Question about engine swap gurus

I know that 987.2 . 2.9 EFY will not work with DPI engine swaps of newer models. I love the idea of our cars having the massive HP of the 3.8 swaps. But at the cost of 50k doesnt seem real. Switch wiring harness from a new model to do the engine swap isnt an option either. So why cant we swap the wiring harness from the same 987.2 s model that has dpi from our efi. Is it really that big a difference between the same year models, that this isn't more feasible. Am I missing something???

Please define: EFY DPI efi Porsche wiring harnesses are "bespoke" - made to order for the exact configuration of the specific car. So your swapping of harnesses isn't a trivial thing to do. And all the electronic modules are programmed to how the car was built. Doable? With enough money and time - almost anything can be done. Is it worth doing? Probably not from a cost-effective point of view. And you're left when you get finished with a car that will be very difficult to resell (dealers won't go near it.. and most buyers won't either since its success is heavily dependent on the skill and knowledge of the person who did the swap.)

The 2.9L is sweet being port fuel injection sans carbon build up. I wonder if you can have it rebuilt and bore out to larger displacement, put larger throttle body, headers with sports cat and dyno tune to tie the mods together?

Low compression pistons and turbo it the right way.

Just buy a good 996? Don't mean to be flippant at all, just that I understand the desire to hot rod one's car, but I also think it's appropriate to change cars when one is unhappy with their present cruiser. I've seen this endlessly on car forums. it seems like a lot of Porsche fans want a GT3 / GT4 and have an envy problem so they'll screw with their car as much as possible to get some glimmer of that experience and it's just not happening... not saying you're doing this at all just that has been an observation of mine... I would absolutely grab a 996 with a 3.6 and have fun with it. If you want, remove the engine and do some fun things with it. or a 997. just I figured a 996 would be more affordable, easier to work with. this is absolutely the route I would take and probably will. I'm a firm believer in enjoying a car for what it is and not try to make it something else. to each his own though, of course. One is free to do whatever they want with their car.

The 996 is rear-engine. To most 987/ 981 / 718 owners that's an inferior design. We mostly drive what we drive because of the unique handling characteristics of the cars. The suspension is much simpler than the 911 rear suspension because it can be, it doesn't have a habit of snap-steer (oversteering radically.) Make an engine with the same performance as one in a 911 - and chances are the Cayman / Boxster with a good driver will beat it around the track (one of the reasons they're so popular for club racing.)

996/997 used motors before rebuilt would be a huge gamble although not unheard of. These motors are getting older now. I’d go with a used 991 CS motor , same as GT4 (basically). There would be some harness swapping as well. I don’t know forsure if you could hog out a 2.9 into a 3.8 etc… that’s a question for bgb or a tuner. I do know that on a 3.4 the biggest you should go is 3.8 but I’ve seen a 3.9… big costly subject, I’d make some calls and get hard facts for the big guns

Good points . maybe 996 was not a good example. transplanting engines is messy. That's just what I was getting at.

Given the history of Porsches as highly modified over their life, I am a bit surprised that Porsche doesn't build the engines as platform packages with a clear interface between the engine harness and the vehicle harness. Then they could open a business of selling various "crate" engines to owners who want to upgrade.

There $matter than that… if you want a built motor contact the engine tuners out there and bring your wallet

All can be found on the BGB website. Go to racing history and the 2013 season. It’s a great formula for success for any cayman .

They treated me unbelievably well. I trust them 100%. That’s “PRICELESS”!!

True… it is priceless

Theoretically, how difficult would it be to swap a M97.20 with a MA1.20 or MA1.21? I already assume I’d also need to swap the trans, gauge cluster, exhaust , and possibly ECU .

He ain’t lie’n… it’s one thing to find a 987 with a bad motor for 2-3k and rebuild a simple 3.4-3.8 motor… what your wanting to do, it’ll be 50k for that setup alone…

Sadly there will be a few cars that this happens too and some hard to make decision$ along with it. I suspect in the future many will become available that need some love

The idea has come up before, but I don't know of anyone who has successfully increased the displacement of the 2.9 motor and gotten significantly more power out of it. Vision Motorsports was doing an R&D project back in 2014 and looking for a motor: Non-S Cayman/Boxster 2.9L DFI engine wanted! On a more recent thread, Rick DeMan (one of the top flat 6 engine experts) clarified that the 2.9 motor is a unique casting and won't overbore or make big power due to the head design: 4.0L Conversion for a 987.2 Cayman? - ******** - Porsche Discussion Forums So the cheap solution is to replace it with a Cayman GT4. The expensive solution is to swap in an LS7 using the Pound Design kit ( pounddesignauto.com )