Hey all! I’m eyeing an IMSB failed engine project car. I’ve never owned a Porsche but since I was a teenager loved the 996. Anyway, I’ve also been looking for an engine for said project car.

My question is there any reason I couldn’t buy an automatic transmissioned car at salvage and swap it out?

 

If you're asking if you can swap an engine from an auto car into a manual car, the answer is yes, no biggie.

If the question is can you convert an auto transmission car to manual, the answer is essentially no (yes, you CAN, but you'd want to buy a complete manual parts car in order to pull it off so it would be cost prohibitive).

 

Yes the question is about the engine only. I hadn’t seen anything that would have made me think it was a big deal, but being new to the car I wanted to check.

thanks for the response!

 

Pay attention to the years of the said donor engines. Engines are not all compatible year to year. Should all be searchable on this site if you are not familiar with the differences.

 

Thanks for pointing that out! How is that delineated? All 996's are on the M96 platform right? Not sure how to search for compatibility.

 

The main difference is the 3.4 liter vs the 3.6 liter motor (99-01, and 02+).

Also, the '99s had a cable throttle instead of drive by wire. If I recall correctly, that doesn't matter as long as you have the parts needed to match your car (meaning, the throttle body and whatnot from the DBW car if you get a '99 engine).

 

98-2001 3.4 (also the throttle cable on 98, 99)
02-2005 3.6

What year is your car?

 

Thanks!

The car is a 2000 and the donor is a 2001. I had been looking at 3.4L only. So that's good to know!

 

You know, as a guy named Magnus with a non-running Porsche in your future, I feel it was a missed opportunity on your part to not choose "Magnus the Walker" as your user name.

 

^^^With the exception of the '99 C4 which was already drive by wire...

 

LOL! I totally missed that opportunity didn't I?

 

Thank you for this btw!

 

Make sure to address the known weak spots before installing the new motor. Vacuum lines and any hoses, clutch, Pilot bearing, DMFW, O-rings on the Heat exchanger, case bolts, RMS,AOS, WP, T-stat and IMSB. These are things you don't want to do after installation. I'm sure I forgot something...

 

Vario Cam engines are swappable to other Vario Cam cars. Vario CamPlus engines are swappable to other VarioCamPlus cars. Putting a VarioCamPlus engine in a VarioCam engine and vice versa is much more complicated.