Someome
 

Will eventually do it

hopefully - there seems to be a lot more open source info for the 7.8 dme vs the 7.2.

ps, sorry to the op for the hijack. 986/987/996/997.1 engines are physically interchangeable. the issue rests with engine management. partway through the the 9x6 evolution they changed engine management systems (from 7.2 to 7.8 canbus) and cam control (from variocam to variocam+). in order to put a more recent engine in an early 986 you need new engine management which means new wheel speed sensors, new abs controller, new brake lines, new hvac controller, new gauge pod, additional sensor wiring, additional canbus wiring, etc. - a big job. it would be nice if someone made a box that would run the new cams with the old engine mgmt system.

I almost did this myself but it was a bit more daunting than I imagined once getting into assembling pieces.

Biggest issue is electrical. Our gen 1 boxsters 97-99 are 5.2.2 and dont have can-bus
3.6 and 3.8 engines run a 7.8 dme with Can-bus. You need to do alot of wiring (I bought a complete harness to add this bus system). You will also need an 2002+ speedo/cluster, abs controller, dme and engine. Headers also wont work. I bought '05 cayman s 3.4 full exhaust from someone who upgraded.

Its a big job