[PaulE]

I had my 2003 S 3.2 rebuilt as a 3.6 with LN Nickies. I went with the 3.6 rather than the 3.8 as I wasn't changing cylinder heads or cams. I also read something about the ratio of connecting rod length to bore and stroke, and that the 3.6 version of the M96 engine had the best overall ratio here, which was good for avoiding bore scoring. Smokey Yunick was quoted as saying stuffing the biggest damned rod that will fit into an engine. Of course I can't find that article now. My engine case was sent to LN in late July/early August 2018 and it came back to my indy shop in late January/early February 2019. I don't know what turnaround time they are saying now, but LN was saying it was an 8 week turnaround time when my case was sent to them. The issue is the plater who applies the Nickasil plating to the bores, there are only a very few platers in the country that do this precision plating and they all have a backlog of car, motorcycle and snowmobile engines. I would say to expect a six month turnaround for the LN Nickies and be happy if it's less.

For my build I used ARP rod bolts and the LN IMS Solution. Everything else was stock. I already had the underdrive pulley and Mantis Sport deep sump. Since my rebuild was due to an IMSB failure, new lifters and a new oil cooler were used. Those parts were impossible to verify as completely free of any small metal particles. The rest of my build included a 987 airbox, Fabspeed Sport Headers with catalysts, Circuit Werks mid pipes without catalysts and the stock muffler, a custom Softronic tune and some dyno time to get the custom tune fine tuned. I didn't change my intake plenum or throttle body and have 254.7 HP at the rear hubs on a Dynapack dynamometer.

If you are going to change cylinder heads and cams, you may want to look at the 996 3.6 heads and cams. I understand the the 996 variocam system adjusts valve lift as well as valve timing. That would involve some addtional tuning, some engine wiring modifications and maybe a change of the ECU too. The 996 intake manifold has longer runners but you will have to lower the engine to have clearance on the top. I'm not sure if the stock 3.2 oil cooler is the largest one available, but you should get the largest one that fits. If you use headers without catalysts, they are a lot cheaper and breathe better. I chose the ones I did to avoid any check engine light issues and the car has been great in that respect.