BGB Motorsports

IF you know what you are doing AND IF you can get the correct firmware in the car to run it AND make max power and torque, in theory, the ECUs are compatible among cars. It's more than just tweaking the 3.4L firmware to expect more air flow from the larger displacement motor. When you see 3.8L conversions out there NOT making advertised 3.8L power, it's usually attributable to the fact that they did not start with the ideal ECU firmware OR their intake setup is not ideal. 9 times out of 10, its usually the former and not the latter. The reason this project is so expensive is because Porsche no longer sells a turn-key crate style 3.8L EFI 997.1 engine anymore; you need to go on eBay or call junk yards and then, if you can source a motor for around $12K to $16K, the path of less resistance would be to shove an EFI 3.8L 997.1 engine in your car because it would bolt up to the existing transmission and would re-use the factory clutch, axles and wiring loom for the motor. The only way to do this upgrade for under $20K on an EFI car is to find a motor for $12K or less out the door. The fact that it's a total unknown though that is the center of your $20K investment scares most people, myself included who is responisble for the thing when it leaves here. This is the single biggest reason that all of our swaps feature new/reman engines from Porsche. We trust only the best and leave nothing up to question.

PCA1983

John,
What is usually required for a 3.8 swap into a 981 Cayman S like mine. I know my core value is low even tho mine has only 3900 miles. I'm thinking I'd want some bigger brakes, LSD, maybe a lower diff ratio, and not sure if I'd need a stronger clutch & lighter flywheel. I have the Sport Exhaust but not sure if it really needs the headers. This would be a street car, not a track machine. What should I be thinking about for a 3.8 swap for my 2014 981 Cayman S?

BGB Motorsports

@PCA1983 - PM SENT!

To shed some light on your questions or comments, unfortunately you are correct and the 3.4L 981 motor does in fact yield a lower core return value and therefore creates a premium on the swap pricing of $4K. To date, the only solution we have found for this was during this latest go around when we were lucky enough to have a customer here for a Power Kit conversion for his PDK 3.4L 981 Cayman S who went and found a customer in Orlando with a 2.7L so that we could actually do a double swap (for $5700, Customer B is acquiring Customer A's 3.4L engine AND having it installed in his 981 base) and THEN the 2.7L gets returned.

To answer further questions, the OE clutches in these cars are very adequate and are robust enough to handle the increased power and torque. The times that aftermarket clutches were sourced were usually in conjunction with a lightweight flywheel and a customer's wanting something even more "beefy" than stock. For this, we still use ZF Sachs parts but we use their "sport" plate which can be used with a fixed OR a sprung hub clutch disc. Any effort to reduce weight in the drivetrain via a flywheel or to increase the rate at which things spool up will pay dividends when trying to scavenge torque. Guard Transmission makes a shorter ratio 3-4-5-6 that is good for 165mph - the only race track that would need more gear would be Daytona but it looks like you're interested in building a "sleeper" street machine. The most recent conversion we did had aftermarket Cargraphic 200 cell headers mated to the OE Porsche exhaust, a torque biasing LSD and a lightweight flywheel that reduced weight from 26lbs to 13 lbs and created more torque at the wheels than other 981 conversion we have done to date. Larger front 991 S 6-piston calipers can be sourced as can OE 340mm discs; if you want larger you can upgrade to 350mm front discs or 325mm rear discs from Girodisc. If you want to stay with stock 991 front brakes though since you are not going on track very often, they're more than adequate.

Feel free to drop us a line if you would like. Last week I added a small blurb about the first 10 3.8L 981 swaps we completed in late 2013 and 2014. That link can be found here http://www.teambgb.com/category-s/124.htm and will give you a good idea as to what was bolted to the first 9 cars, as each car is different because we want to custom build the 3.8L 981 that you always wanted, just the way you wanted it. #10 should be done any day now but it is a Power Kit mated to a PDK transmission which requires a bit of mojo with the electronics.

PCA1983

Thanks for the info John. I plan to do some reading the next day or two on the ones u posted. Maybe I can - get lucky too and find a 2.7 981 owner who like like an upgrade.
The transmission upgrade sounds nice. The 6MT on my S is definitely tall geared. Last time I checked, it looked like 2nd gear was good for 75mph and 3rd was 105.

GTgears

You can't change your 2nd gear ratio. It's fixed to the mainshaft. Nobody is willing to pay the $4000 that it costs to remedy that so we will not be making 1st and 2nd gears.

Denndy

I have an '06 Cayman S with a blown engine (looks like due to a Stage 4 over-rev). How does that affect the core value? Further, if I wanted to make the swap, can you ballpark (or give more precise #'s if you have them handy) of what the all-in cost would be for the motor and other required mods + a Guard LSD. Thanks.

BGB Motorsports

Can you call the shop possibly so that we can speak further? As long as the engine failure was not catastrophic, the motor still has a core value of $9500 which means that whatever new engine we purchase will come with an offsetting core charge amount for your existing 987.1 motor. I will send you a PM with my contact information. Give us a ring and we can email you a budget with an estimate to do this and possibly add a Guard LSD.

dak996

Hi there buddy.. I'm planning to buy Cayman S 2009 and swap with 3.8l engine.. Can you please help me how can I do that

BGB Motorsports

Where are you located?

LastNight911

Hi, pulling this from the dead. I have a 2006 Cayman S with a running engine that sounds like a diesel (knocking). I am evaluating a bunch of different swap options, one of them is the 9A1 987.2 engine.

For this to be swapped into my 987.1 car looks like my parts list based on the above is: 3.4L 9A1 motor, 987.2 DFI engine harness, 987.2 DFI ECU, I am assuming I can use my 987.1 manual trans/clutch/etc.

The last piece of the puzzle would be the BGB EFI to DFI Harness? Does that cover the gist of this or am I missing any large component?

LastNight911

bump

914 racer

Did you ever get a response to this post, I’m thinking about doing the same thing and I’m trying to figure out what I need. I tried emailing BGB but got no response.

BGB Motorsports

Hello....i must apologize. I actually went and drove into the shop to see if i can find the email you sent. Did it go to info@teambgb.com? Did you sent it to me? Sorry if it slipped through the cracks. How can we help? If ever in doubt, you can always email jtecce@teambgb.com.

thank you!

John