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.





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.



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.






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.





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.




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?

 

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!

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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!!

 

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.

 

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....