Buy a 3.4 swap or keep the 3.2

[blue2000s]

I've got a decision to make and thought I'd share.

I have a Zenith Blue 2000S (46,000 miles) that's in beautiful shape. There are just a few rock chips on the front end, but othewise the body is prestine. Not a single ding. The Savanna tan interior is equally beautiful. The seats, shift knob, and steering wheel have no signs of wear. Just normal leather creases in the seats. The rear plastic has some scratches, but it's clear and soft. I've installed the RoW M030 suspension, the 997 shifter, front top and rear top and bottom braces, and the LN IMS bearing. The down side to this car being in such good shape is that I have a hard time fully enjoying it. I drive it agressively when the opportunity allows and it gets good exercise, but I rarely park it anywhere because I don't want dings and when I do, I park way off in BFE and think about some SUV full of kids unloading next to it the whole time I'm away. I don't want to take it to too many autox events because even though most cone burn comes off, it sometimes doesn't.

I have the opportunity to buy a 3.4 swapped '98 (45,000 miles). It's silver with the red interior, which is a great color combo to me, save for the salmon carpet. But it has the hard plastics in the interior, doesn't have the soft touch dashboard, does't have the aluminum-look interior accents, doesn't have the lined top, has the 5 speed tranny and has the standard brakes. The 2000+ cars definitely have higher quality interiors. The suspension seems as low as mine but it didn't feel quite as tight so I don't think it's the M030. The engine was swapped in 2000 and has't been touched since, so no upgraded IMS. It does have an upgraded clutch and an engine tune. With the tune and catless exhaust it's probably making over 310 hp. The driver's seat has the white wear marks in the bolster and the leather has some permanent waviness to it. The shift knob and brake handle are similarly worn. The carpets and plastics are in good shape. The body is in generally good shape but there are a few dings. It's got clear bra not just on the front, but on the mirrors, wheel wells and even the trailing edges of the side vents. The clear bra lines are very obvious and the plastic has yellowed just a bit. The rear window is a little foggy but the top material looks really nice.

There are a few very temping upsides, the obvious one is the engine. There's nothing subtle about the torque difference between the 3.2 and the 3.4. This car pulls hard from 3000 rpm all the way to redline. It will easily dust my S and may even give a newer 911 a run for it's money. It's got a limited slip diff that would be great for track and autocross days. Acceleration in this thing is fun, period. It's far from prestine. I could use it without having to treat it like a museum piece. I could drive it to my parking garage at work, I could take it on multi-day trips down the coast, I could use it on autox and track days without constantly worrying about it. I could probably get about $1000 more fom my S than it would cost me to buy the 3.4 car so it would be pretty close to a costless deal. However, I'd be looking at an IMS job in the near future and probably replacing the rear window.

So what would you do? Keep the near prestine S with the upgrades that's a blast to drive but can't be used for daily driving duties, or get a very powerful 98 that won't be winning any concouse events, doesn't have the upgrades that the S does and will need a $2000 bearing swap but can be used in any street or track situation?