WTB / Wanted: 3.8 Boxster

[landrovered]

Randall is right, the 3.6 transplant in my car (performed by the previous owner) was $21K and that was a used motor but it was a professional race shop.

[smshirk]

I have a Jake Raby 3.6 motor, built up from my 3.2. All L&N internals. Not cheap by any means and it may not have quite as much grunt as a new x51 3.8, but it is near the limits of the brakes and 10 year old chassis and well worth the money. However you get where you want to go, do it!

[Pat]

FWIW a friend of mine is selling his 3.8L Boxster for $18K or maybe a bit more.

[smshirk]

Originally Posted by Pat

FWIW a friend of mine is selling his 3.8L Boxster for $18K or maybe a bit more.

That sounds like a steal! I have 18k in my motor alone to get 300 to the wheels and paid close to 20 for the 01 986S three years ago, before the bottom fell slap out on M96 cars. I did sell MY97 with >100k miles for 14 though, so the depreciation was really a wash for me. I'LL never get anything close to that out of it now, but then you can't expect to recover the costs on a vehicle, even a Porsche. I don't believe I'll ever sell it anyway. I still have less in it than if I had bought a CPO, and I have 911 HP, more torque, and a pretty much bullet proof motor.

I believe Jake has figured out the M96 just like he did the Type IVs, and so does he I think. I opted for the high torque build and it feels like a car with way more power than any NA Porsche I've ever driven. The only comparison I have is to the 350HP supercharged 911 I had back in the 90s. That car was louder and more in your face, but I feel confident the Boxster would outrun it in anything other than a drag race, and if I didn't have the lightweight flywheel it might win that too. Torque is what matters in a street car. You just can't go fast enough, for long enough on the street for the high HP at the upper limits to make that much difference.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by smshirk

I have a Jake Raby 3.6 motor, built up from my 3.2. All L&N internals. Not cheap by any means and it may not have quite as much grunt as a new x51 3.8, but it is near the limits of the brakes and 10 year old chassis and well worth the money. However you get where you want to go, do it!

My 98 has a 2005 997 motor, goes way too fast.

[RandallNeighbour]

Paul, will you divulge what that 3.6 conversion cost you?

[Paul]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

Paul, will you divulge what that 3.6 conversion cost you?

Sure $23K including a 98 Boxster.

[The Radium King]

any idea how tough it was to put the 7.8 dme in your car? i'm thinking the same - there are 3.8L Carrera S engines on ebay for under $10k, but i would have to convert from 7.2 to 7.8. the cayman exhaust sounds like a great solution to. ps, don't forget to add wider wheels to the overall cost ...

[Paul]

From:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/11-ENGINE-911_Engine_Swap/11-ENGINE-911_Engine_Swap.htm

The Boxster 2001 cars are by far the most flexible in which engine you can install in them. The 2001 cars still have the 7.2 DME installed, but most of the other systems of the car were upgraded in anticipation of moving towards the 2002 CAN bus system that integrates various electronic systems on the car. With the exception of the anti-lock braking system, the proper CAN bus systems are integrated into the 2001 chassis and allow the easy installation of the later 7.8 DME. As a result, you can install any 1997-08 Boxster or 996 Carrera motor into these cars without too much difficulty. You can swap in any replacement engine of the same displacement from 2000-02 without having to remap the DME. (for example, a 2001 3.2L Boxster with a blown motor can accept a 2002 3.2L engine with no remapping needed).

To install a Carrera 996/997 3.6/3.8 engine or a 2003-08 Boxster/Cayman engine into one of these cars, you need to purchase a new 7.8 DME and then slightly modify the pinouts on the DME connector. In addition, you need to modify the Boxster engine wire harness, as the camshaft position sensors are located on the opposite ends of the engine than on the 5-chain early motors. All of the systems on the car should work normally with one exception: the cruise control will not work properly with the later 7.8 DME unless you upgrade your ABS system as well (swap out the ABS controller and connector).