Journey of an Engine Replacement on 2002 996 w/Tiptronic

I have a 2002 996 Cabriolet that I love and drive almost every day. I do the majority all of the routine maintenance for all of my vehicles. Craigslist is a drug to me...I just can't stay away, and at times, I find myself drawn to a project that I just can't say "NO" to. This is one of those projects..... I purchased a 2002 996 Coupe w/Tiptronic with 117k miles on the odometer. The existing engine had white smoke that exited both exhausts when it was running. There was no oil in the coolant, but it was discovered that there was coolant in the oil, along with metal particles when a Blackstone Oil analysis was done. It wasn't the AOS, as many have suggested. The car came with a replacement engine, that the PO had purchased to replace the problematic 3.6L that was in the 996. It was purchased from a Porsche dismantler in Los Angeles, and supposedly only had 70,000 miles on it. The PO could not find any paperwork on the purchase of the engine, as it had been sitting in his garage for a couple of years, while the car sat, waiting for the car project to start. He said he saw a video of it running, before it was pulled. The whole package (car and replacement engine) was less than $10,000. Like I said...I couldn't pass it up. I wanted to document the pulling of the engine and transmission, replacement of key components, and reinstallation of the engine and transmission, for anyone that cares, in the hopes of giving the DIY guy a little more confidence to take on projects like this. I am not a mechanic, and never really got into working on cars until my 40's. I am using Wayne Dempsey's book as a reference. However, his book references a manual transmission, and not a Tiptronic. Not a lot of info on removing a Tip, but I will try to fill in the gaps and answer any questions. I am not saying that everything I did was in the right order, or maybe necessary and might have missed some shortcuts. Here we go: Here is the car, as I saw it the day I bought it. 2002 996 Tiptronic with 117,000 miles. Yep, that is my DD 2002 996 Cabriolet in the background The paint is good, tires are good, and the interior is almost perfect. Here is the replacement engine. Came from a 2003 with 70,000 miles on it. Or so they say.... One of the items I was going to replace, is the IMSB. However.....well, more on that project later.

Subscribed! Owing a 996 there is always the thought in the back of my mind... Will I need to replace my engine one day? The more info I gather the better I feel Looking forward to your write up! Engine looks like it was from a tiptronic with the additional breather line and AOS hose that doesn't attach directly to the bank 1 intake runners. Would be interesting to see what needs to be done for an auto to manual (and vice versa) engine swap. Guess you'd have your own manual or auto engine as a reference if you needed to do that swap. ​​​​​​

Looking forward to updates and outcomes. Good luck with the project!

I'm very happy with the tiptronic trans I got from LA Dismantler. All of life is a crap shoot so just have fun. And I love the look of your new car. What are you going to do with the cab? Keep them both I hope. I keep looking for a coupe but it will mean giving up my cab and I've grown to really like it. And give us lots of pictures.

Subscribed, as I am actually leaning towards a Tip at this time.

Great Find Falcon! Worst case, you'll break north of even. Best case, you'll have $12.5k (plus your time)in a great car, plus the value of a repairable engine. Hope it works out that way! The engine and tip had to be removed from my car ('04 coupe) for an AOS replacement. There's no one doing Porsche work nearby so I turned it over to a friend who has a great shop, top notch mechanics, latest in everything, etc.. but zero Porsche experience. I delivered the car with the factory manual & engine R&R instructions from various other sources. They said they would do it slow & deliberately between other work and let me know if they encountered problems or had questions. When it was finished they reported that it was pretty straightforward, intuitive and interesting. Best of all the work turned out great. The point is I think you'll have no problems with the swap. The Mk II tip has a special service valve setup to fill the transmission. Let me know when you get to that point & I'll be happy to lend it to you. Congratulations and good luck!

P.S. - some while you're at it suggestions. Change out the AOS, not doable with engine/tip-trans in the car. Change the trans cooling line O-rings at the cooler; also can't be done otherwise. Update trans mount to the 997 type. Yours will likely have separations or cracks where the openings in the rubber are, but difficult to see without taking it out and inspecting closely. Alternatively, save 300 scoots and do the window weld mod. I can't tell from the photos of the replacement engine, but if it has the old style snout and upper coolant hose on the oil pump housing, change it to the 997 parts (slip fitting, no clamps) - I don't think you can get the old type hose any longer. By all means, do the water pump, plugs and check the coils. Have a close look at the oil filler tube.

Quotes source post: 14089555

I have to admit, I don't know what extra is required to hook up a Tip. I will compare the engines to each other and see if anything is missing or suspicious. Because my project car is a Tip and the engine you see appears to have come from a Tip, I hope I don't have any issues. There is not manual to Tip swap, so I doubt I will be able to provide any information, unless I can see the differences between this engine and my 6 speed Cab.

Quotes source post: 14089612

My philosophy is that for XX amount of dollars, I can have someone fix my screw-ups, if I want. If the engine is toast, then I have done something very few folks have done on their own...replace a Porsche engine!! I will sell the roller and the original engine and make back most of my money. If all goes well, I might make this my DD OR....sell it. Figure I can get $16k-$17k. My 2002 Cab has a replacement engine from Porsche...has about 20k miles on the new engine and 72K over all. IMSB failure with the PO. Covered under Class Action Lawsuit.

Mark I....Thanks! I will take you up on that. Still a little ways away..but heading there.

Quotes source post: 14089817

Thanks...I like all the suggestions and information, and will cover the items I replace, when I get to that point. Some of the items you mentioned, I will have to research. I might PM you for further details.

Quotes source post: 14090018

I'm no engine builder but from my own visual observations the differences I see are: - Additional bell housing adaptor - Additional breather hose to intake boot - Additional line/hose running along the top on the left side of the engine - Breather hose from AOS appears to connect to a line that runs under the intake plenum rather than directly onto the bank 1-3 intake This is by no means anything that should be followed! I'm sure someone with engine building experience would be able to better explain.

Starting to remove air box Unhooking oil filler hose. Taking off MAF sensor Getting ready to disconnect airbox off throttle body. Airbox completely removed. Lots more room to work. Second major step...removing throttle body. This is an electronic one. Previous years were cable operated I believe. Not real difficult to remove Four bolts hold it in. Note...every time I take something off, I either replace the bolts where they came from, OR...put them in a small baggie and label them with a note card inside the bag. Need a big wrench to rotate the tensioner and taking off the serp belt. About to disconnect the O2 Sensors. Two banks of connectors. On the rear panel of the trunk and on the passenger side. I forgot which goes pre Cat..the black or the blue. The Dempsey book has that information. I will refer back when I hook everything back up. Small screwdriver lifts the tab, then slide apart.

Ooops. Out of order picture. Four bolts holding the throttle body on. Getting ready to remove the upper part of the Power Steering Pump. Make sure you suck out all the fluid. I ordered a BIG A$$ syringe off of EBay and got some vinyl hose to suck it out. Get as much as possible out. Take off the screw and get ready to pull off the upper part of the reservoir. Upper reservoir coming off. Lower part stays attached to the PSP, both which will be removed later and put on the replacement engine. The pump on my replacement engine appears to be leaking, given the large amount of black, think, sticky goop on top of the engine.

Great pics! Its fascinating how many other marques part stamps are on some of the plugs/connectors. Could see an MB one on the throttle plug and i've seen a BMW one on the windscreen washer nozzle as well.

Getting ready to remove the AC Compressor. This sensor needs to be removed to access the back rear bolt of the compressor. This is the sensor, and there is a holding grommet that the sensor fits into. Remove this and with a little skill, you can remove the back right bolt. Front bolt...easy. Second bolt...easy. I put the first two bolts back in where they belong, after I removed the AC Compressor off the engine. I did not remove the compressor, so I don't have to have it recharged. Here is where the third bolt goes. Don't forget it, when you put the compressor back on. See the bolt that I replaced. Don't want to lose it. Taaa Daaa

Next...remove the engine connectors. Sorry for the blurrrrrrrr. I hope these are keyed differently. I didn't keep track of which one went where. Engine connectors disconnected. Next, we will remove the coolant reservoir and the air pump in the corner.

[Image-only post; no author-written text. Original image references:] https://rennlist.com/forums/images/smilies/popcorn.gif

"Sorry for the blurrrrrrrr. I hope these are keyed differently. I didn't keep track of which one went where." The plug with the fabric tape near the plug goes to the top socket!

Quotes source post: 14090730

Not bad observation...EXCEPT that is a picture of the engine I am taking OUT. The replacement engine so happens to have fabric tape on BOTH connectors. I compared the two connectors, and it appears that they are keyed a little differently. We cross that bridge when I get there.....

DOH! Hopefully the key is in the keying... Good luck

The next step in Wayne's book discussed taking the fuel lines off the driver side fuel rail. Actually, there has been a change for 2002 and later. There is a different setup and only one quick disconnect. The fuel rail and hoses stay connected to the engine. I didn't find this out until it was almost too late, but luckily I checked the site and got some direction. Starting to remove the coolant reservoir. Quite frankly, I should have tired to lower the engine first. I couldn't remove it without doing this. I wrestled with it for a while, before giving in an dropping the engine a little. Save time...start off. Also easier after I removed the secondary air pump. These pictues are out of order, because it was a trial and error thing. Removed hose.... Disconnectign secondary air pump. Notice the jar that was draining coolant, after I disconnected it from reservoir. Hose off.... Secondary air pump. Pretty easy to remove bolts holding it in....gives you a lot of room to remove coolant reservoir. Disconnect this plug.... another view.... I believe that this is the quick disconnect connector (upper hose that connects to metal hose) for the fuel hose, that feeds BOTH fuel rails Removing another hose off of coolant reservoir.

Just a quick note....I started off taking these pictures, simply to document how I needed to PUT IT BACK TOGETHER. I left a lot of these pictures here simply as a reference of how things looked as I was disassembling. Not all pictures are relevant to the disconnecting or removing of an item.

I jumped ahead and started removing a lot of the coolant lines. I was there anyway, and obviously they needed to come out at some point. Wayne covers this later in his book. There is a little metal clip that holds the hose on. Don't lose it. Remove the clip and pull. Under the car...looking up. Passenger side cooling hose. I removed this set of hoses. This is how it sits, when it is in the car.

Next we moved to removing the bumper cover, bumper, mufflers, and cats. This process is pretty straight forward and the book does a great job of walking you through it. Keep track of where all the screws go. Baggies, note cards, and black marker. Kinda says it all....I didn't take pictuers of removing the bumper cover. A few screws, and carefully pull it away from the body, to prevent damage. Starting to remove the heat shields that surround the muffler. Again...easy..... I made my son help me. Here is how it slides away from the body. This is on the rear passenger side. I am sure that this is the air bag thing-a-ma-jiggy-bobby. Diaconnect and remove. Again...simple stuff. Bumpers removed

Next...I climbed under the car and removed the plastic trays. Put all the bolts and nuts in a baggie. Moving on to removing some of the bracing under the car. All straight from the book. Again...a lot of these bolts I put back in the car, where they attach. Hard to lose them that way.

Removing CV shafts. IMPORTANT....get the right driver to remove these, or you WILL strip them out. I believe it is a triple square??? NOT a TORX.... I actually ordered new CV bolts, just to make sure I didn't have any other issues. The metal is soft and replacements are CHEAP compared to the hassle of trying to remove a stripped one.

Removing rear sway bar More stuff to disconnect. I noted how the wires were run and tucked in. How the wires were tucked in for future reference. Mufflers removed and removing the O2 Sensors. Notice where the blue one and black one go. O2 connector.

Next...crawling under the car and starting the disconnecting of the transmission.

still for sale ? https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/6031058387.html or just your doppelganger

Quotes source post: 14091845

Ok...I had to look it up: Doppelg�nger In fiction and folklore, a doppelg�nger or doppelga(e)nger is a look-alike or double of a living person, sometimes portrayed as a paranormal phenomenon, and in some traditions as a harbinger of bad luck. In other traditions and stories, they recognize your 'double-goer' as an evil twin. I thought that posting had expired. Nobody took me up on the offer, so I dug into it. I have my 1963 Convertible Falcon coming out of paint, and I needed the room in my garage to get back on that project. As it turns out, I had a little more time than I thought and am trying to get it done, before the paint shop calls and says "We're Done!"

The removal of the transmission was pretty easy. I just removed any hoses that were in the way of the path of dropping the transmission or needed to be detached to remove the Tiptronic. It was pretty obvious what needed to be done. I took a lot of pictures, so I knew how to orient the clamps and what hoses went where. There were also some vacuum line that had to be routed around some things. Before taking the brackets and mounting bolts off of the transmission, make sure you are supporting both the transmission and the engine. The first thing I needed to do was detach the shift linkage. You have to pop the head off of the ball that is on the pivot lever. It takes a little doing, and you have to get the right leverage, but when you do, it comes off. Popped off.... This is more toward where the cable enters the cab. The little metal ring slips out of the holder. There is a metal clip that holds it in. See.... Next, I unhooked the connector. This is a different setup than is shown in Dempsey's book. At some point, you need to support the engine and the transmission. I had a hydraulic jack holding the engine & a transmission jack holding the transmission. This plate comes off. This is the end of the transmission that faces the front of the car. There are several hoses that run under the car and over the transmission space, where it need to drop. Mark them for future reference. Also, there are several of these plastic clips that hold the hoses in place. Make note of where they go. Some I took off...others I left in place. This is what I mean by marking them. I was afraid once they were off the car, I wouldn't know how to oriente them. So I marked them. See how this clips in.... and here.... and here.... This sits on top of the transmission. Dont lose the metal clip. Disconnected.... More marking of wires... I believe that this a vaccum hose. Harbor Freight Transmission Jack This is one of the bolts that holds the transmission up. I believe there was one on each side. Two bolts have to come out of each side...

Now that the transmission what disconnected and supported by the transmission jack, it was time to lower the engine. There are two bolts that hold the engine up. These are right by the rear bumper. Make sure to double check and disconnect everything... I came close to forgetting to disconnect this... I should have mentioned before, but to disconnect the power steering hoses is a little bit of a pain. I needed to get two wrenches made for removing hoses... You have to hold one end, and get leaverage with the other wrench. I think it is called a Crow's Foot wrench. Here is the setup. Real tight quarters. Here is how I dropped the engine. I had a dolly under the engine, with the arm of the jack sticking through it. I had the car about 24" off the ground. Lowered to the ground. JUST barely fit under the car, buy taking it out the side. Back end of the transmission resting on the HF jack. Success! It actually rolled pretty nice. Front of the engine. Will have to remove the carrier and put it on the replacement engine. A lot of open space under the car now....This is looking toward the front of the car.

With the engine and transmission removed, I needed to turn to seperating the engine from the transmission. Here, having the right tools is necessary. There is also an adapter plate that goes between the transmission and the engine. The book does not mention anything about it and it threw me for a small loop, until I figured things out.

wow. Thanks for the great write up and I'm looking forward to what comes next! If you're in the bay area, I'd love to come over and watch. Thanks again for the write up!

+1 on great write up! You are a stud for trying this. I did rebuilds on my air-cooleds but am afraid to try something like this on my 996.

The first step in separating the engine from the transmission, is to lock the torque converter in place. There is a small hole in the top of the transmission, and you need to insert a 5/16" rod. I found one at Home Depot, but a long drill bit might work as well. I needed to make sure that I kept the TC seated in the transmission, and didn't want to hassle with trying to reinstall it. Also, this locks the TC, making it possible to remove the flex plate. You have to remove the flex plate bolts to the TC, from the opening created, when you remove the starter on top of the engine. To do this, you have remove the front intake plenum. Here is that process.... Reference images of what I started with, so I knew how things go back together. Driver side of top of engine Ref. image. passenger side of engine. Ref. image...center Start disconnecting stuff off the front plenum. Take this out...keep it secure and dont lose it. To get the center plenum out. Loosen the inner bands, rotate to break the seal. Tighten those and loosen the outer bands and rotate. Loosen all bands & force to the right to make room to remove. Here is the starter, sitting under the rear plenum. Need to remove the power and ground leads to be able to remove the starter. Place the nuts back on the starter. Now remove two bolts (one on each side of starter) to gain access to the flywheel. Get a large wrench and rotate the crank around, until you see two sets of fasteners. there is a hole between them. The 5/16" rod need to be inserted to lock TC. 5/16" Rod inserted into TC. Remove three sets of two fastners. This will keep the flex plate with the engine and the TC with the transmission. It is worth mentioning that you remove two fasteners and rotate the crank. When I removed the two fasteners, I had a magnet next to it, should I drop any of the screws. Maybe not necessary, but overly paranoid.

I don't know how you even got this far with all those Harbor Freight tools ! Didn't you know that they'll break the first time you use them - or the second if you're lucky? The horror Just kidding This is a great write up and I'll be referencing it soon when I drop my engine. How high did the car have to be for the motor/tranny to clear? Also, I'd be a little wary of lowering the with that block in the center of the oil pan (maybe you didn't but that's what the picture implies)...I'd probably go at least to the outer edges - but it looks like it worked out for you...Thanks for the documentation

Quotes source post: 14096190

I usually don't have issues with HF tools. Some I have bee using for 10 years. Naturally, I wouldn't use them for commercial use, but for a weekend home warrior, they are fine. As with ANY mechanical work, safety is important and I always had a backup safety mechanism in place. The center of the oil pan has a reinforced area, that works just fine. The block of wood is wide enough that it distributes the load over a wide area. It was balanced just fine and lowered without any problems. Also, with the car raised about 24" in the air, I needed some filler, to reach the engine enough to remove the rear mounts.

Now that I had the starter removed, I started the process of divorcing the transmission from the engine. If you are reading "the book", it references a manual transmission. The tip has an adaptor plate of sorts, that involve more bolt removal. Some at a little trick and in tight spaces. You first have to remove the transmission from the adaptor plate. This picture is a little misleading, because there is a bolt on the side that was a PITA to remove. There was VERY limited space to get a wrench in there. This is the bolt that was a PITA. I had to get my TORX bit in there, but all I had were sockets. To get enough room, I needed to remove the plate on the left, and then put a BIT (not socket) that I could put a closed end wrench around, to twist. Be careful not to strip it out. After I removed the 10 or so bolts, I then had to remove the two hoses on the side, from the tubes on the engine side. I labeled the hoses, just so I didn't confuse them. After I removed the transmission, I needed to remove the adaptor. I put the bolts in the adapter and proceeded to remove the ones holding the adapter to the engine. Here is a close up of the triple square bit that is needed to remove the internal bolts. DON'T USE THE WRONG BIT!!! I found mine on Amazon. Trans and adaptor removed. Now for the flex plate. To remove the 8 bolts, you need to lock the crank. I used a short piece of the 5/16" rod, to insert into the hold on the pulley. I used my large socket (1 1/4" I think) to rotate the engine at TDC. Once there, I inserted the rod into the tear drop shaped hole and into the case. Now that the flex plate is removed, I turned my attention to the replacement engine. More on that next.....

If you're taking the pulley off might be a good time to upgrade it to an under drive one if you're into that kinda thing

The replacement engine did not come with a starter, so I will be moving the existing starter to the replacement engine. However, before doing that, I have plans to do some work replacing some stuff on the replacement engine. Specifically, and in no certain order.... 1. AOS 2. Water Pump 3. Thermostadt 4. Spark Plugs 5. O-Rings on Oil Cooler 6. AOS hoses (these are a pain to get to with the engine in the car. Cheap to replace) 7. Alternator (the replacement one was slipping, will xfer current one to replacement engine) 8. Power Steering Pump (it appeared that the replacement engine had fluid that was leaking) 9. Flex Plate to Crank bolts (Do not reusee these...buy new. They are cheap.) 10. RMS - Shows no sign of leaking. 11. IMS....yes, we all knew it was coming...But WAIT...there is an issue with this.... 12. Maybe more stuff....who knows... Here is a picture of the IMS bearing and cover. I had already ordered my replacement IMS bearing from Pelican Parts. I noticed that my nut was MUCH bigger that what the book mentioned should be there. Curious..I looked at the engine number on the bottom. First time.... Well...what did I find??? My replacement engine, is just that. A factory refurbished 3.6L WITH an upgraded (non removable) IMSB. That is what the AT means in the number. This is much more sturdier than the single or double row IMBS that came on early 996s. Unfortunately, I have no idea how many miles are on this engine. BUT..I shouldn't have any issues in the foreseeable future. Before discovering my good fortune, I had already removed the cam covers and locked the cam in place. Cam locking tool in place on the lower cam. I had to steal the bolt off of the old engine to attach the locking tool. Here is the tool in place. I had to rock the crank back and forth a little to get it to line up and lock it in place. I had already removed the chain tensioners. Oil will seep out. Keep track of which one goes where. They are different. Pulls right out... Here is my scientific way of keeping them apart. Baggies and note cards, with a description of where they go.

Now that my IMBS didn't need to be removed, I switched to the Rear Main Seal. There was no evidence of a leak, but not knowing how many miles were on the replacement engine, I figured it was best. The PO said the engine had 70,000 miles on it. I assume, that since it came from a dismantler, the CAR had 70,000 miles on it. If I assume (I know...very dangerous) that half of those miles were on the car's original engine, then this one might have 35,000 or so on it. Just to be sure, I had the oil left in the oil filter housing sent off to Blackstone to be analyized, to see if there are any issues. Results should be coming in shortly, but the oil didn't look too used.

Got my oil analysis back from Blackstone. Good news!

Awesome write up and pics. I am sure a lot of people will be referencing this in the future. I stumbled upon the thread and had to read it. Nice score for $10K

Falcon, Since there is no leak at the RMS and given the maximum miles on the engine, you may want to ponder the question of replacing it. Personally, all considered, I'd leave it alone. Smarter people than me may disagree, so if you're not in a rush, maybe allow time for some further opinions, if you haven't already pulled the old one. Keep up the great work & good luck with the remainder of the project.

Quotes source post: 14109376

Thanks! It has been a good project and I have learned a lot. I sorta hate that I didn't take more notes as I was doing the work. At that time, I was just taking reference pictures to document what I took off, and where it went, and what it looked liked, so that I knew how it all went back together. If I find the right car, and I have the opportunity to do it again, I will be ahead of the curve and will be able to document and possibly video each step of the process.

Quotes source post: 14109507

Not to skip too much ahead, but have already replaced the RMS. I actually bought a tool off of EBay that was fabricated to easily install it to the 13mm depth. My thinking was this...IF the engine had 70k miles on it, then it would be a no brainer to replace it. I couldn't tell if it had been leaking since the dismantler had steam cleaned it before shipping. Even if it only had 35,000 miles, it was a simple decision, since it reset the clock on that part of the engine and hopefully wouldn't have to worry about it for another 75-100k miles. Also, I knew for sure that I had a redesigned RMS in there. It wasn't a hard project to do, and I will know if it was successful, when I get the car buttoned back up and see if I have a leak. Pictures and write-up to come later.

Time to tackle the water pump. Easy project and detailed in Wayne's book very well. Next item to be replaced, the water pump. Easy...easy...easy. After removing the obvious bolts, comes scraping off the gasket. Keep track of where the bolts go. Some are longer than others. Also, the gasket extends under areas that are not removed. You need to cut or snip the water pump part out. I had a little bit of corrosion inside. I figure it sat for a couple of years, with coolant in there...just sitting. No rust colored stuff in coolant, when I pulled the pump off. Also, check the impeller for missing chunks that could clog passage ways. The new gasket is larger and has gasket material that needs to be cut off. I placed the larger gasket on the water pump, and scribed the area that needed to be removed. I did this with tin snips. Next, place the water pump back on the engine and replace bolts and torque to spec.

Next, I wanted to address the power steering pump, on the replacement engine. I noticed that there was a lot of black "gunk" on top and on the front of the engine. It looks like it was leaking from the seal where the pulley is located.

[Image-only post; no author-written text. Original image references:] https://rennlist.com/forums/images/smilies/popcorn.gif

What happened to the thread? Was a really good guide for engine removal with Tip.

Quotes source post: 15123230

Last I recall he bought a used motor that wound up having some serious issues...

That's a shame. It should be possible to do a compression check an on engine outside of the car by just directly hooking a battery to the starter. Probably a good idea in general before installing a used motor.

Quotes source post: 15123230

Im guessing it didn't end well...???

Go to his profile and look at his last few post for additional info.

Sorry for just dropping the post, like I did. I hate it when I come across threads that don�t have a conclusion. My apologies, and thanks for checking back. The bottom line is......the project was a huge success! I was able to get all the accessories pit back on, swapped out the power steering pump, new AOS, new coolant reservoir, new plugs and raised the transmission/engine back into place. All the connectors, hoses, and mounts were easy to get back in and nobody was more surprised when she fired right up, than I was. I kept expecting a CEL or a horrible noise. Nope. I sold the car for A LOT more than I had in it, and flipped that money into a couple more projects that I am currently working on. One of them is a �99 996, with a TIp, that had an engine failure. I attended Jake Raby�s engine Rebuilding Class, and am working on that. I just finished rebuilding a Tiptronic on a 2003 Boxster, and currently I am resurrecting a �97 Boxster that I bought for $700. The $700 Boxster is now running, passed Smog, registered and drives beautifully.

NICE!

$700?? The lobster claws are worth more than that, well played!

Quotes source post: 15161345

Yep, that is what really sealed the deal. There were 4 different makes of fires on the car, in 3 different sizes. Drove like crap. The Lobster Claws are 18 inch wheels, which are too big for a �97 Boxster. Gonna sell em i think. Anybody have any idea who makes 18 � lobster claws, from Italy?

Forks

Going through the same process on my 2002 996 C4 but got a CEL I can't shake... I got a 2007 997.1 wreck from CoPart and thanks to your post, my daughter & I managed to swap the motors and like yours, fired up the first time and ran fairly well. I had to swap injectors back to 2002 style (2007 injectors put out about 30% more fuel apparently...) What year was the motor you got? Did you have issues with the SAI setup differences?

The car was a 2002 and I was told the engine came from a 2003. I had no issues with the SAI system. No CEL or anything.

Quotes source post: 16328343

He did a 996 to 996 swap, unlike yours.

Wow TNT, seriously impressive stuff. Just stumbled upon this thread. If you ever need an extra pair of hands, I'm 2 mins up the road from you in Danville.