Best Headers for 2002 3.6L in Boxster - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

What is the best header that will fit in a 2002 Boxster S with a 2002 996 3.6L? performance is the goal and past emissions. Is the SCargo the best? money is also a factor too.

Fabspeed headers are the best.

Thats a difficult question... ideally since you are running .4 more liters, you would want headers bigger than those made for a 3.2 or 2.7... but 996 headers do not fit under a Boxster... so just find the biggest you can.... BUT you want to pass emissions... thats a whole other can of worms which would start with does your state check emissions? or do they rely on the OBC? do you want to run your secondary cats? etc etc... that answer can be searched on here...

Well you made a very good point about missions. In Austin they only check for codes on OBD II cars. Older ones they do the sniff test. I think that is correct anyway. If so I could forgo the secondary cats and use thoses bypass sensor adaptors too keep the trouble codes away.

Any header made for a 986 is too small for the 3.6. With the 3.6 Porsche enlarged the exhaust ports size significantly. Previously the 996 3.4 and 986 engines used the same size exhaust ports so using a set of 3.2S performance headers was a good solution. Not so with the 3.6 and 3.8 swaps. This obviously ignores the primary size and length, which are also wrong for a 3.6 on the 986 based headers. -Todd

So what is the solution? Does anyone make a good header for the 3.6L to 3.8L in a 986?

Im using a set of the Maxspeed/ Schnell type... they had the largest diameter I could find plus O2 bungs.... until I get a custom set made OR crack them they will have to do

Top is gasket for a 3.6L engine, bottom is 986 Boxster/996 3.4 gasket. As you can see, you aren't doing your engine any favours by running 986 headers on a 3.6L engine. -Todd

What header are you using? Maxspeed has one with sports cats and one without that they state are a good fit for the 3.6L conversions.

Seems like custum headers would be the expensive and right choice.

Todd is running some top secret creation of his own The Maxspeed catted headers look like they'd flow horribly to me, not to mention I can't imagine that they were designed for the larger ports of a 3.6. Patrick

Todd or whoever knows, What is the width and height of the ports? trying to figure the size primary really needed for the 3.6L header. I have a tig welder and might have to do the custom thing. My 3.6L is coming UPS freight on Tuesday or Wednesday from Houston to Austin. My 2002 3.2L engine will be for sell soon. 43K miles and runs perfect. Jeff

I agree with Patrick, those catted maxspeed headers look like not much thought went into designing them. No need to go custom, come on guys do I have to spoon feed you everything I have stated, you can't use 986 headers... what comes after 986... that's right headers designed for the 987, in particular the 3.4 in the Boxster or Cayman S. They have the right size ports and the primaries and collectors are pretty much the right sizes. The modifications needed to get them to work are minimal to none depending on the muffler and header choice. Here is the Fabspeed on my car now, I also have a set of B&B. I am probably selling the B&B set if anyone is interested. -Todd

What are the specs on the B & B headers and do they have cats? What price are you wanting? Also how do the specs of the Fabspeed compare to that of the B & B? Do you have pics of the B & B? Jeff

I think Todd is going to have the best advice hear seeing as he's actually done this engine swap. Thank you Todd for giving us the info, it is appreciated! I'm just going to throw in my 2 cents... You might want to give Instant G a call. They specifically make an aftermarket exhaust system for the 3.4 L Boxster conversion. From their website it sounds like it's pretty oversized for the application, so it may work well for a 3.6L too. I'd ask them. Plus they may be willing to make something to fit your car as they appear to be a small, custom order type of operation. I think their 3.4L system is about $3,000 complete (headers, mid-pipes, and muffler), so it's not cheap, but the quality and design appear to be top notch. Here's their main site: http://www.instant-g.com/ And specific info about the 3.4L Boxster exhaust system: http://www.instant-g.com/Products/Exhausts/Box34/index.html Kirk

Looks good but not crazy about that flat triangle collector. I called B & B about an hour ago. I asked about the Cayman header they sell as fitting the 986 w/ 3.6L He didn’t think it would fit with out cutting it up and re-fabbing it. He thought that a custom set from scratch was the right answer if you have the equipment to do it. I do so I think I’m going that route. He gave me the place where they buy their components to build stainless mandrel bent headers. They sell collectors, flanges and all the stuff to build a really quality set of headers. I would like the best size primary diameter and length to have it work as good as possible. They have many different high quality 3 into 1 collectors too. They sell 321 and 304 stainless parts. I have a mill, band saws, drill press, tig welder, torches, and other metal working tools to get it done. Jeff

I can't believe people. Go and believe someone who hasn't done it. Just because I have put a full Cayman B&B setup on one car and a combination of cayman Fabspeed and Supersprint on another, I guess it can't be done without a bunch of fab'ing. Please stop wasting my time. Todd

Look Todd I thank you for your input. You did say you have put the cayman header on your car. I called B&B because IM VERY INTERESTED and not wanting to wast anybodies time. Yours eighter so I called them directly. PM me your number and I will call you too. Really not wanting to piss people off. I need input and help and that why I'm on here. Sincerely, Jeff

I found an interesting header for the Boxster 987 / Cayman at Design911. It looks pretty well designed and would flow well and it has cats. Not a lot of specs on it yet and the price is high. This header like a lot of them are more of a true exhaust manifold than a header with very short primary pipes, not really taking the need for the correct length and diameter into consideration for all out engine performance. http://www.design911.co.uk/index.htm?Region=US I really like the B&B header and a person could mount a set of cats somewhere else down stream. The folks at B&B were interested in quality and performance both. They did not try to up-sale me on anything, but tried to steer me in the direction that they thought the best for what I was trying to do. I really appreciate a company like that. Without hesitation they told me where they buy the parts that they use and I could do it myself and a more of a one-off cost effective way.

Here is the link to Bill Boat Performance Exhaust (B&B) I couldn't copy there pic of the Cayman header and post it here or at least I didn't know how too. http://www.bbexhaust.com/car/cayman/