3.4L Motor Swap Underway!

[insite]

okay, now that we have the exhaust manifolds on, we have a few problems to solve.

first, the new motor has one variocam actuator with damaged wires. i'd planned on removing the actuator plug & swapping with the one from the old motor, but it turns out you have to remove the valve cover to do this. my solution was to cut off the plug and install some heatshrink tubing. i then soldered the plug back on w/ more heat shrink & some silicone over the penetration.

[insite]

another problem we need to solve is to wire up & plumb the VarioRam valve & its vacuum actuator.

usually, this is done by ADDING a vacuum actuator & running new wires from the actuator to the DME & to a 12V power supply. we are going to do it differently....

since the RoW program i'm using on my DME eliminates the secondary air injection, i am going to use the secondary air injection vacuum actuator to run the VarioRam valve. i installed blocker plates over the secondary air holes on top of the case. i then cut off the vacuum canister bracket from the secondary air stuff i removed from the car. i installed it OVER the blocker in its factory position & used longer bolts.

the vacuum actuator also clips to this bracket. i then ran the vacuum line that USED to control the secondary air valve up to the VarioRam valve.

next, i had to wire it up. good news! use the secondary air plug. all you have to do is move pin 37 to position 59 on the dme plug. much easier than running wires.

[insite]

another issue we need to solve is the airbox. the factory airbox plumbing is too narrow for the 3.4L. also, the MAF housing is too narrow. it needs to match the 3.4's diameter in order for the DME program to properly set the air/fuel mixture.

this solution is more or less copied from Cloudsurfer's setup. thanks to him for all of the help here; it took out a lot of guess work for me.

here's the factory airbox setup:











now here's the cloudsurfer setup:






from the airbox by my hand, here is a list of what i used:

1. BMC DIA airbox
2. 3.5" - 3.25" silicone reducer with a 3.5" stainless steel silicone joiner inside
3. 3.5" 90deg silicone elbow
4. BMW 540i MAF housing w/ boxster MAF installed
5. 3.5" silicone straight segment - I ELIMINATED THIS PIECE!!

6. 3.5" - 3.25" silicone reducer (note: there should be a 3.25" stainless steel silicone joiner inside. i couldn't find one, so i used a 3.25" stainless steel BISCUIT CUTTER from kitchenworks.com!!)

7. 3.25" 135deg silicone elbow that's been cut at the proper angle for the throttle body.

[insite]

another thing to deal with is the brake booster line. on the 996 manifold, it's on the wrong side. to deal with this, i cut off the hard line that runs up the firewall from under the car. it's possible to cut off the flexible section, exposing a barbed outlet.

to this, i attached some 16mm silicone vacuum hose that i routed underneath the manifold & up to the inlet. originally, i'd flipped the inlet upside down so it pointed downward instead of upward. it turns out that it won't clear my intake plumbing this way, so i put it back into its stock position.












oh yeah, i forgot to mention that the engine is in the car.......and that i've started it.

[insite]

so, the engine is in the car. i popped it in & installed the clutch & LWFW and a new RMS.

















i rotated up the resonance tube to get the valve as high as possible. this is REQUIRED to make room for the air conditioning lines. it was a total pain in the a$$ to get the AC compressor back in. that, and it's making a little noise now, like it's not aligned properly.....














i popped the tranny in:





along with some new transmission mounts from a 993 w/ some spacers installed to lower the transmission:




i had THREE issues with the transmission mounts. first, i tried to use 1" spacers; they don't fit on the trans mounts. then, i cut them to 5/8". everything SEEMED fine, except the stud protrusions from the motor mounts were a little long; they hit the subframe:




i cut off the studs below the nut. again, everything seemed fine. when i went to install the big crossmember that connects the subframes, it hit the transmission. looks like i'll need to cut antother 1/4" from the spacers. this will put them at 3/8".

[insite]

ok, so what's left?

1. cut 3/8" spacers to raise transmission above suspension crossmember
2. install suspension bits, bumper, etc
3. address apparent oil leak from cylinder 1 spark plug tube
4. drivability

this last one looks like we may have a small issue. i fired it up last night. the good news is that it started right up. the bad news is that i have a lumpy idle and a lot of smoke. it SEEMS like i have no fire in one of the cylinders. i plan on hooking up a code reader tomorrow to see what, if anything, has tripped. i'm hoping it's something simple, like a mis-connected spark plug wire or a poorly engaged coil pack.

i also seem to have a leaky spark plug tube. it's new, and so are the seals, so perhaps it's just not seated properly.....

i got a little excited toward start-up & took fewer photos than i had planned to. i will snap some more shots of the completed installation when i do some more work. until next time.......

[Oaktown 986]

Originally Posted by insite

i also seem to have a leaky spark plug tube. it's new, and so are the seals, so perhaps it's just not seated properly.....

i got a little excited toward start-up & took fewer photos than i had planned to. i will snap some more shots of the completed installation when i do some more work. until next time.......

When I put new tubes/spark plugs in, I missed about 3 proper "snaps", that could most definitely be causing a problem with oil leaking, but it wouldn't affect idle...

[schoir]

Originally Posted by insite

another thing to deal with is the brake booster line. on the 996 manifold, it's on the wrong side. to deal with this, i cut off the hard line that runs up the firewall from under the car. it's possible to cut off the flexible section, exposing a barbed outlet.

to this, i attached some 16mm silicone vacuum hose that i routed underneath the manifold & up to the inlet. originally, i'd flipped the inlet upside down so it pointed downward instead of upward. it turns out that it won't clear my intake plumbing this way, so i put it back into its stock position.



...
oh yeah, i forgot to mention that the engine is in the car.......and that i've started it.

Insite:

Did you happen to notice exactly where the rubber hose that starts at the top of the oil cooler (in your photo above) is routed?

Did your '99 motor have a metal nipple protruding from the top of the oil pump housing at the front of the engine, and was there a hose that ran from that nipple towards the rear of the engine, to the coolant reservoir or to a Tee with a connection from the hose that comes from the oil cooler and then goes to the coolant reservoir?

The reason I am asking is because a previous owner of my '98 engined Boxster just plugged the top of the oil cooler with a short piece of rubber hose and clamped in a bolt to seal it off. I haven't been able to find the correct routing of that hose from the top of the oil cooler.

Regards, Maurice.

[insite]

absolutely. it exits the top of the oil cooler, routes behind the starter, and exits from beneath the intake manifold on the passenger side. it connects directly to the coolant reservoir. nothing connects to the oil pump.

Originally Posted by schoir

Insite:

Did you happen to notice exactly where the rubber hose that starts at the top of the oil cooler (in your photo above) is routed?

Did your '99 motor have a metal nipple protruding from the top of the oil pump housing at the front of the engine, and was there a hose that ran from that nipple towards the rear of the engine, to the coolant reservoir or to a Tee with a connection from the hose that comes from the oil cooler and then goes to the coolant reservoir?

The reason I am asking is because a previous owner of my '98 engined Boxster just plugged the top of the oil cooler with a short piece of rubber hose and clamped in a bolt to seal it off. I haven't been able to find the correct routing of that hose from the top of the oil cooler.

Regards, Maurice.

[schoir]

Originally Posted by insite

absolutely. it exits the top of the oil cooler, routes behind the starter, and exits from beneath the intake manifold on the passenger side. it connects directly to the coolant reservoir. nothing connects to the oil pump.

Insite:

Thanks for the explanation.

Regards, Maurice.