1999 Porsche 911 roller

I dragged this home a couple of weeks ago, '99 Carrera, RWD/ 6 speed manual:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/H9pR9JvNSdnpktGM7

The bed of the truck was full of parts!

I had been looking for a project for a while, made an offer a while back on a similar Tiptronic 911 but seller wasn't ready to face his situation.

Good:

• 73K miles
• Clean interior
• Straight body

Not so good:

• Engine disassembled
• Bad crankshaft, crazy money for new, hard to find good used
• Sat for 6+ years, old gas/tires

Plan:

• Found a used short block w/ LN IMS bearing upgrade
• Inspect/confirm short block condition
• Reassemble with my heads (already cleaned up)
• Evaluate everything, replace consumables/common failure items
• Sell off unneeded good engine parts

So far:

• Replaced trunk struts
• Siphoned 5 gallons of old nasty gas
• Scared myself silly reading discussions of failure points and pricing parts

Nice, where did you find the replacement engine?

In reply to pimpm3 (Forum Supporter) :

European Parts Depot on eBay,  should be here in a day or two

LS swa......

I'll see myself out.

Out of a lot of personal curiosity, would you mind sharing what you paid for it? This is pretty much exactly what I'm looking for as my next project.

Around here it seems that any blown engine Carrera or Cayman has an asking price of about blue book minus 4-5k, which makes no sense. 

Do you already have some Porsche experience? There are plenty of great online resources for the engine assembly and you probably have a good idea of what you're doing already. Just in case you want some recent pictures and someone to discuss specifics with, check out this thread on the 986Forum: http://986forum.com/forums/show-tell-gallery/73917-blue-boxster-resurrection-project.html

...and feel free to join in there, as lots of guys there are running 996s, 987s, etc, and no longer have a 986.

There's lots of good technical stuff on Renntech.org and Rennlist.com

In reply to enginenerd :

I paid $5,500 for the car

In reply to AAZCD (Forum Supporter) :

No Porsche experience unfortunately. Thanks for the suggestions, have spent some time on Rennlist already, will have to check out Renntech and 986forum

Short block had some sizable metal debris in the sump, not looking good, sorry about the picture size

Dang, that's nasty.

I missed an ad for a 99 for $5500 a few days ago in Houston. It was deleted before i ever opened it, so i dont even know what it was. Sigh..

There was a convertible here for $6500 for about a week before it sold. I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I'll be following along since this is a path I want to go down.

Cylinder D chunked on that motor.  This is completely empirical, but I've seen at least 6 996/986 motors blow up at the track.  All of them had the "proper" track mods done, so the oiling mods, motorsport AOS, new, improved IMS etc.  They all had catastrophic engine failure at the track.

Simply put, I wouldn't run one of these at the track unless you have the finances to replace the motor, or are like AAZCD and have multiple cars/parts cars to use.

Patientzero said:

LS swa......

 

I'll see myself out.

hey, could you hold the door for me? 

i'd take a $5500 911 and throw a $2500 corvair drivetrain in it.

In reply to Patientzero :

I've considered/researched that but looks like the costs add up in that direction as well.

Still...

In reply to docwyte :

Thanks for the insight, it's back on the pallet, ready to ship back.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

I've seen at least one Subaru swap, don't think I've seen a Corvair one yet.

I'm back to shopping for a solution, at least need a crankshaft. New is $4,000+, used market is pretty thin, usually with journal damage. One source has used/polished for $3,450.

Honestly I'd buy a complete used motor instead.

In reply to docwyte :

That's one avenue I'm considering, thanks

+3 on the LS swap :)

There is a lot of interchangeability between the 2000 - 2004 Boxster engines and the 1999 3.4L engine. I have read that the crankshaft is identical and you may be able to get a 2.7L block or parts for a lot less than a 3.4L.

Here's a pic from a junk 2.7L I have showing the part number:

I doubt it would be of use to you, but I'll send you mine if you want to pay shipping. The engine had a catastrophic failure and it probably isn't good for much except a lamp now:

Here's a quote from Porsche engine expert Jake Raby talking about some interchangeability: Link to source

I carry out this type of interchange frequently. I have included an interchange table in my assembly manual that should answer most questions.

Combustion chamber variances of 3cc are the biggest difference in the two heads as long as both are from the same era. Both engines must be "5 chain" to allow this to happen easily. There were no 3 chain 3.4 engines, and all were 5 chain. The 3.2 heads will increase the compression ratio of the engine due to their smaller chambers. The 3.2 and 3.4 share the exact same camshafts and the only difference between the 2 internally is the bore size, CR and intake arrangement.

It is possible to install 3 chain heads on a 5 chain engine and 5 cain heads on a 3 chain engine, according to what the combo is you are shooting for.. Hell, I have even used a 2.5 Boxster crank inside a 3.8 liter 997 crankcase for a short stroke, Big Bore HI RPM beast.
3.6 heads have vane cell adjusters for their vario cam + cam arrangement and NONE of these parts are interchangeable with the earlier engines to include the camshafts.

Its all in the combo.

I wouldn't LS swap it.  I LS swapped my 951 and it's a deep, deep rabbit hole.

tyler Hoover of hoovies garage LS swapped his 996 and regretted it as well.

In reply to docwyte :

He spent a significant amount of money on the LS, only to have it explode itself shortly after. I imagine that was more of the regret than the swap itself. 

I like the Frankenstein Porsche parts bin option...