Boxster engine in a 996

Hi all, I normally am relegated to the 944 forum, as that's what I drive. I recently had a conversation with someone about the 996 and this person was shopping shells for an LS swap. Me, I'm a simpler person, I would settle for less power, even than stock. But it did get me thinking, if shells were as cheap as he was saying, maybe I could find myself a project. My thought was a Boxster engine in a 911 could be a fun project, comparatively cheap, and although slowish, it'd still be a step up from the 944. I know, I know, bit of cluster idea but it kind of suits me and I'm just curious if It could work. I searched and found one person on here say that they used a 3.2 engine in a 3.6 car and kept their original DME. But it was literally the only instance I could find of such a swap. Anyine have more insight into whether a Boxster engine can be used in a 996 and if the DME can just be tuned to play nice or if it requires a whole new harness? Some searching of 911 engines in boxsters makes me think, it's not a hard swap if you stick with similar generation to generation(something about e-gas). Also, if I just suck at searching, let me know and I'll try more.

If you like pain, aggravation, and ending up with a car that will be slower then the original- this is your path. Money wise, you will not come ahead when doing this unless you find a $3k motor and do ALL of the work yourself. If you want a 996 bad, high mileage 99 cars can be had for $10-$13k. If you are OK with salvage title+high mileage, you can be in four digit range. Makes no sense to go through engine swap to smaller motor.

Quotes source post: 13794952

This question has come up in the past once or twice. My first suggestion would be to say visit the Pelican Parts web site. There you will find a section (white paper?) that has some write ups on Porsche engine swaps. I'm pretty sure you'll find one (or several) describing a 996 engine to a Boxster swap. From what is required to get the 996 into the Boxster I think you can get a pretty good idea of what it would take to get a Boxster engine into a 996. And there might be (might be) a write up for actually putting a Boxster engine into a 996.

Kalashnikov - I haven't looked much but the person I talked with made it sound like rolling shells with blown engines but decent bodies were in the $5k range, Boxster engine for $2k is not out of the question. I've looked and 996s as you say, start around $12k. Ehhhh... I'm not saying it's even a good idea but it's an idea. I'll check out pelican, thanks macster. It actually looks pretty straight forward for 3.4 in place of the 2.7 except for solenoid and sensor needs to be put into place. Makes me think a 2.7 in place of a 3.4 would be easy. Although, the hard part is when your the person who needs to figure it out the first time.

If GT3 3.6L engines were $5k, I'm pretty sure America would be Great Again in a hurry.

Quotes source post: 13795173

That swap has been done before, I also remember someone from Australia asking if it was possible too.

There is a build thread here (or maybe 6speed?) of a 986 motor going into a 996.

Quotes source post: 13796344

It was a Boxster S motor. Even so, who wants the slowest 996?

One might argue that the 996 with no motor is the slowest 996...

I am currently attempting this swap because my 2000 996 cab spun a rod bearing or something and I don�t have 10k for a new engine. I bought an 85k mile boxster s engine out of a 2002 for about $3500 and it�s sitting in my garage on a pallet. This is my first engine swap on anything so we�ll see how it goes. On looking at the 2 engines there seem to be quite a few different intake, fuel, and wiring components that will need to be swapped over in some way, not quite as plug and play as I was hoping so far.

Swapping over the intake ,wiring harness, and headers is childsplay... But you will also need to drill and tap the holes for the 996 muffler mounts ( if you are going to use mufflers) ..

Quotes source post: 13794997

@neilll My 19 year old son was able to pick up a 1999 salvage, aerokit, 6 speed, Carrera with 85k miles earlier this year for around $19k. That seemed like a much easier option for a cheep 911 but significantly more money than you are talking about. He is very happy with his car. He has done a fair amount of cosmetic work and it is starting to look okay, used wheels, GT3 Seats etc.

A guy I went to high school with picked up a 911 �shell� cheap and also a 70�s era VW beetle engine. Talk about slower and less power, but at the time it was cool he had a �911�. My point now is there are a wide range of options for powering a shell.

VW 07K 2.5 with a turbo slapped on in a 996? They appear to rock in a 944.

Just completed the swap from a 3.4 to the 3.2 boxster motor in my 996 cab. Was fairly straightforward, did need to drill and tap the holes for the muffler mounts (6 holes) and the holes for the intake which are different placements than for the boxster (8-10 holes don�t remember) but even with my sub par straight drilling ability with a hand drill seems to be working fine. Basically just swapped all the upper components and wiring harness along with a few coolent routing bits from one to the other so the engine just thinks it�s still a 3.4 no tuning or messing with the computer. No engine lights or oddities so far, sounds good and drives good. I do notice a bit less power but it�s not significant, definitely does not feel underpowered just a bit less snap to it. For sure this is the swap to do on a budget, very little messing around and the 3.2 is a third the price of a 3.4. All told including tools I had to buy like a harbor freight table lift should be well under $4k total and I�m back on the road. Blows my mind that more people don�t do this swap considering it�s low budget and entry level difficulty compared to a v8 swap.

Find a 996 shell and do the Audi turbo swap! You can get 500+ hp and have a blast!