish .1 GT3 bumper upgrade in two weeks. Looking for comments and suggestions, although I'm pretty set on things so far.

I bought an aerokit front bumper a couple of years ago from a 6-speeder (attic2zoo) and it was already painted my body color. It kinda needed a respray then, but I held off. So I'll finally get the respray done, and I'm going to put in the Rennline GT3 vent and screen. I'm trying to borrow a template from Joel/tunedbygoody, but if someone else has a loaner available, please PM me.

For the rear, I bought a .1 GT3 bumper from another 6speeder (OmahaGT), and I'm having that installed along with a custom center-exit exhaust mod thanks to advice from V35.

Since there's very little room for extra exhaust pipe routing, I think I'll go with these short tips:

another option would be go with the ones pictured below: [edit: I went with the larger of the tips, below - and I bought them from Yoast Fabrication, or YoFab]

I think 3.5" is more typical for GT3's, like Sharkwerks 89mm tips. The custom exhaust guy doesn't think those will fit. He looked underneath the car and said: "Geez, 10 pounds in a 5 pound bag", and I added that we're trying to make it 12 pounds!

The rear bumper came with the heat shields, and I'm wondering if we'll use my stock center shield, or the GT3 center shield, or maybe a fabricated version, starting with one and adding some material from the other. I said OEM-ish above as the rear bumper is 100% GT3 OEM, but the ront will be Aerokit OEM + GT3 vent.

I seem to have read that my original supports will be about an inch or two short. I didn't buy the GT3 supports, and I'm hoping the body guy can work it out.

The exhaust shop is right next to the body shop, so the plan is to drop the car off on Thurs 6/28 at the body shop. He'll remove the rear bumper and take the car - along with the GT3 rear bumper to the exhaust guy and have him do his work during the week of the 4th. The body guy is out that week, so he'll get the car back on July 9th and he'll paint both bumpers, install the screen on the front, and then mount it all. If all goes well, I'll have the car back on July 11th or 12th.

Sorry if that's too much to share, but that's the story. Any comments? Particularly on exhaust or tips?

I'll certainly be providing some 'after' pictures. I don't know how much sense it makes to post 'before' photos, but that should be easy enough. Since I'll be away for most of the time the work is being done, I don't know that I'll have any 'during' photos.

One last thing - I'm keeping the stock exhaust for two reasons: budget, plus the fact that I really like the Gundo hack. I'm hoping that the bit of extra piping doesn't change the sound or performance too much...

 

that's going to look fantastic. I hope you can get the template on time...

 

so you're going to build extensions from the mufflers to the center exit? depending on the diameter piping you'll be running, you might run into problems routing those pipes around the stock cats as they are very large and in an awkward position. you're going to have to run the new pipes extrmely close to the rear bumper and i would be worried about the heat ruining your bumper. good luck!

 

Subscribed.

 

I can recommend a good body shop LOL.

 

sub'd

 

Thanks Joel!

Yes - that's what we're planning to do. I imagine the best bet is to use the same diameter pipe as what comes out of the muffler to the tip. Does anyone know if that's 2.5"? I might call Pfister and ask him. Narrower might cause flow issues? And wider would just make the fitment more difficult. Since the tips take 2.5" in, that would be easier on that end.

Regarding the heat, I think we'll be OK. I think the extra piping will be a bit lower than the stock gear, and only slightly more rearward.

It's too bad that I'll be out of town while that work is being done, but if there's a major concern, they can hold up the project until I get back.

 

I just went to the garage for some quick measurements: The lowest point under the rear of the car is the plate (?) on the bottom of the engine. On my lowered car, that's 6.25" off the ground. The cats are 10" off the ground and I think the new pipes will likely / mostly go right under the stock cats. So there's about 4" of clearance, between the cats and where that engine plate sits, wrt ground clearance. I hope they only use about 3 of those 4 inches. The tricky part is in the center where the pipes cross. That's where the rearward issue will come into play. I think the GT3 bumper might sit a bit rearward there - but we won't know until they do some of the test fitting.
That lack of front to back space in the center is why I'm planning to buy the shallow tips above...

 

i have a feeling you're going to have to ditch the stock cats to make it fit. i don't think its possible to route the extension pipes around the huge factory cats without losing ground clearance. check out these pics and you can decide for yourself.

OEM Exhaust

fabspeed gt3 conversion

 

It will hang a little lower for it to fit. Since the GT3 bumper is also lower it should cover it up.

 

Fabspeed gets my vote.

 

you're going to have to run the new pipes extrmely close to the rear bumper

 

Interesting. I've been crawling under to look at the car, but the pictures help a lot! Thanks!
The fabspeed unit looks awesome! But I don't know if I want to spend the $4k or whatever on it. My plan is uglier, and cheaper, but I do like my current exhaust sound, so that might be a plus. I had a loud exhaust on my last 911 for about 10 years and it was cool some of the time, and a literal headache many other times.
Here's what I'm thinking - in pictures. Note the ground clearance in the first photo (and the XXX marks where I think there's a possible clearance issue), then see my mad photoshop skillz for the elimination of the old tips (cutting them off), then welding on the new pipes in two slightly different configurations. I think the biggest concern I have is that these would all be welds, and it would be tough to work on the cats, for example, if they developed a problem. I think the new pipes would need to be cut off and re-welded. Also, the Gundo mufflers would have the ends cut off near the tips - probably so much so that they'd lose their re-sale value.
Otherwise, I think it's a good plan, but time will tell...

 

I love this setup!

 

Thanks for the great feedback guys, your the best. Its a great setup that works well and makes a nice power and sound increase.
Jack, I know it seems a little much but it does include our X Pipe Sport Cats, Maxflo Mufflers and the Center Outlet Conversion kit with Chrome or Black tips. If anyone is interested in this setup, shoot me a PM or email and I will make you a great member deal on it. Ill make sure to make it worth your while for the full kit.
Thanks,