986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post - Introduction / swapping a 3.2L S Engine into a 2.7L Car

JustinS · 06-18-2019, 11:04 AM

Hey guys! My name is Justin, I'm a younger engineer in my mid twenties and I live in New England. I spent some time going to Limerock park when I was younger and I grew up around older Porsches (mostly 944s), 996s, E36s, etc. My first car was a 944 S2. I learned a lot from that car and the older Porsche community. I managed to rebuild the engine and a good portion of the rest of that car thanks to some great advice from the community, the workshop manuals, and with some help from my father and my uncle. I still have the car and drive it frequently.

Around a year ago, my father picked up a 987 Cayman S - it's a great car! I helped him do some basic maintenance on it (filters/fluids/changing the waterpump) to get it in a perfect condition. Naturally, after driving it and spending some time underneath one, I decided to keep my eyes open for a 986.

I recently picked up David's 986 with a blown IMS (Thread 1 , Thread 2) . My original plan was to swap in a 2.7L engine and enjoy the car. Well a day after picking that up, I found a 2001 Boxster S roller car for sale with 93,000 miles. One of the previous owner decided to cut the body all up (his plan was to retrofit a diablo bodykit to it). The car is a tiptronic and it is a running and driving car. I got it for a great price and it also has newer bilsteins on it. The owner also threw in a deep sump oil kit, all of the interior pieces, and a ton of 996 parts he accumulated. I'm hoping to sell a lot of parts off of it (i've done something similar for a 944 S that was hit).

So far I have pulled the engine and I am currently stripping the tub out. I plan to swap in the S suspension, third radiator, brakes, and the 3.2L engine into the black 986. It's a fun father/son project.

I can't find any real documentation to see if anyone has actually done this swap. Wayne Dempsey has written a little about it in his book.

- According to Wayne, the 2001 3.2L engine should directly swap into the 2000 2.7L car. I havent investigated yet but I imagine the 2.7L engine harness will directly swap over? I'll compare all of the sensors in the PET and I will compare it to the 3.2L harness but I know some pieces will be different (because it is designed for a tiptronic).

- Based on my research, the 5 speed from the 2.7L should swap right over. Has anyone had any direct experience? I'll have to check the PET and make sure the pressure plate and clutch components are the same.

- Does anyone know where I could send out my ECU to be remapped for the 3.2L engine? The bosch motronic version is the same between the two cars. Wayne makes it sound like a remap is all that is necessary.

- I was going to change the Waterpump, IMS, AOS, RMS and spark plugs on the 3.2L engine while it is on the stand. I have the tools from when we did the IMS on my uncles 996. I was also going to install the deep sump pan that I was given. Is there anything else I should address? Any seals?

Any comments or insight is appreciated! Thanks

Here are some pictures of the project

06-18-2019, 11:04 AM	#1
JustinS Registered User Join Date: Jun 2019 Location: CT Posts: 66	Introduction / swapping a 3.2L S Engine into a 2.7L Car Hey guys! My name is Justin, I'm a younger engineer in my mid twenties and I live in New England. I spent some time going to Limerock park when I was younger and I grew up around older Porsches (mostly 944s), 996s, E36s, etc. My first car was a 944 S2. I learned a lot from that car and the older Porsche community. I managed to rebuild the engine and a good portion of the rest of that car thanks to some great advice from the community, the workshop manuals, and with some help from my father and my uncle. I still have the car and drive it frequently. Around a year ago, my father picked up a 987 Cayman S - it's a great car! I helped him do some basic maintenance on it (filters/fluids/changing the waterpump) to get it in a perfect condition. Naturally, after driving it and spending some time underneath one, I decided to keep my eyes open for a 986. I recently picked up David's 986 with a blown IMS (Thread 1 , Thread 2) . My original plan was to swap in a 2.7L engine and enjoy the car. Well a day after picking that up, I found a 2001 Boxster S roller car for sale with 93,000 miles. One of the previous owner decided to cut the body all up (his plan was to retrofit a diablo bodykit to it). The car is a tiptronic and it is a running and driving car. I got it for a great price and it also has newer bilsteins on it. The owner also threw in a deep sump oil kit, all of the interior pieces, and a ton of 996 parts he accumulated. I'm hoping to sell a lot of parts off of it (i've done something similar for a 944 S that was hit). So far I have pulled the engine and I am currently stripping the tub out. I plan to swap in the S suspension, third radiator, brakes, and the 3.2L engine into the black 986. It's a fun father/son project. I can't find any real documentation to see if anyone has actually done this swap. Wayne Dempsey has written a little about it in his book. - According to Wayne, the 2001 3.2L engine should directly swap into the 2000 2.7L car. I havent investigated yet but I imagine the 2.7L engine harness will directly swap over? I'll compare all of the sensors in the PET and I will compare it to the 3.2L harness but I know some pieces will be different (because it is designed for a tiptronic). - Based on my research, the 5 speed from the 2.7L should swap right over. Has anyone had any direct experience? I'll have to check the PET and make sure the pressure plate and clutch components are the same. - Does anyone know where I could send out my ECU to be remapped for the 3.2L engine? The bosch motronic version is the same between the two cars. Wayne makes it sound like a remap is all that is necessary. - I was going to change the Waterpump, IMS, AOS, RMS and spark plugs on the 3.2L engine while it is on the stand. I have the tools from when we did the IMS on my uncles 996. I was also going to install the deep sump pan that I was given. Is there anything else I should address? Any seals? Any comments or insight is appreciated! Thanks Here are some pictures of the project Last edited by JustinS; 06-20-2019 at 03:20 AM.