Norocehcap?s 99 C4 AeroKit FSB swap

Hey everyone, my name is Ron and I am going to be swapping a factory short block into my 99 C4 AeroKit. I will document as much as I can here and on my IG Norocehcap. I am 36 and from LI NY, I have owned about 25 cars and been wrenching for about 20 years. 1.jpg 2.jpg 3.jpg Back story of why I have this car since I am not really a Porsche guy or wasn’t when I bought it. A few years ago, my car lineup was an e46 M3 (fun toy car), e46 330Ci (daily), 2014 Wrangler Rubicon (wife’s train station car) & a MKIV GTI 1.8T (fun toy car from younger years I bought back from a friend), I don’t like new cars, in general I just prefer old stuff all around. I wanted a different daily as I was getting a little bored of the e46 330Ci, so I decided I would spend about $25k to get an e92 M3. I found one I really liked but right before I pulled the trigger, I thought let me see what the coolest thing I can get for $25k, I think you can see where this is going. 996’s fit the bill, right around $25k and cooler than an e92 M3. I was looking into getting something more exotic before covid & getting all my ducks in a row and then car prices just started going through the roof. 996’s had just started to go up and I thought these would probably take off as well as all enthusiast cars eventually did, and I should buy one ASAP. My criteria were as follows, it had to be a 996.1, coupe, manual, silver (fav color) or blue, black interior and C2. After a few weeks of hunting, cars being sold or falling though I found my current 996. It matched ALL my criteria, 74k miles, + factory aerokit for $23k! However, it was listed wrong and when I ran the vin I found out it was a C4 not a C2, bummer. That got me thinking though, since this is a daily not a track car AND it’s an aerokit car (big plus) does that outweigh the con of it being a C4 & not C2. YES, yes it did, for me anyway. 4.jpg The car was in Portland Oregon, and I had it shipped to LI NY. I immediately fell in love with this car, there is just something about the looks of a 996.1 aerokit car that really does it for me. I daily drove the car (not in snow) for a few years, I also road tripped it all over the east coast. Knowing this engine would blow eventually and deciding that yes, I wanted to daily this car for a long time I preemptively started looking into my next engine or rebuild. As long as I have a plan in place I'm not worried about using my stuff. I decided early on that a factory short block would be the route I would go when needed, I don’t need more power and most of the rebuilds cost 2x or 3x the price of a FSB for obvious reasons. The FSB has the upgraded IMSB so no worries there (I’ll pull the oil seal off) and with 2x oil changes a year I can keep bore scoring at bay for 100k miles. Fast forward some time and I took an 18-day road trip from LI NY to Key West FL; it was amazing I love road trips. On the way home the car developed cam deviations. I scanned it with Durametric and the cams were out by -6 or -9 I can’t remember exactly. Now I had a decision to make because I must drop the engine to fix the cam deviations, but it hasn’t blown up yet like I planned. Option #1 (cheapest option) drop the engine and replace variocam pads and timing chain guides to fix cam deviations, also replace everything needed while its out (ims solution, ultimate AOS, send out heads to Hoffman, all the important stuff ect…). What I don’t like about this option is I can’t replace the IMS paddle without splitting the case and that is beyond my current skillset, backyard mechanic for 20 years but not an engine builder. I did watch a ton of videos on how to do it and yes, I probably could but I really don’t want to split the case. I couldn’t stomach NOT replacing the IMS paddle since I have found both brown AND black plastic in my oil filter, so all the pads/guides are going bad, that on top of doing a ton of work and still having an engine with the same mileage going back in didn’t sit right with me. Option #2 (FSB $8,368) same as option #1 except I use a FSB instead of my short block. Pros are as follows- don’t have to spend $2500 on the IMS solution/specialty tools since the FSB has the upgraded IMSB with an extremely small failure rate (I believe JR has said he has only seen 2 fail?), IMS paddle will be new inside the case and last but not least I’m setting my engine mileage back to 0! This option is more costly but not by that much more and the benefits are definitely worth it for me. My FSB cost $8,368, subtract $3000 for the IMS solution, specialty tools and other odds and ends I won't need and for roughly $5000-$5500 extra costs I get a brand new 0 miles FSB with the IMS paddle already done and no stress about splitting the case. I chose this option. 5.jpg 6.jpg 7.jpg This is a list of parts/tasks I wrote about a year ago that will be done while the engine is out, I will be adding to this list as well. I will have to go over this list again since I wrote it so long ago and my knowledge on the subject has improved, I may have made some mistakes. 8.png I will drop the engine/trans onto a 1000LBS lift table in my backyard under a gazebo using my quick jacks and then roll it into my shed/workspace and do all my work inside. 9.jpg 10.jpg It is cold in NY right now and my motivation to start this project is very high (kicked my M3 out of the backyard to start on the 911) but my tolerance for the cold is low. I do have electricity, AC, heat, insulation & water in my workspace but I must get the engine out first laying on the cold ground.

Edit - This is my first build thread it it goes wildly off track for a little while talking about track days, opps sorry about that. Once the track day talk starts getting too heavy you can skip ahead to Post #93 , that's where the FSB updates start again. If you're thinking about getting into track days these guys here gave me excellent advice and I am booked up at Lime Rock with my e46 M3 this April!!

I've got a very similarly spec'ed C4, but in black. Following this thread closely. What's the power feel like compared to your BMWs? Any horsepower upgrades planned while you've got the engine in the workshop?

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My e46 M3 is quicker for sure but it wont blow the doors off the 911, I don't have any HP upgrades planned for the 911 although I will probably remove the front diff and make it RWD. The M3 is my tinker toy fun car, the 911 will probably stay all stock except for suspension and mufflers.

I have to admit that I have a fondness for the early body styling, not that the 996.2 isn't sweet, just that I agree. And same goes for the 996 .1 aerodynamic kit. 996.2 is probably more refined and engineered kit but, well, I think the artistic element and sculptural intent, fused to function, is remarkable. But to each his own. That's a good looking ride. And a very reasonable plan from my point of view. What interior do you have? Important to keep the cockpit a high priority for selfish reasons.

PS. Silver calipers, c4.

Awesome.... Looking forward to following this thread. I had similar search criteria as you. I wanted a C2 coupe, 6spd, aero kit, preferably silver, or one of the blues, seal gray also ok. I was open to either a .1 or .2. In fact the car that I first wanted to buy was a .1 C4 in seal gray. Even though it wasn't a C2, it checked all the boxes and was really nice. The seller and I just couldn't come to an agreement on a number. Good luck on the build!

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Thank you I appreciate it!! As for the Interior its black, full leather, 3 spoke wheel, heated supple leather seats with headrests crests, aluminum/stainless package so silver gauges and stainless door sills & I also added Bluetooth to the factory radio. Here is an options list for my car I have highlighted the interior options. 3 spoke wheel and silver gauges Stainless door sills and umbrella Bought a used handbrake and refurbished it to replace the plain grey/black one. Also redyed the shift **** and installed a 997 shifter I also bought some of those custom luggage that fit in a 911 since I road trip a lot, stuffed to the gills going to Key West.

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Yup silver calipers on the C4, except these are supposed to be on my M3. I have converted my e46 M3 to run 996 911 calipers with adapter brackets and CSL discs. I fully refurbished this set I was going to put on the 911 but ended up going on my e46 M3 996 911 calipers on my M3, an excellent budget Brembo set up

Love reading up and seeing build threads. Everything looks like it�s coming along well.

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Thanks friend!!! I had a few cars fall through before I found this one but I'm really glad they did because this car checked ALL the boxes of what I wanted except C2. The only other car I was a little sour about was this exact same car but in ocean blue metallic and C2 but grey interior which I don't like, I am a sucker for blue even know silver is my favorite color.

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Everything is def moving along well although I'm soooo jealous of your Florida weather right about now since its currently 23 degrees here and I'm stuck indoors. If I ever road trip down to FL again I'll swing by buddy!!

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I won�t be home until March, currently in the Mediterranean doing hoodrat **** on behalf of the US. If you get down there after then, I�ll drive you around.

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Well that certainly sounds interesting, and a little bada$$. America baby! I am still jealous of the weather where you are currently...ugh NY winters

My 99 is basically a twin of yours, C4, aero kit, supple seats, full leather, aluminum dials, etc. I too have exactly the same thoughts that you have, I do know that I have large cam deviations from the beginning and I'm sure they are not getting better. And my oil analysis shows a significant increase in tin. I just moved full time to FL, but the car is still in Chicago. Going to drive her down once my house is finished. I also do not see the math in replacing the IMS bearing at the cost of $2500 for parts and tools vs. just buying a factory short block. When mine goes or when the oil analysis gets real bad, I will do exactly what you are doing. Best of luck! Keep the posts coming....

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Ocean blue metallic was the only other color I was considering, beautiful car and that will be a sweet drive to FL! The FSB is hard to beat considering the price of the next cheapest option of a rebuild is like $20k, all I want is a stock engine with 0 miles on it, I'm not looking for any extra power just looking for 100k of manageable bore scoring and with 2x oil changes per year from the start I think it will be fine, mileage over 100k I am viewing as a bonus. Absolutely, not having to do the IMS Solution is like basically getting a $2500 discount off the FSB, plus the FSB comes with guides and chains and some other stuff I cant remember at the moment.

Ocean Blue metallic is what I ended up with. Don't see them as much as of the silver cars which look great too. The blue metallic is kind of moody ranging from black to shimmering deep blue and even bright blue, depending on lighting so I'm easily entertained. Don't think it really translates to photos. Here's the dark blue brother of your car doing its black imitation.

Look forward to following along. Nice to see an M96 recondition with value in mind. Good looking car deserves to be on the road for a long time.

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Another Ocean blue metallic c4 aerokit, absolutely stunning, slightly jealous! Silver is super common for German cars but it is my favorite color for most cars, my e46 M3 is silver grey metallic, however I am a huge sucker for blue cars too. My e46 330Ci is Topaz blue metallic which is kinda close to ocean blue metallic but a little lighter. I drove thru a blizzard to CT get that car cause I was scared it would get sold lol, getting there in my Jeep was fine but driving the 330Ci home in the blizzard was less than ideal hah. Most e46s are silver or black, finding an actual color is annoying.

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Definitely doing this with value in mind and not just throwing money at the engine, I also don't need a $25k (I don't even know what they cost anymore) FSI engine in my daily, would be awesome but not required for my use case. When I was looking for a new daily years ago I wanted something that was cool enough to leave stock and still be happy with, a 911 is the perfect choice and I hope to keep it going for a long time. I have another car that I throw tons of money and parts at, my e46 m3 has way more money into it than I bought it for and its current value, but to me that car is purely a toy.

I'd be interested to see a tally of what you spend in the engine bay. I'm curious about how the price of a piecemeal approach to refreshing the engine compares to an FSI-style everything-included pricetag.

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Everything will be documented here including prices, I don't understand why some people here like to hide what they spent, maybe they are ashamed lol. NONE of this is a smart decision we are all wasting money here for our passion, a smart decision is a 2nd owner 3 year old Camry daily hahah. I keep a spread sheet for all my cars with the part, manufacturer, merchant purchased from, purchase date, price, install date & installed milage. I have started one for the FBS swap that I will be updating here as I buy/install stuff. It wont be a 100% fair comparison because at the end of this I will still have my original short block which will be worth a nice chunk of change that you wouldn't have with a rebuild using your original short block. Maybe I will sell it or who knows maybe it will be project for the future, I'll cross that bridge when I get there. This is a small snippet of the spreadsheet from my brake upgrade on my e46 M3 from when I put 996 911 Brembo's on it front and rear, our 996 calipers are an amazing cheap brake upgrade for e46 m3's, I use this template for all my cars. My M3 spread sheet is currently 271 rows of installed parts and 63 rows of uninstalled parts, its pretty thorough and has every single part/nut/bolt documented. The FSB swap spreadsheet will be done using this same templet.

Great thread! Looking forward to seeing your progress. 100% agree with your choice of going with the FSB instead of a rebuild. Since you seem pretty comfortable on the mechanical side, you might want to consider removing the AWD system from your C4. It's relatively cheap, doesn't take long and is easily reversible if you want to preserve resale value (sounds like you are in this for the long haul so that last point is probably moot ). edit: Love your E46 fleet! I used to have a 330i Mtech1 Sport Package that I miss occasionally. The last good 3-series IMO.

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Thanks buddy!! I will be removing the front diff to convert the car to RWD, I looked into it a long time ago and if I remember correctly you remove everything but cut the front axel shafts so that the end in the hub stays? I know there is 1 or 2 threads here I can reference that document it on turbo cars where I initially learned about it. Maybe I'll buy a set of junk axel's and cut those so I could always return the car back to AWD if needed. YES the e46 is the last good 3 series! I could not agree more I have owned 4 in total over the years, I love them and am extremely biased haha.

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No Need to cut the axles, you can just get some used C2 stub axles for the RWD conversion. I did a thread on a DIY engine replacement for under $10k back in 2019, interested to see the price difference in your case at today's prices... https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...ght=10k+engine

If it were me i would replace the uprights with c2 parts and fix the suspension geometry. Its not that expensive to get the used parts from a yard. Its not 100% needed but the result will be a better car.

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This is the info I needed about stub axles, thanks Skip, walking 996 encyclopedia lol!!! Just seeing the price of the short block in your thread alone tells me I wont be that close to your price, I paid $2k more for the FSB ($8,368) and that was over a year ago 11/27/22 and I assume it has gone up since then. This will be a good to document how much prices have gone up in the last 5ish years.

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I like the sound of this! Will this make the suspension geometry exactly the same as a C2, basically fully turning my C4 into a C2 besides the chassis differences?

Yes and actually u r turning your chassis into a gt3 car . U will also need c2 c/o or strut setup up front.

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I am loving this more and more, I thought I remembered that GT3's use a C4 chassis for stiffness or something. When I redo the suspension with coil overs I will get a C2 set up and also replace the uprights. Thanks for all the info bud!!

Nice job on the thread. The level of detail is great. This will be beneficial for guys in the future that are trying to figure out their options, if their engine ever fails. Your car is beautiful. I love the mk1 aero cars. I am a little biased. I have owned two 99 996s. The first one I bought back in 2002, after it had an engine fire. It was a fun project. The second one, that I still own, had a dashboard fire. It was a much easier project. I documented the rebuild here. I thouroughly enjoyed the feedback and help that I received here. Good luck with your project. Thanks for taking the time to share it.

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Two stunning 996.1's, that blue aero is gorgeous! Fires you say, those cars must be HOT, I'll see myself out... 2002 is a long way back, an OG in the 996 world I see. I will try and detail as much as I can here, I bought an otter box case for my old phone so I have a camera I can handle with dirty greasy hands. If it helps someone in the future that's great, I have learned a ton from this forum, was a lurker for a few years before. Thanks for the feedback friend!!!

Since its currently 20ish degrees outside and I'm stuck indoors I am going to post a photo dump of the unboxing. Current state of the car, its suppose to snow again tomorrow. The FSB arrived shrink wrapped on a pallet, I had them drop it in my backyard. Unwrapped Factory labels and stickers Top off, nicely packaged Box of parts Unwrapped 1000lbs lift table I'll use to lower the engine/trans in and out of the car Lifted the FSB onto my workbench with the lift table, it will stay here so I can use the lift table to remove the engine/trans from my car. Box of parts that came with the FSB Quick Jack 5000TL, I haven't used them yet, my next step in this project is to hook the lines up and set up the Quick jack. Maybe this will help, and everyone said I couldn't read!

Thanks for posting, looks so simple to go this route vs. rebuilding your own engine. I would see no issue in me completing this successfully, keep trucking!

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Absolutely, I'm a hobbyist mechanic not an engine builder. Taking on this project using a FSB instead of me trying and possibly failing at a rebuild takes ALL the stress out of it. Thanks Paul!

Very cool! Do you have a link for that cart? Been debating on what or if I should buy since I will be pulling my engine here shortly. Good to see that engine packaged so well. Will be easy to put the core back in there to send back!! Cool project log!

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Here is a link for the 1000lbs cart/lift table. https://www.harborfreight.com/1000-l...art-60438.html They also sell a 500lbs lift table that is slightly lower when fully lowered and would make it easier to get the engine/trans out from under the car but I have read about of an instance where that table could not lift the engine/trans back up into the car when fully lowered and the person had to use a floor jack to get it started and then the table jack could start lifting once it was about a foot high, I didn't want to deal with that. I have 3 inch height extenders for my Quick jack giving me a 27 inch height which should give me just enough to get it out with this 1000lbs table, hopefully lol. It would be very easy to put the core back in to send back if I had to, but I don't with my situation, I'll be keeping my original short block. Thanks buddy!!!

It's most likely a harbor freight cart. https://www.harborfreight.com/1000-l...art-60438.html I used one when I did a b5s4 engine swap with my son on his car a few years back. They work great.

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Yup, that's the one I have. Also looks like the same Harbor freight engine hoist I have too!

That is a great lift to use, using a 2X4 under the tranny, the combo came out and back perfect, I also left the rubber matt off, much easier to move the engine and it just gets full of oil. you will have to remove the stops for the handle, I then used bolts for stops of the handle.

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This is all great information, much appreciated John! I 3M double stick taped the rubber mat to the table but I am probably gonna rip it off, the rubber serves no purpose and always wants to slide around. I figured I would have to do something about the handle getting in the way but haven't thought that far ahead yet, good to know what you did and it worked. Thanks again my friend!

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Metal on metal slides pretty easy. I would use the rubber sheet and clean it off after. Actually that what I do on all my engine removals. Had my 996tt engine out more times than I want to remember. The 1000# harbor freight table did not have enough oomph to pick up my Cayenne's V8, transmission, and transfer case from all the way down. I helped it a bit and all was well.

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Good call on the metal sliding on metal, didn't think of that, especially while rolling it into my workspace up the small ramp. I think I will glue the rubber mat to the lift table, the 3M tape does not hold it that well but it was better then nothing. I will try gorilla glue + the 3M tape. Thanks for the advice, all these little things that others have gone through, each 1 helps a little bit and saves the next guy a little bit of time/stress.

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I used the 500lb cart, but I also used a trans jack on the trans because I didn't feel the 500lb table could handle it alone.

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A 750lbs cart that was slightly lower when fully down then the 1000lbs cart would be ideal, it's just a few inches but that might make a difference. I waited to buy the newer version of quick jacks with more height 2 years ago specifically for this project since I know it will be tight rolling the engine/trans out the back on the cart. Good info about the trans jack, I didn't even think of that option.

A picture with the trans jack.

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How much weight can the trans jack hold on it's own, not that it would matter in this situation just curious, I assume a couple hundred lbs. This would have helped when my friend and I 6 spd swapped his automatic 1989 Trans Am, we used an adapter for a standard floor jack to hold the trans but this looks wayyyyy more stable. It ended up not mattering cause the 305 blew on the test drive lol, then we swapped a 350 into it and pulled everything out the top. I cant believe how many people here have dropped the engine/trans, the wealth of knowledge on this subject is higher then any other forums I have been on

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Well the car was made ro easily pull the motor because u can do very little with it in place. Takes me lass the 4hrs to remove so its worth it for the convienence.

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4 hours!!!!! I'll be lucky to get it out in 4 full days lol. It will probably take me a while to get it out this first time, I am going to go really slow since this is uncharted territory for me and I want to document everything.

Well i am kinda a wrench.... really a day is more then enough to pull the motor. There just isnt that much work in doing it. Porsche was pretty good at just making it intuitive and it has bulk head connectors for the electric. Get a box of ziplocks and lable fasteners for each area. Although u cant really get it wrong. Also get the book for LN Eng with all the torque specs. oh yeah do have a lift.

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I have dreams about owning a lift lol, even my former garage is now part of my living room and turned into interior living space. Glad to hear Porsche made it kinda easy to remove the engine, way better then hearing "its gonna be a huge pain in the ***" lol. I have a question for you, it looks like you have the engine/trans fully on the cart without removing or moving the handle out of the way, I assumed the handle would be in the way and I would have to remove it to get the engine further back or centered on the cart for the weight balance but based on your pic that's not the case. Does this mean the handle is not actually in the way of where the engine/trans sits on the cart but actually in the way of the rear end of the car, but since you have a lift and can get the height of the handle fully under the car you didn't have to remove it? Do I have this correct, basically the handle is in the way of the chassis or rear bumper and not in the way of where the engine/trans sits on the cart? I hope that makes sense.

Maybe because the table is all the way up the handle isnt in the way but u can see the exhaust is pretty close to the handle. With the bumper off u can get pretty close and with the exhaust on its stable on the table. The majority of the weight is the motor and with a 2x4 under the trans it sits fairly level and wont tip over.

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That makes sense, trying to get an idea of where the placement should be on the cart but looking at all different pics from different angles was throwing me off. Is this the book you were talking about? https://lnengineering.com/education/...utomobile.html

5 years of ownership Trans removed 4 times, 4th was last week. Engine 3 times. The second time to be clear was right after putting it back in the first time because I got something wrong. Did not know the variocam actuators were bank dependent. Good luck, as much as I beat on mine at the track I may be taking your path soon.

Yes on the book. I use mine so much i have a bunch of pages falling out so im gonna get it spiral bound somehow.

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Perfect!! Thanks for all the info De Jeeper! Thanks to everyone who has given me advice or even just commented, it's all great motivation from a great community.

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Ouch the 2nd time right after the first must have been a hair pulling moment hahah. 3 & 4 times in 5 years you must be a pro at it now! What tracks have you taken your 911 too? I have been to Watkins Glen International with my M3 once. Thank you @hbdunn , I'm gonna need a little luck for sure lol.

I think the only issue u may have is the power steering line disco. They can round over and be a huge pita. A set of good line wrenches. Search for some posts in the subject. Also another good book is the Bentley Manual.

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Power steering line disconnect noted, I will do some research before trying to tackle that portion of the uninstall. Now knowing this can be a problem area I will take extra caution with this, thanks brotha. Bentley manual was the first thing I bought after the FSB, the internet is great but having some hardcopy manuals can really instill confidence knowing that 80-90% of the info needed will be in there somewhere, hopefully haha. I have also read that this manual in particular is very good.

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Thanks for the link on the cart!! The tips an tricks mentioned here are invaluable. Such a cool thread. I'm far too poor to not send the core back, but I'm also too poor to buy a new Porsche engine, so I have to replace with something else....BUT! my removal will be the same as yours so really enjoying the thread and details.

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No prob bud! These guys commenting here have so much knowledge, tips and tricks it really is invaluable. I am also too poor to "pay" to keep the core, ECS Tuning who middle maned the transaction messed up and didn't charge me for a core so I will be keeping my short block core + core charge. Also my daily is a pretty worthless (but awesome and I love it) 20 year old e46 BMW 330Ci 5 spd and my wife's Wrangler Rubicon is fully paid off so ALLLLL my car money goes to fun stuff like turning this 911 back into my daily, my wife is also cool as hell and lets me do whatever I want. I'm really glad others are finding this thread interesting/useful. It felt kinda selfish starting a thread about my car and myself but everyone here is super chill!!!

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@De Jeeper and I are regulars at Watkins and NJMP. About 400 laps this year at WG. Lime Rock Summit Palmer Thompson Pocono are others. Videos from most are here http://www.youtube.com/@hbdunn2007

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Woahhh that looks like a blast, you're fast man!! I would love to do some track days in my e46 M3 now that its almost fully sorted, I just have a small leak from the diff left to deal with but at 87k it could use a full refresh anyway so I am gonna pull it out of the car and send it to be redone this spring. The Glen is about 5 hours away from LI where I live but Limerock is only 2.5 away, I am hoping to get to Limerock this summer. Trying to juggle 4 cars takes up a lot of my time, they rarely ever see a mechanic besides me. I just bought a new helmet and go-pro 2 weeks ago too. If I ever make my way to WGI again, Limerock or any other tracks around NY and you fast boys are there I would love to meet up, I can hold you guys up for a little while and then point you by.........lol Cheers to all the fast boys here having fun with their toys!

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We will be up at lime rock 7/1-2. Right now I think it�s four of us from this forum. It�s with an organization out of Massachusetts, mass tuning.

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It looks like I some time to get my M3 ready, if all goes to plan... These winter months in NY kill me, going stir crazy already, jealous of the guys with garages! I'll check out Mass Tuning too. Sick of this weather, cool icicle though...

Along with limerock i will be at watkins 7/29-8/1. The 1st 2 days with chin (open event) and then with niagra pca. The niagra event is a super solo so driving experience is needed to attend. I am on the fence about staying on 8/2 for a for a bmw open track event. Dont forget about NJMP to the south of u in millville,nj. there r 2 good tracks there and there is a private or pca group running almost every weekend. I run a lot of days there with Mo-E. https://moehpde.com/home

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Good call about NJMP, my gps says its 3 hours away so that's probably my 2nd closest track to Nassau county LI besides Limerock. I have ZERO track experience aside for a few laps at WG, I have done go-karts both gas and electric. I grew up watching racing not sports, once I got a license I got the car bug real hard, cars turned into big toys for me probably why I have owned 24 of them, driving is my favorite thing to do on earth but as I get older the streets are not the place anymore. I'm not a typical "car guy" I don't go to car meets or anything like that, I'm just a guy having some fun with toys and track days seem like the logical next step. I need to look into all these organizations, clubs, groups because it seems like that's the easiest way to get on track. Good info @De Jeeper I will check this stuff out, thanks man.

Feel free to pm me or hbdunn. We track a fair amount in thr area and can make sure u get a solid foundation and some good instruction. Its a seriously addicting hobby and starting out with a good foundation is important. Happy to help another sucker into the fold.

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I appreciate it bro! Its a big leap to get into track stuff from just messing around with cars as a hobby, feels slightly intimidating to get started. You guys are awesome and thanks for the welcoming of questions and whatnot from a new guy. Here is a small snippet from my 2nd lap at Watkins Glen, it was a tourist day with a 55mph limit, I left a big gap and had some fun! Instagram

Aggresive shift My youtube stuff. Hbdunn s usually a sec or 2 faster then me. You Tube

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Nice driving man! 140mph down the back straight, wow WG is a fast track with a fast driver behind the wheel. One day I hope to make some cool *** videos like these!

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Yup I'll be there too. Mass Tuning offers in-car instruction if you make it down there.

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It's pretty cool seeing who some of the track day guys are around here. In-car instruction sounds really helpful, I know how to drive fast but DEFINITLY not properly lol. All this track day talk is really giving me the itch. Its not a 911 but I am glad I have been building this e46 M3 for a couple of years, its basically almost ready for a track day as it sits now. Besides having a car that's 100% mechanically sorted (most important) is there anything else I need to do to my M3 before taking it to a track day, do I need anything besides a SA2020 helmet, or any recommendations about any other aspect I might overlook as a new guy? The car is running KW V3's, 996 calipers with Textar pads and OE BMW CSL discs, Firehawk Indy 500 tires 255 front 275 rears and is slightly lightened with no rear interior and a fiberglass OE BMW CSL trunk. I wont be trying to go fast at first but its nice my car is set up for a light beating. Watkins Glen White 996 next to me

1. Nut and bolt suspension, steering and brakes. 2. Put racing brake fluid in, SRF is expensive and maybe overkill but is what I run so what I recommend. 3. Put at minimum at street/track pad in and preferably a track pad. 4. Have a good tire pressure gauge and do a little research for session staring pressures. 5. Take the center caps off the wheels. 6. Fluid check - Engine and gear oil, coolant. 7. Bring stuff to the track to be comfortable when not driving - chair, cooler, canopy whatever... just put some thought to it. 8. I like to have a microfiber zip tied to my brake fluid reservoir cap, when the fluid gets hot you can get a small amount of fluid bleed out around the cap, the microfiber will catch it before it drips. 9. Leave the floor mats at home. The other guys can fill in stuff I have undoubtedly forgotten. I'd save any major alignment / tire or other more track oriented changes until after you get some days under your belt. You'll want a SA2020 helmet, yes. I suggest joining SCCA and looking into their track nights, its a pretty mellow entry into track days and they usually run a few days at LRP and as a member they send you out great coupons for trackdays, gear and parts. No instruction but the novice groups are generally well policed and behaved. A good way to get your feet wet without spending a fortune. You will find a whole new appreciation for the car and driving on the track. DO IT !

U want to flush the brake fluid with a high boiling point fluid like castro srf. U may also burn through those textars in 1 day. Not sure what the recommended decent track/street pad is for a m3. The most important thing is not going fast, its consistant and predictable brakes. U dont want fade or a soft pedal ever. I cant say this loud enough....u NEED to have an instructor in your car. I would say for at least 5 and maybe 10 track days. It will take some commitment to solo in the pca or bmw clubs. With the private groups they will solo u much sooner. Im excited for u if u take the leap, its a lot of fun.

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@zbomb you the man, thanks bro! This is exactly the kinda stuff I was asking about that I never would have thought of, like removing the center caps so they don't fly off at speed and hit another car, also BBS caps are not that cheap lol. I do a brake fluid change every spring with a pressure bleeder, I use Pentonsin dot4 but I will flush it with a track spec fluid this spring and also put microfiber or a sweat band on the brake fluid reservoir. I will also swap out the Textar pads for a more aggressive pads but I wont go to far towards a track pad and try to find something in the middle ground to start. Since I run 996 calipers on the M3 I have been running same exact Textar pads on both my 996 and M3 and they are good on the street but probably will die fast on track especially since the e46 M3 is not the lightest car, she's kinda a heavy girl. Tire pressure gauge I will get, I just have cheap ones currently. All fluids were changes last summer except coolant which I will flush this spring. Leave the floor mats at home, check. I actually did join SCCA right before covid ****ed everything up when I wanted to start getting into track stuff a few years ago, I will rejoin it again. Thanks again bud, what seems like common knowledge to you track vets us new guys might not even think of.

U may also want a torque wrench to double check lugs and a cheapish air compressor that is battery or has clips for your car battery. Both these can be borrowed at the track too as most others will have them too. Its just nice to have your own stuff but u may want to try it our a few times before spending even more money.

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It looks like both you an Zbomb are running SRF, I will probably just use this since I know its good stuff and has worked for you two, one less thing for me to think about and FCP sells it so I can send it back for replacements whenever I bleed the brakes. As for pads the M3 guys are not as much help since I run 996 calipers and only a few of them do also so the pool of people is quite small, I will see what they are running and look for something between street and track to start off with. I am pretty sure they are running something from FCP Euro so they can send them back in where they are dead for replacements, I'll find that thread on NAM3 forums and swap the pads out. I am pretty neurotic about the brakes in all my cars, every car I buy I put new seals and dust booth in the calipers, pads, rotors and a fluid flush immediately. My brakes faded real bad in my GTI one time and almost caused a crash while messing around when I was young and it scared the **** out of me, scarred me for life but in a good way. I do really like the instructor idea since I have no point of reference on speed, braking zones and whatnot on a track. I also really don't want to wreck my M3, its my baby lol. I originally bought my blue 330Ci to be the track car since its cost 4x less then the M3 to buy and also run/parts cost, but honestly its just not anywhere close to as fun as the M3. I even thought about using my 330Ci and doing 1 or 2 races of spec e46 a year right before covid hit, got my novice permit, was eager and ready to learn and then the world shut down. A friend of mine does spec Miata and it looked fun as hell, expensive though. I have since lost interest in spec racing because the cost vs reward doesn't seem like a great bang for your buck. Also I just realize your 996.1 has a GT3 mezger swap... dude that's cool as ****.

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Yes that is one thing I will get is a good torque wrench, I have needed an excuse to get a really nice one for a while to replace what I have now. Air compressor I have, I do have a 1000watt inverter that has a direct battery hook up I have never used before I should check out, also my Wrangler has outlets and that will be there as the support vehicle. All this advice, tips, tricks and crap I wouldn't have thought of is realllllly helpful.

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They won't fly off, they melt because of brake heat. You probably won't need SRF for the first times out, something like RBF600 would work well. Once you're driving faster then you may need better fluids. I bring an infared thermometer to check brake temps after sessions. Have some chalk handy, helps when dialing in tire pressures.

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Melt!!!! See this is DEFINITELY stuff I didn't think of lol!! So glad you guys are here... I have seen those caliper heat stickers, are they any good? I have an inferred thermometer for cooking, I will buy one that's specific for this application. The chalk I assume is to see how far the tire is rolling over on the sidewall?

The center caps may not fly off at speed, more likely when you come in from your session, the brake heat will soak into the wheels and then they melt and fall out. Years ago I forgot to remove them on my Vette track car, and the fell out when parked in the paddock. Go ahead and upgrade fluid. My second track event ever, I boiled the high-temp dot 4 fluid and that was not fun. I second, third, and fourth SRF fluid. I run 993TT (Big Reds) calipers in my 97 M3 BMW CCA IP club race car. Love em. -Tom

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That makes sense, once the heat soaks into the wheels the caps only need to soften & deform slightly to fall out. Since I buy my brake fluid from FCP Euro and yes I am that guy who sends back used fluids, I will just go straight to the good stuff SRF, its expensive but I am only buying it one time so it will be cheaper in the long run anyway. E36 M3 club racer sounds like a fun *** car! I don't know anything about the big reds besides they look kinda similar to the 996 calipers being a 4 piston Brembo, not sure on the size differences. Porsche Brembo's are such a great budget brake upgrade for BMW's and only cost me about $2700 all in for everything I needed for the conversion.

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I used textar pads on my first 5 track days and was driving it on the street. You won't burn them up as long as they are 7 or 8 mm. A brake pad thickness gauge is a good thing to have. I like PFC pads but they are not available from FCP so it's an expense I endure. There is a Friday April 26 date at Lime Rock with PCA metro. Get an account with clubregistration and motorsportreg so you can see the events and prices. Here is a spreadsheet maintained by NNJR PCA guy, it has most of the dates for tracks close to us. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

Also if you are married I'd suggest a separate CC and bank account that goes to a secret PO box. I was at Watkins last summer and my wife joined me and 5 track friends for dinner. They started talking about the $$$ this stuff costs. I was kicking everyone of them under the table.

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The Textar's have about 3k miles on them and a good chunk of those miles was a road trip to Virgina Beach so a lot of highways, I put them in last year and their thickness looks like they are still brand new. I will buy a brake pad measuring tool, I didn't even know that existed I was going to pull them out and use my digital calipers to measure them lol. I will create accounts with both those organizations, thanks for the tip, also that spreadsheet is so nice with dates and tracks all together. Honestly the car could do a track day right now its extremely well taken care of (better then my 996 lol), also the first track day out will be a 5/10ths day anyway with no real speed and me just getting acclimatized to being on a race track, but I already know I will continue doing this so I have no issues beefing up the car before hand in key areas. I had so much fun at WG this summer only doing 3 laps I haven't been able to get it out of my head, probably why all I am talking about in this engine swap thread is track days lol.... But I am stuck inside, 20 degrees outside and cant start the swap anyway. Just like I have said to you before and everyone else, THANK YOU for sharing and continuing to share your knowledge & experiences on this subject. I am reading everyone's advice and making decision as I learn new things everyday. I don't know why but track days were really intimidating to me before these conversations, I know how to work on cars, I am pretty competent driver but it just seemed way more scary before all the encouragement.

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HAHAHAHAHAHA.... This is the best advice of the whole thread!!!!!

To follow up on an earlier brake fluid comment, i am acually using Endless rf650 its slightly better then the srf but cost even more. During the end of the world 2 yrs ago srf was really hard to find so i went with Endless and i just dont want to switch. If i was starting now it would be srf. For pads Fcp sell pagid yellow rs29s for 996 c2 calipers. They r expensive once . I use these pads and get 20 track days out of a set. And yes i get even more smiles/mile because my car is 90% gt3 .

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Covid really screwed stuff up... I'm gonna get some SRF for this years annual brake flush, even if I run the Textars for a track day or two I really would like to have a good brake fluid and since I flush it yearly its not any extra work at this point in time since I planned on doing it in March-April when it warms up outside anyway. I am going to look into those Pagid pads, I know track pads are very expensive but like you said with FCP its only expensive once. The fact that we didn't even get the 996.1 GT3 here in the US makes your "GT3ish" that much cooler, sick build man!

I joined PCA and booked a track day at Lime Rock for April 26th, I'll be bringing the e46 M3. I will be running with the Green group which is the beginner student group with an instructor. You guys gave me the kick in the *** I needed to take the first step.

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Very cool. I sent the registrar a note that I had recommended this event to you. I will try to make it over that day. I live about an hour away. I can only drive there on the unmuffled days. It�s where and with the group I started all this with in 2019.

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Only on unmuffled days, you must be super loud hah. Thanks for the recommendation, I can't wait! They say within 30 days of the track day the car needs to pass tech, I am assuming I find the location to bring it on the PCA website?

All the track day stuff is now going though PM's. I'm new to this whole build thread thing and it went wildly off track (lol) sorry, but it all worked and I'll be on track soon. Thanks guys! Next update will be about the FSB project. The cold front has finally passed and we are looking at temps in the 40's for a little while. My next step is to set up the quick jacks, when I bought them I was having major construction done in my back yard, I had entire the space redone with paver stones and got rid of the grass so I never got around to setting them up. I hated the grass, this is much better. Looks a little nicer in summer with blooming plants and some chairs out. This is my work space, no garage but this works for me, the work shed has electricity, water, AC, its insulated and a small electric heater works well in the winter. And since people always ask "how to you get the cars into your back yard?" My gate is a 30/70 split barn door style. My house was neglected for a while, its slowly getting the attention it needs.

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We are terrible enablers, eh?

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Yes, yes you are. And you did it quick!!!

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I purchased it for installing the T56 6-speed in my 73 Camaro. It works fine.

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Good to know, thanks for the data point.

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Super brave at the fully extended 500lb setting on the boom.

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Yeah, it was less then ideal and pretty sketchy. That was the closest we could get the hoist to the front of the car the hoist legs were hitting the wheels, also what you cant really tell from the pic is that the driveway is really steep, like 20ish degrees and we had the front of the car jacked up slightly so the hoist legs would fit under the car putting the car at an even greater angle. Really not a good situation at all, we put a lot of faith into that chinesium harbor fright engine hoist. Ron in his 20's was a lot dumber/riskier then Ron in his 30's, glad I made it out alive...

Fantastic - keep up the great work! The FSB is a great option to have.

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Thanks buddy! I should have a part and price update tomorrow, I'm waiting on a delivery.

Today my LuK flywheel was delivered, $377 from Amazon, yup I know Amazon, I wasn't expecting to buy a flywheel from them either. The price was way too good to pass up and I figured if it was wrong, fake, used, broken, or all of the above Amazon has free returns. It shipped from their Lakeland FL warehouse and I got it in 4 days. I unboxed it from a LuK box and the flywheel is legit and brand new. I really didn't know what to expect since this was almost a 50% discount but the part numbers match and everything seems to check out. I'm gonna give it a good look over tomorrow but as of now I think its good. Update of the parts spreadsheet

Can you send a link to that, I like to pick up a flywheel also.

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Sure here is the link, buts cheaper on Rock Auto now. https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...t=5348&jsn=837 Amazon Amazon The price has changed 3 times since I bought it, immediately after it rose $100 to $470, about an hour later I assume they sold another and it rose to $557 and now it is $542. All these price changes happened within 2 hours.

Don't need it right now but cheap enough to keep one around for either car.

I bought two front wheel hubs to convert my C4 to C2 suspension geometry. Had I known 996 and 986 use the same front wheel hubs I probably could have saved a few bucks, paid $300 shipped, rarely but sometimes I get too excited and just buy things without doing proper research. Purchased from Pacific Motors, however I purchased part numbers 99634195812 & 99634195712 but I was sent wheel hubs with part numbers 99634165711 & 99634165811. A quick Google tells me they are the same, I think, maybe these came off a Boxster or the part number has been superseded, not cool Pacific Motors lol, label your **** correctly or list compatible parts numbers if you're not sending the exact part number from your own listing. I will scrub them up and change the bearings before they go on the car, but its going to be a little while. I blew up my e46 330Ci daily 2 days ago so the 996 is going to the back burner for a little while while I get my M3 ready to be the daily for now.

Yes the last digit is just a revision on the newest drawings (911 and boxter would have the same part #s) so what u have is correct and $300 is a pretty good price.

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Thanks for the confirmation Aaron, appreciate it brother.

Its been a while since I worked on the 911 or updated this thread after I blew up my daily driver last month, so I decided to wire brush and clean up the C2 hubs I am using to convert the suspension from C4 to C2 geometry. They came out pretty good, lots of baked on brake dust, I could probably get them a little cleaner but for now I am satisfied. I will also change the bearings before they go on the car. I blew up my E46 330Ci daily on 2/6 and alllllllllll my free time has been devoted to getting my E46 M3 back on the road to become the new daily. It has been one hell of a month in the freezing cold outside in my backyard on LI NY. The M3 got a new diff and some other fun parts and has been assigned to daily driver duties. The silver lining is that a big chunk of the track day prep I was going to do to the M3 for 2 days at Limerock (4/26 PCA & 4/27 BMWCCA) is now done, also daily driving the M3 is pretty awesome for the time being. My plan going forward is to finish up the track day prep on the M3 in the next few weeks and then go full speed ahead no distractions on the 996 engine swap. The 996 seems to always get pushed to the back burner over & over & over, I was originally supposed to start this swap last summer, ugh lol... The M3 is a sweet daily for now but it was never intended to be anything other than a toy, its not nearly as comfy or cool as when the 996 was my daily. PCA made me take a pic next to my car when I joined last month............. Awkward

Hey, you got an M3, a 330, and a 996 to play with/drive, and plenty of energy, sounds like life isn't terrible !!!

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I have my highschool dream cars, I love it!

Mmmm M54 activities - I don't miss it, doing my best to keep a rebuilt M52TU alive. You got my thoughts and prayers lol. Do all PCA chapters make you pose with your car?

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I'm glad I joined before that was a requirement. Ugggh, you reminded me of how behind I am with 'M54 activities'. I'm transitioning from my current place to what was a rental and the former rental is needing waaay more work than I anticipated. I'm currently going on 3 months behind schedule. And I'm even farther behind on S38 and M20 activities.

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Yeah, but you got a garage. So you have that going for you. I kind of liked it when all your pictures were on pavers on the back patio, Shade tree style with jack stands and weather conditions that vary though not like the OP here. Gives me hope and inspiration.

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@circuit.heart HAHA thanks friend! The 330Ci is going to the end of the line now, the 996 has been put off for far to long. All I know is the NY chapter does lol, they put my pic in the "New Member" section of their magazine Porsche Post. I have a million pics of my cars and none with me standing next to them...

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@SoCal911t I had to ask my wife to take the pic in my backyard next to the 996 and she was like "okay sure, but your too obsessed with these cars and its weird" hahah. After explaining it was for PCA she decided to save the magazine issue lol. Ugh I know that behind schedule feeling for sure, I am only 1 man with 4 oldish cars that almost never see a mechanic besides me and half the time I don't know what I am doing either lol. Nice BMW's bud, seems lots of 911 guys have either had or have BMW's, logical car progression I suppose. That e28 tho, wow!!!

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The house with the patio has a garage, it was just easier to do stuff on the patio. If I got halfway into a project and found some 'while I'm in there' stuff that wasn't expected, I could just the throw a cover over the car until I got the parts I needed and the garage wasn't tied up. Yes, I'm going to miss that patio. Well, it sounds like she's a good sport about your hobby. My S/O is also a good sport and sends me stuff like this... And I send her back stuff like this... She just shakes her head when I do stuff like this.

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Where else am I supposed to wash my spare wheels in the middle of winter...lol

Its been a few months since I have worked on the 911, I have been busy with the M3 taking up my time and having my driveway and backyard redone. The 911 is at my mom's house but will be coming back home this weekend, if not next weekend. My street is being repaved at the moment, tomorrow will be day 4 so it should be done soon. I did do some 911 stuff recently tho, my window needed adjusting after letting in a bunch of rain. Took the door panel off and lifted the back of the glass which was sagging and tightened it. On to more fun stuff. I bought an engine stand to put the FSB on. I went with a $200 Harbor Freight 2000lbs engine stand mainly because of the way the legs are orientated. The 1000lbs stand legs are shaped like a "T" and the lift table can't get close enough to mount the engine to the stand. To get around this problem the 2000lbs has 2 legs shaped like a "V" that are on the sides letting you push the lift table between them. I bought 4 bolts 12mm x 1.5mm x 90mm to mount the engine to the stand. You will also need to remove two crankcase dowel sleeve's (014301153B) to mount the engine stand fingers flush to the block. To remove these I used a pipe wrench and spun them while applying a slight outward pressure and after a few spins they were fully out. Remove these. FSB on the engine stand, I was super careful adjusting the fingers and threading in the bolts to the engine stand mount so to not cross thread them, the short block has a lot of weight and I didn't want to try and pull it towards the mount with the threads too much. You can see the legs being wide open in the center to allow the lift table to get close enough to the mount on the stand. I placed 2 orders for some parts that should be here in a few days, I will update with the parts and prices when they arrive. M3 and 911 safe at my mom's house while my house projects are underway.

Moms are so great! Glad to see you're getting back on it.

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Yes they are, I'm excited to start on the 911 I am already a year behind schedule lol. Life keeps happening and getting in the way of cars, we all need some extra free time. I was recently accepted at Stony Brook University to get my bachelor's at the ripe age of 37 so hopefully I can find a nice balance between everything and still have time for the 911, the M3 is doneish for the time being so all time will go towards the 911 for the foreseeable future.

I bought an engine gasket set 98610090500 from USP Motorsports for $207.34. Slowly starting to get parts for this project. Parts List

A few more parts arrived, these came from FCP Euro. Timing chain guide rails, a coolant temp sensor a some coolant hoses. Timing chain guide rails Coolant temp sensor Three Coolant hoses The price difference between Porsche & URO hoses is pretty large, ex. a $15 hose vs. an $80 hose. One of the hoses FCP did not sell a URO so I bought OE Porsche and the difference between them are the URO is slightly thicker and stiffer. The small elbow piece may be incorrect there were two options and I may have picked the wrong one.

I locked myself out of the frunk, I locked the car and then disconnected the battery and shut the frunk. I immediately knew what I did lol, I could not give the car power using the cigarette 12v to unlock it because the battery was disconnected. Thankfully 99's have a frunk cable that runs to the frunk release lever I used to open it. I noticed while it was apart that when you lock the car a small metal triangle piece slides over and blockes the lever from being pulled, I am going to remove this piece so the frunk/trunk levers won't lock with the car and prevent this from happening again.

I put the car in the air to check some measurements. I am using a QuickJack 5000TL that will raise the jacking points to 24 inches high, this puts the sump at about 23 inches off the floor which I don't think will be high enough to get the engine out with the 1000 lbs. Harbor Freight lift table at 11 inches high. I ordered the SUV adapters which will add 2.75 inches to a max height of 26.75 inches. This puts my sump at roughly 25.75 inches off the ground and I believe I read a forum post somewhere (maybe) saying you need 26 inches using the 1000 lbs. lift table to roll the engine/trans out. Cutting it a little close but this is the height on the quickjack's locks but it does go up slightly more beyond the locking height if I need a few more mm to get the engine out, if i still need more height I will use wood under the SUV adapters. I don't like the position I put the car and am going to spin it so its between the fence and the pole with the rear of the car facing the workshed's ramp leaving 6 feet between the car and the ramp giving me room to roll the engine/trans out from under the car. My plan is to rachet strap the engine/trans to the lift table cart & roll it up the ramp into the workshed to do all my work, I bought a small hand crank winch I will screw to a stud on the back wall to assist with getting the engine/trans up the ramp.

Put a wide strip of 3/4 plywood under each side of the quickjack. This will give u a hair more room to slide the motor out.

Quotes source post: 19582428

Great idea, every inch counts. I will do this when I move the car to its new spot, thanks man!

I swapped out the URO hoses for Porsche hoses. The URO hoses seemed fine but I bought Porsche hoses to compare and just decided to keep those. I moved the position of the car to the other side of the pole with the rear facing the workshed. I left about 6 or 7 feet behind the car to pull the engine and trans out. I also used the SUV adapters for the first time, I had to jack up the car and put it on bricks to get the quickjack under with the SUV adapters. The sump measures 25.75 inches to the ground and 26.75 at the lifting points, its kind of wild how high the car is, I have used jack stands my whole life until this year and I have never had a car this high in the air, yikes lol. I am pretty sure this is the spot I will do the engine swap, it seems like the best option with the pole and flower bed. Squeezing the car in between and getting the quickjack in position wasn't fun on the right side.

Do the Porsche hoses look any different than the Uro hoses?

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They are slightly different, the bends and shape are 90% the same a very close match, I doubt they would have had any issues.

I touched the 996 again so I figured I would make a post about it. I have had so little free time for cars lately and what time I did have was eaten up yet again by my M3 daily that just kept throwing light after light, week after week... Good news is the M3 seems to be running really well now and I don't plan on touching it again until next year, the bad news is it is going to get cold here in NY real soon. I didn't like the placement of the car in my backyard so I moved it one last time. It is further from the workshed but now I have plenty of room to work around the car & it is not in the way of other backyard activities anymore and can sit indefinitely in this spot if needed. I also put my gazebo on car dollies and rolled it over the car. I removed all the under panels, one was cracked so I bought a new one and all new clips for all the underbody panels. Removed the airbox Looking cool under the lights, really missing this car at the moment, need more time. Removed the tail lights Removed the rear bumper and bumperettes Drained the oil Drained the coolant, thought it would be pink? Removed the throttle body Removed the power steering reservoir and then sucked out all the fluid I could. I broke this plastic connector at some point so I bought a metal one to replace it. How it currently sits, itching to dig into this deeper before it gets too cold. Tucked away until next time, looks fast even under the cover. M3 pic ​​​

Great thread. I like how tidy and organized you are with the outdoor setup. Hope you're able to get back to it ASAP.

That workspace is the most luxurious DIY space I've ever seen haha. I'm strapping a phone to my chin for light and here you are with strings on strings!

I would do a full coolant flush, drain rads and hoses before i refill. That ks not the correct spec fluid in your car now. Also about 10lbs of air pressure with a rubber tiped air gun works great for pushing out the power steering fluid.

I was going to say something about that coolant too. Yes it should be pink, and the fact that it is green is evidence that the wrong coolant was used. You want that stuff gone. Nice setup given what you have to work with. I like the gazebo-on-rollers, very clever! But I worry what might happen in a strong wind...

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Thanks! Making the best out of not having a garage to work in, it's not so bad to be honest, especially on warm days with nice weather I prefer to be outside anyway and it's only when the cold winter rolls around I wish for an indoor workspace.

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Hahaha whatever works! The gazebo and lights really change the atmosphere of working outside for sure.

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Yes I will definitely do a flush, as soon as I removed the drain plug and didn't see pink I thought to myself why do people do this **** lol, it's so easy to get the correct coolant. Noted about the power steering fluid, great tip man!

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Yup wrong coolant ugh, time for a full flush. The gazebo on rollers is kinda awesome, I can move it by myself. It's really heavy and the wind can't move it, good call tho, last thing I need is a gazebo smashing into the 996. Since it looks like the car will be in this spot for the foreseeable future I will probably remove the dollies anyway since I don't plan on wheeling the gazebo around again until next year.

Small update, chipping away at this car every time I get a spare hour. Removed the heat shields from the mufflers on the sides. I couldn't get the heat shield off the rear crash bar so I just took the whole bar off. I will soak the bolts that attach the heat shield to the crash bar and remove them while its off the car. Small update to the parts list

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All night Rave Ready. oooncha,ooncha. luv it.

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Let's party

I just pulled the motor in my 4s while on quick Jack's. I found putting the rear wheels on 3 2x10s so I could get the SUV adapters under the jack points gave me enough height at the rear crash bar to pull the motor usi g the HF #1000 lift table. I did remove the throttle body to give me am extra 1/2" of lift.

Quotes source post: 19772370

This is great to know that using the SUV adapters is high enough to get the engine out using the 1000lbs HF lift table. Thanks for that piece of info!

Its been a while but I have an update both with the car and parts. I am almost done with my 2 BMWs for a little while so I will finally have more time for the 996. My 330Ci daily is back up and running and I am almost done with my M3's beginning of the Summer maintenance and a ZHP quick ratio steering rack swap. First here is the updated parts list, I bought a bunch of small stuff. I will put a photo dump of all the parts. I removed the exhaust manifolds and the mufflers. Unfortunately 3 of the bolts holding the manifolds snapped. Luckily they snapped off with a few mm sticking out of the heads. I will try and deal with them after I pull the engine. Photo dump of new parts Engine oil cooler - OE Mahle Behr - 99610702559 Engine oil cooler hose - Genuine Porsche - 99610623053 Engine oil cooler bolts x4 - Genuine VW Audi - N10546403 Spark plug tube x6 - Genuine Porsche - 99610532552 Direct ignition coil x6 (997) - OE BERU - 9A160210406 Parts I will need to move the heat shield away from the larger coils : (4) M6-1.00 x 35mm bolts (4) 1/4” x 3/8” x 3/4” spacers Spark plugs x6 - BOSCH - 99917020491 Thermostat low temp 71C - Wahler - 99610601359 Coolant G40 - Zerex Serpentine belt - Continental - 6PK2115 Clutch slave cylinder - Sachs - 99711623704 Engine oil filler tube - Genuine Porsche - 99710713100 Engine oil cap - Genuine Porsche - 99610703550 Engine crankshaft position sensor - OE BOSCH- 98660611202 Throttle body mounting gasket - 99611031752 Engine mount nut x2 - Genuine Porsche - 99908421501 Engine mount bolt x4 - Genuine Porsche - 90037805501 Hose clamp - Genuine Porsche - 99951265209 Fuel injector clip x6 - Genuine Porsche - 99611011353 Hose clamp - Genuine Porsche - 99951255400 Transmission expansion drain plugs x2 - Genuine Porsche - 90021900132 Transmission drain plug washer x2 - Genuine Porsche - 90012301120 Diff fluid gear oil 75W-90 - Liqui Moly That's it for this update, some work on the 996 was done and some new parts received. I think most of those parts I picked are correct, I made this parts list a longggggg time ago and don't really remember 100% why I was was picking certain stuff out, I will figure it out while the engine is out. The weather is getting nicer and I will be working on the 996 a lot more than my BMW's going forward for a while, I really want to drive the 996 again and the BMWs are mostly done for now. Bonus BMW pics!!! E46 M3 (toy) E46 330Ci (current daily driver)

It's out. Yup definitely out. I have not updated this thread in a long time but I will pick up where I left off. Next I unbolted the AC compressor from the engine, it will be staying with the car. This was kind of a pain in the *** because you have to remove the rear bolt blind, after a few you tube videos and feeling around for the bolt I got it out. Smog pump I also disconnected the wire harness and fuel lines on this day. Now going underneath to disconnect some stuff. First I unbolted the axles. At this point I also disconnect the driveshaft going to the front wheels Removed the rear sway bar Next removed the rear fender liners and found 26 years worth of dirt. Quick power washing cleaned it up I disconnected the shifter cables and back up switch at this point. Both rear braces are off, this situation was less than ideal with the wider SUV jack adapters. The are slightly wider where they contact the jack points on the underside of the 996, wide enough that they just ever so slightly cover the bolts for the rear braces. I was able to loosen the bolt but only had about a half inch to remove the bolt, I ended up cutting the bolt off to remove the braces. Next disconnect the ground strap The clutch slave cylinder was also a pain, there is no room but I managed to get it out. Lower subframe removed Next I positioned the lift table under the engine with a 4x4 piece of wood to support the transmission and removed the transmission brace. I lowered the engine down a few inches giving me enough room to disconnect the power steering lines. Lowered the engine fully down and rolled it out. It feels great to have the engine out and inside the workshed before winter arrives. It gets cold here in NY and I can spend all winter swapping everything over to my factory short block.

Hey enjoy watching your efforts I usually want to see weather change to **** on LI as I left LI years ago for sunny Florida but here�s hoping the weather stays mild as you complete your efforts. What part of LI are you on, based on pictures I a guessing Queens or north shore of Nassau County? The Taco wing 996.1 are the ones to own, enjoy your Taco each Tuesday and every other day 😀👍 Rich

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Beautiful car I love red. Correct with Nassau county, south shore. Now that I have the engine indoors it can get cold out although I am not happy with it lol.

Today I removed the grease seal off the IMSB. The factory short blocks come with the larger upgraded IMSB so there is no need to worry about doing a retrofit or solution. I used an offset 22mm wrench and a screwdriver to remove the nut and 3 reverse torx. I used 2 of these trim clip removal tools on each side at the same time to remove the flange Flange removed exposing the IMSB Backside of flange I have removed the grease seal to let engine oil wash over the ball bearings keeping them lubricated. Removed seal While reinstalling the flange I accidentally crushed the O-ring on the IMS, it weirdly cut the O-ring in a perfect circle. I have ordered 2 more O-rings they will be here in a few days. I have also updated the parts spreadsheet with the parts/prices that comes with or are installed on the FSB.

I have been working on the 996 again recently, chipping away little by little here and there. My wife is pregnant so I am trying to get as much done now as I can because I know free time with be limited soon. I need to separate the engine and transmission so I can get the engine on to my engine stand and start swapping parts from the old engine to the new FSB. I bought a transmission jack adapter but I could not get it to fit on either of my 3 harbor freight jacks, neither the 2 full size steel jacks or the small lightweight aluminum jack. The mounting point the transmission adapter mounts to the jack is too shallow on my jacks. My friend has the same adapter and he got it to work on an old jack from what seems like WW2 that does not have the low profile design of all the newer jacks. I gave up on that idea and called my brother figuring the 2 of us could manhandle the transmission off the engine without the transmission jack. It was surprisingly easy to split them, I assumed after being together for 26 years there would be a lot of prying and banging but nope. We got it apart and I removed the clutch and flywheel also. I also had to removed 1 dowel sleeve from the block to be able to mount it to the engine stand. I would like to point out that there was only 1 dowel sleeve on my original engine block and not 2 like on the new FSB. I forgot to take pics of the clutch/flywheel installed on the old engine. While my brother was here we also moved the FSB from my workbench to the hydraulic table, I also reinstalled the 2 dowel sleeves back in the block that I removed to mount it on the engine stand previously. I put both engines next to each other to make it easier to swap parts between them. I received the new o ring for the IMSB that I pinched during reassembly after pulling the grease seal. I removed the old one with a dental pic and slid the new one on the IMSB. This is the old pic of the damage I caused pinching the original o ring while trying to install the flange the first time after pulling the grease seal. New o ring installed It is kinda tricky to get the flange back on which is how the o ring was pinched in the first place. The IMS is slightly out of center after the flange is removed, and does not let you slide the flange straight on. What I tried doing was using a flathead screwdriver to put pressure on the IMSB shaft keeping it in the center and pushing the flange over the IMSB shaft. This resulted in me pinching the original o ring. I then tried threading in the flange bolts just to get it stared but they are too short. What ended up working was getting 3 longer flange bolts M6x25mm just to get it threaded a few threads to bolt the flange onto the block, then I used a screwdriver to hold the imsb shaft in the center of the bore while I threaded in the 3 flange bolts until the flange was slightly seated in the bore and holding the IMS centered. Then I removed those bolts and installed the 3 factory flange bolts. The factory bolts are microencapsulated and have thread locker on the bolt that actives on the first tightening so if they are to be reused then Curil T is needed so they don't leak. I used Curil T on the 3 flange bolts and the IMSB nut and all torqued to 7.5 ft lbs. I also bought the timing tool set off Amazon for $80. That's all I have for now, I hope to keep the momentum up. This has been one of the more enjoyable projects to work on over the years, if only 19 year old me knew he would be wrenching on Porsche engines one day. Road trip in the Audi wagon from last weekend while it snowed in upstate NY Lake Placid. Audi's quattro + Micheline Cross Climate 2's were unstoppable Good vibes

Nice progress. I didn't realize it was such a hassle to line up an intermediate shaft with the flange.

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It is much easier if u release all 3 chain tensioners (or even the 2 at the back of the motor). If u dont the tensioners pull the slack out of the chain and shift the ims. Not sure if Noro did this?

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I am not sure if the design of the flange on the larger bearing makes it more difficult to get lined up. The flange for the smaller bearings looks like it kinda slips over the IMSB shaft lining everything up for you, where the flange for the larger bearing does not really slip over the shaft and is very shallow. Cant say for sure as I have no experience with the smaller IMSB flange.

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I did not release the one tensioner that is installed on the short block I assumed the short block would not have any tension in its current configuration, two of the tensioners are not installed on the short block and came in a box but there is one on the block, if looking directly at the IMSB its to the left of it, maybe removing that one on the block would have helped. I did read about the tensioners moving the IMS out of center but didn't think that was that case with a short block and it wasn't so much tension that I could not move it back to center with slight pressure from a screwdriver, the hardest part was getting the bolts to thread as they are kinda short while keeping it all lined up. At least its done now and only cost me a $10 o ring.

Yea it still would put tension on the chain but because there is no oil creating the hydrolic cusion u r only fighting the tensioner spring. The front and rear bearing center the ims, without the imsb cover the bearing floats. So any tension on any of the chains it will pull on the shaft. Glad u got it worked out and repaired

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Ahh I see that makes sense, good to know, although I hope I never have to do this again...hah

What does everyone think I should do with fuel injectors, should I have mine cleaned or buy new? Mine have 81k miles on them and a new set of Genuine Porsche injectors are around $800. Is there an OE option or aftermarket brand that plays nice with the 3.4 m96? Let me know what you would do?

I would get new ones. No need to destroy your brand new cylinders with borescoring after the swap. LN tests all of the ones they sell. Check out their website.

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I have a set of 6 OEM Bosch injectors I can sell you if interested. I purchased them new in April 2021 and installed them when installing the UAOS. They were in use until my rebuild in May 2024 (about 25k miles), when I had to upgrade to 997 injectors. They are in great shape and always had very low dilution numbers on UOA and ran injector cleaner once regularly. Happy to let them go at significantly less than what they are going new now. PM me if interested.

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After doing some reading I will buy new injectors instead of cleaning them. Kinda shocked they are $800 a set, I have never bought injectors before, who knew they were so expensive!

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Thanks for the offer but I am going to buy new ones.

I also placed a order for some misc. parts needed for the clutch/flywheel. Not sure if this is going to be a trend going forward but I noticed "in stock" aftermarket parts currently more expensive then "backordered" Genuine Porsche parts. I ordered a Genuine Porsche clutch fork pivot pin for $53.99 backordered 2-3 weeks and I noticed FCP was selling an in stock aftermarket pin made by Rauch Spiegel for $60.68, I have never seen Genuine Porsche parts cheaper then aftermarket. Am I missing something here and the Rauch Spiegel is better by any chance?

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For sure. None of us like spending big bucks, but they may last you a very long time. Techron fuel cleaner every so often and plenty of oil tests to see how much fuel is leaking will give you a good read on if they are properly functioning or not.

R & S make parts that fix the issues with Porsches "perfect" parts. There stuff is lower production and machined in house so yes its usually more. I have their pivot for the gt3 trans and clutch, the design is much better. That being said im not sure what the difference is for the c2 trans part?

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Alright cool, I'm gonna cancel the Porsche part and get the RS part, rather not wait 3 weeks for the Porsche part anyway. Thanks dude!

Some new parts have arrived, I have added them to the spreadsheet and taken pics of everything. Clutch fork 99711671201 Genuine Porsche Clutch fork pivot pin 99611671604 Rauch Spiegel Clutch fork pivot 012141751C Genuine Porsche Clutch fork retaining spring 99611674100 Genuine Porsche Clutch fork seal 99611674300 Genuine Porsche Pressure plate bolts x6 90006713103 Clutch release shaft lever bolt x2 N90366301 Genuine Audi My next step will be to degrease and pressure wash the transmission and then install some of these parts. I have also ordered another IMSB flange O-ring, I cannot stop thinkin about how it was maybe pinched again because I installed the flange without removing the chain tensioner and I obviously can't see inside, I am 99% sure its fine but I gotta know for sure. I will remove the chain tensioner and then install a new O-ring, $10 to put my mind at ease. I also ordered a new coolant expansion tank for a 996.2, the tank for a 996.1 is double the price at over $800 while a 996.2 tank is $366. I have seen that you can use a 996.2 tank and cut the mounting bracket slightly to make it fit. A lovely NY winter.

Were your clutch fork, pivot pin, etc bad or are you just replacing to be pro active? New parts are always nice and they look great, just asking. Thanks for posting part numbers etc.

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I haven't taken a thorough look yet but at a quick glance everything looks fine, I will update the condition of the parts when I replace them. I am replacing a lot of things proactively, anything that's a relatively cheap part I will replace while I am in there for peace of mind, I want everything to function as close to 100% as possible and it looks great as you said. No prob with the part numbers!

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That is a cool pic. Pun only partially intended.

I went back and replaced the IMSB O-ring for peace of mind. I originally installed the flange without removing the one preinstalled chain tensioner on the FSB and was worried I pinched the O-ring. After removing the chain tensioner it was much easier to install the flange because you do not have to get everything lined up since there is no tension pushing the IMS to one side, thanks for the tip @De Jeeper . Also the O-ring I removed was perfect and not pinched but I am glad I checked it out. Some more parts have arrived, I have added them with pricing to the spreadsheet and took some pics to document everything. First we have a coolant expansion tank. Porsche is really losing their minds with some of these prices, a coolant tank for a 996.1 is $921.99...... for a plastic tank! This is from FCP Euro. Anyway, I did not buy that tank. I found a thread showing how you can modify the bracket so a 996.2 tank with fit in a 996.1. A 996.2 (99610615704) tank is $366.78 so that's what I bought. This thread HERE show the bracket modification. Clutch release bearing guide tube 99611608701 Genuine Porsche O-ring timing chain tensioner guide x2 99970164740 Genuine Porsche Ultimate AOS @Porschetech3 Get well Skip. It snowed again, 996 is frozen.

I started disassembly of the old engine today. I removed the intake manifold Engine with intake manifold removed Hard to see in the pic but the valves are really clean Covered those holes up I really wanted to put a part from the old engine onto the new, I have had the FSB for a few years and it felt good to finally start building it up even if its just one bracket so far. I wired brushed it and installed it on the FSB Now I am removing the oil cooler off the old engine The O-ring's are very flat and crusty Comparison of the new part vs. the old. OE Mahle Behr 99610702557, the O-rings came in my engine gasket set and the 4 bolts are Genuine VW Audi N10546403. The new bolts are a torx instead of Allen and don't have washers but the bolt is slightly shorter so the threaded length is the same. Bottom of the old oil cooler New oil cooler Oil cooler location on FSB O-ring lubricant I used on the O-rings Bolts torqued to 7 ft/lbs. Aaaaaaaand then I removed it almost immediately. Joel @TheChunkNorris messaged me that he was using the 997S oil cooler along with a center rad on his car. I decided to order the 997.1S 3.8 oil cooler 99710702502, not sure if I'll ever run a center rad but I like that the 997 oil cooler is a cool small OE upgrade to the 996. Side by side of the engines in the workshed. I can laugh about this now Degreaser, then drilled a hole in the corner as a drain a hosed the entire workeshed out The floor is frozen, that's ice Good times...

Back again with another update and lots of photos. I have a question about oil cooler hoses and an update to the parts spreadsheet. First here are the new parts being added to the spreadsheet I have a big chunk of everything I will need, so far I have spent $12,640. I still have a few expensive items left to buy and also sending the heads out to HamHeads . Here is the full parts spreadsheet with all pricing and part numbers. I still need to purchase a water pump, clutch, engine mounts, fuel injectors, starter, alternator, transmission mount and somewhere to rent the tool needed to install the mount. Next I installed the thermostat low temp 71C on the FSB. Wahler 99610601359. I moved this spacer from the old engine to the FSB. Some updates might seem small but I am trying to document as much as possible for my future self. Removed this coolant path connector from the old engine Used a razor to gently scrape the old gasket material from the mating surface Finished it off with a wire brush A little silicone grease on the gasket and ready to install. 7.5 ft/lbs. Everything looks so great bolted to this perfectly clean block, cleaned up the bolt heads a little bit too, its a shame you never really see any of this on a 911. Next I removed this coolant connector from the old engine All these parts are in great shape just dirty Hit it with the wire brush and ready to install with a new gasket Again, looks so good. Replacing all the hoses I come across. Genuine Porsche 99610623356 Something to take note of, there are 2 hoses offered for this location, the one I purchased 99610623356 and also 99610623351. It looks like the one I pulled off my car was the 2nd part number 99610623351, the hoses look to be 90% identical and it doesn't look like it will cause a problem. I cant exchange it because I bought it a while ago. Just something to take note of. Something similar comes up later with hose design changing with new revisions not fitting 99's/996.1's and needing additional parts for fitment. Removed the hard pipe Cleaned and installed on the FSB Next I swapped the hard pipe on the other side of the engine over to the FSB, you will see later on how this part is not longer compatible with the revised coolant hose design and I had to buy a new hard pipe for this side. More new coolant hoses, Genuine Porsche 99610621260 & 99610622265 Removed the oil dip stick from old engine, new O-ring I bought this metal hose connector a while ago to replace the plastic one I snapped not realizing that when installing the UAOS this line gets capped off. I end up removing this later on. Next I removed the alternator from the old engine, forgot to take good pics Transferred this bracket to the FSB, don't know why I took the pic before tightening it ​​​​​​ I want to remove the power steering pump next, first remove the pully After the pully is off you can remove a few bolts on the pump and also remove the smaller idler pully, I forgot to take pics of all this. After that, remove the power steering bracket and transfer to the FSB and then reinstall everything in reverse order Another coolant passage connecter needs to be removed and transferred to the FSB. Cleaned up and new gasket Installed on the FSB Next I transferred this over, to be honest I don't even know what it is and didn't look it up. Sometimes after a few hours in the workshed past midnight I'm just on autopilot swappin parts. Scrubbed it up and installed on FSB Test fit the new oil fill tube Genuine Porsche 99710713100 with new o-ring from the gasket set and a new Genuine Porsche cap 99610703550, and then removed it, still need to install parts under it. Installing the new UAOS. I am just figuring everything out as I go along, here is where I realize the UAOS deleted 2 hoses and the metal connector I bought. I was able to return the hoses which was nice. Hose that came with the UAOS The metal connector is not needed and that line would be capped. I have seen other posts where people left the small rubber hose and capped the plastic connector, I don't see why you would leave that hose as its just another possible failure point. Next I tried to install this crazy looking coolant hose but it did not fit well. Genuine Porsche 99610685005. As you can see it is slightly different in 2 places, after some research I found you have to buy a new hard pipe 99610624354 to make the new coolant hose fit properly on a 99 or 996.1. In my quest to replace every rubber hoses I come across I ordered the hard pipe and am waiting for it in the mail. As you can see here the new hose does not meet up with the hard pipe at the correct angle, even if you slide it all the way on it will then put a kink in the hose. Next I swapped the 996 99610702559 oil cooler for the 997 99710702502 . The 997 is a little taller with more fins and slightly better at cooling. I also forgot I bought an oil cooler a year or 2 ago and never put it on my spreadsheet, I was able to return one 996 oil cooler for the 997 with FCP but now I have an extra 996 cooler. Even with my spreadsheets its tough to keep track of every single part going into this engine swap. New oil cooler hose Genuine Porsche 99610623053 Another hose where the new part number 99610623053 is different and I can't find/buy the original part number 99610623052. I went over to the car with the hose and it does not seem to line up at all with the expansion tank, I guess I will find out when I reinstall the engine and hopefully the bends make more sense at that time. Not sure if this is a 99 problem, or maybe a 996.1 problem. 99610623053 vs. 99610623052 We are moving right along, something small, a new coolant temp sensor Genuine Porsche 99660640501 And that seems to be everything I can swap onto the FSB before the heads need to be installed. My next step will be to continue stripping the old engine down until I am ready to pull the heads off to be sent out. Now for a little bit of bad news. The 996 has a major leak or leaks. It snowed a few times and all that melting snow got inside the car. I lifted up the rear carpets and found a half inch of pooling water underneath them, I also found moisture under the front carpets. I have had a leak in the past where my passenger window was not sealing and I took the door card off and raised the window and fixed that. From what I have read and also seen the diagrams posted on a few threads here the water in the rear foot well is coming from the sunroof drains being clogged and the water in the front footwell is coming from somewhere under the frunk, I think I have that correct. So far I have taped over the sunroof seams so no water can get inside until I have time to figure out this clogged drain situation and I have removed the seats and lifted the carped off the body creating an air gap and running a fan and electric heater for days. It is almost all dry at this point, I have 2 large moisture absorbent bags under the carpets as well. The seats are in excellent condition, neither of them have any tears or cracks. While they are out of the car I am going to do a leather reconditioning using Leatherique and dye the driver side bolster black. That's the end of this update, a lot has been accomplished in the last month, we are moving right along. I have some more hoses coming in the mail, I have to order a few more parts and I have to brush up on the process of removing the heads. I have gone over the whole process in the past watching youtube videos and reading other forum posts but its time to get real familiar with the process before I touch anything.

Wonderful updates Ron. Keep it up. 👍😁

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Thanks bud, I appreciate it!

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It was a lot cooler untill all that snow melted into my car haha.

That mystery black doodad is the vacuum module I believe. Next time I have time I plan to replace all those thin, straw looking lines with thin silicon hoses. I don't know how much I trust those this plasticky lines and rubber junctions. Another way to prevent silly vacuum leaks. Also, good call on capping off that coolant line that would have otherwise ran to the AOS! Such a little dumb thing that can ruin your day.

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Good to know, thanks. Yeah I agree all the vacuum lines seems super fragile and I hate trusting old rubber junctions. I will say I have noticed while taking everything apart some junctions have aged a lot better then others. The rubber junctions that are a "T" or "X" have aged the best, the "J" junctions have aged okay, they are still useable but slightly worse then the others, the worst by far is the straight or "I" junctions which are all disintegrating as I touch them and I have been replacing as I come across them. It is a different type of rubber than the other junctions, the type that when it gets old it leaves black residue on your fingers and crumbles, example in the pic. This is same type of rubber my BMW's have issues with on their vacuum lines.

Interesting about the different rubber types. Age and years of heat cycles have definitely not been kind to those pieces. These lines seem to run in various directions with bends that probably don’t help, which is another reason I want to upgrade them. For example, I’ve seen someone have an issue with the resonance flap in the rear intake junction pipe and the culprit was that dang vacuum line.

Small update while its currently in the teens in NY and everything is frozen solid. Some new parts came First is the hard pipe that I needed to fit with the new hose I documented not fitting in the last post The new hard pipe (99610624354) is 90% the same except for the angle of the bend where it attaches to the hose in the front. Here is one of the straight rubber vacuum connectors (99923904040) I was saying have aged the most poorly, they are disintegrating as you touch them. Next I replaced the Secondary Air Injection Pump Hose (99611324153) Unfortunately the 2nd hose in this picture (99611323955) is backordered. I ordered it last week and then got an email saying its 4-6 weeks out and has to be shipped from Germany. The last of the parts update are these 2 coolant hoses, I gotta replace every hose I come across, I want this 996 to be bulletproof as I plan to daily it once again. Yes, this was my daily (not in snow) until my trip from NY LI to Key West was the last nail in the coffin for the chain guides and I took it off the road. Engine coolant hose (99610650256) Expansion tank hose (99710625101) Currently the 996 is frozen, the snow must be greattttt for my quickjacks, you do what you gotta do, no garage life!

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I'm sure they had tons of fun hunting down that broken vacuum line!

This will be the last update for a little while, I had my first kid last week so the 996 project will be slowing down a bit. After about a month that air pump hose that had to come from Germany arrived, I bought this from Delaware Porsche Parts. It was not being sold by FCP or the other usual places, Delaware Porsche Parts said they had it in stock but then I received an email saying it would come from Germany in 4-6 weeks which it did. Hose to air pump - 99611323955 - Genuine Porsche I also bought a new alternator from FCP Euro, SEG Automotive. FCP says SEG Automotive is the OE alternator, however I pulled a BOSCH off my old engine so I am not sure how true that is unless mine has been changed once in the past. FCP sold both and I went with the SEG over the BOSCH because the SEG was new and the BOSCH was remanufactured, the SEG was $40 more, also the SEG alternator was made in Spain for what its worth. Installed and torqued to 34 ft/lbs. This is how the FSB currently sits. The next step will be to pull the heads off the old engine and send them to Hoffman HamHeads but I have no idea when I'll get around to doing that. I know everyone is always interested on how much everything costs, so far I have spent $13k on everything that's on this spreadsheet. These are the parts I have decided to buy, this could be done for cheaper but I am trying to replace everything that I believe could hurt reliability as a daily driver and also using the brands I have decided to be the best suited for my needs, your opinions may/will vary. I still need to get a starter ($330), fuel injectors ($875), clutch ($400), Engine mounts ($320) and send the heads out ($????). If anyone has any ideas on what the heads will cost at Hoffman HamHeads let me know, $3000 maybe, I really have no clue? It is looking like my version of this project will have cost me roughly $15k + headwork + a ton of my time. Pics from warmer weather, before I took the car off the road which now feels like a lifetime ago. Until next time, until I figure out this baby thing, stay cool everyone!

It's about $1500 to refurbish both heads at Hoffman, if you don't require extras. Extras are not that much. You can just send them an email off their website and they will send you a price list. Congrats on the baby!

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Thanks for the congrats and the pricing buddy, now I know what to expect when I get the heads off.

I had some free today and its getting warmer outside so I replaced some hoses under the car and tried to figure out what to do with a discontinued hose I can't buy and the replacement part number hose does not fit. I'm still hooked on this idea of any rubber hose I come across absolutely needs to be replaced because the one hose I don't replace is definitely 100% gonna burst... First I replaced this coolant hose right in the front, easy to access and no issues. Genuine Porsche - 99610650256 Next I replaced these 2 coolant elbows that are located further back, I forgot to take better picture's of their location but they are about 4 feet back underneath the car from the back bumper. These 2 hoses are the first hoses I decided not to spend the extra money and get Genuine Porsche and bought URO instead. The price difference was kind of ridiculous for 2 small elbows. URO - 99610674110. The Genuine Porsche hose cost $187 and the URO hose cost $3. Old drivers side elbow New Next was the same elbow but a little smaller on the passenger side. Same story bought URO because Genuine Porsche was a lot more expensive. URO - 99610674006. The Genuine Porsche hose was $107 and the URO was $6.50. Also I will say the URO hoses are 90% the same and the rubber feels fine, they don't feel cheap or like they would fail. Old New Now here is where I am running into problems. This small hose (99610633601) that goes to the hard pipe before the expansion tank has been discontinued, the replacement part number is (99610683603). I bought the replacement hose and it is about an inch too short. I have searched all over the trying to find a suitable replacement but have had no luck. It seems like this is another MY 99 C4 only hose that has been discontinued but unlike with the other MY 99 hose I had issues with there is no solution, for example the last time I had this issue Porsche said if I bought the hard pipe for I assume the 996.2 it would work with the replacement updated hose, and that's what I did. The smaller hose on top is the discontinued hose (99610633601) These are the 2 hoses side by side, I tried the new hose on the car and it is slightly too short. The solution I have come up with so far is to buy another expansion tank hose and cut it here. It wont be perfect but it looks like it will be close enough to work. I have searched through every hose for each year on Auto Atlanta, checked every part number, and can not find this hose for sale anywhere, everywhere says its discontinued and sold out. Maybe I am missing something. I don't know.

Not to be a Debbie downer but here is my experience with uro coolant hoses... if u dont track the car i dont think u will have an issue but all of their hoses swelled compared to the porsche hoses. Generally im fine with aftermarket but this his caused me to spin at VIR last fall at 115mph and $25k i damage.

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Yikes, so that's what happened to your car, I never knew the cause of the spin. This car will never see a track, I have the m3 for that stuff. I was kind of blown away by Porsche pricing for these elbows, $187 for a small coolant hose seemed high. The pricing for Genuine Porsche coolant hoses is all over the place. Price wise most of the other hoses I have replaced, the Porsche hose would cost lets say $80 and the URO would be $30 and I would get the Genuine Porsche hose but this time it just seemed like they priced the hoses too high for no reason other then Porsche tax. I'll keep this info about the URO hoses in the back of my mind and check on them for swelling, this car has a total of 3 URO hoses and all the rest are Genuine Porsche. I bought one more URO hose (99610650156) for $26 vs Porsche at $172. When I was about to spend $475 on thoes 3 hoses I decided to go with URO for $35 because the difference in price was massive. Thanks for your real world input it's always appreciated, and sorry about your car dude.

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Could that have been a gash from debris? Was it facing down or up?

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Nope it was the top side of the lower hose. Car has gt3 fenderliners so its sealed at the bottom to the bumper. No way to get in there. U can feal the delamknation in the hose. I also have vid of it going from the car behind and it poped while passing a car so it when when i went full throttle it split. When parts shopping u tried Delaware porsche? They do pretty good on pricing but i agree some things have got crazy.

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Good call on Delaware Porsche Parts, their prices are very good and they were not really on my radar. I priced out those 3 hoses I was talking about, from FCP they cost $506 including tax with free shipping and at Delaware they were only $378 including $32 shipping but no tax. Although I admit FCP is the most expensive place to buy parts from because of their lifetime warranty. I still think $378 is too much for 3 hoses in general but I understand we are paying for parts for a special car that cost a lot when it was new. I agree with you, I would rather have Genuine Porsche hoses over URO, a higher quality aftermarket company with a price right in the middle of Porsche and URO would be ideal. Also for most hoses I have replaced the Genuine Porsche hoses were not crazy expensive, only a few have had prices so much higher than the rest.

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As said before, so sorry this happened to you. Thanks for explaining this. Good info to know about this URO hose splitting, especially at the worst possible moment. That shouldn't have happened to a newer hose. Guess thats whats been happening to old automotive hoses for a long long time now. Coolant hoses do get soft with age and contamination. How old was that URO hose, any intermix in its life span..? Do the Mezgers run a higher coolant system pressure..? I'm running some URO hoses, you got me worried. What was wrong with the original Porsche hose that got changed out..?

Changed all my hoses about 5 years and 100 or so track days ago i changed them before the motor swap because they were all original and 20 yrs old. That hose is about $10 from uro and $50ish from porsche. There was no intermix when my motor went. It may just have been a deffective hose but who knows? The water pumps r the same but my motor does go to 8k rpm. The ressi is the same so the pressure relief is the same. i really wouldnt worry about the uro hoses unless u do a ton of track days.

I am finding all this rubber hose talk interesting, I will toss out some more data points I have come across. I have now purchased every rubber hose on the back half of the car, coolant, oil and air. I have found URO substitutes for about 2/3rds of them and figured out the difference in price between them to see if it was worth it to buy Genuine Porsche vs. URO. Prices and availability are all from FCP, prices/availability may have changed as I have been buying parts for this swap for roughly 2 years, these are the prices I paid at the time of purchase. Coolant Hoses 99610622265 - Porsche $76.99 - No URO available - $0 price difference - Porsche purchased 99610621260 - Porsche $76.99 - URO $20.41 - $56.58 price difference - Porsche purchased 99610623356 - Porsche $18.69 - URO $9.19 - $9.50 price difference - Porsche purchased 99610685005 - Porsche $84.65 - URO $51.99 - $32.66 price difference - Porsche Purchased 99710625101 - Porsche $23.55 - No URO available - $0 price difference - Porsche purchased 99610650256 - Porsche $83.32 - URO $35.67 - $47.65 price difference - Porsche purchased 99610674006 - Porsche $106.99 - URO $6.55 - $100.44 price difference - URO purchased 99610674110 - Porsche $186.99 - URO $2.99 - $184.00 price difference - URO purchased 99610650156 - Porsche $171.99 - URO $25.68 - $146.31 price difference - URO purchased Air pump hoses 99611324153 - Porsche $28.09 - No URO available - $0 price difference - Porsche purchased 99611323955 - Porsche $37.81 - No URO available - $0 price difference - Porsche purchased Oil cooler hose 99610623053 - Porsche $57.99 - No URO available - $0 price difference - Porsche purchased Out of the 12 hoses on the back half of the car I purchased 9 Genuine Porsche and 3 URO Out of the 7 hoses that were offered by URO I purchased 3 of them for a savings of $430.75 The 4 Porsche hoses I chose instead of URO cost me an extra $146.39 I only picked URO over Porsche if the price difference was greater than $100 per hose. There is actually 1 more hose located in the back of the car ( 99610633601) , but as stated in the previous post is has been discontinued and the updated hose ( 99610683603) does not fit. I will try and cut an expansion tank hose to fit (99710625101).

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Thanks for explaining that. Since reading your above post, been comparing some new URO hoses and oem Porsche hoses on my shelf. Hard to tell exactly but seems the oem Porsche hose have a slightly beefier feel to them when squeezing each comparatively. I know, far from a scientific test...lol I've been running URO radiator hoses for years now, never had a problem, but as you say I'm only putting around on the street, no competition track workouts to really stress the coolant system...

This thread is one of my favorites. 🧰 Have you tried Gaudin for any of your parts orders?

Quotes source post: 20511918

Thanks bro appreciate it! I have not looked into Gaudin, going forward I will def add them to my parts searches for sure.

Good progress so far. For a second I thought it was my buddies car, he is @unloved911 on instagram. Anyway, I see you have alot of the external components mounted to the block already. I highly suggest getting the heads on, timed, and sealed before going any further. And you'll definitely be taking some things back off such as the AOS. Matt

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Thanks Matt, the project was moving right along untill recently. I have spoken with Unloved911 quite a few times on IG, cool dude for sure and our cars are almost twins aside from his "Taquito" wing and my rear bumper spats. I am at a stand still currently because as you correctly stated the heads are the next step. I just had my 1st kid so I decided to stop before pulling the heads off and focus on family until I figure this whole father thing out in the short term lol. I bolted everything I had onto the FSB, I have been buying parts for 2 years, I figured it was easier to store them on the FSB then in the loft in my shed and it was nice feeling progress on the project. Some things may have to come back off, I'll remove them when the time comes. Once I get some more free time I will remove the heads from my old engine and send them to Hoffman, then I can finish assembling everything, time the engine and stick it back in the car.

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yep, mine too, artic silver early 99. I'm @big996guy, feel free to give a follow. If it makes you feel any better I get bout as much 996 time as you do, and I'm not a new dad

I got some small stuff done today, 70� on Long Island. I was dying to figure out if the cut up expansion tank hose was going to be a suitable replacement for the discontinued hose under the car. I bought another Genuine Porsche expansion tank hose (99710625101). Lined it up and made a white mark. Cut it with a razorblade. Put it on the car and it fit pretty perfectly, no tension and the same size. Next I replaced this big coolant hose (99610650156) in the car. This is the original hose. Comparison of old vs new. New hose installed in the car. The AC compressor is not normally there, I didn't disconnect it from the car and its hanging there off some zip ties. While the engine is out I am going to replace the coolant expansion tank. Taking note of the wire and connector on the fuel filter. I have never seen wiring on a fuel filter before. I bought a Genuine Porsche 996.2 tank (99610615704) instead of a 996.1 tank (99610614756) because it was half the price. Since the tank is a little bigger you need to modify a bracket, post #20 HERE shows how. Removed the coolant level sensor from the old tank Location on new tank Installed New expansion tank hose. You need the 996.2 hose (99710625101) to fit on the 996.2 tank. Top 996.1, bottom 996.2 Installed on new tank Transferred this overflow hose to the new tank New fuel filter - Mahle (99611025352) Location of the fuel filter on the 996.1 tank Location on the new tank On the 996.2 tank an additional bracket (99611025703) is needed to secure the fuel filter which I didn't know about. Ill get one of them ordered. _____________________________ M3 getting its front bumper repainted.

Fyi that wire is just a safety ground.

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Good to know thanks

The bracket for the fuel filter has arrived Bracket installed on the 996.2 expansion tank. Fuel filter installed on the expansion tank Expansion tank installed in the car, 996.2 tank in a 996.1, no modifications were needed. I think the thread I read and linked in the last post saying the corner of the bracket will be needed to be ground down to fit only matter if you are installing the tank with the engine still in the car. This 996.2 coolant hose is about 1 inch longer than the old 996.1 hose, it fits fine as long as you slide the hose that extra inch over the hard pipe. Hard pipe brackets I broke and need to order I removed the tail lights to freshen them up a bit. Polished the lenses with plastic polish and a polishing pad on my drill. I noticed all the foam pads on the lenses had deteriorated in 4 or 5 spots on each assembly. I cut out some rubber and replaced them. Rubber pad Replaced all the bulbs with LED's. Lenses came out really good. Removed the headlights to give them a restoration. They look pretty good still, this is them dirty right off the car. The factory UV protection is starting to fail and turn yellow in the corners. I am going to wet sand off the old UV coating and polish the lenses then apply PPF. Little project, I leaned on a bracket on the engine in my shed and cracked it. Plastic weld gun fixed it. I put the car back on the ground on dollies to move it around until I am ready to put the engine/trans back in.

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I broke similar large clips when I replaced my radiator fan where the hard pipe goes behind the liner. At least they're not expensive haha. Thanks for sharing that about the taillight foam bits. I'm going to look at mine now. 😁 Bradley

Disregard if you addressed this already but while you have the engine out, you should closely inspect the two rear brake lines. Especially the one that crosses over the transmission. If there is any doubt as to condition, now is the time to replace.

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Thoes clips were super brittle, I didn't even put that much pressure on them. I'll figure out the part numbers and I'll order some new one soon.

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Thanks for the tip, I haven't given them a really close look. They looked good after a quick glance but I will do a thorough inspection of thoes lines specifically and replace if needed.

Don't forget to spray your headlights with 2K (like this - https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sym-3684068 ) after you finished polishing them, or else they will yellow in pretty short order. Once cured, then use Lamin-X or other type of PPF to protect them.