Finally, my Porsche 911 longhood fender backdate is complete! The picture below illustrates the change from the short hood on the left to the Porsche 911 longhood backdate on the right. I prefer the older look of the pre-1973 look on the right. Porsche backdates and forward-dates are common because there is good parts interchangeability from 1964 to 1994.
Longhood Fender backdate DIY details
Rather than buy new fenders, I decided to modify my existing short hood fenders with some patch panels. Re-purposing my existing parts saved a lot of money.
To start, I stripped the paint off and rolled the existing fender flange down to match the pictures of factory longhood fenders. Then, I rolled new turn signal brackets with my Pexto bead roller.
I used the factory original pieces to locate the shape and mounting holes of my DIY backdate kit. Below are some shots of me fitting the longhood parts to my Porsche backdate.
Most of the factory detail were preserved wherever possible when I made the signal box kit. One thing I improved was the attachment of the signal box side nearest to the hood. Rather than overlapping and spot welding like the factory did, I elected to butt weld this piece to avoid future rust. Everything else at least resembles the factory longhood fenders.
CNC’s Wooden Block Used To Shape Side Extension Piece
Save Money by DIY
New longhood fenders are about $1500 each and used ones in great condition are about the same price. I did the conversion for almost nothing since I made all the parts from flat sheetmetal. (about $10 worth of steel). Of course it took several days to complete, but what the heck it was a fun excercise. Even at a typical shop rate of $100/hr my labor cost would be about 20 hours * $100/hr = $2000.
If you are doing this modification yourself, I did notice that the drivers fender had a larger than normal gap between the fender and the turn signal light assembly. Later, I ended up cutting and moving the factory edge down to improve the turn signal and horn grill alignment. For some reason this issue did not exist on the passenger side.
Thank you for watching my Porsche 911 Longhood Fender Backdate Project. Click the video below!
Also check out the DIY hood backdate process as well. Click here
